Samsung Galaxy A8 review: Elegant phone with a good battery and camera; will face-off with OnePlus 2
Monday, 24 August 2015|
Hardik Bhawsar
Samsung is on a phone-releasing spree. It has just released its latest A-series handset called the Galaxy A8 in the Indian market for Rs 32,500 and this announcement came in with the launch of its Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy 6 Edge+ devices. Launched in China last month, the A8 will be the top of the line phone in Samsung’s A-series of metal frame phones. Samsung had launched the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 earlier this year. Let us see what it has to offer.
The Galaxy A8 is the slimmest phone from the Korean giant. Measuring just 5.9mm, it is indeed quite slim. However it is not the slimmest smartphone around as Oppo, Micromax, Gionee have phones slimmer that that. But the metal frame and some thoughtful tapering design on the sides, not only makes the phone look elegant but also helps with the grip. There are no sharp edges that will bother you when you hold the phone in your hand.
Although the press statement says that it is a metal unibody, we noticed that the non-removable rear-cover is plastic, although the transition from metallic frame to the plastic cover is really unnoticeable. On the front, you have the 5.7-inch display with a decent screen-to-body ratio.
Verdict and Price in India
This slimmest phone from Samsung manages to impress on most fronts, specially the build quality, camera and battery performance. For a 5.7-inch phone, the Galaxy A8 does not feel that bulky thanks to the slim form factor, light weight and thinner bezels. It certainly performs faster than competing Snapdragon 615 SoC sporting phones we have seen in the past. The option to expand the storage will certainly appeal to a lot of users. But heating issues do crop up once in a while, although we did not notice apps randomly shut down due to overheating.
But at Rs 32,500, the phone’s biggest competitor is the OnePlus 2 which is almost Rs 7,000 lower, while offering a superior feature set. The Samsung Galaxy A8 is a great mid-range phone, no doubt about that. But we felt the price should have reflected that. Something closer to Rs 25,000 rather than over Rs 30,000 would be preferable. The only advantage Galaxy A8 has over the OnePlus 2 is the fact that you do not have to wait for invites to buy the A8. Going by the price point experience of Samsung devices, we wouldn’t be surprised if the price indeed comes down within a couple of months. So right now we would suggest you wait it out, till the price drops, if you are really keen on getting this elegant large-screen phone.
The Galaxy A8 is the slimmest phone from the Korean giant. Measuring just 5.9mm, it is indeed quite slim. However it is not the slimmest smartphone around as Oppo, Micromax, Gionee have phones slimmer that that. But the metal frame and some thoughtful tapering design on the sides, not only makes the phone look elegant but also helps with the grip. There are no sharp edges that will bother you when you hold the phone in your hand.
Although the press statement says that it is a metal unibody, we noticed that the non-removable rear-cover is plastic, although the transition from metallic frame to the plastic cover is really unnoticeable. On the front, you have the 5.7-inch display with a decent screen-to-body ratio.
Verdict and Price in India
This slimmest phone from Samsung manages to impress on most fronts, specially the build quality, camera and battery performance. For a 5.7-inch phone, the Galaxy A8 does not feel that bulky thanks to the slim form factor, light weight and thinner bezels. It certainly performs faster than competing Snapdragon 615 SoC sporting phones we have seen in the past. The option to expand the storage will certainly appeal to a lot of users. But heating issues do crop up once in a while, although we did not notice apps randomly shut down due to overheating.
But at Rs 32,500, the phone’s biggest competitor is the OnePlus 2 which is almost Rs 7,000 lower, while offering a superior feature set. The Samsung Galaxy A8 is a great mid-range phone, no doubt about that. But we felt the price should have reflected that. Something closer to Rs 25,000 rather than over Rs 30,000 would be preferable. The only advantage Galaxy A8 has over the OnePlus 2 is the fact that you do not have to wait for invites to buy the A8. Going by the price point experience of Samsung devices, we wouldn’t be surprised if the price indeed comes down within a couple of months. So right now we would suggest you wait it out, till the price drops, if you are really keen on getting this elegant large-screen phone.
Posted in
technology
0 comments for this post
Leave a reply