With the Samsung Galaxy S8 now officially unveiled, the next date to mark on your calendar is 28 April when it goes on sale in stores. If you've got your eye on the S8 as your next flagship phone purchase, John Lewis is the place to get it from - and we're here to tell you why.
Not only do you get your hands on one of the phones of 2017, you also get the benefits of buying SIM-free - saving you money in the long-run - and the peace of mind that comes with a two-year guarantee. What's more, you can be one of the first in the country to get your hands on the Galaxy S8.
The John Lewis experience
John Lewis is already well established as one of the premium places to pick up premium phones - just call into a branch if you're not convinced. Unlike online-only outlets, you get the chance to play around with the gadgets and see them for yourself before buying.
And every Samsung phone John Lewis sells comes with a two-year guarantee as standard: while it's unlikely that anything is going to go wrong with your purchase, it's better to have that safety net in place. You're covered until it's time to upgrade your phone again.
Not only that, but your order will be shipped up to 8 days before the official on-sale date of 28 April, so you can be enjoying the features of the latest and greatest Samsung handset - the huge Infinity display with an extended 18.5:9 aspect ratio, the curved display edges, the iris scanner and all - while most other buyers are still stuck in line.
John Lewis also gives you the advantage of buying SIM-free, which means a higher up-front cost but which usually saves you money long-term. Compare the price you'll pay over two years on a normal contract and SIM-free makes sense, as well as giving you the freedom to swap around your phone contract during the time you're a proud S8 owner.
There's no doubt the sleek and powerful Galaxy S8 will be one of the most popular phones of the year, and most retailers will launch with competitive offers - but make sure John Lewis is on your shortlist when choosing where you want to buy it from.
The benefits of buying SIM-free
While you might be used to buying a new SIM contract at the same time as your phone, it makes a lot of sense to go SIM-free with John Lewis, if you can afford the initial outlay - essentially it gives you more flexibility when upgrading, as well as saving you money.
As you'll know if you haven't upgraded your phone for two years or more, SIM contracts tied to phones can be lengthy ones, especially the cheaper ones. SIM-only contracts without a phone attached are usually less expensive and run for shorter time periods, so you can chop and change between plans more often, and you'll often get a better choice of tariffs as well.
And by not having a contract tied to a phone, you can change your SIM (and indeed your phone) when it suits you, rather than having to wait for your current deal to expire - it's another reason to go shopping at John Lewis for your Samsung Galaxy S8.
You do end up paying for the cost of the phone right at the start, but that's actually cheaper than forking out money every month - do the maths on any of the deals you see from the big operators to see how much you might be able to save in the long-run.
The Galaxy S8: Samsung's best phone yet
After so many months of rumours, reveals and build-up, you probably don't need us to tell you what makes the Galaxy S8 special - but this really is the best handset that Samsung has ever put out, with upgrades in all the key areas over last year's Samsung Galaxy S7.
The phone is bigger and taller, with a 5.8-inch Infinity display set at an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The S8 Plus ups that to 6.2 inches for an even more impressive screen. Both phones come with cutting-edge processors and 4GB of RAM to handle everything you can throw at them.
On top of that you're getting a powerful new 12-megapixel rear-facing camera that just might be the most impressive to ever be packed inside a smartphone, plus battery life that'll last you all day and beyond. All in all, it's time for Apple to start getting worried.
With so much to enjoy on the S8 and S8 Plus, picking one up is almost a no-brainer - and with delivery up to 8 days ahead of the official launch, the flexibility of a SIM-free package, and that two-year guarantee, there's no better place to order from than John Lewis.
