There is a reason why Samsung is one of the top-selling manufacturers of Android-powered devices – it has managed to navigate the competitive smartphone market with a wide range of options for every market demands with options for the low end segment such as the Pockets and Cores that have been iterated to the J series, the Grands that have been elevated to the C and A Series Galaxies as well the high ends that are populated by the Notes and the S series.
Admittedly, the Note series has loyal fans, and I can count up to 5 close friends who have remained devoted to the S-Pen-equipped flagship. Samsung knows that it disappointed its esteemed Note fans with the sudden demise of its sixth iteration dubbed Galaxy Note 7 that was recalled in October 2016, which was plagued by a few cases of the phone blowing up thanks to overheating issues that were brought up by lack of sufficient clearance between the ‘heat-sealed protective pouch’ over the cells and its components, in addition to some of the batteries missing insulation tapes.
The South Korean phone manufacturer has since developed a collected approach to the kind of size of batteries it fits in phones that are preceded by the Note 7. For instance, the S8 and S8+ have noticeably smaller juicers (3000 mAh and 3500 mAh respectively) for screens that are larger than the Note 7’s 5.7-inch display. While the latest trend adopts a newer aspect ratio on the display front with taller, skinnier, 18.5:9 panels, it is clear that Samsung played it safe with the S flagship because a 3000 mAh battery pack is frugal for a 5.8incher.
In similar fashion, Samsung has downsized the battery on the reborn Galaxy Note Fan Edition (FE) with a smaller 3200 mAh battery. Assuming your guess is identical to mine owing to not-so-credible leaks that have flooded our news-feeds for the better part of the year, the newer Note has not strayed from its dead sister; it keeps the same screen resolution at 1440p (hallelujah) and size at 5.7-inches, same RAM and onboard storage options (4GB and 64 GB), the same Exynos 8890 CPU (at least in South Korea where it will hit the shelves first), same camera optics (12MP primary camera), water and dust resistance, wireless charging and USB-C (it was the first device to jump ship to the USB Type C craze) and S-Pen capabilities.
In addition to a slightly smaller battery, the Note FE will drop Grace UX in favour of Samsung Experience UI based on Android Nougat 7.0 (the same UI we find on the Galaxy S8). Accompanying the new software experience is Samsung’s assistant, Bixby that aims to reinvent what Google Now and Assistant created.
The Note FE will be purchased in South Korea from July 7 because, loyalty. Units will be limited to 400,000 pieces, but there is a good chance that other regions will be christened with some Note love later on, which we hope will happen before the excitement is drowned by the announcement of the possible dual-camera-equipped Galaxy Note 8 in August. Pricing has not been revealed, yet, but there is a rumour that it will start from $611.
Will you buy it if it won’t…
