Samsung is preparing to launch its flagship, the Galaxy Note 8 smartphone in New York on August 23. Ahead of its official launch, Evan Blass has revealed complete specifications, features and pricing of the handset. The smartphone's highlight will be its dual rear camera setup, first for any smartphone made by Samsung.
In an article for VentureBeat, Blass says the Note 8 will sport a 6.3-inch Super AMOLED display with a Quad HD+ resolution of 2960 x 1440 pixels. The handset will feature the company's Infinity Display design first seen on the flagship Galaxy S8 series with an aspect ratio of 18.5:9. Keeping with the tradition of the Note series, the Galaxy Note 8 will feature slightly squared-off corners as opposed to rounded corners found on Galaxy S8+ with 6.2-inch display.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is said to measure 162.5mm x 74.6mm x 8.5mm in dimensions, making it thicker than the S8 series. He notes that the Note 8 will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 chipset in the US while it will be powered by Samsung's own Exynos 8895 chipset globally. The Note 8 will also launch with 6GB RAM as standard and offer 64GB internal storage. It will also support expandable storage via microSD card slot.
While Galaxy S8's selling point was the new bezel less design, the Note 8's selling point will be its improved dual rear camera system. Blass says the smartphone will feature dual 12MP rear cameras with one wide-angle lens with f/1.7 aperture and another telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture and 2x optical zoom. Earlier reports suggested that Galaxy Note 8 will support 3x optical zoom giving it an edge over Apple's iPhone 7 Plus. Both the rear cameras will support optical image stabilisation and are said to feature company's own ISOCELL image sensors. The selfie camera is said to be same as the one found on S8 with 8MP resolution, f/1.7 aperture and support for autofocus.
Other Note 8 specifications include a 3300mAh battery with support for fast charging via USB-C port and wireless charging. The smartphone will feature the S-Pen with improved latency and support for translation. The handset is said to debut in midnight black and maple gold colour options and Samsung will add orchid grey and deep sea blue colour options. The Galaxy Note 8 will also be the most expensive smartphone yet from the company with estimated retail price of €1,000 (around Rs 72,000) in Europe when it goes on sale in September.