Samsung Galaxy A8 Star review: A solid mid-range offering

The Milky way A8 Star is the most costly Galaxy A smartphone Samsung has launched in recent history of the mid-range lineup. Simply unlike other A series phones, the Galaxy A8 Star isn't widely available. It was initially launched in Republic of korea and China, and it has at present made its fashion to India with a cost tag of ₹34,990 (roughly $495). Nosotros have already given our stance on some of the A8 Star's strengths, which are its high-resolution rear cameras, impressive performance, and excellent bombardment life. Today, we bring you lot the residue of our Milky way A8 Star review and our final verdict on the device.

Galaxy A8 Star review: Pattern

The Galaxy A8 Star initially caught anybody's attention for its iPhone-like blueprint. To be more than precise, it'south the way the dual rear camera module is ready up that makes the iPhone inspiration and so apparent. And, well, with iPhone lookalikes a big hit in the Chinese market place, information technology wasn't an entirely surprising motion to see from Samsung. The blueprint of the A8 Star is, yet, classic Samsung in other aspects. Information technology's got glass on the front and back and metallic on the sides for a premium experience, an Infinity display with small bezels and no notch upward front, and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor that's placed college than information technology should be. In that location'south no water resistance on this phone, though.

The A8 Star also comes with a hybrid SIM slot, and then coupled with those high-resolution cameras and big battery, it might be the lack of internal space that forced Samsung to put the fingerprint sensor and so high. But it'due south becoming inexcusable at this point, because the A8 Star has the fingerprint sensor just likewise loftier for it to be convenient for even those with big hands. You shouldn't have to move the phone around in your manus to access a fingerprint scanner, and it's just a shame that Samsung hasn't yet constitute a solution. Possibly the visitorisdoing this on purpose, but fifty-fifty if it isn't, it's high time it's fixed.

The Galaxy A8 Star is special for being the kickoff mid-range Galaxy to sport a dedicated Bixby key. Somehow, I've rarely pressed the Bixby key accidentally on the A8 Star compared to the flagships, so rare that I had nearly forgotten the push exists. If you have been skeptical of Samsung pushing Bixby on its devices, that should come as good news. Those who want to give Bixby a chance can do so now without having to spend a premium on one of Samsung's flagship phones.

Display, Sound

The 6.3-inch Super AMOLED Full Hard disk drive+ (2220×1080) Infinity brandish on the Galaxy A8 Star is pretty skilful, as expected. Deep blacks, bright colors, and wide viewing angles are all hither, with the pick to shift to have more than lifelike colors by switching to the Basic brandish mode. The bezels, however, aren't as depression as ane would like, especially on the top and bottom. Information technology's the aforementioned story with other mid-range Galaxy phones with Infinity displays, and while Samsung is steering clear of notches, the contest has been stepping up its game and that might crave the Korean giant to come up up with an even more than compact design. Hopefully, that volition happen sooner rather than later.

Before you inquire, yes, the software navigation keys are customizable. The expanse around the home button isn't pressure sensitive similar it is on Samsung'due south flagships, and then the fingerprint sensor is the best way for you lot to quickly unlock the phone despite its problematic placement. You likewise get facial recognition, but that remains somewhat flaky in poor lighting conditions.

The Galaxy A8 Star'due south audio functioning is pretty average, at least on the single bottom-firing loudspeaker. It's fairly loud but lacks bass and too distorts a fleck at highest volume. Thankfully, Samsung is bundling good quality earphones and too Dolby Atmos support for wired and Bluetooth audio. Dolby Atmos makes a deviation to both the richness and loudness of audio, while likewise increasing the separation betwixt the left and right aqueduct for a surround audio back up.

Cameras

My opinion of the dual rear camera setup hasn't changed, so y'all can take a look at our article about the cameras, performance, and battery life to see how they fare. For the front photographic camera, you can take a look at our Galaxy A6+ review, which has the same selfie camera both hardware and software-wise. The A8 Star does go the new camera app from the Milky way S9, with various camera modes including dedicated night, beauty way and basic Pro modes for the rear camera and support for stickers. Y'all can take Selfie focus pictures on the front end camera for a bokeh upshot, which does well plenty in good lighting but not and then well at other times. A few samples from both front and back cameras can be seen below.

Operation, Battery Life

Since our initial verdict on operation, things haven't inverse. Milky way A8 Star continues to be smooth, quick, and generally stutter-gratis. The Snapdragon 660 is a good chip, and Samsung phones accept always done better with Snapdragon chipsets in the mid-range and budget segment. The 6GB of RAM helps, of course. Exterior India, the base of operations variant comes with 4GB of RAM, but Indian consumers become the 6GB variant, no doubt because the OnePlus 6 too offers the aforementioned amount of RAM on the base of operations variant. As I had said before, gaming is especially impressive on the A8 Star, with some ordinarily intensive high-end games running without any problems.

Battery life has also kept up extremely well. Ane fine solar day, with four to five hours of usage on mobile data (and 2 SIM cards active), including 45 minutes of navigation, the A8 Star lasted for well-nigh 22 hours with a screen time of 6.v hours. On Wi-Fi, this thing refuses to die in less than 24 hours and has fifteen-xx percent accuse left the next morning. Add fast charging to the equation, and the A8 Star is a monster when information technology comes to battery endurance. Top marks in this regard.

Software

The Milky way A8 Star comes with Android 8.0 Oreo and the Samsung Experience 9.0 UX. Most features are similar to those found on other mid-range Samsung phones, including Secure Folder, themes back up, Dual Messenger, Multi Window, Always On Brandish, and fingerprint gestures. What the Galaxy A8 Star doesn't have is Samsung Pay, at least here in India. It's clear Samsung had to make a few merchandise-offs, and the high-resolution cameras and large battery made the cutting while stuff like Samsung Pay didn't. A good matter, then, that yous have other options from the company, similar the Galaxy A8+ (2018). The A8+ might not have dual rear cameras, simply yous practise get a dual front camera and Samsung Pay. Again, it's all most trade-offs and upwardly to what your preferences are.

As for Bixby, this is the same version of Samsung'south virtual banana that is institute on the company's flagships launched before the Milky way Note nine. Bixby 2.0 should get in at some signal in the well-nigh future, hopefully with the option to disable the Bixby key intact different the Note ix. As far as software updates are concerned, you tin can expect to go 2 major updates, which would be Android 9.0 Pie and whatsoever side by side year's version is chosen. Nevertheless, security updates may not be as regular compared to the globally available mainstream A series phones.

Conclusion

Without Samsung Pay, the Milky way A8 Star had a tough job going up against the likes of the OnePlus vi, as it's ane feature that tin easily sway the decision in Samsung's favor when information technology comes to smartphones at mid-range prices. Just information technology doesn't fizzle out similar you would expect. The battery life and cameras are impressive, as nosotros accept already said earlier. Yous also become a microSD slot to expand storage, something the OnePlus 6 doesn't have. And Samsung'south software holds its own when it comes to user-friendly features, with fine performance despite a mid-range chipset within (and aye, you can wait performance tonotdeteriorate much over fourth dimension, another benefit Snapdragon chips seem to bring to Milky way devices).

I know the OnePlus comparisons above are a bit heavy-handed, then where does the Galaxy A8 Star stand up in Samsung'south own lineup? Well, it depends on what you lot're looking for. The Milky way A8+ is keen for those looking for a large display, good battery life, dual selfie cameras, water resistance, and Samsung Pay. The A8 Star gets you lot an admirable dual rear camera, better performance, even better bombardment life, and a slightly bigger screen in a sleek trunk. The price could practice with beingness lower by around ₹2,000 (roughly $30), but if that doesn't matter to you, the Galaxy A8 Star should exist on your listing if you're out shopping for a new smartphone.

Pros	Cons
Beautiful, sleek pattern	Bezels can exist smaller
Fantabulous AMOLED display	Fingerprint sensor is in a horrible location
Solid functioning	Hybrid SIM slot
Rear cameras perform well, especially for bokeh pictures	Loudspeaker is average
Forepart camera produces clean selfies	No Samsung Pay (only Samsung Pay mini)
Battery life is amazing	No water resistance

Source: https://www.sammobile.com/2018/08/30/samsung-galaxy-a8-star-review-price-specs

Posted by: handydampacked.blogspot.com

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