Samsung A8 Plus (2018) Review

By -
Finally purchased Samsung A8 Plus on the launch weekend on Jan 21, 2018 after getting frustrated with the need to keep rebooting my OnePlus One. As part of the launch, it was bundled with a 10,000 mAh power bank (which allows me to have two micro USB to USB-C adapter - one from the power bank and one that comes in the box) and 64 GB memory card. I planned to purchase A8 initially but bought the A8+ instead because of the additional memory (6 GB vs 4 GB) and storage. Difference between the two models are as follow:


A8
A8+
Battery
3000 mAh
3500 mAh
Weight
172g
191g
Screen
142.0mm
(5.6" full rectangle) /
140.2mm
(5.5" rounded corners)
153.6mm
(6.0" full rectangle) /
151.8mm
(6.0" rounded corners)
RAM
4GB
6GB
Storage
32GB
64GB
Price
RM1799
RM2499

Performance
Performance is great, I did not feel any lag even with after launching multiple applications. There a Device Maintenance options that allows me to clear the memory and also residual files. I noticed that the option to clear memory will not clear the recently opened applications (left software button at the bottom). Those applications will still occupy memory unless I clear it using the recently opened application options.

Split Screen

The recent application button can also be used to convert to split screen, allowing multiple applications on the foreground. It is a nice feature but when since the keyboard takes about ⅓ of the screen, it will cover most of the screen of the bottom application.
Battery

Battery is much better on this phone. In my previous phone, I had to charge the phone in the middle of the day but with this phone (if not the battery will be below 20%), I still have about 50% battery at 6 pm (starting with 97% at 6 am).

I had better battery life by keeping the phone on mobile data only (instead of mobile data and Wifi on). The battery life will probably depend on the stability of the signal.

Dual SIM with memory slot

The phone comes with SIM 1 + SIM 2 + MicroSD slots. Using both SIMs at the same time significantly reduces the life of the battery. Both slots use nano SIM. The tray feels fragile, probably not meant for frequent swapping.

Camera


In order to access the different modes for the camera, swap to the right when the camera is on. I did not know about this for the first month. Finally found it after some trial and error. Camera is speed is pretty fast. However, occasionally it is necessary to point on the object to force the focus. Majority of my photos were clear (but encountered a few blurred photos because I failed to force the focus).

Panorama mode:



I was not able to find the beauty mode (had it in Note 3 and also OnePlus One). Here are more photos taken using the phone.



Tried to get the flowing lights here but caught the plastic instead.


For Gif, only 20 frames are allowed. Unfortunately, the animation does not carry over in blogger.




HyperLapse mode is something new to me. Unfortunately, the animation does not carry over here, but you should be able to see the animation through this link.











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Removing Skin Tags

By -
Image
I do not remember when I skin tag first appeared on my neck. Skin tags may appear cosmetic, but I have some tags that feel sore, the kind of soreness that seem to come from the nerves. At first, I did not know what to do with the tags, but luckily for me, my wife came up with a way to remove the tags. She pulled a strand of her hair and tied the tag. The tag will turn black and fall off together with the hair. This approach was effective until my wife decided to shorten her hair and her eyesight started to deteriorate. Since then I tried looking for alternative ways of removing the skin tags. One of the approaches is to apply apple vinegar on the tags. I tried it, but it did not work for me, either because of the way I applied or because I had not applied it frequently enough (I applied it only at night because of the strong smell of the vinegar). I considered freezing the tag using hydrogen peroxide - treatment used to remove benign warts. The pharmacist recommended an alt...
Read more

Anime Review: Rakshasa Street

By -
Image
I recently watch this anime that was in Mandarin with English subtitle. The story revolves between a girl and two brothers. She met him while crossing the road without looking. He knocked her down and caused him to lose the food he was delivering. This chance encounter explains why she calls him and why he calls her stupid girl. The anime consist of 24 episodes. The development was good, the first episode focus on her looking for a job as a fresh graduate at a job fair (where thousand of others are doing the same thing). Later she receives a text to attend an interview at night. While walking towards the interview, she looked around and realized that the building looked spooky. She then started thinking of why a company would call her for an interview so late in the night - human traffickers or organ traders. By then she was lost in Rakshasa Street filled with demon soldiers. Turns out that she is in a place for the dead and humans are forbidden there. I enjoyed the story....
Read more

Movie Review: Zootopia

By -
Initially I was not interested in watching Zootopia in the cinema, but my son expressed interest in the movie. However, he was too busy with a lot of other activities and was unable to go with us. Instead I took my daughter with me to the movie. We loved it, the storytelling was great, it has mystery, plot twist and humor. We are first introduced to Judy Hopps, a bunny who wanted to the first rabbit to join the police force, but both her parents did not support the idea. They preferred that she continued the family tradition and remain a carrot farmer. Most would have succumbed to the pressure and give up the dream but not Judy. Her partner is Nick Wilde a fox; Judy fell for one of his scams during their first encounter, but managed to blackmail him to help her later in the movie. The movie makes good use of stereotypes in the story, showing how societies prejudice pressures makes some of these stereotypes, self fulfilling (as in the case of Nick). Judy and Nick reminds me of 48 h...
Read more