When it comes to phablets, Samsung often beats the competition with its premium Galaxy Note 5 offering. However, for others who prefer a mid-range device, the company has another offering in its lineup in the form of the Galaxy A8. This is how these two similar-sized siblings compare in a faceoff.

Design

In spite of its competitor being the premium offering, the Galaxy A8 has the looks to keep up with its sibling. It has a metal body while its back panel is made from high quality plastic. As for the Note 5, it has a metal frame and Gorilla Glass 4 on its front and back. However, what makes the design of the Note 5 better is its curved back, which makes it easier to hold. In addition, the Note 5 also has an improved S Pen Stylus, which brings with it a number of neat features. Both devices also come with fingerprint scanners. In terms of colors, the Galaxy A8 has three options, white, black and gold while the Note 5, comes in white, black, gold and silver.

Display

These devices have similar-sized displays which measure 5.7 inches. However, the Note 5 has a sharper super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels and a density of 518 pixels per inch. As for the Galaxy A8, it has a super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels and a density of 386 pixels per inch.

Specs

In this category, there is no doubt that the Note 5 is superior as it has Samsung's latest and fastest Exynos 7420 chipset. It is coupled with an octa-core CPU comprised of four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.5 GHz and four Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 2.1 GHz along with a Mali-T760MP8 GPU. In the Galaxy A8, there is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset and an octa-core CPU comprised of four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz and four clocked at 1.3 GHz along with an Adreno 405 GPU.

Memory

There is a micro-SD slot on the Galaxy A8, which supports up to 128 GB of external storage. The Note 5, however, does not have a slot. However, when it comes to RAM, the Note 5 is ahead with 4 GB, since the Galaxy A8 only has 2 GB.

Price

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is priced at $249.99 with a two-year contract while the Galaxy A8 is priced at $515 without a contract.