Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) series up for pre-order; all you need to know

Samsung's recently unveiled Galaxy A8 (2018) series can now be pre-booked online in select markets. The South Korean giant started the pre-order campaign in the home market on January 2 and is slated to make it available for purchase from Friday, January 5, with prices starting at SK Won 599,500 (approx. $564/€468/Rs 35,895).

After South Korea, the Galaxy A8 (2018) series will be released in Vietnam on January 6.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) price and release details

When will Samsung Galaxy A8(2018) series release in India?

Though there is no official word from Samsung on when the company plans to release the Galaxy A8 (2018) series in India, going by previous launch pattern, the new mid-range phone is most likely to hit the stores in late January or early February.

Samsung, which has been ruling the Indian smartphone markets for several years, is currently facing stiff competition from Chinese companies particularly, Xiaomi in the low-end and OnePlus in the top-end segment. The former is steadily increasing sales volume thanks to feature-rich budget phones such as Redmi (and Note) series and also quickly expanding off-line distribution network, which has apparently started bearing fruits. Recently, Xiaomi and Samsung were declared as joint leaders of the Indian smartphone market.

On the other hand, OnePlus' recently launched OnePlus 5 series is giving stiff fight in Rs 30,000+ price-range category affecting the Galaxy A-series. We believe Samsung will not be wasting any time to release the Galaxy A8 (2018) series and also keep the price low to match the OnePlus 5T series price range.

Also read--Xiaomi squares level with Samsung, declared joint leaders of Indian smartphone market: IDC

Is Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) series worth buying?

Yes. The new Galaxy A8 series is an affordable alternate phone for Samsung's flagship Galaxy S and Note series. They share three key features of the Galaxy S8 and the Note8: the Infinity Display with 18.5:9 aspect ratio to offer viewing immersive viewing experience, fast-charging capability and the Bluetooth v5.0 standard that allows users control of two different speakers simultaneously and cover wide data transfer area for up to 800 meters at speeds close to 2Mbps.

Also read--Samsung Galaxy Note8 long-term review: Most versatile phone of 2017. PERIOD

For those unaware, the new Galaxy A8 series comes in two variants -- one generic Galaxy A8 and another Galaxy A8+. They both share same design language and almost all internal features, but differ in two aspects such as display size and battery, while the rest of the specifications remain same. The generic Galaxy A8 sports a 5.6-inch full HD+ super AMOLED screen with 3,000mAh cell, whereas the A8+ flaunts 6.0-inch screen having 3,500mAh battery.

Furthermore, the new Galaxy A8 and the A8+ come with dual-cameras--16MP (with f/1.9 aperture + Fixed Focus) + 8MP (with f/1.9 aperture) having Live Focus. On the back, they house 16MP with f/1.7 aperture, LED flash, PDAF (Phase Detection Auto Focus), video digital image stabilisation (VDis) technology, and hyperlapse feature.

It is not only a huge upgrade over the previous Galaxy A series but also sets a new benchmark in the mid-range phone category.

Under-the-hood, they come with an octa-core processor, 4GB/6GB RAM and 32GB/64GB internal storage.

Key specifications of Samsung's 2018-series Galaxy A8 and Galaxy A8+:

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