Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) Launched: Price, Specifications And Review

The day has finally come and Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) has been launched in India to take on the likes of OnePlus 5T, Nokia 8 and Honor View 10 in the affordable flagship segment which has seen a huge rise in demand in the last couple of years.

For the unknown, Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) was first unveiled in December last year and then we got to know that it was going to be an Amazon India exclusive. But what we didn’t know was the pricing of this smartphone and surprising, Samsung has done a great job by pricing the Galaxy A8+ (2018) at its own sweet spot.

The Samsung ‘A’ series sits directly below the ‘S’ series and takes some of the high-end features from its more illustrious siblings while offering the whole package at a lower price. Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) is at the top of the ‘A’ series and it not only takes some of our favorite bits from the Galaxy S8, but also gives us some clues about what the upcoming Galaxy S9 might offer.

Having features like a 6-inch Super AMOLED display, 6GB RAM, dust, and water resistant rating, a powerful processor under the hood and a stand-alone front camera in the segment, Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) is what the South Korean manufacturer wanted C9 Pro to be.

However, the sub-Rs 40,000 is one of the most demanding segment in the smartphone business and not many have been able to produce a formidable device which has risen through the sales charts.

But with the Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018), the company is trying to repeat the success of the flagship segment where they launched a formidable Samsung Galaxy S8.

Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) Specifications

• 6-inch (1080×2220) Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with 2.5D curved glass, 18.5:9 aspect ratio, 411.46 PPI, Always On feature and Corning Gorilla Glass Protection.

• 2.2GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7885 14nm chipset coupled with Mali-G71 GPU

• 6GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage, expandable up to 256GB with micro SD card

• Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) out of the box with Samsung’s own UI on top

• Hybrid Dual SIM and Fingerprint sensor at the rear.

• 16MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture, LED flash, Optical Image Stabilization, and PDAF

• 16MP front camera and secondary 8MP camera both featuring f/1.9 aperture and supported by autofocus, OIS, and a wide angle lens.

• Water and dust resistant body (IP68 rating)

• 3500mAh battery with adaptive fast charging

• Dimension: 159.9×75.7x 8.3 mm and Weight: 191g

• 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth v5, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz), NFC support, USB Type-C for charging and data transfer.

Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) Price And Availability

Priced at Rs 32,990, Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) will be available in Black and Gold color options exclusively via Amazon India starting from 20th January. There has been no word about any launch offers with the smartphone, however, we do believe that the South Korean manufacturer will be planning to attract as many buyers as they can in order to make  Galaxy A8+ (2018) an instant hit in India.

Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) Review (First Impressions)

• Since it comes with an S-AMOLED display, the smartphone offers great viewing angles and brightness levels for outdoor media consumption. As far as picture production is concerned, the results come out sharp and crisp with a lot of detail.

• Thanks to the curved edges and sleek built, the smartphone is bearable to use single-handedly, if not perfect, despite the huge size.

• The biggest USP or we can say, a stand out feature of Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) has to be the dual selfie cameras which offer functionality like Bokeh Mode, Time Lapse, and slow-mo video recording. Other than that the dual f/1.9 aperture comes very handy while taking a group photo or clicking under shaky conditions, along with low-lighting photography.

• Octa-Core Exynos 7885 SoC, Mali-G71 GPU, and 6GB RAM offer everything a heavy gamer seeks in a smartphone along with lag-free multitasking.

• IP68 rating is somewhat of a rarity in this segment and it offers the feel of dependability while using the handset.

• The 3500mAh battery is rated to offer enough juice for a full day of heavy usage in a single charge.

• Coming to the drawbacks, we would have loved Android Oreo out of the box and some changes in this 2-year-old design.

Conclusion

As far as first impressions are concerned, Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) seems to be a perfect answer by the company in this segment but in front of OnePlus 5T which comes with SD 835 SoC, edge-to-edge display, and a dual rear camera, Galaxy A8+ (2018) looks like a downgrade.

That said, apart from the 5T, there is not even a single player in this segment that can challenge this “Smartphone For Your Every Need”.