The Samsung Galaxy A8 has just been officially launched, although you’d be forgiven for thinking that already happened considering the huge number of pre-release leaks.
In fact, there was very little we didn’t know about the handset, which is set to top-up Samsung’s burgeoning mid-range smartphone line-up.
It’s running on an octa-core Snapdragon 615 chip clocked at 1.5GHz, with 2GB of RAM and 16/32GB of storage also featuring.
The rear-facing camera uses a 16-megapixel image sensor, while the selfie shooter uses a 5-megapixel sensor that’s par for the course with premium handsets.
This is all powered by a 3,050mAh battery, which is an impressive capacity given the uber-svelte sub-6mm profile the Galaxy 8 offers.
It’s thinner than both the iPhone 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6
Android 5.1 Lollipop is the operating system of choice, although Samsung has, unsurprisingly, overlaid this with its own TouchWiz skin.
Additional features include a fingerprint scanner, 4G connectivity, NFC, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Now we know what you’re thinking: are we sure this isn’t a flagship phone? The specs are noticeably impressive, but that’s in line with Samsung’s premium A-series efforts towards creating high-quality mid-range smartphones.
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Unfortunately, we’ve heard nothing from Samsung in terms of UK or US pricing, and the handset is currently only appearing on the company’s Chinese website.
In fact, it’s still not clear whether Samsung has plans to launch the device outside of China right now. We’ve contacted Samsung and we’ll update this article if we get a response.
As such, if you want a handset that is available in the UK and US, check out our smartphone group test video below:
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
