Samsung Galaxy A8 2016 specs, release date: 5.7-inch smartphone is now official

The logo of Samsung Electronics is seen at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, July 4, 2016.Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji

The much-rumored-about Samsung Galaxy A8 2016 is now officially revealed. The company finally took the curtains off of its chunkier, but pretty sleek mid-range phone.

The Galaxy A8 2016 model is powered by an octa-core Exynos 7420 chip, with clock speeds of 2.1 GHz and 1.5GHz/. It also incorporates a Mali T760MP8 GPU. This is the same chip that the Galaxy S6 came out with last year, and it is still considered a powerful chipset since it uses the 14 nm manufacturing process. It is then coupled with 3 GB of RAM, as well as 32 GB and 64 GB internal storage variants. A microSD slot is provided for expanding the storage up to 256 GB.

The smartphone has a 5.7-inch AMOLED screen which brings 1080 x 1920 pixel screen resolution and 386 ppi pixel density. It also comes with a fingerprint sensor built into the home button and a non-removable 3,300 mAh battery.

For the cameras, the Samsung Galaxy A8 2016 rocks a 16-MP main camera that features an f/1.9 aperture, autofocus, and LED flash, while the front side of the phone contains an 8-MP one. Both cameras are capable of recording 1080p videos at 30 fps.

4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, and NFC are the connection options available. The device runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, with the Grace UX on top. It remains unknown if it will be upgradeable to the Nougat version.

Neowin added that the Galaxy A8 supports Samsung Pay and the company's Always On Display feature that shows relevant information on the screen even if the display is not turned on.

The South Korean tech giant has started taking pre-orders for the device in their country for the device, which are available in Pearl White, Midnight Black, and Champagne Gold. The Mint colored model will be exclusively available at SK Telecom. The device is priced at 649,000 KRW, which is around $590.

Fans are hoping that the Samsung Galaxy A8 2016 will also be released internationally.