Samsung, at last, joined the slider phone club by launching Galaxy A80 at an event in Bangkok today. It is Samsung’s first smartphone with a slider mechanism and rotating camera. The camera slides up from the rear of the device, but also automatically rotates so it can function as both a selfie camera and a rear-mounted camera. Samsung Galaxy A80 features new Super AMOLED display which Samsung is calling “New Infinity Display”. With the release of this new midrange, Samsung wants to tackle the increased competition from the Chinese smartphone makers, including Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo.
The A80’s automated pop-up mechanism contains a triple-camera array consisting of a main 48-megapixel f/2.0 camera, coupled with an ultrawide 8-megapixel f/2.2 camera, and a third ToF (time-of-flight) sensor. The sliding camera mechanism means there’s no sight of a notch or a hole-punch in the phone’s 6.7-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2400) Super AMOLED display.
The phone doesn’t include any earpiece; the display is used to generate sound through vibration. LG G8 ThinQ, Huawei P30 Pro also uses the same technology. The front also houses an in-display fingerprint sensor. Galaxy A80 is powered by newly released Snapdragon 730G. It runs on One UI 1.0 on the top Android 9.0 Pie. Galaxy A80 comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage.
Galaxy A80 has a 3,700 mAh battery with support for 25W fast charging. It includes an in-display fingerprint scanner. The phone is available in three colors: gold, white, and black. The Samsung Galaxy A80 will launch on May 29th. At the time of this article writing, the price is yet to be announced.
