samsung galaxy a8
Design :
The Galaxy A8 (2018) would probably go down in history as the phone to fix the badly placed fingerprint scanner for Samsung's phone portfolio. It may look like a Galaxy S8 and have the whole flagship vibe, but the balance on the back has been restored. The fingerprint sensor is now conveniently positioned under the main camera.
The new placement aside, the biometric sensor is always-on, fast and very accurate. The latter is pretty much guaranteed by the lengthy setup process with more than the usual number of taps.
The slightly curved AMOLED display is one of the biggest treats - it's sporting the cool 18.5:9 aspect ratio though the resolution of 1080p is slightly lower than the S8's 1440p. The screen has the same round corners as seen on the flagship model, but while both phones are similar in size, the A8's display is 0.2" smaller than the 5.8" unit on the S8.
The top bezel is jam-packed with stuff - the earpiece, the two selfie snappers, a bunch of sensors, and even a notification LED. The bottom has nothing though. There is no pressure-sensitive home key on the screen of the Galaxy A8 (2018), it's one of the things the S8 series will be keeping as an exclusive.
The Galaxy A-series was treated to IP67 grade ingress sealing in 2017 and the trend continues onto the 2018 editions. And no cards were lost in the process - even on the dual SIM version of the A8 (2018), you don't have to sacrifice storage expansion for a second SIM. We definitely appreciate the dedicated microSD slot.
Finally, the loudspeaker on the Galaxy A8 (2018) is on the right side, above the power button. It looked like an odd placement when Samsung introduced it on last year's A-series, but we've come to accept it after it also became the choice for positioning on the J-series of 2017 as well.
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2017, December |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Available. Released 2018, January |
| BODY | Dimensions | 149.2 x 70.6 x 8.4 mm (5.87 x 2.78 x 0.33 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 172 g (6.07 oz) | |
| Build | Front/back glass, aluminum frame | |
| SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
| - Samsung Pay - IP68 certified - dust/water proof over 1.5 meter and 30 minutes |
| DISPLAY | Type | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 5.6 inches, 79.6 cm2 (~75.6% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2220 pixels, 18.5:9 ratio (~441 ppi density) | |
| Multitouch | Yes | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass (unspecified version) | |
| - Always-on display |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Exynos 7885 Octa | |
| CPU | Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Cortex-A73 & 6x1.6 GHz Cortex-A53) | |
| GPU | Mali-G71 |
| MEMORY | Card slot | microSD, up to 256 GB (dedicated slot) |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 32/64 GB, 4 GB RAM |
| CAMERA | Primary | 16 MP, f/1.7, phase detection autofocus, LED flash, check quality |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama, HDR | |
| Video | 1080p@30fps, check quality | |
| Secondary | Dual: 16 MP + 8 MP, f/1.9, 1080p |
| SOUND | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes | |
| - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, EDR, LE | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Radio | FM radio | |
| USB | 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM | |
| Browser | HTML5 | |
| - Fast battery charging - ANT+ support - MP4/WMV/H.265 player - MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+/FLAC player - Photo/video editor - Document viewer |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery |
|---|
| MISC | Colors | Black, orchid grey, gold, blue |
|---|---|---|
| Price | About 500 EUR |
| TESTS | Performance | Basemark OS II: 2067 / Basemark OS II 2.0: 2007 Basemark X: 15299 |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Contrast ratio: Infinity (nominal), 3.842 (sunlight) | |
| Camera | Photo / Video | |
| Loudspeaker | Voice 69dB / Noise 70dB / Ring 81dB | |
| Audio quality | Noise -92.1dB / Crosstalk -90.0dB | |
| Battery life |
Endurance rating 92h
|
