Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 launch event will take place on 23 August, but we already know pretty much all there is to know about the upcoming phone. Read the latest rumours on the Galaxy Note 8 specifications, new features, price and UK launch date.
The Note 8 has now passed FCC accreditation and will be announced on 23 August. A 3x zoom dual-camera and 6.3in Infinity display will be highlights, but the price tag might be less enticing. Here’s what we know (there’s very little we don’t know) .
Samsung has confirmed it is holding an Unpacked event on 23 August. This will be the date it unveils its Galaxy Note 8. (It’s possible we could also see a Galaxy S8 mini .)
The event will take place in New York’s Park Avenue Armory at 11am EST (4pm UK) .
There will be a live stream of the event, which you will be able to watch on this page .
As to when the Note 8 will actually go on sale is currently unknown, although we expect it to be sometime in September. According to ETNews, the phone will go on sale in Korea on 15 September, while a Best Buy employee is insisting it will be available a day after the launch on 24 August.
EE has already posted a link on its site to pre-register your interest in Samsung’s new phone, too.
According to respected tipster Evan Blass, writing for VentureBeat, the Galaxy Note 8 is going to cost a colossal €999. That’s €100 more than the Galaxy S8 Plus, and €200 more than the Galaxy S8.
In Sterling, expect to pay £869, with the Galaxy S8 costing £689 and the Galaxy S8 Plus £779.
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We’ve ditched all the older images from our rumour round-up, since the most recent render from @evleaks shows you the Note 8 from all angles. It looks just like the Galaxy S8 Plus, with an Infinity screen and a fingerprint scanner on the rear. But here there’s a dual-camera, too, as well as Samsung’s S-Pen. We should again see a dedicated Bixby key, a 3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C.
MobileFun has confirmed the official Samsung cases for the Note 8, which are now available to pre-order from its site. It says they tell us probable colours for the upcoming phone include Orchid Grey, Deep Blue, Black, Silver and Gold. It also says the case RRPs are slightly more expensive than in previous years, suggesting that in common with the Galaxy S8 the Note 8 is likely to see a price hike over the Note 7.
However, according to ET News, Samsung will actually be including a case in the box with the Galaxy Note 8. The site reports that the bundled Note 8 case will be transparent and will be thin to maintain the shape and grip.
Writing for VentureBeat highly respected leaker Evan Blass has offered final specs for the upcoming Note 8. They are exactly as we thought, with the Note 8 shaping up to be almost identical to the Galaxy S8 Plus but with slightly more squared off corners, an S Pen, a slightly larger 6.3in screen and a dual-camera. We’ve listed the full specs in the table above.
Despite the Galaxy S8 Plus measuring a mighty 6.2in, the Galaxy Note 8 will measure only 6.3in.
We would expect the screen to have a Quad-HD+ or even 4K resolution, and there is increasing talk that it could get the latter, making the Note 8 Samsung’s first 4K smartphone. It’s highly likely to be a Super AMOLED panel, too.
We expect to see the same design changes in the Note 8 as we did this year’s Galaxy S upgrades, which means a larger, taller, pressure-sensitive screen, with the new 18.5: 9 aspect ratio. See also: Best phones 2017.
It’s a jump up from the 5.7in screen on the Note 7, sure, but there’s now very little difference to separate the two phablets.
Expect Samsung to go all out on improvements to the S Pen stylus and associated software in response.
The Note 8 is expected to feature a dual-lens camera at the back with OIS. It comprises one f/1.7 wide-angle lens and a second f/2.4 telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says it should be superior to that found in the iPhone 7 Plus.
Galaxy Club has unearthed the camera module it thinks the Note 8 will use. ” We see, among other things, three times optical zoom, and greatly improved low-light performance. Also, there is a better HDR mode, and the ability to measure depth in 3D, ” it reports.
It provides example shots of some of these features that you can see in the photo slideshow below. (Note that if you are using an ad blocker you won’t be able to see the controls to move to the next image.)
For selfies there will be an 8Mp f/1.7 camera at the front.
Many owners have complained about the positioning of the fingerprint scanner on the back of the Galaxy S8, but sadly this isn’t changing for the upcoming Note 8 if we are to believe the majority of leaked images and renders.
The Note 8 should be a tad faster than the Galaxy S8 thanks to its extra RAM – 6GB rather than 4GB. However, it will use the same processor – the Exynos 8895 in the UK, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 elsewhere. Both are 10nm chips.
The Note 8 will have 64GB of storage as standard, in addition to support for microSD. That puts it in line with the OnePlus 5. Also see: Best smartphones and best Android phones
There is reportedly going to be a version of the Note 8 known as the Emperor Edition that comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, though it’s unlikely to be sold outside Korea. The most storage we’ll see in the UK is expected to be 128GB.
Another report, this time from Android Headlines, also suggests the Galaxy Note 8 will come in a 256GB capacity.
The Galaxy Note 8 has been spotted on Geekbench 4 where it recorded 6066 points in the multi-core component. This is actually a tad lower (vs 6466 points) than the Galaxy S8 running an Exynos chip we tested.
Samsung is being naturally cautious in the battery department following the disaster that was the Note 7, so we’ll see just a 3,300mAh battery inside. It will fast-charge wired or wirelessly, with the former operating over USB-C.
Having acquired Harman Kardon, Samsung says it will utilise Harman’s audio brands, which include AKG and JBL, to “deliver enhanced customer benefits and elevate user experiences across Samsung’s complete portfolio of consumer and professional products and systems”.
In a recent conference call the company reportedly claimed that “The Galaxy Note 8 will feature more advanced, richer multimedia functionalities.
