Good news for all the Note fans, Samsung is working on the next Note device, the Galaxy Note 8. Evan Blass (@evleaks) tweeted that a device with the model number SM-N950 is under development. The N-series model numbers are always assigned to Note devices. Galaxy Note 7 had the model number SM-N930 and it is logical that the next note device will have the model number SM-N950. Samsung skips number 4 in their model numbers as it is an unlucky number in South Korea. More bad luck is not something that they can afford at the moment.
After Samsung discontinued Note 7, industry analysts predicted that the company will kill off the Note line after the exploding battery disaster. Despite the Korean tech giants efforts leading to a global recall, they could not save Note 7 from its untimely death. This was a big blow for Samsung as the Note brand is known to produce one of the the best devices with top notch specifications. In this situation, is continuing on with the Note brand a wise choice on Samsung’s part? It all depends on the features the Note 8 gets and how they market it amidst fierce competition from rivals like Apple and Google. So, what is Samsung up to, would they be able to redeem themselves with Note 8, let’s have a look.
Samsung will be equipping Galaxy Note 8 with a 5.7″ inch, 4K display. The 4K display will work perfectly with the company’s aim at making Virtual Reality more mainstream and pushing their own Gear VR tech. Samsung has been at the forefront on bringing the best to its customers. The 4K UHD display will make the Gear VR experience even more amazing. There are chances that one of the variants of the Galaxy S8 will have a 4K display, if that is the case, the company will get more time perfecting the elements of the display for Note 8.
Galaxy Note 8 will be powered by either by Exynos 8895 or the Snapdragon 835 SoC which was recently announced by the company. News is that Qualacomm will be producing the Snapdragon 835 in collaboration with Samsung. This chip makes use of the 10 mm process and is more energy efficient. Two of the major features of Snapdragon 835 are longer battery life and Quick Charge 4. With a 4K display, one of the major concerns among users will be an optimal battery time, if this SoC can do that, then its a win win situation for Samsung.
Talking about the battery, what is Samsung’s strategy for the next round? After the Note 7 debacle, they should be reconsidering what they can do. To date the company is unable to ascertain what went wrong and why did the battery overheat and explode. It is imperative that Samsung works on finding out what went wrong, so that they can work on these issues. A report out last month suggests that Samsung is in talks with LG to make use of the LG Chem batteries in a bid to diversify their suppliers. If this partnership works out than a major concern among users about exploding battery will be dealt with. This is going to be a difficult decision for Samsung as LG is one of its major competitors. But if Samsung wants to reinstate consumer trust, it will have to make difficult decisions to re-establish the Note brand.
Samsung is also working on bringing a digital assistant for its flagships. Interestingly, this is one area that the company has not focused on to date. The Korean tech giant acquired Viv Labs, which also produced Siri, AI assistant that iPhone makes use of. Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung Galaxy S8 will have a dedicated button just to launch the AI assistant. This means that Galaxy Note 8 will also be equipped with this feature. Apparently, the name of Samsung’s AI assistant will be Bixby. The company claims that it will be smarter than other software’s present in the market at the moment. Samsung users have been looking forward to such a feature for a while. We hope that they are able to develop and bring one of the best AI assistants and prove that they are still part of the game.
Not much is known about the camera features for Note 8. Most probably the smartphone will sport a dual lens camera with the selfie-shooter getting an upgrade. The dual-camera feature is also in books for the Galaxy S8, it would be interesting to see how Samsung works on this feature. To date, Samsung’s cameras have never failed to impress and we hope that’s the case this time around too. Galaxy Note 8 will have an 12 MP main shooter with a 13 MP secondary lens. This will definitely improve the image quality by focusing on features that make mobile photography an experience. The selfie shooter will most probably get upgraded from 5MP to 8MP.
The S-Pen may get some needed upgrades this time around. A recent patent filing by Samsung at U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows an S-Pen with a speaker. The speaker can function even when it is not attached to the device. As of yet it is unclear what technology they will be employing for this. One aspect has to kept in mind, companies file many patents but it is not necessary that everyone of them results in a physical product. The company cannot afford to take a chance with Galaxy Note 8.
Well nothing but the best for the upcoming Note will be top priority for the company and we can understand their need to do so. Till yet the rumored features do show how serious the company is about proving how well they can bounce back from failure.
Samsung at the moment faces serious competition from rivals like Apple and Google in phablet category that it used to dominate. Apple is also working on their next generation iPhones; one of variants, most probably the iPhone Pro is set to give Note 8 some fierce competition. Google with Pixel XL has impressed users with its not notch features and it is ending up in the list of best smartphones of the year. So, with Galaxy Note 8, Samsung needs to bring a top notch device to reclaim place in the phablet category and win back loyal consumers.
Interesting rumors are making rounds about Galaxy Note 8’s release dates. Updates claim that the nest Note device will be unveiled at the CES 2017 or the MWC 2017. Both the events take place in January and February respectively and according to Note’s release schedule it is never unveiled in the first quarter. Samsung unveils their S-series devices in the 1st quarter and the Note-series devices in the 3rd quarter. So, any new regrading the early release of Note 8 should be dismissed as Samsung at the moment if focusing on their S-series flagship Galaxy S8, which will be unveiled at the MWC 2017.
