We’re just a little over two weeks away from the official unveiling of the next generation Samsung Galaxy Note.
Samsung has confirmed that the device will be unveiled on August 2nd at one of its Unpacked events in New York.
Samsung has in the last one year significantly altered the Galaxy Note smartphone’s release schedule so that the device goes to market before its competitors including Apple’s iPhone which has traditionally arrived in October, around the same time that Samsung’s most notable (excuse the pun) device for the second half of the year goes on sale. The IFA trade show in Berlin has previously been the Galaxy Note’s showground.
Your next big idea is right around the corner. Tune in to #Unpacked live on August 2. pic.twitter.com/H7gDH73gdR
— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) July 12, 2016
The company also confirmed what many have known for a while now, the device’s name. Last year’s Galaxy Note device was the Galaxy Note 5 (read my review here). This year, it will be the Galaxy Note 7.
The company went ahead to explain why it was making the jump from 5 to 7:
“First, the Galaxy Note7 will complement our Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, and unify our product portfolio. Second, the Galaxy Note7 will minimize confusion about the latest mobile technology from Samsung, and provide full alignment with Galaxy S smartphone.”
Technically, though, it can be argued that the Galaxy Note 7 is indeed the 7th iteration of the Galaxy Note if we are to factor in the Galaxy Note Edge. Also, even though Samsung won’t admit it, that will sound good next to the competition, the upcoming iPhone 7, won’t it?
Samsung Galaxy Note7 in (from l to r) Black Onyx, Silver Titanium, and Blue Coral pic.twitter.com/QiePUEG9GP
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) July 1, 2016
The Galaxy Note 7 is expected to feature an iris scanner to do pretty much what the fingerprint scanner embedded on the Galaxy Note 5’s physical home button does. The device is also said to be the first Galaxy Note smartphone to have Samsung’s iconic dual-edge display which can be found on the company’s Galaxy Edge premium smartphones. The Galaxy Note Edge, launched back in 2014, only had the edge display on one side.
It is not yet clear if Samsung will bump up the Galaxy Note 7’s screen to 5.8 inches or it will stick with the 5.7-inch sweet spot that it has embraced for the last 3 years. Whichever the case, it will likely be the same QHD panel as we have encountered on the Galaxy S7/S7 Edge duo. The same is expected of the cameras. A bigger 4,000mAh battery is also said to be on board as is the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chip and Samsung’s own Exynos 8 to power other variants of the device.
Of course, we expect some minor improvements to the S Pen, the hallmark of the Galaxy Note series.
While we have a little over a fortnight to hear all this straight from the horse’s mouth, I wouldn’t be shocked if I found myself writing about the device again in a few days’ with all the specs and features in tow long before the launch.
