New hands-on photos of the Galaxy A8 show Samsung's thinnest smartphone again, fingerprint scanner confirmed

posted by Florin T.

Jul 07, 2015, 12:55 PM

New hands-on photos of the Galaxy A8 show Samsung's thinnest smartphone again, fingerprint scanner confirmed

While Samsung hasn't confirmed the existence of the Galaxy A8, the handset is almost certainly coming soon. Last month, the A8 was approved by China's telecom authorities, while also showing up in hands-on photos, and even in a hands-on video.

Today, we can see the Galaxy A8 once again, thanks to Chinese website PC Online, which had the chance to thoroughly check out the handset.

As previously reported, the Galaxy A8 measures 158 x 76.77 x 5.94 mm, being the thinnest Samsung smartphone to date. The A8 is built around a metal frame, and resembles the Galaxy S6 (at least when viewed from the front). However, this new Galaxy is not exactly a high-end device, though its features are pretty nice anyway.

Powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, the Galaxy A8 offers 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of expandable internal memory, a slimmed-down 16 MP ISOCELL rear camera, a 5 MP front-facing camera, and a 3050 mAh battery. The screen of the A8 is a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED one with 1080 x 1920 pixels, while the phone's home button doubles as a fingerprint scanner - just like on the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge.

It's said that the Galaxy A8 could cost around $500. Samsung will probably launch it in China first, but there's no word on exactly when this should happen. Also, we don't know if the A8 will be available in North America or Europe. But we'll let you know as soon as we find out.

Check out the Galaxy A8 in the hands-on photos below. Would you buy the smartphone for around $500 (unlocked, of course)?

Samsung Galaxy A8

View more + 10 images

source: PC Online

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View Full specs

PhoneArena Rating:

6.5

Read Full Review

User Rating:

8.3

Based on 4 Reviews

Display 5.7 inches
1920 x 1080 pixels

Camera 16 MP (Single camera)
5 MP front

Hardware Qualcomm Snapdragon 615, 2GB RAM

Storage 32GB, microSDXC

Battery 3050 mAh

OS Android 6.0 Marshmallow

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43 Comments

36. irossdrummer

Posts: 371; Member since: Jan 17, 2015

A microsd card tray in the metal??? This could be good news that they could put this in the note 5 ☺

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 5:25 PM 2

39. yoosufmuneer

Posts: 1518; Member since: Feb 14, 2015

I am sure this phone doesn't use UFS 2.0

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 10:20 PM 1

30. phonehome

Posts: 812; Member since: Dec 19, 2014

Frivolously thinner and thinner. No thanks. Not until corresponding battery life is frivolously improved.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 4:29 PM 1

32. medtxa

Posts: 1655; Member since: Jun 02, 2014

Talk that to other oem right now sony, lg, htc..with flagship that is alot bulkier have bigger battery but still behind samsung in battery life.. Shame on them

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 4:42 PM 2

40. yoosufmuneer

Posts: 1518; Member since: Feb 14, 2015

3050mAh isnt a small battery by any means.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 10:21 PM 2

27. Macready

Posts: 1832; Member since: Dec 08, 2014

Pretty clear it's aimed to undercut the iPhone 6 Plus. It's a hair smaller with a larger (also 1080P) AMOLED display, slightly larger battery and similar feature set (+SD card!). Only a slower GPU which means it may not be the best choice for the hardcore high end smartphone gamer.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 3:41 PM 1

25. HighOnAndroidFTW

Posts: 185; Member since: Apr 26, 2015

This is actually an excellent deal/phone. Still better then the iPhone 6 plus and at half the price. And thinner and lighter too.. And at less then half the price, along with 2GB of RAM and a 16MP ISOCELL rear camera and 5mp front that'll shoot in hd. Sub $500 for a 5.7" 1080p phone 16GB plus 70$ for a 128GB Micro SD card is now at 144GB for less then half the cost of the 128GB iPhone 6 plus.... Lmao GG SAMSUNG > apple ALL DAY LONG BABY Good job Samsung

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 3:09 PM 2

35. ninja_master

Posts: 306; Member since: Feb 27, 2015

you're comparing midrange to flagship. And how is it better Screen Res= same RAM=1 gb ios is like 3gb on android Processor= a8 is waay better Camera=that remains to be seen

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 4:58 PM 0

38. yoosufmuneer

Posts: 1518; Member since: Feb 14, 2015

Why iOS is smooth on 1GB? Because it is an App launcher OS. It doesn't require much power. I bet you as the OS advances it requires more power so Apple will equip them with 2GB RAM for another 5 years.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 10:18 PM 2

23. Cheezwiz

Posts: 500; Member since: Dec 29, 2014

this is pretty close to my perfect handset. The only thing is that it needs to be $429.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 2:27 PM 2

42. yoosufmuneer

Posts: 1518; Member since: Feb 14, 2015

If it is $429.99?

posted on Jul 08, 2015, 9:19 AM 0

43. Cheezwiz

Posts: 500; Member since: Dec 29, 2014

then i'd buy it. but it's not. it's $515, so I'm not buying it. Too bad. Maybe for the holidays if the price drops.

posted on Jul 16, 2015, 12:44 AM 0

22. 27satz

Posts: 158; Member since: Apr 28, 2014

Still can't match up with S6's beauty.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 2:08 PM 0

21. Bm888

Posts: 517; Member since: Jul 06, 2015

Looks ✅. .about CPU I think Exynos one 5430 is superior to sd 615 and so will be like superior like the Exynos note 4 to sd 805. pricing × .Sammy should price it in 300$ level if it wants to beat other OEMs midrange . ^Bm ™

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 2:03 PM 0

20. Guaire

Posts: 899; Member since: Oct 15, 2014

I don't understand why they would ship it to some markets with SD615 while others gets Exynos 5430. It has better odds with the latter.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 1:35 PM 0

41. yoosufmuneer

Posts: 1518; Member since: Feb 14, 2015

SD 615 is used in A7 also. I hope they would use something else preferrably Exynos 5433

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 10:55 PM 0

18. ashrafalhujaili

Posts: 73; Member since: Oct 03, 2014

the speaker is in the top of the phone ! nice

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 1:30 PM 0

14. MisterQ

Posts: 61; Member since: Feb 13, 2015

Why not get a Note 3 for cheaper than this and it will have better CPU/RAM plus S Pen?

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 1:19 PM 0

19. Ruturaj

Posts: 1484; Member since: Oct 16, 2014

Absolutely yes, or get a alpha for half the price, S6 or note 4 for approx same price.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 1:30 PM 0

26. Martin_Cooper

Posts: 1774; Member since: Jul 30, 2013

Cause 615 is more power efficient, its 64bit, its not all about the mhz. Also this phone seems to have a slightly worse S6 camera which still I am guessing will blow out of the water the two year old note 3 camera. Looks much batter than note 3. Ye the pen is missing but not many people care about it.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 3:14 PM 3

13. erikngn

Posts: 35; Member since: Aug 14, 2014

Obviously OPO2 will be better and cheaper

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 1:13 PM 0

10. camera531

Posts: 346; Member since: Jun 30, 2012

I'll never understand why OEM's make phones like this and then limit them to one or two Asian markets. There's a whole (very lucrative) world out there, Samsung!

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 1:10 PM 0

31. medtxa

Posts: 1655; Member since: Jun 02, 2014

There is a lot thick phone with apparently similar or worse performance and battery life for people who dislike sams thin phone. If you have thick phone fetish thats it.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 4:34 PM 0

9. nuldolor5x.com unregistered

This phone looks gorgeous. Anyone who says it ugly simply doesn't like Samsung and would probably not like anything from Samsung no matter good looking it is. If the price is good, I my take one if it will have a good battery life.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 1:10 PM 9

5. BoobyBuster

Posts: 62; Member since: Jun 18, 2015

Another day another lagdroid shamedung. Destroying the beauty of world.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 1:04 PM 5

17. Ruturaj

Posts: 1484; Member since: Oct 16, 2014

Another day, same troll. Destroying the sanity of world.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 1:29 PM 12

24. shaineql

Posts: 522; Member since: Apr 28, 2014

If i have to read this on every article i might aswell stop visiting this website. There is many other sites offering the same news..

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 3:00 PM 2

29. rd_nest

Posts: 1656; Member since: Jun 06, 2010

Your birth certificate is an apology letter from the condom industry.

posted on Jul 07, 2015, 4:14 PM 5

2. PhenomFaz

Posts: 1236; Member since: Sep 26, 2012

Samsung is doint it again. Pricing the A8 higher than it should be (like the S6 Edge) just because oi its looks. This may turn out to be a bad move but at $400 this phone would be so awesome!