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UPDATE: Samsung has just confirmed the Galaxy A8s’ pricing. The 6GB RAM variant with 128GB of storage is priced at 2,999 Yuan ($434) in China, it is available to order, but it will ship on December 31. The Elf Blue and Aurora Black variants will be available starting on January 15.
Samsung has just announced the world’s first smartphone with a display camera hole, and that camera hole is actually quite large. The phone itself actually resembles a number of renders that leaked before it got announced, it is made out of metal and glass, while its back side is curved. The phone features three cameras on the back, which are vertically-aligned, and below those cameras lies an LED flash. A fingerprint scanner can also be found on the back of the phone, along with Samsung’s branding. Now, if we flip the phone around, you will notice that the Galaxy A8s has a really thin ‘chin’ below the display, and that its display camera hole lies in the top-left corner of the display. That camera hole is quite large, truth be said, and the lens is not the only thing that is visible here, black bars around it are also included, which probably explains its size. The power / lock button is included on the right-hand side of the phone, as are the phone’s volume up and volume down buttons. A dedicated Bixby key sits on the left-hand side of the phone, while the phone’s earpiece is visible above its display.
In terms of specs, the Galaxy A8s is a mid-range smartphone, no doubt about it. This handset is fueled by the Snapdragon 710 64-bit octa-core processor, while it comes with 6GB / 8GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage (expandable up to 512GB via a microSD card). The phone features a 6.4-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) display with a curved glass on top of it, while Android 8.1 Oreo comes pre-installed on the phone with Samsung’s custom software. This device comes with two SIM card slots, and a 3,400mAh battery which supports adaptive fast charging. 24-megapixel (f/1.7 aperture), 10-megapixel (telephoto, f/2.4), and 5-megapixel (depth sensor, f/2.2) cameras sit on the back of this phone, while a single 24-megapixel camera (f/2.0 aperture) can be found on the phone’s front side. The device measures 158.4 x 74.9 x 7.4mm, while it weighs 173 grams. The device also comes with Bluetooth 5.0, while it got announced in Blue, Gray, and Green color options. The phone will hit China first, pre-orders will kick off on December 21, while we still do not know how much will it cost. This smartphone will probably make it to other markets in January, but the company did not share any such info just yet.
Background: The Galaxy A8s is the world’s first smartphone with a display camera hole, even though at least two more such phones will launch before the end of the month. The Huawei Nova 4 will be announced on December 20, and it will sport a display camera hole in the same place as the Galaxy A8s. The Lenovo Z5s, on the other hand, will have a centered display camera hole, below the earpiece, and it will arrive on December 21.
Impact: The Galaxy A8s is the first in line, but many more such smartphones will hit the shelves in 2019. Aside from the Huawei Nova 4 and Lenovo Z5s which will arrive this month, Honor had confirmed that the Honor View 20 will launch on January 22, and also sport a display camera hole. The OPPO R19 leaked with a display camera hole, while the OnePlus 7 will probably sport such design as well. ZTE actually patented a display hole for an earpiece, while LG and Samsung plan to include two cameras in the display. These are only some of the OEMs that are planning to deliver such devices to the market, but many more are coming, as these display holes seem to be new notches for 2019.
