In Bangkok on Wednesday, Samsung unveiled that Galaxy A80–the latest addition to its rapidly expanding mid-range Galaxy A series. The new device is Samsung’s most trick to date–sporting a fancy motorised rotating camera and an all-screen notchless display.
The device is also one of the biggest Galaxy A smartphones in the lineup yet, boasting a massive 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display (1080×2400) which Samsung dubs the “New Infinity Display.”
Off the bat it’s good-looking with a notchless display and all-round super slim bezels. There’s a little chin at the bottom but that’s about it.
So, the Galaxy A80 doesn’t have a selfie camera setup per se. Because like the OPPO N1 a couple of years ago, the device features a rotating camera model built-in a sliding mechanism. Samsung seems to have been inspired by both the N1 and the Find X here. The back panel that houses the camera module slides up when you fire up the camera app and if you want to take a selfie, the camera module rotates towards you. This is all motorised and happens within a second or two.
The camera module consists of a triple camera array by the way–a 48MP f/2.0 wide camera, an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera and a 3D Depth (TOF) camera.
Under the hood, the Galaxy A80 runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G chipset, coupled with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. No microSD nor headphone jack, unfortunately.
There are also a couple of other things lacking–stereo speakers and face unlock (since it doesn’t have a front-facing camera). It however does feature an in-display fingerprint scanner, that’s optical based and not ultrasonic like on the Galaxy S10 and S10+.
The device is juiced by a 3,700mAh battery that supports 25W fast-charging via USB-C.
Galaxy A70
Aside from the Galaxy A80, Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy A70, another big screen device packing a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with a notch. It doesn’t sport any sliding, pop-up camera trickery however, but a commendable setup nonetheless. The front is a 32MP f/2.0 shooter, accompanied by a 32MP + 8MP + 5MP triple camera setup on the back.
The Galaxy A80 and A70 now join the Galaxy A20, Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 in Samsung’s expansive mid-range portfolio.
Pricing and availability
The Galaxy A80 will launch globally on 29 May 2019, while the Galaxy A70 will launch globally on 26 April 2019.
No details on pricing and exact availability for Malaysia at this point.
Photos: Hanif Azrai,| SoyaCincau
