Breaking news today indicates that Samsung will unveil its Galaxy Note 5 device tomorrow in New York. Samsung will hold its ‘Galaxy Unpacked’ event on Thursday, at which the company is expected to reveal the next generation phablet. Although the Korean consumer electronics giant has not confirmed that the lineup for this event includes the Galaxy Note 5, or indeed any of the content at all, pundits widely expect that the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will both launch at the event.
Galaxy Note 5 images emerge
As anticipation grows ahead of Unpacked, the notorious technology blogger, Evan Blass, has in fact tweeted pictures of the devices. This will only increase the buzz surrounding the release of the Galaxy Note 5, which is already an extremely important device for Samsung.
Although the Galaxy S series is generally considered to be the flagship range of the Korean manufacturer, the Galaxy Note 4 was in fact received more enthusiastically in 2014. After a sub-par Galaxy S5 handset was unveiled earlier in 2014, an impressive Galaxy Note 4 device got Samsung back on track as the year unfolded.
It is notable then that the curved version of the Samsung phablet is now widely expected to be rebranded, becoming part of the Galaxy S series. This is both intended to relaunch this curved screen variant as a mainstream device, and also to add lustre to the existing Galaxy S range.
Display
Samsung has become particularly associated with producing high quality displays, and also with packing its devices with some of the most competitive specifications in the mobile marketplace. So we can expect the Galaxy Note 5 to have an outstanding screen when it is unveiled tomorrow, as well as being an absolutely spec-packed handset.
There has been a significant debate over whether the Galaxy Note 5 will embrace 4K resolution, but this looks increasingly unlikely. The latest reports on the Galaxy Note 5 indicate that it will come complete with a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 pixels.
It is thought that Samsung examined the possibility of upgrading the display in the Galaxy Note 5 to 4K resolution, but decided that this would not be logistically possible. Certainly such a screen resolution would have placed a huge burden on the processor and battery in the device, and Samsung has evidently decided to seek improvement elsewhere. Similarly, there will be no significant increase in screen size from the Galaxy Note 4 either.
Processor
Speculation has also been rife as to whether Samsung would opt for its own proprietary Exynos technology, or instead allow Qualcomm back into the fold with a Snapdragon processor. Certainly statements from the Korean tech giant have indicated that Samsung is developing a more favorable relationship with Qualcomm, after the technology manufacturer dropped its processors in the recent Galaxy S6.
But the most recent information indicates that Samsung will indeed on the Galaxy Note 5 with an Exynos processor as expected. The device in question is expected to be a 64-bit Exynos 7422 octa-core processor, with 4 GB of RAM also expected to ensure that this is an extremely powerful device. The Galaxy Note 5 is also naturally expected to feature the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop operating system.
Storage
As mobile users increasingly utilize their devices for ever more complicated and storage sapping activity, there is also speculation that Samsung will set the base model of the Galaxy Note 5 unit at 32 GB. It is also expected that Samsung will dispense with any form of micro SD expansion, meaning that 64 GB and 128 GB variants of the phablet are also likely.
Battery
Another interesting report that is emerging today relates to the battery that will be included in the Galaxy Note 5. Leaks from close to Samsung suggest that the Galaxy Note 5 will feature a 3,000 mAh Li-Po non-removable battery; something of a surprise considering that its predecessor had a larger unit.
Samsung will ensure that the performance of the Galaxy Note 5 is outstanding, though, by utilizing new power saving functionality. But it is fair to say that some fans of the Galaxy range have been critical of this decision by Samsung, even though it hasn’t been confirmed by the corporation itself. It is expected that the Galaxy Note 5 will deliver a maximum talk time of 21 hours and standby time of 336 hours.
Wireless charging
Better news is offered for Galaxy Note aficionados in the realm of wireless charging. It seems certain that Samsung will include this convenient technology when the Galaxy Note 5 is released, although reports suggest that charging pads will have to be purchased separately. Samsung is said to have included its Quick Charge 2.0 in this premium phablet.
Camera
The camera specifications of the device will also be of particular interest to potential purchasers, as this field is an increasing battleground for competing smartphones. Rumors have been circulating that Apple will significantly upgrade the camera in the iPhone unit when the iPhone 7 debuts in September, and Samsung has the opportunity to pre-emptively strike against Apple in this department when the Galaxy Note 5 is unveiled.
With this in mind, the Galaxy Note 5 is expected to feature a 16-megapixel rear camera, with improved optical image stabilization functionality. There has been significant debate regarding the quality of this camera, but most analysts have now settled on the likelihood of a 16-megapixel unit. Similarly, it was suggested at one time that Samsung could cram an incredible 8-megapixels into the front-facing selfie-taking camera, but this is notwexpected to be around 5-megapixels; still a pretty powerful unit by general market standards.
YouTube stream
Samsung fans will have the opportunity to view the Unpacked event at their leisure, as the corporation has already announced that it will be streamed live on YouTube. This will make Unpacked a little more accessible than Apple launch events, which tend to discriminate against non-Apple hardware. No doubt the YouTube servers will be seriously challenged when the Galaxy Note 5 launches tomorrow.
