Entertainment
Samsung Galaxy A8+: The new flagship killer (Tech Review)
By Krishna SinhaChaudhury
New Delhi, Jan 23 (IANS) South Korean giant Samsung leads the pack when it comes to flagship Android smartphones, but Chinese smartphone players like OnePlus and Huawei’s e-brand Honor have until now ruled the popular Rs 30,000-Rs 40,000 segment in India.
With an aim to make a dent in their market share, Samsung has introduced the Galaxy A8+ for Rs 32,990 for 6GB RAM and 64GB on-board storage, which will compete with OnePlus 5T and Honor View 10.
Is it time for Samsung’s rivals to pull up their socks? Let us find out.
Take a glance at Galaxy A8+ and you’re sure to mistake it for the pricier flagship Galaxy Note 8. Well, at least from a distance.
Having said that, the device has lost the curved edges on the display and, at 8.3-mm, it is less thicker than the Note 8.
The smartphone makes use of shiny glass and metal for an ergonomic body. Without any creeks, the design is sturdy and has a premium feel to it.
It is not a slim device. However, the curved edges on the rear fit nicely in the palm.
Unlike the previous A-series devices, Samsung has increased the screen-to-body ratio by removing the home button and physical navigation keys.
The fingerprint sensor has been moved to the rear but unlike Note 8 and Galaxy S8, it sits below the camera sensor. The camera lens and scanner combine to make for an interesting soda can pull tab-like design.
We found the fingerprint sensor snappy, but the unlock animation was a bit slow.
The device sports a six-inch Full-HD Super AMOLED Infinity Display with 18.5:9 display ratio and skinny bezels which is great for immersive experience while watching videos or long gaming hours.
The display was bright with punchy colours and, as always, AMOLED made blacks look deep with great contrast. Viewing text and images under direct sunlight was a delight.
Samsung joins the bandwagon of selfie-centric smartphones with the device that sports a 16MP+8MP dual-front camera with f/1.9 aperture and returned high-quality photos.
Selfies were rich in detail and colours and the dual lenses made for great selfie shots with “bokeh” effect.
The 16MP primary camera with f/1.7 aperture and flash captured clear and vivid pictures in well-lit as well as the low-light conditions.
The lack of a secondary sensor on the rear was not much of a put-off as the camera blurred the background of the subject while shooting macros.
The camera app also includes “Bixby” vision that works like Google Lens and identifies objects once the lens is pointed at them.
The IP68 certification for water and dust resistance is worth mentioning here, which neither Honor View 10 nor OnePlus 5T offer.
Bucking the trend, the smartphone retains the 3.5-mm headphone jack that is housed alongside a USB Type-C port at the base.
Unlike Note 8 or S8 and S8+, the device does not house a bottom-firing speaker. It is loud and now sits on the right, making it a distinct design element.
Performance of the device was smooth, thanks to 6GB RAM and the company’s homegrown mid-range “Exynos 7885” octa-core chipset.
A generous 3,500mAh battery with fast-charging technology powers the smartphone which seemed to last longer than Honor View 10 that has a slightly bigger 3,750mAh battery.
We got more than a day’s life on moderate-to-heavy usage that included streaming videos on YouTube, running social media apps or playing games.
OnePlus 5T, on the other hand, houses only a 3,300mAh battery but its proprietary “Dash Charge” for quick charging was definitely faster.
What does not work?
The smartphone features Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS with Samsung’s custom skin “TouchWiz” on top. The fans of stock Android may not like the experience.
However, it is worth mentioning that the company has now revamped its “TouchWiz” with minimal bloatware.
Galaxy A8+ houses Samsung’s own Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based digital assistant Bixby. But for some reason, it is a toned-down version on Galaxy A8+.
Unlike Note 8, there is no dedicated Bixby button and no support for voice functionality and, thereby, no “Hi Bixby” as well.
Conclusion: Galaxy A8+ from Samsung gives some serious competition to Chinese rivals in terms of great build, performance and value for money. We would recommend the smartphone to those who do not want to spend hefty money on a flagship and yet want to own a premium-looking device.
(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
ksc/na/sac
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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