SAMSUNG W2018

The Chinese branch of Samsung already confirmed that the SM-W2018 will be officially announced in the Far Eastern country on Friday, December 1st, which is also when the company is expected to share more details about its commercial availability. A mid-December release presently seems likely and would be in line with Samsung’s previous product launch practices pertaining to its flip phone lineup. For much the same reasons, most industry watchers don’t believe the SM-W2018 will ever make its way outside of China in an official capacity, albeit the device may be picked up by some international resellers located in the country. Samsung’s Android-powered flip phones have always been offered as highly niche devices that still have a significant following in China and given the tech giant’s recent commercial troubles in the country, it appears that Samsung is keen on retaining a tight grasp on the premium flip phone market, especially as its performance in the conventional handset segment in China keeps declining.

Samsung’s upcoming flip phone SM-W2018 leaked yet again, having appeared in a set of real-life photographs and a hands-on video that emerged online earlier this week. The smartphone shown in the images has a gold finish, with this particular color presumably being one of its official variants that the South Korean tech giant will start offering early next month.

No new details have been revealed by the leaked renders, with the smartphone being shown as having a display panel on both sides of its top, as well as a conventional keypad on the bottom. According to recent reports, Samsung equipped the SM-W2018 with the Qualcomm-made Snapdragon 835 SoC and 6GB of RAM, as well as 64GB of internal flash memory and a microSD card slot which supports up to 256GB of additional storage. Both screens are said to be 4.2-inch affairs with an FHD resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, with the phone’s main camera supposedly being of the 12-megapixel variety. A 5-megapixel selfie camera will sit inside the SM-W2018 and the device will run Android 7.1.1 Nougat-based Samsung Experience out of the box, according to a number of rumors that emerged in previous months.

Samsung mobiles have been a staple in the Indian smartphone market since their launch – a lot of people see its phones as dependable and affordable. While Xiaomi has made a dent in Samsung’s sales, a lot of people still opt to buy a Samsung mobile. But of course, different people have different requirements, so how do you decide which Samsung mobile phone is best for you? This is why we put together a bunch of devices from the Korean tech giant that would best suit you, based on your requirements, in different price ranges. Read on to see which the best Samsung phone is.

Samsung Mobile: Between ₹5,000 to ₹10,000

We start our list with the Samsung Galaxy On5. One of the most popular Samsung phones in the market, the On5 is priced at approximately ₹7,000. This 4G handset has a 5-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 720×1280 pixels, for HD multimedia. The phone is powered by an Exynos 3475 quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 processor, which does a decent job as compared to more powerful smartphones. The phone has 2GB RAM and offers 16GB of onboard storage, expandable up to 256GB with its dedicated microSD slot. The phone has an 8MP primary camera and a 5MP selfie camera. The phone comes with Android Marshmallow and has a removable Li-Ion 2600 mAh battery that comfortably lasts through the day.

We follow the On5 with our next recommendation – the Samsung Galaxy J2 Pro. Priced at approximately ₹8500, the phone’s highlight is its 5-inch super AMOLED capacitive screen, with a resolution of 720×1280 and a pixel density of 294 ppi. The phone comes with Android Marshmallow (version 6.0.1). The phone runs with 2GB RAM and 16GB onboard memory, expandable up to 128GB and is powered by a quad-core Spreadtrum SC8830 SoC. It has an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front shooter. It comes with a modest 2,500 mAh battery.

Samsung Mobile: Between ₹10,000 to ₹20,000

The Samsung mobile closest to ₹10,000 is the Galaxy J5. The model released in 2016 has a 5-inch super AMOLED capacitive screen, a pixel density of 282 ppi and a resolution of 720×1280 pixels. Powered by a Qualcomm MSM8916 Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor, the J5 comes with 2GB RAM and offers onboard storage of 16GB. Memory can be expanded to 256GB via the microSD slot. The J5 comes with a 13MP rear camera that allows full HD (1080p) recording at 30fps. The front camera is a 5MP selfie shooter with a f/1.9 aperture. The battery is a respectable 3,100 mAh.

The next Samsung mobile in this price range is the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime. The phone comes in two variants – a 16GB version and a 32GB version. The J7 Prime has a 5.5-inch PLS TFT capacitive screen and a resolution of 1080×1920 pixels, with a pixel density of 401 ppi. It has 3GB RAM and is powered by the Exynos 7870 1.6GHz octa-core processor. The fingerprint sensor is in the front and the 3300 mAh battery will comfortably get you through your day. The rear camera is a 13MP one and has a host of features like Face Detection, Beauty mode, HDR, Scene Modes, etc. The selfie camera is an 8MP shooter with a f/1.9 aperture.

Our next Samsung phone is the Galaxy A5. Announced earlier this year, this handset has a 5.2-inch screen with a resolution of 1080×1920 pixels and is a super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. The pixel density is an impressive 424 ppi and the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The Samsung Galaxy A5 comes with Android Marshmallow out of the box but is upgradable to Android Nougat, version 7.0. The mobile runs on the Exynos 7880 1.9 GHz octa-core processor and comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The A5 has a 16 MP, f/1.9 rear camera which allows full HD video recording. Another highlight of the phone is the front 16MP camera on the front, ensuring crystal-clear selfies.

Samsung Mobile: Between ₹20,000 to ₹30,000

We have only one entry on this list that we really thought fit in – the Galaxy A7 Pro. The Galaxy A7 has a 5.7-inch super AMOLED screen with a screen resolution of 1080×1920 and a pixel density of 386 ppi. The phone comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage, and you can add expandable memory up to 256GB. The A7 has an Exynos 7880 Octa 1.9GHz processor and is upgradable to Android Nougat though it comes with Marshmallow, version 6.0. The A7 has 16MP cameras on both front and rear and comes with a 3600 mAh battery.

We found the Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro somewhat similar to the A7 in specs – except it’s powered by a Qualcomm MSM8953 Snapdragon 626 2.2GHz processor. It comes as a 3GB 64GB variant and is priced approximately ₹2000 more than the A7. The phone has a 3300 mAh battery and comes with Android Marshmallow.

Samsung Mobile: ₹30,000+

Spending above ₹30,000 gives you access to the best smartphones in the market. Samsung makes monstrous phones in the high-end smartphone segment giving you the best features, display, and build quality possible.

We start with the priciest Samsung smartphone – the Galaxy Note8. The price of the Note8 is approximately ₹64,900 and it comes with a 6.3-inch super AMOLED screen. The display has a resolution of 1440 x 2960 pixels with a density of 521 ppi. The screen has an 18.5:9 screen ratio and a screen-to-body ratio of 83.2%, thanks to its bezel-less design. The phone has a dual camera rear setup, both at 12MP and loaded with optical image stabilization. The secondary rear camera has a larger aperture (f/2.4) for better pictures in low light. The Note8 comes with 6B RAM and three variants with different storage – 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, and is further expandable thanks to a microSD slot.

The Note8 has glass on both front and back and is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. It is IP68 rated and comes with the S-Pen, which is Samsung’s stylus for the device. The handset runs on Android 7.1, but given how Samsung is currently rolling out beta version 3 of Android Oreo, it should have an update soon enough. This Samsung mobile is powered by the Exynos 8895 Octa processor and has a 3300 mAh battery.

The S8 is the latest Samsung mobile from the S-series and also has a larger S8+ variant. The phone is priced at ₹53,900 approximately and has a 5.8-inch super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1440 x 2960 pixels. The display has an amazing pixel density of 570 ppi, giving you an experience that only a Samsung screen can. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and is IP68 rated, just like the Note8. Under the hood is an Exynos 8895 Octa – EMEA processor with a Mali-G71 MP20 GPU handling graphics duties. The Samsung S8 has 64GB of onboard storage and 4GB RAM. The Samsung S8 has a single lens on the back, with a 12MP camera that can record 2160p videos at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps. The front camera is an 8MP shooter that can record 1440p at 30fps. The S8 runs on Android Nougat currently but will have Oreo pretty soon. The S8 has a 3000 mAh battery that makes it a breeze to get through a day of extensive use.

There are tons of Samsung phones that can suit your budget, but we’ve listed what we found to be the best based on hands-on experience. Happy shopping in December!

Samsung's next Android-powered flip-phone - the W2018 - has been snapped in the wild, once again, and this time there's even a video of it in action.

The flip-phone will have two 4.2-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screens, either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and either a Snapdragon 821AB chipset (as previously rumored) or a Snapdragon 835 as more recent reports suggest.

Like its predecessor, the W2017, the W2018 will likely be a China exclusive.

It will be made official in a few days, on December 1, when pricing should be detailed.