As Samsung fans await more news regarding the Galaxy Note 8, a statement from IFA Executive Director Jens Heithecker has got tongues wagging. Heithecker suggested that the yearly electronics trade show held in Berlin would be the ideal place for Samsung to unveil its next generation phablet. This would mean that we would be able to first cast eyes on the Galaxy Note 8 in September.
New York or Berlin?
In previous years, Samsung has announced its flagship phablet in August, with New York being a venue for the most recent announcement. But Samsung had held events in Berlin, a day or two before the IFA trade show, throughout the early generations of the Galaxy Note series. Thus, there is existing precedent to suggest that Samsung could shift the unveiling of the Galaxy Note 8 to Germany, with the IFA trade show being a possible destination.
Indeed, Heithecker claims that Samsung will have the largest presentation at the trade show this year, very much hinting at the notion that the Galaxy Note 8 will be unveiled in Berlin. The director, though, stopped short of confirming this, and considering the wide range of Samsung products available, its stand at the IFA event could consist of almost anything.
This decision will be critical for the future of Samsung, as the consumer electronics giant faces a difficult conundrum over the makeup of the Galaxy Note 8. The Korean corporation must restore faith in a device range that has been severely dented by the exploding Galaxy Note 7.
Galaxy Note popularity
To some extent, it is a surprise that Samsung is persevering with this device range, but that is possibly due to the popularity of the Galaxy Note series in the past. The Galaxy Note 7 had garnered excellent reviews, which was common for Galaxy Note releases over the past few years. Clearly Samsung believes that it can restore the reputation of its phablet, but there is no doubt that doing so will require some diligent development and marketing.
Early rumors related to the Galaxy Note 8 suggest that it will very much resemble an enlarged version of the Galaxy S8, as Samsung follows design parameters that have proved successful for the company. It seems that 2017 will be defined by the wraparound display, and Samsung is certainly expected to apply this technology to the Galaxy Note 8 when it is released.
Elsewhere, there has been a lots of talk about Samsung increasing the specs in the Galaxy Note 8, with the key being distinguishing the device from the existing Galaxy S8. It can be reasonably asserted that Samsung no longer actually produces a smartphone, as both of the recent Galaxy S8 releases are of phablet size.
This means that the Galaxy Note 8 release can no longer be considered unique from the Galaxy S range simply by virtue of being sizeable. There must be other aspects to the smartphone that make it a unique purchase for Android fans. Part of the solution to this problem will be the ongoing S Pen stylus, which is not included with the Galaxy S8. Indeed, the Galaxy Note 8 has been linked with a unique speaker system for its stylus, and it sounds as if this will bring some innovative functionality to the device.
Samsung will also increase the general specifications of the eighth release in the Galaxy Note series. Central to this will be an upgrade to the RAM included in the device, with the Galaxy Note 8 benefiting from 6GB. But there will also be design changes, with the Galaxy Note 8 expected to embrace the removal of the Home button, in order to produce a screen-dominated device.
Galaxy Note 8 – 4K debate
It will also be interesting to see whether Samsung can finally justify the leap to 4K resolution. There is certainly pressure on the corporation to instigate this, as the screen resolution of the Galaxy S8 was increased over the previous version of the smartphone earlier this year, meaning that it is already extremely close to a 4K mobile.
Samsung almost has nowhere else to go with the Galaxy Note 8 other than including 4K resolution technology, although this is far from inevitable. The company could instead decided that screen resolution is not so important, and choose to separate the Galaxy Note 8 from the S8 in other areas. But with Samsung having made such a commitment to virtual reality, it would obviously make sense for the Korean company to indeed include 4K capabilities.
With a dual-camera also tipped for the Galaxy Note 8, it promises to be a particularly powerful and impressive phablet. And it seems that we may experience the Galaxy Note 8 for the first time in September, with rumors escalating that a Berlin reveal is possible.
