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+
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