Wallet-busting Galaxy Note 8 “to launch in September”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Samsung is making preparations to launch its most expensive cellphone yet, telling partners that its Galaxy Note8 will retail for €999. The 6.3-inch device, with the same edge-to-edge, 18.5:9 aspect ratio AMOLED display as in the Galaxy S8 lineup, will be unveiled in the second half of September, an individual briefed on the company’s plans told VentureBeat.

At nearly the same size as the 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+, for the first time in its seven-year history, Samsung is counting on more than an expansive screen to differentiate the Note line from the S-series. It aims to achieve that differentiation with selectively beefed-up components and a dual main camera setup, along with the line’s signature feature, the S Pen stylus.

Internally, while the Note8 will utilize the same top-of-the-line Exynos 8895 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipsets as the Galaxy S8 and S8+, it will be paired with a more generous 6GB of RAM — making it only Samsung’s second handset, after the Galaxy C9 Pro, to exceed the 4GB threshold.

It will also be Samsung’s first phone with dual cameras on the back, each of which features a 12-megapixel sensor and independent optical image stabilization for the lens. The lenses are said to be configured horizontally, situated to the left of the flash and heart rate sensor.

Once again, Samsung has made the controversial choice of placing the fingerprint sensor on the same plane as the camera lenses — to the right of the flash and heart rate sensor — but at least this iteration sees them separated by a greater distance.

Note8 will be powered by a relatively conservative 3300mAh battery, a sign that the company is loath to repeat the debacle of last year’s Note7 recalls and eventual cancellation.

On the software side of things, Samsung has apparently improved the ease-of-use of split-screen multitasking, endowed the S Pen with more capabilities (such as full-sentence language translation and currency conversion), and added the ability to pin handwritten notes to the always-on display.

DeX capability is also included, as the Note8 is said to be compatible with the same dock that, when connected to a monitor, brings a desktop experience to the Galaxy S8 models.

The €999 retail price should translate to a little over $900, given that the €799 Galaxy S8 and €899 S8+ initially sold unlocked for about $725 and $825, respectively. The briefed individual claimed that the Note8 will be available at launch in shades of black, blue, and gold, VentureBeat said.