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Galaxy A8 specs comparison vs A5 and S8

By Daniel Petrov

Published: Dec 19, 2017, 4:19 AM

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The A8+ is taller but narrower than the A7 (2017), resembling the S8+ design

Samsung just lifted the veil over its midrange warriors for next year, the Galaxy A8 and A8+, and the fact that on the exterior they resemble much more the Galaxy S8 and S8+ than their A5 and A7 predecessors made us include the flagship in this specs comparison as well

For starters, the phones sport Samsung's Infinity Design, as they are taller and narrower than their predecessors, yet sport larger display diagonals. The screens are with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio, though, so that's something to consider - even though the 5.6" display sounds larger than the 5.2" one on the A5 (2017), in terms of area they are pretty similar. What the Inifnity display design does is improve the screen-to-body ratio with trimmed top and bottom bezels, but even then it gives way to the execution on the Galaxy S8, which shaves off its bezels much more than the A8, for instance.

Surprisingly enough, the new midrangers ship with as much RAM as this year's flagships, so Samsung better step up its random access memory game for the S9 and S9+. When it comes to horsepower, though, the unnamed octa-core Exynos that is in the A8 and A8+ seems to be a newer model compared to the 7880 in the A5 and A7, with two fast 2.2GHz cores and six frugal 1.6 GHz ones. Last year the A5 and A7 had the most impressing battery lives not only among their peers, but among all popular phones, and he fact that Samsung stuffed a 3000mAh and outfitting the A8 and A8+ with the same capacities, but an eventually more frugal processor, should at least repeat the achievement, so we can't wait to run those two through our battery test.

Last but not least, the camera situation is improved compared to the A5 and A7, as the A8 duo sports the same 16MP camera resolution, but with wider f/1.7 aperture which should help in low-light that was the Achilles heel of their predecessors. Moreover, the A8 and A8+ come with dual selfie cameras, where they beat both last year's midrangers, and this year's flagships from Samsung, at least in theory, we'll see how they perform in practice.


Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)	Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)	Samsung Galaxy S8

Design

Dimensions
5.87 x 2.78 x 0.33 inches 149.2 x 70.6 x 8.4 mm	5.75 x 2.81 x 0.31 inches 146.1 x 71.4 x 7.9 mm	5.86 x 2.68 x 0.31 inches 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0 mm
Weight
6.07 oz (172.0 g)	5.61 oz (159.0 g)	5.47 oz (155.0 g)
Materials
Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5) Frame: Aluminum	Back: Glass Frame: Metal	Back: Glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5) Frame: Aluminum
Resistance
Water, Dust; IP68	Water, Dust; IP68	Water, Dust; IP68
Biometrics
Fingerprint (touch)	Fingerprint (touch)	Iris scanner, 2D Face unlock, Fingerprint (touch)
Features
Notification light	Touch sensitive control keys
Keys
Left: Volume control; Right: Lock/Unlock key	Left: Volume control; Right: Lock/Unlock key	Left: Volume control, Other; Right: Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Black, Gold, Orchid grey, Blue	Black sky, Gold sand, Blue mist, Peach cloud	Midnight black, Orchid gray, Arctic silver, Coral blue, Maple gold, Rose pink, Burgundy red

Display

Size
5.6-inch	5.2-inch	5.8-inch
Resolution
2220x1080px, 18.5:9 ratio, 441 PPI	1920x1080px, 424 PPI	2960x1440px, 18.5:9 ratio, 570 PPI
Technology
Super AMOLED	Super AMOLED	Super AMOLED
Screen-to-body
75.60 %	71.51 %	84.26 %
Features
Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 4), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor	HDR support, Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 5), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 7885 (14 nm)	Samsung Exynos 7 Octa 7880 (14 nm)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 MSM8998 (10 nm)
Processor
Octa-core 2200 MHz ARM Cortex-A73 and ARM Cortex-A53	Octa-core 1900 MHz ARM Cortex-A53	Octa-core 2350 MHz Kryo 280
GPU
Mali-G71	Mali-T830 MP3	Adreno 540
RAM
4GB (LPDDR4)	3GB (LPDDR3)	4GB (LPDDR4)
Internal storage
64GB	32GB, available to use: 23.1 GB	64GB
Storage expansion
microSDXC up to 256 GB	microSDXC up to 256 GB	microSDXC up to 256 GB
OS
Android (9.0 Pie, 8.0 Oreo, 7.1 Nougat), Samsung One UI	Android (8.0 Oreo, 7.0 Nougat, 6.0 Marshmallow)	Android (9.0 Pie, 8.0 Oreo, 7.0 Nougat), Samsung One UI

Battery

Capacity
3000 mAh	3000 mAh	3000 mAh
Type
Li - Polymer	Li - Ion	Li - Ion
Charging
Fast charging	Fast charging	Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, Qi and Powermat wireless charging

Camera

Rear
Single camera	Single camera	Single camera
Main camera
16 MP (PDAF) Aperture size: F1.7	16 MP (Autofocus, CMOS image sensor) Aperture size: F1.9 Focal length: 27 mm	12 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 1.4 μm
Flash
LED	LED	LED
Video recording
1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps) Hyperlapse, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing	1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps) Video calling, Video sharing	3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 2560x1440 (QHD), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (240 fps) HDR, Time-lapse video, Hyperlapse, Continuous autofocus, Object tracking, Picture-taking during video recording, Video light, EIS, Video calling, Video sharing
Front
16 MP (Dual-Camera), Video capture: 1920x1080 (Full HD)	16 MP	8 MP (Wide Angle, Autofocus, HDR), Video capture: 2560x1440 (QHD)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
5.0	4.2	5.0, Yes
WLAN
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot	802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band Wi-Fi Direct	802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
USB
Type-C, USB 2.0	Type-C, USB 2.0	Type-C, USB 3.1
Hearing aid compatible
		M3/T3
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou	GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDou, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Barometer
Other
NFC, ANT+, VoIP, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync	NFC, ANT+, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling), Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync	NFC, ANT+, UMA (Wi-Fi Calling), Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack	3.5mm jack	3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Loudspeaker	Earpiece, Loudspeaker	Earpiece, Loudspeaker
Features
Album art cover, Background playback	Album art cover, Background playback	32-Bit DAC, aptX-HD
Screen mirroring
Wireless screen share	Wireless screen share	DLNA,Wireless screen share,MHL
Radio
FM	FM
Additional microphone(s)
Noise cancellation	Noise cancellation	Noise cancellation, Video recording

Cellular

4G (FDD)
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 66(AWS-3)	Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 17(700 b), 20(800 DD), 28(700 APT)	Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 13(700 c), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 26(850+), 28(700 APT), 29(700 d), 30(2300 WCS), 66(AWS-3)
4G (TDD)
Bands 38(2600), 40(2300), 41(2600+)	Bands 38(2600), 40(2300), 41(2600+)	Bands 38(2600), 39(1900+), 40(2300), 41(2600+)
3G
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 8(900)	Bands 5(850), 8(900), 4(1700/2100), 2(1900), 1(2100)	Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 5(850), 8(900)
Data Speed
LTE-A Cat 11 (600/75 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA	LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSPA	LTE-A Pro Cat 16 (1000/150 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS
Dual SIM
Yes	Yes
SIM type
Nano SIM	Nano SIM	Nano SIM
HD Voice
		Yes

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Nov 14, 2017 FCC ID value: A3LSMA530F	Date approved: Dec 06, 2016 FCC ID value: A3LSMA520F	Date approved: Apr 06, 2017 FCC ID value: A3LSMG950U
Measured SAR
Head: 0.26 W/kg Body: 0.76 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.54 W/kg Wireless Router: 0.98 W/kg	Head: 0.30 W/kg Body: 0.55 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg Wireless Router: 1.09 W/kg	Head: 0.49 W/kg Body: 0.48 W/kg Simultaneous Transmission: 1.53 W/kg Wireless Router: 0.46 W/kg

Availability

Officially announced
Dec 19, 2017	Jan 02, 2017	Mar 29, 2017

See the full Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) vs Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) vs Samsung Galaxy S8 specs comparison or compare them to other phones using our Phone Comparison tool

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.