Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ Flagship Smartphones Go on Sale in India

Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ (Review) have gone on sale in India from Friday. The company had launched the smartphones at the end of April in the country, detailing a May 5 release date. The two Galaxy S flagship smartphones are available to buy via select offline retailers, Flipkart, and the Samsung India E-Store.

The India variants of Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ feature dual-SIM functionality. The price in India of Galaxy S8 is Rs. 57,900 (MOP), while the Samsung Galaxy S8+ price in India is Rs. 64,900 (MOP). Samsung has brought the dual-SIM variants of the smartphones to India. The latter is available in Midnight Black, Coral Blue, and Maple Gold colour variants, while the former is available in Midnight Black and Maple Gold colour options.

Samsung has also detailed a launch offer for Reliance Jio users. Called the Reliance Jio Double Data offer that provides 28GB+28GB data a month at Rs. 309, for 8 months. As seen in other countries, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones come bundled with AKG earphones in the box. The Samsung DeX mobile-to-PC transition tool on the other hand needs to be bought separately, and has been priced at Rs. 8,999. The wireless charger has been priced at Rs. 4,499.

Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ Review

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ India variants are powered by the Samsung Exynos 8895 SoC - sorry folks, if you were expecting the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC variants, you're out of luck. However, this isn't actually bad news, as the Samsung Exynos 8895 SoC was recently spotted to beat the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC in some benchmarks.

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are mostly identical smartphones. The primary differences are battery capacity, dimensions, and screen size of the Infinity Display, which is a dual-edge curved display with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio, complete with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. The Galaxy S8 sports a 5.8-inch QHD+ (1440x2960 pixels) Super AMOLED display, while the Galaxy S8+ sports a 6.2-inch display with the same resolution and display technology. The displays are certified by the UHD Alliance as Mobile HDR Premium.

The octa-core Samsung Exynos 8895 SoC sports a quad-core module clocked at 2.35GHz, and another quad-core module clocked at 1.9GHz. The Exynos 8895 SoC on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ is coupled with 4GB of RAM.

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones feature 12-megapixel 'Dual Pixel' rear cameras with optical image stabilisation and an f/1.7 aperture. On the front, the smartphones bear 8-megapixel front cameras with autofocus, and also bear an f/1.7 aperture. Both smartphones feature 64GB of inbuilt storage that's expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB) in a hybrid dual-SIM configuration.

Connectivity options on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ include 4G LTE (Cat. 16), Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4GHz, 5GHz), Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C, NFC, and GPS. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, barometer, gyroscope, heart rate sensor, magnetometer, and proximity sensor. They both support Samsung Pay, with NFC and MST connectivity. The two smartphones come with iris scanner, fingerprint scanner, and facial recognition.

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ support wireless charging as well as fast charging. The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ pack 3000mAh and 3500mAh batteries respectively. The Galaxy S8 measures 148.9x68.1x8mm and weighs 155 grams. The Galaxy S8+ measures 159.5x73.4x8.1mm and weighs 173 grams.

Of course, one of the biggest highlight features of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ is the Bixby virtual assistant. At launch, the virtual assistant will not feature Bixby Voice functionality, but, will offer Bixby Vision, Home, and Reminder features. Another highlight feature is IP68 certification for dust and water resistance.