Samsung Galaxy Note 8: News and rumors

Why it matters to you

The Galaxy Note 7 was an excellent device, save for one serious, deal-breaking flaw. Samsung will look to win back your confidence with a successor.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was an absolute disaster. Sure, the phone itself was beautiful, but the device was plagued with exploding battery issues, as well as a pair of rocky recall processes. So, it makes sense that Samsung would want to forget about the Galaxy Note line altogether.

Samsung has officially confirmed, however, that it won’t get rid of one of its most popular phones that easily. In fact, we could see a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 before the end of 2017. According to the most recent reports from SamMobile, the Galaxy Note 8 is internally code-named “Great,” and bears the model number SM-N950F.

But what will the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 bring? Here’s everything we know about the potential device so far.

Display

The Galaxy Note range means a big screen, but how big will Samsung go for the Note 8? According to reports, it’s not just the size, but the pixel count that will standout. with rumors it may have a 4K resolution. Some might see that as overkill, but the point of it isn’t for normal use — it’s for virtual reality, in which the phone is placed right in front of your eyes. Using a 4K display will help make VR much more realistic.

A Weibo post in May reported the Note 8 will receive a 6.3-inch screen with an aspect ratio of 18:5:9. For comparison’s sake, the Galaxy S8 Plus features a 6.2-inch display with the same aspect ratio, which is wider than the standard 16:9 on most devices. The defunct Galaxy Note 7’s panel was 5.7 inches.

Camera

For the Galaxy S8, Samsung didn’t upgrade the camera much from the Galaxy S7; but it may be saving itself for the Note 8. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, better known for his insights into Apple’s future plans, is speculating the Note 8 will have the dual-camera setup many wanted to see on the Galaxy S8. He claims the phone will have 12-megapixel and 13-megapixel sensors, the second providing a 3.0x optical zoom function. That’s beyond Apple and Huawei’s 2.0x zoom mode. He also mentions 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 feature on the iPhone X. This suggests Samsung is planning a late 2017 launch for the Note 8, to take on the challenge from Apple’s iPhone 7S Plus and the rumored iPhone X special edition.

Design

What could be our first look at the Galaxy Note 8 comes to us via Leakspinner on SlashLeaks. The image shows a device which resembles a larger Galaxy S8 Plus featuring seemingly sharper rounded corners and slightly slimmer top and bottom bezels, along with an S-Pen by its side. The phone is displaying Bixby software, and if you look closely, there’s an S-Pen icon near the bottom and what appears to be a transparent UI pullout on the right side of the screen, near one of the hardware buttons.

As for the validity of this leak, it’s believable that Samsung would merely enlarge the Galaxy S8’s design for the next-gen Note. However, this shot doesn’t show a compartment for the S-Pen, which calls its credibility into question. At the time of this writing, the image is currently sitting with an 18 percent trust score on SlashLeaks, which indicates most people aren’t convinced by it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 confirmed

While it was possible that Samsung was going to end the Note line altogether in favor of something else, we now know that to not be true. In fact, in an interview with CNET, Samsung’s mobile chief D.J. Koh officially confirmed that the Note line would continue with a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.

“I will bring back a better, safer, and very innovative Note 8,” Koh said in the interview.

The move will certainly be risky for Samsung — the company and the Note were tarnished during the Note 7 exploding debacle. However, during the entire process the company found that there were a lot of loyal Note fans, Koh said.

Bixby

Prior to the Galaxy S8’s launch, we were hearing rumors that Bixby would also be a part of the Note 8 as well. Back in January, a report from Business Korea indicated Bixby would feature prominently in Samsung’s flagship phablet. The report also highlighted that Samsung was choosing to work on a successor to the Note 7 despite damage to the brand, which was later confirmed by Samsung itself.

Bixby is a work in progress for Samsung, and although it’s not a reason to buy the Galaxy S8, the feature may have increased in usefulness by the time the Note 8 arrives.

Not much else is known about the Galaxy Note 8 yet, but we will update this post as we find out more.

Updated on 05-16-2017 by Adam Ismail: Added rumors of a 6.3-inch display.