New Samsung Galaxy A8 and A8+ deliver a near-S8 experience

Samsung has officially announced its new Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A8+ for 2018 and they’re packing in some serious specs for the price.

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Despite being a mid-level phone priced at €499 for the Galaxy A8 (2018) and €599 for the Galaxy A8+ (2018), they manage to offer Samsung’s stunning Infinity Display and plenty more.

Both the Galaxy A8 and A8+ feature the glass build of the S8 for a super premium finish as well as IP68 water resistance. They also offer 5.6-inch and 6-inch Super AMOLED Infinity Displays with 1080 x 2220 resolution in that now familiar 18:5:9 aspect ratio.

Powering the handsets are octa-core Exynos chips running at 2.2 GHz and backed with 4GB of RAM or 6GB in the case of the A8+. The handsets sport 32GB and 64GB of internal storage with microSD expansion to 256GB and batteries at 3000 mAh and 3500 mAh respectively for the A8 and A8+. They also pack in USB-C, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and A-GPS.

The cameras are where the A8 and A8+ save on budget, meaning you don’t get the 1.4 micron 12 megapixel snapper of the flagship S8. Rather there is a 16 megapixel single camera with f/1.7 lens that supports video digital image stabilisation plus Live Focus for better background blurring Bokeh effect in photos. On the front you do get a dual camera for selfies packing 16 megapixel f/1.9 and 8 megapixel f/1.9 lenses. 

Both the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) and the Samsung Galaxy A8+ (2018) will be released in January 2018 priced at €499 and €599 respectively which converts to about £440 and £528. A release for outside of Europe has not been mentioned at this stage.

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