The Galaxy A8 (2016) smartphone was launched in South Korea last month and is expected to launch in India soon. The smartphone is likely to compete with the likes of OnePlus 3, Honor 8, and LeEco Le Max 2.
Samsung last month launched the Galaxy A8 (2016) smartphone in South Korea. The smartphone is a successor to the Galaxy A8, which launched in India in August last year for Rs 32,500. The Galaxy A8 (2016) is priced at 649,000 Won, which translates to approximately Rs 39,000. The smartphone is now being rumored to launch in the Indian market pretty soon. Ahead of an official announcement, the Galaxy A8 (2016) has been spotted on the import-export website Zauba. The listing suggests a price at Rs 13,635, lesser than the price at which it is selling in South Korea. Do note that the Zauba listing doesn’t necessarily reflect the final market price of a device.
Though, the listing on Zauba does hint at an imminent India launch. Given the global Galaxy Note 7 fiasco the company is currently reeling under, it might serve as the right opportunity for Samsung to introduce newer and hopefully ‘safer’ smartphones in India where the Note 7 couldn’t even make its debut.
Part of Samsung’s A-series, the original Galaxy A8 was touted as the slimmest smartphone in Samsung’s portfolio with a thickness of only 5.9mm. The phone boasted of a near bezel-less design with a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED full HD display. Under the hood was a Exynos 5430 octa-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy A8 (2016) goes on sale in South Korea: Price, specifications and features
The 2016 version comes with a slew of upgrades over the predecessor. The smartphone comes with 3GB of RAM and a faster Exynos 7420 octa-core processor, which also powers the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5. The design language also seems to have not changed much, and looks very similar to the Samsung flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S7. While its predecessor was touted to be the slimmest in Samsung’s portfolio, the Galaxy A8 (2016) is slightly thicker with a 7.2mm profile. The Galaxy A8 featured a 3050mAh battery while the 2016 variant comes with a slightly boosted 3,300mAh battery.
The latest version comes with a 16 megapixel rear camera with f/1.9 aperture, autofocus sensor, and LED flash. The upgrade is in terms of its front camera which is now at 8 megapixel as compared to 5 megapixel in its predecessor. Samsung Galaxy A8 (2016) runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box. Available with 32GB of internal storage, the smartphone offers microSD card support for storage expansion up to 256GB. The smartphone comes with dual-SIM support, 4G LTE and also supports fingerprint scanner that is embedded in the home button. The phone draws its juice from a 3,050mAh battery.
If launched in India for around Rs 30,000, the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2016) will face a tough battle with the likes of Honor 8, LeEco LeMax 2, and OnePlus 3. These smartphones are priced at Rs 29,999, Rs 22,999, and Rs 27,999 respectively. Launched this week, the Honor 8 boasts of a 5.2-inch full HD display with 2.5D curved glass on top. It is powered by Huawei’s custom Kirin 950 octa-core processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. The smartphone further sports a dual rear camera module. It features two 12-megapixel camera sensors with f/2.2 aperture and pixel size of 1.76-micron. It comes with an 8 megapixel selfie camera. It draws its juice from a 3,000mAh non-removable battery that comes with fast charging technology. ALSO READ: Honor 8 vs Lenovo Z2 Plus vs OnePlus 3 vs Mi 5: Price, specifications and features compared
On the other hand, the OnePlus 3 features a 5.5-inch full HD display and comes powered by a Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset coupled with a whopping 6GB of RAM. The OnePlus 3 features a 16 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel fixed focus selfie camera. The smartphone comes with comes with 64GB of internal storage with no support for further expansion. It draws its power from a 3,000mAh battery.
The LeMax 2, on the other hand, is one of the first phones to do away with standard headphone jack and offers audio output through its USB Type-C connector. It comes with a 5.7-inch Quad HD display. For photography, the smartphone has a 21 megapixel rear camera that is capable of shooting in 4K resolution and an 8 megapixel front camera for selfies. In terms of storage, the LeMax 2 is available in two variants – 32GB (4GB of RAM) and 64GB (6GB of RAM). However, there is no option to further expand the storage. The smartphone draws its juice from a 3100mAh battery.
Alongside the speculations about the launch of Galaxy A8 (2016) in India, Samsung is also rumored to be working on the next version of its premium flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8. Akin to its predecessors, the Galaxy S8 too will be available in two variants, one with 5.1-inch QHD dual-edge curved display and the Galaxy S8 Plus with a 5.5-inch 4K dual edge curved display. The upcoming flagship is further likely to pack in more features like S-Pen support, dual rear camera module, and in-built AI assistant, called Viv. ALSO READ: Samsung acquires Viv, AI startup founded by Siri creators