Samsung has announced the launch of the Galaxy Note 8, its premium productivity device in India. The flagship smartphone is priced at Rs 67,900 and will be available for sale starting September 21 from the Samsung e-shop, Amazon India and other major retail channels. Samsung has started taking pre-orders for the device and is offering free one-time screen replacement and a wireless charger as part of launch day offers.
A report said initial registrations for the Galaxy Note 8 had surpassed 2.5 lakh units and Samsung wants to cash in on that interest. In order to further sweeten the deal, HDFC Bank credit card users will get up to Rs 4,000 cash back and Jio users will get additional 448GB 4G data. Samsung is also introducing a special upgrade program for existing Galaxy Note series users.
The Galaxy Note 8 was first announced last month as the company's most premium smartphone offering yet. The Note 8 sports a design similar to the Galaxy S8 series with an Infinity Display design and large 6.3-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display. The smartphone is powered by Samsung's own Exynos 8895 chipset, coupled with 6GB RAM and 64GB expandable storage.
The Note 8 also gets a dual rear camera setup with one wide-angle lens and another telephoto lens capable of 2x optical zoom. Both the lenses offer optical image stabilisation and new software features like live focus and dual photo mode. There is also an 8MP front camera with f/1.7 aperture and autofocus for selfies.
The Note 8 also gets an improved S Pen with IP68 water resistance, translation and live message feature. The S Pen comes bundled with replaceable tips and improved pressure sensitivity. Alongside Note 8, Samsung is also announcing the availability of its Bixby digital assistant in India. Bixby Voice will be rolled out to Note 8 and Galaxy S8 users in India, in the coming weeks, and will support US English tuned to various Indian accents. Yes, the Note 8 also has a dedicated Bixby button that cannot be reprogrammed to launch any other application.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 also supports facial recognition using iris scanning and has a rear mounted fingerprint sensor. The smartphone runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat with support for DeX desktop dock, Samsung Pay contactless payment and is backed by a 3300mAh battery. The Galaxy Note 8 will only be available in Midnight Black and Maple Gold colour options.