Samsung Galaxy A8

Samsung recently launched Galaxy A8 smartphone in the mid budget category for its customers in India. The latest Galaxy ‘A Series’ phone is priced at Rs 29,555 that features it in our semi-premium category. Let us take a deeper look into its features and specifications to find out if it is the best phablet available under Rs 30,000. Design: Samsung had finally realigned its design as per the changing market scenario with the introduction of “Galaxy A Series” phones earlier this year - Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A5. Samsung has done well by persisting with this new design with Galaxy A8. With a 5.7-inch display and a 5.9mm thickness, this phablet is definitely one of the more elegant looking and the slim phones produced by the Korean maker. Its metal frame and curvy corners ensure a firm grip on the phone. Even though the phone has a metal frame, it weigh only 151 grams, which is again a big thumbs up. Display: Over the years, stunning displays has been the one of the biggest advantage Samsung has had over its competitors. Samsung has been able to maintain this legacy with latest Samsung Galaxy A8 as well. This phablet features a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED screen with 1080X1920p full HD resolution. The display is one of the brightest amongst all of its competitors. Even under direct sunlight, it is quite readable without putting any strain on the eyes. Hardware: Unlike the global variant of the Samsung Galaxy A8, which comes with a 64-bit Snapdragon 615 chipset, the Indian version is powered by octa-core Exynos 5430 chipset. In this Exynos processor, four cores are clocked at 1.8GHz while the other four core are restricted to a clocking frequency of 1.3GHz to make it more power-efficient. Samsung Galaxy A8 comes with 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. If you are one of those who love to carry your world in your phone, and like to carry two different numbers for personal and professional use, then buying this phone can be a tricky decision. Since Samsung decided to use hybrid SIM setup in this phone, one has to choose between a second SIM-card or storage expansion. Actually, in this phone, the secondary SIM card slot can also be used as memory card slot as well. It is up to the user whether he want to use a second SIM or a microSD card. The phone also comes with a fingerprint sensor, which is integrated in the home button just below the 5.7-inch display screen. Setting up the fingerprint print sensor is easy and the sensor is quite accurate while unlocking the phone conveniently using any finger. Oh the other hand, sound quality on this phone is not one of the strongest suites of this phone. The rear speaker is hardly audible in a noisy atmosphere. This classy looking phone also stands out in battery performance. Once fully-charge, this 3050mAh, lasted almost 1 day and 14 hours with moderate usage. On our high usage trial, the phone managed to squeeze out 1 day and 2 hours of time on a single charge. It took us roughly about an hour and 30 minutes to recharge this 3050 mAh battery, so considering that the battery charging speed is excellent. Camera: Like Samsung galaxy S6 flagship phone, this phone also carries a 16MP primary camera and a 5MP wide-angle front camera. The primary camera comes with f/1.9 aperture which will prove handy while capturing images in low light conditions. However the user will definitely miss optical image stabilization while clicking images on the go. In our lab trials, we missed the sharpness that we saw on Galaxy S6's 16MP camera during our tryout. Overall, the camera performed efficiently, responded without any lag and picture quality was at par with the competition if not outstanding. OS: Finally Samsung has made a welcome move by streamlining its TouchWiz UI and allowing android 5.1 (Lollipop) take the center stage. Samsung has removed large amounts of bloatware and redesigned settings menu to ensure a better user experience. Verdict: Samsung has managed to strike the right balance between hardware and software with the Galaxy A8. However, the biggest drawback with this device is its price. Priced little less than Rs 30,000 this phone finds stiff competition from OnePlus 2 which cost almost 7 thousand less. It is a very good phone, but Samsung have priced it wrong. In a one on one comparison between Samsung Galaxy A8 and One Plus 2, the latter offers much better value for your money. Samsung Galaxy A8 buy online in India at the lowest price from Flipkart e-commerce website.