After a number of leaks that pretty much revealed everything about the A8 (2018) and A8+ (2018), the South Korean smartphone giant Samsung has finally made the two smartphones official. In a press release issued today, Samsung revealed that the A8 (2018) and A8+ (2018) will be available beginning early-January.

Galaxy A8 and A8+ are the first of the company’s 2018 A-series line-up, which would be getting at least a couple more phones over the coming months. The new smartphones are quite different from the last generation and pack a number of visual and under-the-hood improvements.

As you can see in the image above, the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) and Galaxy A8+ (2018) sport Infinity displays. The A8 has a 5.6-inch Super AMOLED screen and A8+ will come with 6-inch Super AMOLED screen. Both smartphones are powered by the same 2.2GHz octa-core Samsung Exynos 7885 processor. For the photography needs, Samsung has packed dual front camera on the phones with 16MP and 8MP sensors. There is a rear camera as well with 16MP sensor with LED flash.

Other common specifications between the A8 and A8+ are USB Type-C port, fast charging support, NFC, IP68 water/ dust resistance, and fingerprint sensor. The phones run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat and will most likely be getting the Android Oreo update sometime in 2018.

According to Samsung, the A8 will be offered in two storage variants – one with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage and the other with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The Galaxy A8+ will also be released in two storage variants – one with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage and the other with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. There will be single-SIM and dual-SIM versions of the phones as well.

“With the release of the Galaxy A8(2018) and A8+(2018), we’re bringing our customers’ favorite features from our flagship smartphones, such as the Infinity Display and our first Dual Front Camera with Live Focus, to our Galaxy A series, which is already known for its premium design”, said Junho Park, Vice President of Global Product Planning, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.

Pricing and availability

There is no word on the India pricing at this moment, but the A8 (2018) and A8+ (2018) will start at €499 and €599 respectively in Europe. Both phones will be available in four colors including black, orchid grey, gold and blue.

Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) and A8+ (2018) full specifications

• A8: 5.6-inch Super AMOLED screen with1080x2220p resolution and 18.5:9 aspect ratio; A8+: 6-inch Super AMOLED screen with 1080x2220p resolution and 18.5:9 aspect ratio
• 2.2GHz octa-core Samsung Exynos 7885 processor
• Android 7.1.1 operating system
• Dual front camera with 16MP (f1.9) and 8MP (f1.9) sensors as well as 16MP (f1.7) rear camera with LED flash
• NFC, Wifi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, ANT+, USB Type-C
• Fingerprint sensor
• A8: 3000 mAh battery; A8+: 3500 mAh battery
• A8: 4GB of RAM, 32/ 64GB of internal storage; A8+: 4/ 6GB of RAM, 32/ 64GB of internal storage, microSD card slot in both
• A8: 149.2 x 70.6 x 8.4 mm, 172 grams; A8+: 159.9 x 75.7 x 8.3 mm, 191 grams