Latest on Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) hands-on review

 
Wait what?! So the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) and A8+ (2018) are here to replace the Galaxy A5 (2017) and A7 (2015)? That sure makes perfect sense.
Although, from a more serious perspective, what better way to show continuity with the acting flagship Galaxy S8 line? And since one is small, the other is larger, the latter gets a 'plus', right? It does make more sense now.



With Samsung's portfolio so thoroughly dissected (or rather, our amateur musings in marketing aside), let's move on to the actual Galaxy A8 (2018) we have here. We managed to obtain the smaller of the two phones that were just announced and we're going for a quick hands-on, with a review on the way, potentially, maybe, eventually.
Let's get a few of the most important things about the Galaxy A8 (2018) out of the way first. It packs an 18.5:9 display - staying on top of the trends. There's also a brand new chipset inside, with a CPU in a novel 2+6 core config. Around here we should mention the A-series now come with support for Gear VR.
A dual camera has made its way to the A8 (2018), only it's not where you'd expect it to be - it's on the front. Flip over to the back, though, and you'll find something to like too - the fingerprint sensor has been moved to the center axis of the back, right below the camera.
The good stuff from the old models have been kept - for one, that's the IP68 certification for dust and water resistance. We've also got nothing but praise for Samsung's decision to fit in a dedicated microSD slot - that's the second year in row in the A-series. There's support for Samsung Pay too, for those in the select lucky countries where the service is live.

Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) at a glance

• Body: Aluminum frame, glass front and back; IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
• Display: 5.6" Super AMOLED display, FullHD+ 2,220x1,080 resolution Infinity display (18.5:9 aspect ratio), 441ppi pixel density; Always On Display.
• Rear camera: 16MP, f/1.7 aperture. Phase detection autofocus. 1080p/30fps video recording.
• Front cameras: Primary: 16MP, f/1.9 aperture. Secondary: 8MP, f/1.9 aperture. Fixed focus. Selective focus (portrait mode). 1080p/30fps video recording.
• OS/Software: Android 7.1.1 Nougat; Samsung Experience 8.5 custom overlay.
• Chipset: Exynos 7885: octa-core CPU (2x2.2GHz Cortex-A73 + 6x1.6GHz Cortex-A53), Mali-G71 GPU.
• Memory: 4GB of RAM; 32/64GB storage; dedicated microSD slot for expansion.
• Battery: 3,000 mAh Li-Po (sealed); fast charging.
• Connectivity: Dual SIM; LTE Cat. 11 (600Mbps download); USB-C (v2.0); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS, GLONASS, Beidou; NFC, MST; Bluetooth 5.
• Misc: Rear-mounted fingerprint reader (centered, hurrah!); single speaker on the side; 3.5mm jack; Samsung Pay support; Gear VR support.

Okay, we're not thrilled with the OS version - Oreo has been around for months, but the A8s launch on Nougat. On the other hand, A-series have historically never been ahead of the curve in this respect, plus the S8 hasn't yet gotten official Oreo, so we can imagine it wouldn't have looked good for the A to beat the S to it.

Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)

Aaand, that's about it, really. At least at first glance there's hardly anything to complain about when it comes to the Galaxy A8 (2018). Perhaps we will find something when we dive deep for the review, but for now we're staying on the surface with some initial hands-on impressions.

Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) hands-on

We'll try not to make a huge deal out of it, but we can't overlook it either - Samsung's discovered the right spot for a fingerprint reader on the back of a phone. The high off-center placement on the Galaxy S8 and Note8 this year has been universally hated and we're glad that with the A8 (2018) Samsung's starting the year on the right track. Perhaps the S9 will follow suit.
Our initial experience is that the fingerprint reader works fast and the lengthy setup process with more than the usual number of taps ensures you'd be unlocking at awkward angles and with most parts of your finger.
Anyway, we got a little distracted there. The Galaxy A8 (2018) is unmistakably a Samsung phone, with the glass sandwich and aluminum frame putting it in the company's premium tier. This year, the A-series is treated to tall, 18.5:9 aspect displays like them flagships. Only here it's 1080p instead of the S8's 1440p.
The smaller of the two new handsets, the Galaxy A8 (2018), gets a 5.6-inch diagonal. That's 0.2 inches smaller than the S8, while the A8+ (2018) with its 6 inches slots right in between the S8 and S8+. Segmentation at its finest.
That's display sizes, but in terms of physical dimensions, the A8 (2018) is in fact larger than the S8. It's a fraction of a mil taller, but 2.5mm wider and slightly thicker - there's no doubt which is the sleeker device.
In fact, the A8 feels noticeably chunky - in a reassuringly heavy way. We're not saying it's a bad thing, it's just that if you're after the A8 thinking it's more pocketable than the S8, you'd need to reevaluate. The dry numbers are there to support our claim - the A8's 172 grams are 17g more than the S8 and one short of the S8+, while the A8+ is in Note8 territory. TL;DR - the S8 remains the top choice for pocketability in Samsung's premium lineup.
In keeping with the trends, the A8 (2018)'s display has its corners nicely rounded - putting aside potential durability benefits, it just looks pretty and futuristic, and all that. It's an in-house Super AMOLED panel, and it's awesome as usual, at least that's what we can tell by looking at it with no actual tests carried out yet. The usual modes can be found in settings, letting you tune the output to your tastes.
The front isn't as minimalist as on the S8, hence the larger physical dimensions. When it comes to proportions, the A8 is like a scaled down Pixel 2 XL - there's more chin and forehead than on the S8, and the sides are thicker too.
There's sadly no pressure sensitive area underneath the home button like you'd find on the S8/Note8, which lets you have a shortcut to the homescreen regardless of what's being displayed on the screen. Did we mention segmentation already?
The top bezel is packed with stuff though, so Samsung could only shrink it so much. To the right of the earpiece there are two cameras - one is 16MP, the other 8MP. To the left is the proximity/ambient light sensors window, and further to the left you'll find a notification LED - because no Always On Display can replace it (there's that too, of course).
Samsung brought weather sealing to the A-series last year, and we're happy to report the IP68 rating is present on the 2018 models too. Another feature we'd like to see getting more widespread adoption is a dedicated microSD slot. Instead, some makers are scrapping external storage altogether. Well, not Samsung on the A-series - even on the dual SIM version of the A8 (2018), you don't have to sacrifice storage expansion for a second SIM.
The loudspeaker on the Galaxy A8 (2018) is on the right side, above the power button. It looked like an odd placement when Samsung introduced it on last year's A-series, but we've come to accept it after was also the choice for the J-series of 2017. Well, it's in the same spot on the A8 (2018).
Which brings us back to the age-long issue of stereo speakers, or rather their absence in Samsung's smartphone lineup. Well, the A8 (2018) doesn't have them either. S9, maybe?

Benchmarks

The Galaxy A8 (2018) is powered by Samsung's own Exynos 7885 chipset. At least that's what benchmarking apps report - Samsung hasn't gone official with such an SoC, and it's not listed in the spec sheets either.
What is listed is the CPU configuration and it's one we haven't seen before. The processor consists of two powerful cores clocked at up to 2.2GHz, and six more ticking at up to 1.6GHz. That would be two Cortex-A73 cores and six Cortex-A53 ones - color us (pleasantly) surprised.
We were eager to see how that setup performs, naturally, and ran a few benchmarks on the Galaxy A8 (2018) we have handy. It's not a final unit we're testing, strictly speaking, so the numbers churned out by retail units could potentially end up different, if at all.

Camera

The Galaxy A8 (2018) is equipped with a 16MP rear camera with an f/1.7 aperture lens - that's the same resolution as the previous generation, only with a brighter lens. It's got phase detection autofocus, but no optical stabilization. There's a trusty old single LED flash - it's how Samsung rolls.
Then again, in a Samsung-first, the Galaxy A8 (2018) comes with a dual front-facing camera. It's a 16MP+8MP pairing, each with an f/1.9 aperture, with a fixed focus plane. Not to be mistaken with the Live focus feature for variable blurring of backgrounds post-shot - that's really the dual camera's main reason for being here.
Thing is though, between the limited time we've had with the phone and the drab weather we've been having, we couldn't really take any nice test samples. At least not with the rear camera. Here are a couple of selfies to try and make up for that.

Selfie samples

That would be all for now. We'll probably try to shoot some more samples tomorrow if the weather is on our side.

First impressions

Bridging the gap between midrange and top tier, the A-series are getting closer to what was once the definition of a flagship. Samsung pulled its punches here and there to let the S8/S9 breathe more easily, but upon first glance the Galaxy A8 (2018) looks like a compelling package at a reasonable price point. Reasonable, that is, in the universe of ever-growing prices.
That said, the A8 (2018) still has a lot to prove - we're yet to test its battery life, promising as the specs may be, and those cameras need to be subjected to some thorough pixel peeping. Those are tasks for the in-depth review, however - stay tuned for that.