Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018) review

Software

The Galaxy A6+ (2018), much like the non-plus, boots Android 8.0 out of the box with Samsung's latest Experience 9.0 on top. It's the same launcher you'd find on the Galaxy S9+ flagship, with some of the features missing, of course.

AOD isn't one of them - the A6 (2018) omitted that, but the plus has it. You get a host of different layouts and clock options, plus the choice to keep it on all the time or only according to a schedule.

The fingerprint sensor is always on, no schedule needed, and it's reasonably quick to unlock. The setup is lengthier than most other devices, but that's how Samsung typically does it to ensure you'd be able to unlock at different angles and with a larger area of your finger - always a good thing.

Fingerprint enrollment • Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer

Nothing has really changed on the lockscreen, homescreen, or the notification shade. The task switcher (now with optional list view) is the place where you can initiate multi-window or pop-up apps - Samsung's really unmatched in the versatility of its multi-tasking implementation. Even the App pair feature from the S9 is here.

Notifications • Quick toggles • Task switcher • List view • Multi-window

Just like other Galaxies, the A6+ (2018) supports themes, and there's a ton available in the store. Secure folder is also present on the A6, and it's where you can keep files, memos and apps away from prying eyes. Then there's Game launcher to keep your games in one place and in-play Game tools to disable notifications and the nav bar as well take screenshots or record gameplay.

Theme store • Secure folder • Game launcher

Samsung is using its own Gallery app where the Pictures pane is a timeline of photos and screenshots, while Albums has them sorted by origin instead. Stories is Samsung's take on shareable collaborative albums, which we'd be surprised if anyone uses. There's a powerful editor on board for when you're away from a PC.

Google Play Music is the default player for you tunes, not Samsung's own Music. The sound settings are proprietary though, with either a simple two dial adjustment or a proper 9-band equalizer at your disposal. Especially useful is the Adapt Sound feature which tunes the EQ to your hearing and your particular pair of ears and headphones by playing multiple frequencies and asking how well you hear them. An FM radio receiver is also available.

Gallery • Photo Editor Pro • Google Play Music • Sound settings • FM radio

Synthetic benchmarks

Unlike the Galaxy A6 (2018) and its Exynos 7870, the A6+ (2018) is powered by a Qualcomm chipset - the Snapdragon 450. It's made on a 14nm process too, and has an octa-core CPU, but the Cortex-A53s are ticking at 1.8GHz as opposed to 1.6GHz on the A6. The GPU is also different Adreno 506 vs. the rather modest Mali-T830 MP1. There are two versions of the A6+ (2018) when it comes to RAM - we have the 3GB one, but there's also a 4GB trim level.

There's not much to split the two in CPU performance as indicated by the similar numbers in both single-core and multi-core GeekBench - 0.2GHz isn't all that much between essentially the same cores. The P20 lite has half its cores at 2.36GHz and pumps out better single-core results, but takes a step back in multi-core. The Moto G6 Play is here to show how much inferior the Snapdragon 430 is. Meanwhile, the assorted Snapdragon 600-series devices all show a significant advantage over the S450 Galaxy A6+ (2018).

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Honor 10
  1894
• Nokia 7 plus
  1634
• Meizu 15
  1620
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  1532
• Oppo F7
  1531
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
  1327
• Huawei P20 Lite
  938
• Motorola Moto G6 Plus
  882
• Nokia 6 (2018)
  882
• Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
  874
• Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
  848
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  766
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  755
• Motorola Moto G6
  754
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  733
• Motorola Moto G6 Play
  639

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Honor 10
  6591
• Oppo F7
  5901
• Nokia 7 plus
  5893
• Meizu 15
  5877
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
  4696
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  4418
• Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
  4313
• Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
  4309
• Nokia 6 (2018)
  4225
• Motorola Moto G6 Plus
  4160
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  4018
• Motorola Moto G6
  3972
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  3905
• Huawei P20 Lite
  3756
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  3718
• Motorola Moto G6 Play
  2328

In the graphics benchmarks, the A6+ (2018)'s GPU does prove more powerful than the A6's - in a way. In the offscreen test which is done at 1080p on all devices, the plus delivers almost twice the frame rate. The thing is though, its 1080p display means it's still an fps behind its little 720p brother in the onscreen test. Again, the Galaxy A6+ (2018) is towards the bottom of the chart, with higher-grade Snapdragons packing more powerful GPUs.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Honor 10
  37
• Nokia 7 plus
  15
• Meizu 15
  15
• Oppo F7
  12
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  9.9
• Nokia 6 (2018)
  9.9
• Motorola Moto G6 Plus
  9.8
• Motorola Moto G6
  9.3
• Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
  6.5
• Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
  6.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  6.1
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  6
• Huawei P20 Lite
  5.1
• Motorola Moto G6 Play
  4.6
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  3.2

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Honor 10
  37
• Meizu 15
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
  14
• Nokia 7 plus
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  13
• Oppo F7
  11
• Nokia 6 (2018)
  10
• Motorola Moto G6 Play
  10
• Motorola Moto G6 Plus
  9.3
• Motorola Moto G6
  8.8
• Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
  8.7
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  6.7
• Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
  6.2
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  5.6
• Huawei P20 Lite
  4.9

The results in Antutu aren't overly exciting either. The A6+ (2018) does pull ahead of the A6 (2016) and the Moto G6 Play and closely matches the Moto G6 (Snapdragon 450 in it too), but the rest of the bunch are way out of reach.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Honor 10
  200440
• Nokia 7 plus
  140820
• Oppo F7
  139414
• Meizu 15
  125444
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
  107737
• Nokia 6 (2018)
  90918
• Motorola Moto G6 Plus
  90263
• Huawei P20 Lite
  87431
• Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
  77488
• Motorola Moto G6
  70845
• Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
  69899
• Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
  63632
• Motorola Moto G6 Play
  58757

Overall, the Galaxy A6+ (2018)'s performance isn't spectacular and that was to be expected from the Snapdragon 450 chip - it's more about efficiency than oomph. You can get better performance from pretty much any device in the Galaxy's price range, though we didn't find it to be particularly underpowered in actual use.