Last week, Samsung announced the heavily rumored Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus during their press event in New York City. As many remember, Samsung’s last attempt at the next best thing did not go according to plan. The Note 7 had some fiery reviews considering the battery could be set aflame. Samsung had to recall the Note 7 twice until the company finally killed off the product. After the chaos of the Note 7, Samsung lost trust from many of their customers; most of them either switched to a different Android phone or went to Apple with their iPhones. Now, Samsung is after redemption with the S8 and S8 Plus. Here is an inside look on Samsung’s quest for redemption.

To start their quest, Samsung developed an entirely new way to ensure that the Note 7 catastrophe would not happen again. The company outlined a new eight-point battery-inspection checklist, which includes both new and expanded testing. Not content letting its suppliers do the majority of the testing, Samsung not duplicates tests within its own facilities. That process now acts as another backstop to detect and identify any failures before the phones end up in customers’ hands.

In Samsung’s Gumi factory, there are rows upon rows where the company can test discharge and charge batteries in up to 60,000 phones. These testing stations are included in all of Samsung’s factories across the world. To record the tests happening, Samsung ironically uses Note 7(s) suspended from the ceiling. Hopefully these ones are safe to use.

Samsung has also created a new test called the “Accelerated Usage Test” which can mimic normal usage patterns. This test covers typical things people do with their phones such as charging and discharging, connecting to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks, making phone calls, and using general apps. Samsung has employed dozens of people to run the test over and over again on 100,000 devices. My guess, that isn’t a fun job.

Aside from the safety tests, Samsung is trying to advance their software. The company has a bad track record with trying to create software features that people actually want to use. Samsung has a graveyard of failed software such as Milk Music and Milk Video (ever hear of those services before?). However, the company has had success with some services like Samsung Pay and Samsung Knox.

With the new Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, Samsung is introducing Bixby, their new virtual assistant. Bixby is not designed just to answer questions; it is meant to be an actual assistant that helps consumers use the device that is right in front of them. Samsung is placing a lot of faith into Bixby considering they even gave it a physical button on the side of the phone to activate. Bixby is in the very early stages of it’s life; developers have not developed much for it yet so Bixby is limited to Samsung’s native apps as of now.

The last thing Samsung had to do to be redeemed is to make a great looking phone and they did just that. Many phone companies this year are heading towards screens without bezels and Samsung is doing just that. Samsung has completely left flat screens behind, and both the S8 and S8 Plus feature the company’s new signature curved screen design. With the new design, Samsung is able to fit a 5.8-inch display in a footprint barely bigger than the iPhone 7 and its much smaller 4.7-inch screen.

The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus feature an all glass and metal design that makes it look premium. Personally, I love the all black color, but I can see it attracting many fingerprints. In terms of hardware, Samsung packed as much into the phone as they could. From the latest Snapdragon processor to iris scanning for better security, Samsung left no stone unturned.

Samsung has much to prove with the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus and as of now, it looks promising. It is still too early to tell if they have created the best smartphone of the year, but hopes are high. However, it is going to be difficult for Samsung to win back the trust of their customers.