At the beginning of the year, OPPO was one of the first cabs off the rank with its latest flagship device, the R11s.
It was a major progression for one of Asia's biggest phone brands, because while last year's phones took pretty great pics, especially selfies, the user experience left a little to be desired.
Well, it's only August and OPPO has taken another giant leap forward...
The R15s PRO is a thing of beauty - and not just because it comes in Ruby Red, although the way it catches the light is truly mesmerising. You can choose Cosmic Purple if that's more your style and to be frank, it looks pretty damn fine too.
Whereas previous OPPO's seemed to make a deliberate effort to imitate the latest iPhone, the R15s Pro finally seems to have its own personality and it truly is stunning to look at. The glass back and steel bezels all feel like pure luxury.
Given all this, it seems quaintly retro to find both a headphone jack and a microUSB charging port instead of the USB Type-C version pretty much every new release phone has moved to now. Apparently, OPPO's amazingly fast VOOC flash charger is only designed for microUSB, so probably worth it for the impressively quick top-up. In saying that, can't the VOOC designers just redesign it?
On the subject of headphone jacks, I'm pretty relaxed either way although I know some people think forcing customers to use bluetooth connected listening devices is some kind of crime against humanity, so having that hole there will be good news for them.
The other controversial issue for high-end phone users right now is the notch. This is where the massive 6.28 inch screen stretches past the camera and speaker at the top of the phone to make the most of the forward-facing real estate. It's great to have your notification banner up there out of the way... when you're using the phone in portrait mode. Turn the phone sideways and things get a bit screwy. Some notched phones figure out you're watching full screen content and blank out the notch bar accordingly - not so with the R15s Pro. That means if you're watching movies or TV, there'll literally be a notch out of the picture on one side. Hard to know if these issues are up to OPPO or the app developers to solve, I just hope someone does, because other than that, this phone is one of the best looking in town.
The launcher/home screen setup is still a bit of an iOS throwback - no app drawer, just pages of icons. This is always easily remedied with my favourite launcher, Nova. However, once you actually start using this device, prepare to be impressed with its speed and power. The specs compare extremely favourably with just about every other phone on the market. A more than healthy 2.2GHz octa core processor, a whopping 6GB of RAM and 128GB is plenty of storage.
While I had run into a few stuttering issues on previous models, I experienced none of that this time round. Apps opened quickly and ran reliably - especially when I figured out how to ignore battery optimisation settings for the ones I wanted to keep running in the background.
The R15s Pro introduces a new range of gesture controls, a combination of swipes from different places on the screen instead of the more traditional home and go back buttons. While quite different to other phones, these didn't take long to get used to and I actually found them pretty intuitive. The operating system, ColorOS 5.0, is a major upgrade and a real breath of fresh air, although I was often disappointed to find the app I was using didn't support split-screen use - perhaps another opportunity for OPPO and developers to sit down and improve the functionality.
In short, the R15s Pro is the first OPPO that hasn't made me feel like I'm using a phone developed for a completely different market that's forcing itself to fit with New Zealand conditions.
What I've never had an issue with is OPPO's photographic functionality. OPPO has consistently impressed me with its forward facing cameras and it was using an OPPO when I first discovered I could take a self portrait that wasn't totally hideous. the R15s Pro steps things up yet again, with lots of AI doing some hard work behind the scenes to produce extremely clear and vivid shots from both front and rear (dual lens) cameras, even in poor light.
I mean, tell me that's not the best picture of beans you've ever seen.
The 20MP selfie-cam introduces a new level of 3D facial recognition, which not only enables a damn fast face unlock feature, but also means you can do those silly live AR stickers if that's your jam. More importantly, you can now shoot selfies in HDR which makes bad light much less of an issue.
Perhaps the camera configuration on the R15s Pro isn't technically the best around, but for a pictorial numbskull like me, it's certainly the best available for the price.
At $899, it's far from the cheapest OPPO ever released, but that's probably because there's absolutely nothing cheap about it. The feel, the user experience, the power and the cameras, all genuinely first class.
Oh, and did I mention you can get it in red? Oh boy.
As for the photos, just look at the beans and get back to me.
Click here for more information on the OPPO R15s Pro
I've been slack.
I've always heard good things about Sony Xperias, but I've never actually tried one.
So I thought I'd make up for it... by trying two at once...
The Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact from Sony are all class. They are smooth, black and sexy. They have Sony written on the front and Xperia on the back and everything else is minimalistic, stylish and cool.
To look at, the full-sized XZ2 is perhaps slightly more classy than the Compact, because it's encased in glass, front and back. The Compact's rear casing is a brushed-metal feel plastic, which has its own advantages because it's nowhere near as slippery as the all-glass finish.
The unusual thing about Sony's latest combo is that in terms of specifications, other than screen size (and obviously, actual size) these two phones are almost identical.
The screens themselves, although one is 5.7" and one just 5" are otherwise identical - and they might be the most sensitive to the touch I've ever... touched. It's hard to put into words exactly why I found the experience of swiping, pinching and pressing these displays so pleasant. It's almost as though they felt soft, like there was some give. Maybe this is exactly what Sony is going for with its "TRILUMINOS" technology. If anything, the screens were almost too responsive and I did occasionally open the wrong app by mistake with my fat fingers.
They don't just feel nice, of course - the displays display superbly, which is what you would expect from an outfit like Sony, famous for cool tellies and even cooler gaming consoles. It's that sort of behind-the-scenes techie know-how that also shines through in terms of sheer processing grunt and smooth operation generally.
The Xperia O.S. is very close to a stock Android experience, with only a few native Sony apps pre-installed. As usual, the home or lock screens don't rotate into landscape mode, but hardly anyone's ever does. There's a familiar app-drawer and on-screen navigation key set-up. All this stuff is the same for both handsets.
One big difference is charging - the larger, glassier XZ2 offers, wait for it, WIRELESS CHARGING! Thank the lord and hallelujah! Finally someone other than Samsung and Apple have come to my wireless charging party. In saying that, battery life on both models is good without being outstanding, again with a similar performance from both phones, despite the Compact's smaller battery. (Smaller display means less drain, I guess)
Good work on the wireless charging Sony, but I have to pull you up on your stupid little light. I'm begging all phone makers out there... if you MUST ruin your beautiful design with a charging LED, at least give me the option to turn it off if I don't want it! And believe me; I don't want it. Even tiny little lights illuminate dark bedrooms in the middle of the night. At least I can stop it blinking for notifications.
The XZ2's are certainly not cheap; $1299 and $1049... so you would expect premium performance and features, which is indeed what you get, for the most part. Although both only offer 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, as I've already pointed out, these phones really fizz along.
The only obvious downside is the camera. Neither phone offers a dual lens set-up, either front or back, so there are nowhere near the photo features many other phones in this price range have to offer. That's not to say the XZ2's don't take good pics... generally I found the results sharp and detailed, but perhaps a little dull colour-wise, especially in dark conditions.
There are a few tricks though, including the option to render 3D portraits of yourself or your friends, although it wasn't exactly clear what I was supposed to use the 3D me for once I'd created him. Fun though.
So a slightly underwhelming camera experience is probably all that keeps these two phones from being genuine flagship heavyweight contenders - but then again, that's probably why they're a few hundred dollars cheaper than those dual and even tri-lens options.
Conversely, sound quality is right back up there with the best I've tried - again, what else would you expect from a major AV brand like Sony?
Other than that, the choice is really between sizes; unless, like me, wireless charging is an essential requirement, both phones function so similarly, how big a screen you need becomes the deciding factor - that and the $250 price difference of course.
Click here for more information and pricing on the Sony Xperia XZ2
Click here for more information and pricing on the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
So your teen has dropped their phone. Again. Now the camera's not working properly. Or the screen's cracked. Or they did it on purpose to try and get a new one.
They don't deserve a $1000+ replacement.
But maybe there's an alternative that'll keep everyone happy...
Seems like mid-range phones are now offering so many premium features, calling them mid-range is kind of insulting.
The Huawei nova 3e is a classic example.
Technically, this phone is the P20 Lite - but I suspect it's such a good phone, the powers-that-be have decided to re-name it because there's nothing much "lite" about it.
First up, the nova 3e is a really eye-catching device, especially in Klein Blue (also available in Midnight Black) It has metal edges but a glass-covered back which catches the light in the most dazzling way. This mesmerising effect even worked after I fitted the transparent case included in the box.
Although the display is 5.84 inches, which is getting up there, it certainly doesn't feel like a large phone in your hand, due mostly to the narrow bezels and lack of physical buttons on the front. This all results in a very good screen to body ratio, enhanced further by the increasingly popular "notch" design at the top of the display.
This is the first time I've encountered the notch on a phone in this price range, but it seems to be becoming the norm. I didn't love it at first, but I have to concede you may as well stick your notification bar up there so you can use the rest of your screen for more interesting things. Like some (but not all) other phones with notches, you can choose to blank it out if it's not for you.
The nova 3e sports 64GB of built-in storage, which again is quite unusual for a sub-$500 handset. This is expandable up to 256GB with the addition of a microSD card. While we're talking numbers, the 4GB of RAM seems to keep things ticking along nicely and although the Kirin 659 processor isn't the most powerful Huawei has to offer, overall my user experience was pretty smooth. Things started to get a little clunky if I was really pushing the envelope - for example, streaming video while downloading other files, but nothing like the freezes and crashes I've endured on other "lite" versions of flagship phones I've reviewed in the past.
While there are few mid-range phones with fingerprint sensors, the nova 3e is the first one I've come across with facial recognition. What's more, it works and it works fast. Just like the much higher-priced P20, the face unlock even functions in landscape, which is great for me because that's how I have it positioned in my car holder. One small hint for new users of this device - if you've activated facial recognition, the phone will hide the content of any notifications on your lock-screen. Don't panic, this can be changed in the face lock settings, although it took me a fair amount of Googling to figure out.
Other than that, the EMUI-over-Android 8.0 user interface will be pretty familiar to previous Huawei users, with a choice of an iPhone-style all icon home screen, or the more logical app-drawer configuration. As usual with Huawei, battery optimisation is pretty damn aggressive and you might find some apps you want to keep running in the background keep turning off automatically. Like the lock-screen notifications, there is a setting for this but again, it's not easy to find. Type "ignore battery" into the settings search box and you'll figure it out from there.
While this is a medium-sized handset with a medium-sized battery, I found there was still plenty of charge left by the end of the day and the more-modern Type-C USB charging cable is another bonus that sets the nova 3e apart from many other devices in the mid-range pack.
The camera configuration is yet another feature of the nova 3e that belies its price-tag. For starters, this time last year only top-of-the-line phones offered dual-lens rear-facing cameras. Even then, only a few did. Now this $499 device can take some seriously crisp shots from distance in relatively low light. Obviously we're not talking the market-leading, A.I. assisted performance of the tri-lensed P20 Pro, but I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the photos from this phone compared to any other I've tried in this price bracket. While some camera operations were a little slow to react, functions like the instant shot you can take by double-pressing the down volume key worked in under a second.
As for the selfie lens, you can't really ask for more than the nova 3e's 16MP camera, with plenty of portrait effects and filters on offer.
Not hard to understand why demand for phones like these is expanding exponentially - Spark tells me the mid-range market has doubled in size over the last four months alone.
If you're part of that growing crowd, make sure you take a good look at the Huawei nova 3e - there aren't many high-end features missing but there are certainly many hundreds missing off the price.
Click here for more information and pricing on the Huawei nova 3e
Just when you were getting used to the idea Nokia is back on the New Zealand market with the very reliable and good-value Nokia 6.1 - they've released another option...
The Nokia 7 plus is even more striking than the 6.1 with the same copper highlights but a much wider copper band right round the edge of the device. It's probably a matter of personal preference, but I find this a real touch of class and it certainly makes the phone stand out beside other boring-black or all-gold competitors.
Like the 6.1, the 7 plus is molded from a solid block of aluminum and it also has that heritage feel of durability we've all associated with Nokia devices over the years. I haven't dropped it on a snowy European road like they do in the promotional video on the Nokia website, but it certainly feels like it would survive a little bit of rough treatment.
What's more, there's a clear case included in the box. Normally I wouldn't make to much of this, but it's actually a very well-designed case that still manages to show off the Nokia 7 plus' unique copper accents.
One thing accented in copper is the camera, which, as you can see from the image above, is actually two things. Yes, the 7 plus boasts a Zeiss dual-lens rear camera configuration which takes great photos inside and out. The camera setup is designed to achieve a better low-light result, and also offers an effect called "Live Bokeh", which lets you adjust the amount of blur on the parts of your picture you're not focused on.
Once focused on your subject, you also have the option to adjust the brightness of the shot - this worked well enough, although I didn't find the on-screen slider control very responsive. I took some really good pics with this camera and the bokeh is both easy and fun to use, as demonstrated below...
The selfie camera is a significant upgrade over the 6.1 too - twice the MegaPixels and it seemed to perform better in low light too. The beauty effect didn't make me unnaturally beautiful, even when wound all the way up. This is a relief because it's a feature that can be overly aggressive on many other handsets. "Live Bokeh" is available on this camera too, along with the "Bothie" option the Nokia 6.1 introduced us to - a side by side picture or video featuring shots from both forward and rear-facing cameras at once. The major photographic limitation here is zoom quality - neither of those dual-lenses are telescopic, so once you get past 3X or so, your close-ups start to lose quality.
Again, as the 7 plus also runs on the androidone operating system, the Google virtual assistant seems ready and waiting at all times. Today I've asked it for the opening hours at the local Farmers and what the Warriors score was - I got an instant and correct response both times. I've also found the Google virtual assistant invaluable this week as a text scanner - there have been several times when I needed to send or print a document I only had in hard copy. Not a problem for the virtual assistant. It recognised the text in photos and screen shots so I could copy it and distribute accordingly. I've used Samsung's Bixby Vision the same way, but my impression is Google is faster and more accurate.
The speaker on the bottom edge is far more powerful than the one on the Nokia 6.1, and I'm actually quite enjoying Charlie Puth's new album through it as I write this - it's pretty loud and seems to have a reasonably wide frequency response.
As you'd expect, you get more processing power with the 7 plus, and while the 6.1 ran smoothly enough (probably due in part to the stripped back androidone OS) there's a noticeable increase in sheer grunt with this one. The whole phone is bigger, of course - it's a 6" display with the more modern 18:9 aspect ratio. It doesn't feel bulky though, as the edges are more rounded than on the 6.1. You get twice the storage with the 7 plus too - 64GB plus whatever you want to add into the microSD slot.
What really blew me away was the battery life. Due to some complicated work commitments, I was up at 2am yesterday and when I hit the hay at around 10pm, I noticed the battery percentage was still at 55%. That's after being connected to a smart watch all day, not to mention several hours playing bluetooth audio via my car stereo and earbuds. That's up there with some of the best performing handsets I've reviewed.
In fact, everything about the Nokia 7 plus stacks up with the high-end big name phones; it looks good, it's powerful and runs smoothly, has plenty of storage and amazing battery life. No, the camera is not the absolute best on the market, but it still takes great pics. Meanwhile, the Google virtual assistant may well be the most useful I've tried.
Sadly, unlike early Nokia smart phones, there's no wireless charging option and there's no IP rating listed on the spec sheet, so it's probably not very waterproof.
Taking those minor pitfalls into account, this is still a $1200 phone, no question. The good news is; it's only $699.
Click here for more information and pricing on the Nokia 7 plus...
I have a confession to make. My first smart phone was a Nokia. That's not the confession. The confession is; I really loved that phone.
In those days, Nokia was using a Windows O.S. which actually worked really well, but made Android and iOS users laugh at me because there was very little content available in terms of apps.
A shame really, because the phone was solid, reliable and had a fantastic camera.
Things have changed. Nokia is back...
The moment I picked the Nokia 6.1 up out of its box, I was reminded of that first smart phone experience all over again. As usual, Nokia has constructed a handset that feels durable - tough even - yet looks modern and elegant.
The brushed aluminium unibody is a welcome relief from the fingerprint-fest of some of the other all-glass devices around at the moment, while the contrasting copper edges are just... styley as.
Yes, I really like the look and feel of this phone. The question is, can Nokia still come up with a device that performs as well as the other big brands in this price range?
The Nokia 6.1 boasts the latest in processing technology and 3GB of ram seems plenty to keep it ticking along nicely.
While it's essentially just another Android phone, the 6.1 comes with Android 8.1.0 straight out of the box, which is pretty much unheard of for a device in this price bracket.
The U.I. itself is called androidone, and the Nokia 6.1 is the first phone to offer it in New Zealand.
Essentially, androidone is about the most stripped-down interface you could ask for, with nothing but the basic suite of Google apps pre-installed. The phone is a veritable blank slate, waiting for you to set it up the way that suits you best, almost an anti-iPhone in a way.
For example, the default home screen, which is basically a new version of Google's Now Launcher, offers 6 different choices of icon shape alone. Obviously I chose squircles, because squircle is just the coolest word ever.
This simple but effective U.I. works smoothly and quickly - apps won't fire up with quite the lightning speed you'll experience on those $1000+ flagship phones, but the Nokia 6.1 certainly isn't far behind, and features like multi-window are only one long press away. While the 5.5" display isn't huge, it's plenty big enough to make the most of two apps at once.
There's a couple of big advantages with the Nokia 6.1 running androidone. The update policy, (Google guarantees at least two years of updates) and unlimited high quality photo storage on Google Photos - something pretty useful given there is only 32GB of built-in storage. (Although this can be expanded via micro SD)
So far I've found battery life to be good, without being great - despite Google's claims androidone works hard to keep prevent apps draining power in the background. The good news is a fast charger is included in the box and it connects via USB Type-C - more flagship features at the Nokia 6.1's midrange price.
I've also been impressed by the bluetooth connectivity - speakers, cars, watches, earbuds, everything paired easily and stayed connected reliably.
The fingerprint sensor is not as accurate or as fast as I would like, but at least it's in the right place - in the middle on the back.
The camera setup seems to be the major compromise on this handset. I really struggled to take consistently high-quality shots, with either the rear or front facing cameras. Ironically, the camera interface is perhaps too stripped back and I found I was missing easily accessible settings like selective focus and brightness controls. I was surprised because the cameras are Carl Zeiss designed and admittedly, some photos were crisp and clear, but it was a bit hit and miss.
However...
There were two photo features I hadn't encountered before - you can take "bothies" with the Nokia 6.1, a side-by side shot that uses both cameras at once. This feature is available for both stills and video, so you can capture your reaction while you capture someone else's.
The other unusual photographic trick really took me by surprise, literally as I was writing this review. I just got a notification from Google Photos telling me it had created a "Stylized Photo" for me. Apparently, the Google Photos Assistant wasn't satisfied with this photo...
So it created this one for me instead...
Definitely more Instagrammable. Thanks again Google. You're amazing... and a bit scary.
In spite of those pictorial surprises, if a high quality camera is your main priority, this is not the phone for you. On the other hand, if you're on a bit of a budget but you're looking for a handset with the processing power to run your favourite apps, that looks pretty stylish as well, Nokia is the old name in phones with a new-look Android device. The Nokia 6.1 is only $499, incredible value for what's under the hood. What's more, Spark has interest-free and complimentary headphone deals to really launch this device with a bang.
Still not convinced? The Nokia 7 plus is on the way - with a bigger screen, bigger battery, more processing power and yes, an extra camera lens. I'll be reviewing that one for you in a couple of weeks' time.
Click here for more information and pricing on the Nokia 6.1
As one of the first phone-makers to give us a dual-lens camera, it makes sense Huawei would be happy to whack a third lens on there.
The question is; does more mean more?...
Let's start with the camera, because it isn't just one point of difference, it's actually a whole suite of differences.
The P20 Pro from Huawei features the most ambitious Leica rear-facing lens configuration to date, with a 20MP monochrome lens for contrast and detail, an unheard-of 40MP RGB lens to capture everything else and an 8MP telephoto lens which means the clearest, most powerful zoom I've ever seen on a phone camera.
Once again, thanks to the same Kirin 970 processor found in last year's Mate 10 series, Huawei has created an AI-driven device that combines images from each of those three rear-facing lenses to create picture quality most people wouldn't have thought possible just a year or two ago. Traditional challenges for camera-phones like low light, distance and movement have been swept aside in Huawei's new AI ecosystem and best of all, you don't even have to think about it, the P20 Pro does the thinking for you. There are now 19 different scenarios the camera recognises automatically, from food shots to waterfalls. If you're shooting a portrait, not only will the camera instantly sense this, it will re-frame the subject (or subjects) itself to make sure everyone's in the middle - even if you're a bit off balance when you take the shot.
Oh, this phone is smart alright.
As I've already mentioned, the zoom on the P20 Pro is ground-breaking - 5X before any noticable digital noise. I could easily do a whole review just on the camera alone and I haven't even mentioned the selfie-cam yet. This is a healthy 24MP and while it is only a single lens, it still takes very nice bokeh shots and the reasonably wide f/2.0 aperture means excellent results, even in dark conditions. (If things are really dark, the camera white-outs the screen to create an effective flash)
Huawei has a few new video tricks up its sleeve too, including AI Image Stabilisation and 960fps Super Slow Motion.
Given the new corner-centric position of the rear-facing tri-lens camera, you could be forgiven for thinking this phone is only about the photos. The Huawei and Leica branding on the back is printed to be read in landscape and when you hold the phone that way, it looks just like a digital camera.
But the P20 Pro is so much more than a camera.
The body is constructed from several layers of curved, toughened glass, creating a premium, luxurious finish. Unfortunately, Huawei is only releasing the black and midnight blue variants in the New Zealand market. Internationally there are pink/gold and twilight options that actually appear to transform from one colour to another. In saying that the blue is pretty enough.
While all that glass is beautiful to look at, and to hold, this is perhaps the most fingerprint-prone phone I've ever handled, so you might want to keep a cleaning cloth handy. It's also damned slippery. Don't tell Huawei, but I've dropped this thing several times already - luckily not over concrete and not from any great height... yet. I must get a case for it. (There's one included in the box of course)
Also in the box, a set of USB-C earphones and a USB-C headphone adapter - that's right; no more headphone jack here. I know this upsets some people but as a bluetooth earbud wearer, it doesn't bother me at all.
Other than the sheer beast-like power of the processor I've already alluded to, battery life is another department where the P20 Pro absolutely smashes it. Although the handset is slim and light, there's a 4000mHa battery in there somewhere. It may charge super fast, but it will easily last you all day, if not two.
The 6.1 inch OLED display is a little weird because of the notch. If you don't know what the notch is yet, you will, as more and more manufacturers decide to extend their screens up and around the front-facing camera. This really only affects where the notification icons show and if you decide you don't like it, you can hide it using the display settings.
Other than the selfie-cam, you'll find a tiny speaker in that notch too. This is combined with the more conventionally-placed bottom speaker to create a stereo effect when the P20 Pro is held sideways. At maximum volume, this setup is certainly loud enough to stop a conversation and the sound quality is actually comparable to some of the small bluetooth speakers I've tried.
The facial unlock on this thing is a revelation. You can set the lock screen to appear as soon as you pick up the phone. Not only is the face-scanner crazy fast, but it even works in dark conditions. That's right, not just dim, dark. Amazingly, just the illumination from the P20 Pro's own screen provides enough light for it to recognise your face.
When I was at the P20 launch recently, I complained to the Huawei team about how face-unlocking is all well and good until your phone is in landscape position as it is in my car's phone cradle. They agreed it would be good for it to work in both profiles. What I (and apparently they) didn't realise is on the P20 Pro, it does. Now if we could just get the home screen and lock screen to rotate to landscape too, we'd really be getting somewhere.
At $1299 the P20 Pro is certainly up there in the premium handset dollar range, but given its highest of high-end specifications, that price is still hundreds less than most of its big brand competitors. Given the fact it out-performs these other phones in vital areas like battery-life and photography features, you can rest assured your money would be well spent.
Click here for more information on the Huawei P20 Pro
With the recent launch of the Galaxy S9 and S9+, Samsung has re-established itself as the innovation leader in the world of smart phones.
Apple has tried to play catch-up with last year's overpriced iPhone X, but until there's a serious overhaul of the iOS, it still looks disturbingly similar to the first one from 2007.
Other manufacturers have made big strides in features like waterproofing, wireless charging, speaker quality, dual-lens photography, A.I. and processor speed. Samsung has either led the charge on these advances or incorporated them into its flagship handsets.
But not everyone has $1500 to spend on a phone...
This phone is $899 and it really does stack up against the $700 more expensive Galaxy S9+... Surprise; Samsung makes this one too.
The Samsung Galaxy A8+ has so many "flagship" features, not only does it completely outshine most other competitors in this price range, you'd have to seriously ask yourself why you'd fork out the extra for an S9 or Note8.
The A8+ is powerful, fast, has great battery life - it's even IP68 water and dust resistant... so... what's wrong with it?
To be honest, its only major fault is purely cosmetic. The A8+ is not going to win any smart phone beauty contests.
It's not that it's bad looking, it's just not good looking. Unlike the curvy-edged S9 and S9+, the A8+ has a much more conventional, boxy feel and because of its large 6" screen, it's not the most comfortable device to hold in one hand. Of course, it's not really fair to compare any phone to the super sexy S-series models, but there's no escaping the heavier, thicker sensation.
There are some other physical features I found just weird. Firstly, I was completely stumped when I tried to install my sim card. I popped out the tray and found there was only a slot for a microSD card - the space for the sim was filled in. On further inspection, I discovered there's a completely separate sim tray towards the bottom of the left-hand side. I've seen side-by-side trays before, but never at opposite ends of the phone.
The other bit of strangeness is on the right-hand edge of the device - that's where you'll find the speaker. Most phones play out of a speaker at the bottom, while the S9's sport an amazing stereo setup that converts the earpiece into a left-side speaker when holding the device in landscape.
The A8+ is different again - hold it in landscape (as you would when watching video) and that oddly placed speaker starts making more sense as it is now on top. It's still only mono, but boy does it blast out at high volume. From what I've heard from the Samsung devices I've used since they partnered up with Harman, the AKG-tuned speaker arrays are a noticeable cut above the rest.
You'll also get the latest in bluetooth connectivity, which a means better quality, more powerful signal. Speaking of connectivity, unlike many other devices in this mid-price field, the A8+ also boasts NFC so you can paywave with this phone, no problem.
I pushed the A8+ pretty hard, connecting to multiple accessories simultaneously, running several apps at once and it never even stuttered - in fact, it purred. So whatever it lacks in good looks, it more than makes up for it under the hood.
Oh, did I mention the dual-lens selfie camera? That's right - the A8+ even has a feature the S9's don't. While the 16MP rear-facing camera is solid enough, I did find it struggled a bit in low light. So you might want to consider turning your phone around for those really important shots, because the dual-lens configuration on the front facing camera results in great selfies inside or out - even of me! Two lenses mean you can create that genuine blurry-background bokeh effect we've all come to know and love. This camera lets you adjust exactly how much blur you'd like on each shot.
While the rear-facing camera didn't wow me indoors, it did surprise me with a few cool tricks like Food Mode, Hyperlapse Video (creating fun time-lapse vids for Instagram) and a new video stabilisation technology Samsung calls VDIs which compensates a little for my terrible filming technique.
Sadly, the A8+ doesn't charge wirelessly.
That's it. That seems to be the only thing this phone doesn't do.
Facial recognition?
Yup.
Retina unlock?
No. Okay, two things then.
And at the moment it's only running Android 7.1.1... but to be honest... I'm not sure I can tell the difference!
Admittedly, you only get 32GB of onboard storage, so that dedicated microSD tray might come in handy after all.
However, when you add it all up, the A8+ is really only about $200 less of a phone than its S9 cousins, but you'll be charged much, much less than that.
By the way - the standard A8 does all that too, it's just a bit smaller (and yes, even cheaper)
Click here for more information and pricing on the Samsung Galaxy A8+
