Samsung’s Galaxy S8 has proved to be a blockbuster. But it included some poor design choices that the Korean electronics giant is expected to fix with the upcoming Galaxy Note 8. One of them is the fingerprint scanner, which sits on the right side of the main camera sensor. The fingerprint scanner’s placement on Galaxy S8 is such that users end up accidentally putting their fingers on the camera lens.
Samsung to embed the fingerprint sensor into the display
Now a leaked image of the Note 8 has popped up on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo. The leaked picture shows the back panel of the device. It looks a lot like the Galaxy S8, except for a few design changes. There is no way to tell if it indeed is the Galaxy Note 8, but the upcoming phablet is rumored to look similar to the Galaxy S8, which has received an overwhelmingly positive response from both the consumers and critics.
The leaked device in black color has no fingerprint sensor on the back. The fingerprint sensor is likely to be integrated into the front display. Samsung had tried to place the sensor under the Galaxy S8 display, but it didn’t have sufficient time to perfect the technology. With the Note 8 still a few months away, the company has enough time to successfully integrate it into the display.
Also, notice that the LED flash and heart rate sensor have been placed below the camera lens. On the Galaxy S8, the heart rate sensor and LED flash were placed on the left side of the main camera. Over the last few years, the Galaxy Note line has not seen a huge upgrade over the Galaxy S devices. So, we can expect the Note 8 to be similar to the Galaxy S8 except for a few changes.
Where is the dual camera system?
Interestingly, the leaked handset does not feature a dual camera system on the back. There is only a single camera lens. A recent 3D mockup of the Note 8 by Concept Creator included a vertically-arranged dual camera system on the back panel, with the LED flash placed below the camera. The mockup also had a dual camera on the front for selfies, though it didn’t describe how the front dual camera would work.
It’s possible that the leaked image posted on Weibo is just a prototype of the Note 8 rather than the final version. Ming-Chi Kuo, a KGI Securities analyst, has also talked about the Galaxy Note 8 featuring a dual camera system on the back. Kuo predicts the Note 8 dual camera would include a 13MP telephoto lens, a 12MP wide-angle CIS with dual photodiode (2PD), and 3x optical zoom.
KGI Securities believes that the Galaxy Note 8 dual camera will be far better than the one on the iPhone 7 Plus. It could even match the iPhone 8 in terms of camera quality, said Kuo. Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 will also feature a vertically-placed dual camera system. Apple has reportedly placed the dual cameras vertically to facilitate the augmented reality features coming with the iPhone 8.
This is the Galaxy Note 8 front panel
On Thursday, Twitter leaker @mmddj_china leaked a 9-second video showing the front panel of the Galaxy Note 8. It has the same bezel-less Infinity display as the Galaxy S8. The S8 display has an aspect ratio of 18.5:9, and the Note 8 is likely to stick to the same aspect ratio. The top and bottom bezels are incredibly slim, so we can expect the device to have a screen-to-body ratio of at least 80%.
Note8? pic.twitter.com/aZPsIevLbF
— 电流_Current (@MMDDJ_) May 25, 2017
The leaked front panel looks massive. That’s in line with recent rumors that the Note 8 would sport a 6.3-inch or 6.5-inch display. The current Galaxy S8 Plus already has a giant 6.2-inch screen. The Note 8 has to be bigger than that. According to the rumor mill, Samsung’s flagship phablet will have a QHD Super AMOLED display with 2560 x 1440 resolution.
The successor to Galaxy Note 7 is expected to run Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 and Samsung’s in-house Exynos 8895 processors, depending on the region. The Western markets are likely to get the Snapdragon variant while the Asian markets would get the Exynos model. The device is said to sport 6GB RAM, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, and a 3700mAh battery. It will also have an S Pen stylus and a dedicated button for Bixby.
Galaxy Note 8 release date
The rumor mill expects Samsung to announce the Galaxy Note 8 at an Unpacked event in August or September. Last year, the company had rushed the Note 7 launch in an attempt to beat the iPhone to the market. We all know how it panned out. Samsung is not going to rush things this year.
Last month, IFA director Jens Heithecker told media that the IFA show in Berlin would be an ideal place for the Korean behemoth to unveil the Galaxy Note 8. In the past, Samsung has held Unpacked events a day or two before the IFA trade show in Berlin. We can’t rule out the possibility of the Note 8 debuting at or around the IFA.
