Samsung Galaxy Note 8 gets big price cut ahead of Note 9 India launch

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has received a big price drop ahead of the Galaxy Note 9 launch in India on August 22. Is Galaxy Note 8 still worth considering?

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will launch in India on August 22 (HT Photo)

Ahead of Galaxy Note 9 launch in India on August 22, Samsung has dropped the price of its last year's Galaxy Note 8 by ₹12,000. After the price cut, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is now available for ₹55,900. The phone had launched in India for ₹67,900.

The new price tag reflects on Samsung India's e-store as well as Amazon India which is offering discounts up to ₹6,975. The EMI options start at ₹2,658. Samsung on its e-store is offering an additional ₹4,000 cashback with HDFC credit cards, bringing down the effective price to ₹51,900.

The price revision comes a week before Samsung's new Galaxy Note 9 goes on sale in India. The latest Samsung flagship phone is currently available for pre-order on the company's e-store along with ₹6,000 cashback (for HDFC credit card users) and no cost EMI starting at ₹4,140. Samsung is also offering 6,000 Paytm cashback on buying the phone via Paytm Mall. Samsung Galaxy Note 9 128GB + 6GB and 512GB + 8GB RAM models are available for ₹67,900 and ₹84,900.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 at ₹55,900: Is it a good deal?
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 may be now a one-year old model but is still ranks high among the best Android phones. Apart from unique S Pen stylus bundle, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 comes with high quality display, camera and top-end processor.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 sports an 18:9 aspect ratio WQHD+ display with 2960 x 1440 pixels resolution and 522 ppi pixel density. It features a dual-camera set-up (12-megapixel + 12 megapixel) and delivers near-excellent results. For performance, it relies on Snapdragon 835 processor, Qualcomm's flagship chipset for 2017.

Note 8 has two unique offerings - notch-free bezeless design and S Pen stylus. There are also a few Samsung-exclusive features like Samsung Pay which lets you make digital payments at stores with traditional Point of Sales (PoS) terminals.

In comparison with current top premium phones, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is still expensive at ₹55,900. For instance, Vivo Nex also has an impressive 91.24% screen-to-body ratio and comes with pop-out selfie camera. It also has in-screen fingerprint sensor. The smartphone comes with Qualcomm's best Snapdragon 845 processor along with 8GB of RAM. It is available at ₹44,990.

Vivo Nex comes with motorised selfie camera with a bezel-less screen. (HT Photo)

Vivo Nex comes with motorised selfie camera with a bezel-less screen. (HT Photo)

The popular OnePlus 6 doesn't have the notch-free design but makes it up with the capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and up to 8GB of RAM. OnePlus 6 is available in India for a starting price of ₹34,999.

Summing up, if you're looking for an affordable premium phone with high-end performance, OnePlus 6 remains our top recommendation.You may also consider Vivo Nex which delivers high quality camera and unique design without compromising on the performance. But the Vivo phone is about ₹10,000 more expensive than the base model of OnePlus 6.

You may still go ahead with Note 8 if you want a premium phone that delivers excellent cameras, good battery life, top notch performance and a gorgeous display among other features such as Samsung Pay, IP68 water resistance, S Pen for taking notes, doodling and more.