The Galaxy A8 Will Be Samsung’s Best Phone For Most People

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No curved display, no notch, no crazy price, and a headphone jack.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is shaping up to be the most advanced, best looking and probably most expensive phone of 2019. But it will likely drop the headphone jack in favor of its sleek ultra-thin curved design.

Fortunately, there’s a solid alternative that solves the S10 problems: the Galaxy A8 2019.

Credit: All About Samsung

(Image credit: All About Samsung)

As you can see in these renders — created by German blog All About Samsung — the A8 will have an Infinity-O screen, a display made with a laser drilling technology called HIAA (Hole in Active Area) that will be exclusive to the Korean company’s phones for a while.

That means no notch, just a tiny hole to let the selfie camera see through — a true full-screen design with no moving parts, unlike the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 or the Honor Magic 2. On the bottom there will be a bit of a bezel, though.

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However, instead of being curved like the two top Samsung Galaxy S10 models and the special 10th anniversary Samsung Galaxy S10 with 5G connectivity, this display will be flat. The S10 Lite will allegedly have the same flat Infinity-O display, but it will have other features that will make it a lot more expensive than the A8.

Credit: All About Samsung

(Image credit: All About Samsung)

It will not have a quad-camera on the back, like the A9. According to the German blog, there will be a tri-sensor camera system like the Galaxy A7, with a LED flash under the sensors. Nearby, on the center, is an oval-shaped fingerprint sensor. The Galaxy A7 has its finger sensor on the side power button.

The 2019 A8 will probably share another thing with the just-announced A7 and A9: a 3.5mm headphone jack. That’s something that Samsung will reportedly eliminate soon in its flagships, as the wireless headphone industry booms.

And instead of costing $720 for the base system — like the Galaxy S9 — you will probably be able to grab the A8 for just $450. While it’s not as good as a Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 or the Nubia X, which have a similar price tag, $450 is not bad at all for a phone with these features.

Since the 2018 Samsung Galaxy A8 was announced on December 2017 and commercially available in January 2019, we can expect the same to happen with the A8, which was hinted at the October Galaxy A9 launch event.

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Jesus Diaz
Jesus Diaz

Jesus Diaz founded the new Sploid for Gawker Media after seven years working at Gizmodo, where he helmed the lost-in-a-bar iPhone 4 story and wrote old angry man rants, among other things. He's a creative director, screenwriter, and producer at The Magic Sauce, and currently writes for Fast Company and Tom's Guide.