Forget that the Galaxy Note 7 was an absolute disaster. Samsung is hard at work on a replacement for the popular phablet — as well as a Galaxy S9 smartphone. But what will the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 bring? A better stylus? A sharper screen? A faster processor? We’ll officially find out on August 23, when Samsung will hold an Unpacked launch event in New York.
In the meantime, here’s everything we’ve heard about the device so far.
Release and price
The Galaxy Note has traditionally been Samsung’s big release for the second half of the year, and rumors suggest that in 2017 the Galaxy Note 8 won’t break away from that tradition. We have always seen the Note go head to head with Apple’s new phones, and this year, the company may reveal the Apple iPhone 7S and the Apple iPhone 8 around September — meaning Samsung needs a major product launch to capture attention.Samsung confirmed it will hold a Galaxy Unpacked event on August 23 in New York City, and while it doesn’t explicitly mention the Galaxy Note 8, it’s almost certainly going to be the star of the show. There are references on the invitation to a big screen, an outline of a device with a large, borderless screen, and a stylus, leaving little doubt as to what we’ll see. Last year’s Note 7 event also took place at the end of August.
When it arrives, how much will we have to pay for one? It has never been a cheap phone, and if you consider the Galaxy S8 too expensive, look away now. Samsung won’t officially announce the price until the Galaxy Note 8 launches, but a leak predicting the cost of the device in China gives us a basic idea of its eventual international price. It’s possible there will be three different Note 8 phones, a 6GB/64GB for around $940, a 6GB/128GB for $1,060, and a 6GB/256GB version for $1,200.These prices have been converted over from the listings in Chinese yuan, and they don’t take into account regional pricing differences, so they aren’t representative of the dollar price. However, it’s reasonable to expect a final cost between $800 and $900 for the cheapest Galaxy Note 8. Earlier leaks said it was possible the Galaxy Note 8 would retail for 1,000 euros, according to industry sources who shared their knowledge with VentureBeat, which would put it around $1,160.
While the Galaxy Note 8 will be official before the end of the month, the device’s actual release date is still the subject of rumor. A leak from South Korea lays out the possible time frame, saying pre-orders will begin on September 1 and continue through to September 10. After that, a series of special events will show the phone off, before the final release date on September 15. A report from South Korea’s ETNews citing a representative from an unnamed local carrier had also said sales will begin on September 15. It’s not known if these dates will apply internationally.
Design
The Galaxy S8 is one of the best-looking smartphones you can buy, and among the best smartphones you can buy generally. Samsung’s design team is likely working hard to make the Note 8 equally attractive. With only days left before the Galaxy Note 8 launch, photos of the device continue to leak.While renders of the phone have been plentiful, in the week leading up to the official announcement, a series of live photos of a dummy phone were published on the Weibo social network. The pictures are further evidence of the Galaxy Note 8’s flatter, more squared-off shape than the Galaxy S8, and the thicker body. A shot of the phone’s back reveals the dual-lens camera and fingerprint sensor alongside it. Renders of a black Galaxy Note 8 have leaked before.
Images leaked by MyEverydayTech were less flattering, but did supposedly show the real device. The post has since been removed from its website but not before the images were picked up by other sites including Slashleaks.
In a recent tweet, Roland Quandt of WinFuture claimed the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will not only ship in black but also orchid gray and a new, deep blue color, likely the deep sea blue subsequently leaked. Another @evleaks tweet also shows a model in gold. Case manufacturer GhostTek has also been behind several leaked renders. A Galaxy Note 8 clad in a red GhostTek case may be in the orchid gray color scheme, which looks like a muted silver, and was leaked to Forbes. On the back of the rendered phone is a dual-lens camera, the flash unit, and a fingerprint sensor in the same position as on the Galaxy S8.
Before this, GhostTek leaked a render of the Galaxy Note 8 without a case, but in the black color, to BGR.
What’s interesting is how the design seen in the GhostTek render is an amalgamation of the two design rumors we’d seen previously. It retains the raised camera section and layout on the rear, and a chunkier design than the Galaxy S8, but does have more rounded corners and sides than the less attractive renders seen before. For example, in a blockier render apparently based on 3D CAD drawing dimensions obtained from the factory was leaked by BGR, and a very similar-looking design was then tweeted by Slickwraps CEO Jonathan Endicott.
Another render, again said to be based on leaked CAD schematics and dimensions, was created by OnLeaks and 91Mobiles to show what the phone may look like, and is similar to the above design.
On the back is a camera bump with a dual-lens cam, a flash, and a fingerprint scanner inside. The base of the phone shows a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a storage slot for Samsung’s S Pen stylus, along with a USB Type-C charging port.
Camera
For the Galaxy S8, Samsung did not upgrade the camera much from the Galaxy S7; but it may be saving itself for the Note 8, and almost all rumors point to a dual-camera setup. We received various reports on how the design could shake out, with the latest coming from Korean publication ETNews.According to the report, which comes based on information from unnamed sources within the industry, the Galaxy Note 8 will feature one 12-megapixel, dual-pixel sensor and another 13-megapixel one. The dual-pixel technology should make for faster and more precise focusing. The cameras will reportedly combine for two-times optical zoom, as well as a “portrait” mode that separates the subject from the background, similar to what the iPhone 7 Plus and other devices with two lenses are able to achieve.
This mostly falls in line with prior rumors. Venture Beat previously reported the cameras are rated at 12 megapixels each and that both will sport optical image stabilization. One is expected to be an f/1.7 wide-angle lens, while the other could be an f/2.4 telephoto lens. Moving to the front, an 8-megapixel camera is rumored, featuring autofocus and an f/1.7 aperture.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, better known for his insights into Apple’s future plans, speculated the Note 8 will have the dual-camera setup in April. At the time, he claimed the phone would have 12-megapixel and 13-megapixel sensors, the second providing a 3× optical zoom function. He also mentioned dual optical image stabilization, and a six-piece lens construction.
Samsung intends to beat the iPhone 7 Plus with the Note 8’s dual-lens camera, according to Kuo, and match the camera likely to be featured on the iPhone 8.
Software
We know the Galaxy Note 8 will run Android, but which version, and with what other enhancements? Samsung will likely replicate the pressure sensitive screen feature introduced on the Galaxy S8, since the Galaxy Note 8 will not have a physical home button. Working in the same way as the S8, and the iPhone’s 3D Touch feature, it will act like a virtual home button and also reveal a shortcut menu, according to The Investor’s source.According to some reports the device will launch with Android 7.1.1 Nougat — meaning it may not launch with the latest and greatest version, Android O, expected later in 2017. However, it may receive an update soon after it is released, according to GalaxyClub.
For the Galaxy S8, the consumer electronics giant unveiled an accessory called the Samsung DeX dock that allowed the device to function as a makeshift desktop computer when connected to a monitor. Unsurprisingly, that functionality should be making its way to the Note 8 as well, according to VentureBeat.
The Note 8’s other software enhancements come by way of new S-Pen features. Users will reportedly be able to pin notes written with the stylus to the display, and they’ll show even when the phone is in sleep mode. There’s also improved language translation and automatic currency conversion when using the pen. Split-window multitasking has also been made easier to use, VentureBeat reports.
Specs
There’s no question the Galaxy Note 8 will be powered by a top-of-the-line chipset, and come complete with plenty of other high-end specs and components. Rumors about the Note 8’s specs have been slow, at least compared to the many leaks about its design; but this changed at the beginning of August. We’ve now got an almost complete picture of the Note 8, based on existing information and a new report from VentureBeat.It’s not going to be much larger than the Galaxy S8 Plus, with a 6.3-inch AMOLED screen showing 2,960 × 1,440 pixels, and the same 18.5:9 aspect ratio as the S8 models. Either a Samsung Exynos 8895 processor or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 will power the phone, with the latter available in the United States, plus 6GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage space, and a MicroSD card slot. A 3,000mAh battery with fast charging will provide the energy.
These specifications fit with what we had been hearing already. A Note 8 “Emperor Edition,” was rumored with a hefty 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Korean-language site Osen predicted the standard Galaxy Note 8 would have 128GB of storage, which may not be accurate, along with a MicroSD card slot to add another 256GB.
There has been talk of Samsung getting an updated version of the Snapdragon 835 processor for the Galaxy Note 8. Rumored to be called the Snapdragon 836, China’s IT Home expects a modest bump in clock speed in the 836, from the previous 2.45GHz to 2.5GHz, alongside a 740MHz GPU. The article mentions two other devices that may also receive the 836: the forthcoming Google Pixel 2 and LG V30 smartphones.
Opinion has changed about the battery. Previously, VentureBeat reported a 3,300mAh cell would be inside the Galaxy Note 8. The site’s estimate for the capacity has dropped to 3,000mAh since then. The battery was the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7’s downfall
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