Samsung Galaxy S8 Launched in India Starting Rs. 57,900, Available From May 5: Highlights

Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have been launched in India with the prices starting at Rs. 57,900 and Rs. 64,900. These phones can be prebooked from today and will be available on May 5. The Infinity Display, battery life, and camera are some of the aspects Samsung India has highlighted at the event.

The two Samsung smartphones are the first flagships since the fateful Samsung Galaxy Note 7, and will determine how the public perceives the brand after the debacle. Samsung India has said that you can use the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+'s iris scanner to authenticate transactions via Samsung Pay even in India.

Samsung Galaxy S8 price in India

Gadgets 360 has exclusively learned that Samsung Galaxy S8 price in India will be Rs. 62,600; this is the MRP (Maximum Retail Price), while the market operating price (MOP) is Rs. 57,900. The bigger Galaxy S8+ price in India will be Rs. 69,000 (MRP), and the MOP is Rs. 64,900. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus India release date is May 5.

Samsung Galaxy S8 pre-orders

While Galaxy S8 pre-orders have started today, as Gadgets 360 already revealed. Flipkart is the online partner for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ and it will also be available via select offline retail stores. The company also offered a free wireless charging case for those who pre-order the phone. Flipkart earlier this week started teasing the availability of the two Samsung flagships on its platform. Globally, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ pre-orders have reportedly crossed 1 million units in its home country within 10 days.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 India variant

The Galaxy S8 India variant will be powered by the Samsung Exynos 8895 SoC; the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC variants will only be available in select regions including the US. This should not be a deal-breaker for potential buyers in India, as the two SoCs were recently spotted to have comparable performance - in fact, the Samsung Exynos 8895 SoC beat the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC in some benchmarks.

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The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are identical smartphones, with the only difference being dimensions, battery capacity, and screen size of what the company calls the Infinity Display - featuring dual-edge curved display, minimal bezels on the top and bottom, and 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The displays are certified by the UHD Alliance as Mobile HDR Premium.

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Samsung Galaxy S8 features a 5.8-inch QHD+ (1440x2960 pixels) Super AMOLED display while the Galaxy S8+ sports a 6.2-inch QHD+ (1440x2960 pixels) Super AMOLED display. Both bear Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Both the handsets pack 4GB of RAM and come with 64GB inbuilt storage while also supporting expandable storage via microSD card (up to 256GB).

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When it comes to the camera, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones sport 12-megapixel 'Dual Pixel' rear cameras with optical image stabilisation and an f/1.7 aperture, while there are 8-megapixel front cameras with autofocus on board as well, also featuring an f/1.7 aperture.

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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.

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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.

We also discussed whether the Galaxy S8's pricing gives it an edge over iPhone 7 and Google Pixel in India on our podcast, so be sure to check that out as well in this week's episode of Orbital, our technology podcast. You can subscribe to it via iTunes or RSS, or just hit the play button below.