Samsung releases Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A8+ in the UAE

Samsung has released the Galaxy A8 (2018) and the Galaxy A8+ in the UAE. While they're not quite the flagship products, the two phones definitely sit strong in upper mid-ranger segment.

Highlights of the phone include a 5.6-inch (Galaxy A8) and 6.0-inch (Galaxy A8+) 1,080 x 2,220 Super AMOLED Infinity Display with small bezels and a super-widescreen 18.5:9 aspect ratio. And it's an always-on display, so you can see the time and your notifications without waking the phone up.

Both the phones have a dual-lens 16MP and 8MP front-facing camera, letting you choose between close-ups or shots that fit more of the background in. There's also a single-lens 16MP camera on the back.

Like an S8

The design looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S8's, with IP68 dust and water resistance, a metal frame and curved glass on the back. There's plenty of power under the hood with an octa-core chipset with two cores clocked at 2.2GHz and six running at 1.6GHz.

The Galaxy A8 packs 4GB of RAM while the A8+ is available in 4GB and 6GB RAM configurations. Storage is set at 64GB for both the models with a MicroSD slot for adding more.

There's a 3,000mAh battery packed on the Galaxy A8 and a 3,500mAh on the Galaxy A8+ with support for fast charging.

Rounding out the specs there's a fingerprint scanner, NFC, support for Samsung Pay and even support for Gear VR – so you can get your virtual reality fix without having to buy a Samsung flagship. Disappointingly though, rather than Android Oreo the new phones run Android 7.1.1.

Still, other than the slightly dated operating system, both the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) and the Galaxy A8+ sound promising on paper.

Samsung has priced the Galaxy A8 at AED 1,799 and the Galaxy A8+ at AED 1,999 (excl VAT) and the units are available starting today in black, gold and orchid grey.