Samsung has launched four new smartphones in India today, all of them sporting the company's Super AMOLED Infinity displays. What's surprising here is that the company, in addition to bringing the Galaxy J6, Galaxy A6, and Galaxy A6+ to the country, has also unveiled the Galaxy J8. The Galaxy J8 will be going on sale in India in July, so it looks like Samsung has simply taken the opportunity to make it official today and could be releasing it worldwide later on with the Galaxy J8+.
Galaxy J6, Galaxy J8, Galaxy A6, Galaxy A6+ pricing in India
The Galaxy J6, Galaxy A6, and Galaxy A6+, meanwhile, will hit offline and online retail stores starting tomorrow, May 22nd. The Galaxy J6 will be exclusive to Flipkart, and the Galaxy A6 and A6+ will be available from Amazon, in addition to Samsung's official online store. Pricing is set at Rs. 25,990, Rs 22,990 and Rs 21,990 for the Galaxy A6+, the Galaxy A6 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, and the Galaxy A6 with 4GB RAM and 32GB storage respectively. The Galaxy J6 will cost Rs. 16,490 for the 4GB+64GB variant and Rs. 13,990 for the 3GB+32GB variant.
The Galaxy J8's pricing for India has been revealed as well despite the fact that it won't be releasing until July. It will cost Rs. 18,990 and will only come in a single variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. As usual, Samsung is including a few purchase offers. There's a Rs. 3,000 cashback on payment through Paytm Mall at local retailers for the A6 and A6+, Rs. 1,500 cashback for the J6 and J8, and an additional cashback of Rs. 1,500 for the Galaxy J6 and J8 for those using an ICICI debit or credit card through Paytm.
Oh, and there's also a one-time screen replacement offer for purchases made till June 20th. Samsung isn't saying how much the screen replacement will cost, but it's likely to be a fraction of the usual price for screen replacements instead of being completely free. Color options for all four phones will include blue, black, and gold.
Galaxy J6, Galaxy J8, Galaxy A6, Galaxy A6+ specs and features
Now, as far as the specs are concerned, the Galaxy A6 and A6+ offer the same hardware as the international models announced earlier this month. The same goes for the Galaxy J6, the specs for which we had leaked earlier. As for the Galaxy J8, it's similar to the Galaxy A6+ in all but two areas: It gets a 16-megapixel front camera instead of a 24MP front camera, and has a polycarbonate unibody instead of the metal unibody of the A6 and A6+. The Galaxy J6 has a polycarbonate unibody as well, as we had confirmed in our exclusive pre-launch look at the device. Features common to all devices include a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, face unlock, and Samsung Mall, which lets users in India shop from various online stores from a single app.
Before we forget, Samsung has also equipped these devices with another feature developed specifically for the Indian market. It's called Chat-Over-Video and is focused on those who tend to use their phones for social networking and watching videos above all else. With Chat-Over-Video, you will be able to watch full-screen video on your device while chatting with your friends and family using a transparent keyboard. It's unclear exactly how this will work, but we will hopefully be able to take a look soon on a review unit.
All of these phones run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box, and we're just gonna throw in Samsung India's official spec list below so you can see how the specs compare for each device. For more details on the specs, visit our devices section.
Specs | Galaxy A6 | Galaxy A6+ | Galaxy J6 | Galaxy J8 |
Processor | Exynos 7 Series | Snapdragon 450 | Exynos 7 Series | Snapdragon 450 |
Display | 5.6” HD+ | 6” FHD+ | 5.6” HD+ | 6” HD+ |
Super AMOLED | Super AMOLED | Super AMOLED | Super AMOLED | |
Rear Camera | 16MP (f/1.7) | 16MP (f/1.7)+5MP (f/1.9) | 13MP (f/1.9) | 16MP (f/1.7)+5MP (f/1.9) |
Front Camera | 16MP (f/1.9) | 24MP (f/1.9) | 8MP (f/1.9) | 16MP (f/1.9) |
Flash | w/ Front & Rear LED Flash | w/ Front & Rear LED Flash | w/ Front & Rear LED Flash | w/ Front & Rear LED Flash |
Memory | 4GB + 32GB/4GB + 64GB | 4GB + 64GB | 3GB + 32GB/4GB + 64GB | 4GB + 64GB |
microSD slot (up to 256GB) | microSD slot (up to 256GB) | microSD slot (up to 256GB) | microSD slot (up to 256GB) | |
Battery | 3000 mAh | 3500 mAh | 3000 mAh | 3500 mAh |
OS | Android O | Android O | Android O | Android O |
Design | Metal Unibody | Metal Unibody | Polycarbonate Unibody | Polycarbonate Unibody |
MOP (Rs.) | 21,990 (32GB), 22,990 (64GB) | 25,990 | 13,990 (3/32GB), 16,490 (4/64GB) | 18,990 |