With the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus set for release later this month, the rumor mill has turned its collective gaze towards what is next. Many believe the the South Korean manufacturer’s next smartphone will be the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, a successor to the stricken Note 7 and yet another foray into the phablet arena. So with the S-Pen, and presumably large display, what could this next-gen Note look like? Here are some of the latest concept renderings, plus spec and feature speculations.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
With a launch date thought to be in the fourth quarter, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is some way off. However, the first concept renderings we’re going to take a look at give it a design somewhat similar to its soon-to-be-released siblings. In fact, on the first viewing of this rendering, from the front, you would be forgiven for mistaking it for the S8 Plus. However, with no official information coming from Samsung, it’s not surprising that the creator took inspiration from that device. After all, at 6.2-inches, it is a phablet, in all but name.
Having said that, the bezels on this concept rendering are thinner than those on the S8. Although it keeps the dual-curved edges and physical buttons on each side, on the right, there are both power and lock buttons, while on the left, there are volume and dedicated Bixby AI buttons.
On the rear, we can see a dual-lens camera, possibly offering the rumored 3D photography that is being discussed in forums. Accompanying that, there’s what looks like an LED-flash and a heartbeat sensor, but we don’t know why it has that particular sensor. We assumed Samsung would focus less on S-Health with its handsets this year.
Finally, there’s the S-pen, which in the image above looks to be considerably out of proportion. There’s absolutely no chance at the size it is in this rendering that it could fit inside the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. However, this could just be an error by the creator, as we can’t see it not being stored within the handset’s body.
Display concept rendering
In February, Techconfigurations created and published its concept rendering showing the future Samsung Galaxy Note 8. One area in which we agree with them is about the display offering 4K resolution. This could be the case due to the perceived explosion of virtual reality on mobile devices in 2017, something which Samsung apparently considers to the accurate, due to it giving away the Gear VR headset with its handsets.
Techconfigurations says in the post which accompanies its rendering: “We have followed the same design algorithm to create our first 3D rendering of the Note 8 which we believe is most realistic if Samsung follows it design from S8.”
It is now clear that their assumption of a 5.7-inch display, which was believable at the time, is wrong. After all, the Note series has always been larger devices. So with the increase in the S line sizes to 5.8 inches and 6.2 inches, could the Note 8 be a monster? Obviously, there’s no answer to that at the moment; however, we will keep you updated.
Possible spec sheet?
It’s obvious that the creators of the two Samsung Galaxy Note 8 concept renderings above agreed on one thing, which is that the next phablet from the South Korean giant will get its design cues from the S line devices. That much can be clearly seen; however, what we can’t see is what is going on underneath. Will the Note 8 offer groundbreaking specs? We don’t know, but what we can do is put together a spec wishlist based on the most common rumors.
- 6.4-inch 4K Ultra HD display, 773ppi pixel per inch density
- Android OS, v7.1 (Nougat)
- IP68 certified — dust/water proof over 1.5 meter and 30 minutes
- Rear 12MP dual-lens camera, 8MP front camera
- 64GB storage, 6GB RAM or 128GB storage, 8GB RAM
- MicroSD card compatible, up to 256GB
- Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835/840, Exynos 8895 or better
- Iris scanner, fingerprint scanner (rear-mounted)
- ? more to come
If you’re waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, it will possibly set you back somewhere in the region of $1,000. You only have to look at the asking prices of the S8 and S8 Plus to realize that. The fact that the Note 8 could be bigger than the Plus and carry more advanced specs makes this a no-brainer.
So if you’ve got money to burn or are saving, the Note 8 will be a decent smartphone/phablet, especially, if you consider that its predecessor’s battery woes are long forgotten and Samsung is conducting rigorous testing so you can rest assured. However, if you have a yearning for something different, how about the 10th anniversary iPhone 8? It could cost about the same and hit the shelves at around the same time.
