Samsung’s 2016 edition Galaxy A8 has shown up on GFXBench running Android 7.0 (Nougat). The device in question is listed plainly as the 2016 model of the Galaxy A8, and the Android version listed shows Nougat. Strangely, there is also a 5.1-inch device that seems to share many specs with the Galaxy A8, but is only listed as having Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow). The 5.7-inch device is indeed the Galaxy A8 lineup’s 2016 model, and the mysterious 5.1-inch device listed that seems to be a lot like it could be a number of things; a tester or prototype device is one possibility, or it could be a mere anomaly with GFXBench. It’s worth noting that a device that seemed to be this one was spotted on benchmarks last year.
Samsung did not run the updated device through GFXBench’s CPU tests, but the GPU tests showed that no software update is going to turn a powerful phone into a gaming monster. The Car Chase test, using OpenGL ES 3.1 and AEP got only 9.5 frames per second. The OpenGL ES 3.0 version of the Manhattan test fared better than the 3.1 version, and the OpenGL ES 2.0 T-Rex test got a respectable 53.1 frames per second onscreen. The low level and specialty tests were mediocre, and the battery and long haul tests were either not supported or not performed. The graphics performance seen here is still roughly a step or two below recent flagships like the Galaxy S8. Given that this is the same processor found in the Galaxy S6 and Meizu Pro 5, that makes sense. The ARM Mali-T760 GPU here performs quite admirably for tech that’s now a full two generations old, but it’s certainly still quite serviceable.
As a reminder, the Galaxy A8 for 2016 has a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, as well as an octa-core Exynos 7420 processor paired with 3GB of RAM. A 15MP camera is on the back of the phone, while a 7MP unit is up front for selfie duty. The phablet boasts 32GB of storage, while the mysterious 5.1-inch device being benchmarked alongside it seems to only have 16GB available. Thankfully, the Galaxy A8 can accept a MicroSD card to expand that storage, and is compatible with Android’s adoptable storage option, making it easy to add some extra space to all facets of the device and not just media storage.
