Samsung has just announced its flagship, Galaxy Note 8 smartphone in an event in New York. The Note 8 one-ups the Galaxy S8 Plus with a bigger 6.3-inch 18.5:9 Infinity display with Quad-HD+ resolution. It's still the bezel-less screen that extends to the periphery of the phone apart from the bottom and top. The sides are slightly sharper than the Galaxy S8 to give you more area for the S-pen to work with.
This is Samsung's first smartphone with a dual camera. The Note 8 packs dual 12MP cameras on the back and both with Optical Image Stabilization. The main camera has the same f/1.7 aperture as the Galaxy S8 but the second 12MP camera gets a telephone lens with f/2.4 aperture capable of 2X optical zoom.
For security, you have Samsung KNOX built into the hardware and software of the Galaxy Note 8. Then you also have the Iris scanner up front and the fingerprint sensor at the back, which is still next to the camera. IP68 water/dust resistance is back with the Note 8 and the phone can survive being submerged in up to 1.5 meters of water.
Given that the Galaxy Note 8 now comes with 6GB of RAM and 64GB expandable storage, the company has added a new multitasking mode called App Pair where you can launch two apps side by side in multi-window mode. The S-Pen has also got some new tricks up its sleeves including a finer tip, improved pressure sensitivity and the capability to translate an entire line of text by just hovering over it. It also instantly converts foreign currency and units.
Samsung Galaxy Note8 Specifications
- 6.3-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display, 2960 × 1440 pixels, 522 PPI, 18.5:9 Aspect Ratio
- Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 with Adreno 540 GPU
- Octa-Core Samsung Exynos 9 Series 8895 processor with Mali-G71 MP20 GPU
- 6GB LPDDR4 RAM
- 64GB/128GB/256GB Storage Options. Expandable Memory Up To 256GB With MicroSD Cards.
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Samsung Experience
- Dual 12MP rear cameras, Dual Pixel AutoFocus, Dual-OIS, f/1.7 and f/2.4 aperture lenses, 2X optical zoom on telephoto lens
- 8MP Auto Focus Front-facing Selfie Camera, f/1.7 Aperture, Wide-angle Lens
- Thickness: 8.6mm; Weight: 195g
- Fingerprint sensor, Iris Scanner, Barometer, Hybrid dual-SIM, IP68 Dust/Water Resistance
- 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v 5.0, GPS with GLONASS, USB Type-C 3.1, NFC, MST
- 3300mAh Battery, Fast Wireless Charging
The Galaxy Note 8 will come in Maple Gold, Midnight Black, Orchid Gray and Deep Sea Blue color options. It will be available starting September 15th in both online and offline stores, pre-orders begin today. The Galaxy Note 8 has been priced at a whopping $950 on AT&T unlocked, while T-mobile gets you the cheapest deal at $930 unlocked. This is by far Samsung's most expensive smartphone. We will have more information on availability in various regions and pricing soon.
