Galaxy Note 8 might come with more power, two rear cameras and a small battery

As we approach the launch of Samsung‘s highly anticipated phablet flagship Galaxy Note 8, rumours and leaks have begun to speed up about the upcoming device. Today, we get a glimpse of what is perhaps the most legit leak of the Galaxy Note 8 yet.

In a recent article published on VentureBeat by the one and only Evan Blass (@evleaks), the author lets us in on what he heard from “an individual briefed on the company’s plans.

According to the post, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 may be the company’s most expensive smartphone as it will reportedly retail at EUR999 (around RM4,794) and will make an appearance during the second half of September. Of course, it’s been known that European prices tend to be higher than what we usually pay for and that the estimated American price of just over USD900 (around RM3,860) seems more in line with what we can expect the handset to retail for here. Even then, it’s not a small price tag.

But then again, the Note 8 is loaded with high-end specifications. According to evleaks, the handset will be powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor (we will likely get the Exynos 8895 octa-core variant) and 6GB of RAM, something Samsung has traditionally only kept for the Chinese markets. However, despite this added horsepower, the Note 8 will allegedly only come with a 3,300 mAh battery (smaller than the S8+’s 3,500 mAh).

We’re not sure how well that will hold up especially since this upcoming phablet will feature an even larger 6.3-inch edge-to-edge curved AMOLED display. If this is proof of anything, it’s that Samsung is really quite worried about repeating another Note7 fiasco.

Spinning the device around, though, reveals some of the most interesting specs yet. According to evleaks, the smartphone will apparently be Samsung’s first device to feature a dual 12-megapixel camera setup mounted horizontally and to the left of the smartphone’s flash and heart rate sensor. Evleaks also claims that the camera’s lenses will be individually optically stabilised (which sounds awesome).

Samsung Galaxy S8

One unfortunate thing you might find around back is the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. Looks like Samsung really won’t be able to develop its in-screen fingerprint sensor technology in time for the Note 8. Although the silver lining is that there will apparently be more space between the camera and the scanner, the fingerprint reader will supposedly still be on the same plane.

Samsung will reportedly also update the software of the Note 8 as it is rumoured to feature better split-screen multitasking. The company will also update the S Pen’s features to let it have full-sentence translation and currency conversion capabilities. You will also apparently be able to pin handwritten notes to the Always On display.

Evleaks also says that the Note 8 will be compatible with DeX (Samsung’s desktop docking solution that debuted with the S8) and will use the same dock as its smaller siblings.

Oh and it will apparently be called the Samsung Galaxy Note8.

Now, the specs for the Note 8 do look pretty impressive especially when you bundle in the things Evan didn’t mention but will likely appear on the device like IP68 water resistance, however, there’s one thing people here will take issue with: Its price tag.

Looking at the local pricing of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ — retailing for RM3,299 and RM3,699 respectively — I don’t think the Note8 will break the RM4,000 barrier. If I had to guess, I’d put it at about RM3,999 or RM3,899 but even that’s way into Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus territory.

Of course, it goes without saying that these are not officially confirmed specs so take them with a grain of salt. However, evleaks has been really reliable in the past.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

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