It is May and as earlier announced, the Galaxy S8 and its big brother the S8 plus are officially available in the Kenyan Market. Samsung officially unveiled the duo after pre-orders for the same went up last month.
Speaking at the launch event, Jung Hyun Park, the Managing Director and Vice President of Samsung Electronics East Africa said the Samsung Galaxy S8 ushers in a new era of smartphone design and fantastic new services, opening up new ways to experience the world.
“The Galaxy S8 is our testament to regaining the customer trust by redefining what’s possible in safety and marks a new milestone in Samsung’s smartphone legacy,” he added.
The Galaxy S8 will set you back Ksh.85,000 while the Galaxy S8 Plus goes for Ksh.95,000. Samsung also announced a financing option in partnership with Lipa Later with a special repayment interest rate of 1% monthly, to allow customers to get the device and pay for either of the two within a period of six or twelve months.
The S8 and S8 Plus will be available in Midnight Black, Orchid Gray and Maple Gold and comes bundled with earphones tuned by AKG worth Ksh. 10,000.
Highlights of Samsung’s latest flagships is the Bixby digital assistant which Samsung says will re-define how users interact with their phones. With Bixby users will be able to conveniently navigate through services and apps with simple touch, vision and text commands.
Users can also shop, search for images and get details about nearby places with Bixby’s image recognition technology. Samsung says that as the Bixby ecosystem grows, it will connect across devices, apps and services as a ubiquitous interface, and open up new experiences and scenarios to simplify life. There was also a slight hint at Bixby working with local e-commerce websites, such as Jumia, to allow users to shop but that might as well be hearsay.
Alongside the duo, Samsung also introduced accessories such as the DeX station – which will let you turn your S8/S8+ device into a fully fledged computer, a bevy of fancy and luxurious cases, Samsung Gear 360 second generation, and the wireless charging dock plus the new Gear VR.
Here’s a price list of the accessories:
- DeX station – Ksh.15,000
- Cases – From Ksh.1,200 to Ksh.4,500
- Gear 360 (2017) – starting at Ksh.35,000
- Wireless charging dock – Ksh.5,500
- Gear VR 3 – Ksh.20,000
Here’s a full specs list of the two devices:
| Galaxy S8 | Galaxy S8+ | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | Type | Super AMOLED | Super AMOLED |
| Size | 5.8" | 6.2" | |
| Resolution | 2960*1440 | 2960*1440 | |
| Protection | Gorilla Glass 5 | Gorilla Glass 5 | |
| Platform | Operating System | Android 7.0 Nougat | Android 7.0 Nougat |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 835/Exynos 8895 | Snapdragon 835/Exynos 8895 | |
| CPU | Octa core (2.3GHz Quad + 1.7GHz Quad), 64 bit, 10 nm process | Octa core (2.3GHz Quad + 1.7GHz Quad), 64 bit, 10 nm process |
|
| GPU | - | - | |
| Memory | RAM | 4GB | 4GB |
| Internal | 64GB | 64GB | |
| External | microSD, up to 256GB | microSD, up to 256GB | |
| Network | Technology | 4G LTE | 4G LTE |
| SIM | Single SIM / Dual SIM | Single SIM / Dual SIM | |
| Camera | Main | 12MP f/1.7 Dual Pixel | 12MP f/1.7 Dual Pixel |
| Front | 8MP f/1.7 with smart autofocus | 8MP f/1.7 with smart autofocus | |
| Battery | Size | 3000 mAh with quick charge 4 | 3500 mAh with quick charge 4 |
| Type | Li-Po | Li-Po | |
| Colors | Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue and Maple Gold | Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue and Maple Gold. | |
| Features | Fingerprint reader (rear-mounted), IP68 rating, Iris Scanner, Facial recognition, Wireless charging, Bixby AI, Always-On display | Fingerprint reader (rear-mounted), IP68 rating, Iris Scanner, Facial recognition, Wireless charging, Bixby AI, Always-On display |
