So the question goes: today, should you buy a Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) or should you buy the year-old Samsung Galaxy S8?
While conventional wisdom tells you that a flagship is always better
and that the mid-range option is always cheaper, there's quite a bit
more to this question at first glance. As unintuitive as it sounds,
these two phones are actually competing with each other, so people in
the market for one or the other should take some time to ponder their
options.
First, it's important to note that Samsung has gotten into the groove
of making its previous year's flagship features available in the
current year's mid-range offerings. This is exactly the case with this
year's Samsung Galaxy A8 and last year's Galaxy S8. The two are
practically peas in a pod, with much of the same selling points. There
are still some minor differences, but the two phones show off the same
beautiful Samsung glass-back design, with large 18:9 displays and very
capable cameras. The crux of the matter is this: the Galaxy A8 (2018)
should cost around INR 31,000, while the Galaxy S8 is a scant INR 53,900
away. Do you get a brand-new phone cheaper, or do you get an older
flagship-level phone for just a couple thousand more?
The new Galaxy A8 has Samsung's new Exynos 7885 chipset with an
octa-core processor at 2.2Ghz, packs 4GB to 6 GB of RAM, and has 64 GB
of internal storage. By the numbers, that's just a smidgen less powerful
than the Galaxy S8's Exynos 8895 processor (or alternately a Snapdragon
835) clocked at 2.3 Ghz, with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. In
terms of real-world use, you won't see much difference between these
two, even if you opt for the more generous 6 GB of RAM on the Galaxy A8.
The real decider might be the prowess of the cameras. The Galaxy S8
has one of the better cameras the smartphone world has seen, but it's
still a single-camera solution with a 12-megapixel f/1.7 aperture lens.
The Galaxy A8 has a similar single-camera lens, but it's bumped up to
16-megapixels and f/1.7 aperture. Don't let the numbers deceive you,
though; the Galaxy A8 camera is slightly less capable and can only shoot
up to 1080p for video, whereas the Galaxy S8 can go all the way to 4K.
Further, the low-light performance of the Galaxy S8's camera is
significantly better than the Galaxy A8's.
On the other hand, the Galaxy A8 has a dual-camera setup for its
front camera, which takes significantly more compelling selfie portraits
with Bokeh effects compared to the Galaxy S8's single camera solution.
So, on one hand you have a cheaper Galaxy A8 (2018) with slightly
less performance, a less capable main camera, but a better selfie
configuration. On the other you have the slightly more expensive Galaxy
S8 with better flagship specifications, a better main camera, but less
capable front camera. Is one worth more than the other? We've laid out
the facts, the decision is ultimately yours. Which phone would you
rather have?
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