Are you wondering about buying the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, but worried about lack of 4G voice on it?
Are you disappointed about the lack of big compelling deals on new mobile phones in the Diwali offers issued by Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and so on this year?
Worry not. Samsung Galaxy On8 is here.
The phone is all set to go on its first sale under Flipkart’s Big Billion Day offer on Monday, and that too at a decent (by Samsung’s standards) price of Rs 14,900. Clubbed with a 10% instant discount offered by SBI for credit and debit cards, the end price works out to just Rs 13,490.
Yes, that’s not quite the same price range as Xiaomi and LeEco’s mid-rangers (12,000), but you are getting some extras with the On8.
The first is the display.
While the Note 3 and LeEco Le2 are great models in themselves, they all come with TFT panels.
The Galaxy On8, on the other hand, comes with a 5.5-inch full-HD Super AMOLED display. While some people do not like the ‘oversaturated’ look of Samsung’s OLED displays, there are many who like the vibrancy and sparkle of these panels.
In addition, AMOLED displays consume less power compared to LCD panels and can be turned off part-by-part, while typical LCD panels are either on or off. This means that it’s possible to have a clock or a notification permanently on the panel without having to turn the entire display on.
The second advantage is that the Galaxy On8 comes with Voice over LTE or VoLTE. This is the feature that allows you to make voice calls over the 4G network, ensuring higher clarity and, in case of India, lower voice bills.
The Exynos 7580 chipset inside the On8 also supports Category 6 LTE, unlike most 4G models in the country right now. While Cat 4 (previous version) LTE supports a downlink speed of 150 Mbps, Cat 6 doubles it thanks to its ability to use two distinct 4G beams together (carrier aggregation).
Finally, the On8 can be expected to perform almost at par with its competitors as it has an Octa-core configuration, though the Le2 and Note3 will still feel slightly faster due to their Cortex A72 cores.
Finally, in terms of value, the On8 really breaks new ground for Samsung.
The Korean company has never been known to deliver value-for-money from a specifications perspective, and charges a premium ranging from 50% to 100% over Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Lenovo.
To understand this point, just compare the specs of the On8 to the J7 2016 model from the same company. The J7 costs Rs 16,000 and has less RAM (2 GB vs 3 GB), and just an HD display instead of a full-HD display on the new model.
Even the newly launched J7 Prime, which has very similar specifications to the On8, is priced at Rs 18,790 despite coming with a regular TFT panel instead of a super AMOLED one.
In fact, the On8, despite its branding, is actually part of the J7 lineup, as revealed by its model no – J710-FZ-DG-INS. The J7 2016 carries a model number of J710-FZ-KU-INS, while last year’s model carried a model no of J700-FZ-DD-INS. (On the other hand, the On5 and On7 belong to a different family with model numbers starting with G.)
With the latest model, Samsung’s brand premium has been reduced to about 15-20% — something that most people wouldn’t mind paying, given the trust and reputation that comes with Samsung.
Not suprisingly, the company said: “This is one of our hero offerings in the smartphones category for the Big Billion Days and we firmly believe it will be a massive hit with the consumers. We are committed to bringing the best offerings in smartphones and our growing partnership with Samsung is a testament to that.”
Buyers of the phone will also get a free 32-GB micro SD card and a zero-cost EMI.
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