Samsung's latest flagship, the Galaxy Note 7, gets official

[Shawn Knight]

It’s August 2 which can only mean one thing for tech enthusiasts – the official unveiling of Samsung’s next Galaxy Note smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7 (yes, Samsung did skip over the “6” moniker as rumored).

Samsung’s Unpacked event, which took place simultaneously in New York City, London and Rio, opened with a homage to this year’s Olympic Games courtesy of Samsung President of Mobile Business Communications, DJ Koh.

The executive wasted little time in rattling off the Galaxy Note 7’s key features including an iris scanner, water resistance, wireless charging and the all-new S-Pen that’s said to be more precise, more responsive and yes, both dust and water resistant.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look at the complete hardware specifications.

The Note 7 features a 5.7-inch Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440 resolution, 518 PPI) Super AMOLED display with curved edges that’s coated in Corning’s brand new Gorilla Glass 5. It’s powered by a 64-bit, 14-nanometer octa-core SoC (four 2.3GHz cores and four 1.6GHz cores) alongside 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB of onboard flash storage.

The Galaxy Note 7 has the exact same rear camera as the Galaxy S7, a dual pixel 12-megapixel f/1.7 aperture shooter with optical image stabilization. There’s also a 5-megapixel f/1.7 camera up front, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, an iris scanner, NFC, HDR, IP68 water and dust rating, a USB Type-C connector, wireless charging and yes, even a 3.5mm headphone jack (a direct jab at Apple).

Samsung has also brought back expandable storage with the Note 7 via microSD card slot (up to 256GB).

Samsung says its Note 7 is roughly 30 percent faster on the CPU side and has a GPU that’s nearly 60 percent faster compared to the previous generation. A 3,500mAh non-removable battery keeps the action going and when it’s time to recharge, you can do so wired or wirelessly (compatible with WPC and PMA).

The Galaxy Note 7 should be available to pre-order in the coming days with availability scheduled for August 19. It’s being offered in black, blue, silver and gold color schemes. Pricing hasn’t yet been revealed although I suspect it’ll be in line with current flagship smartphones already on the market.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/65817-samsung-latest-flagship-galaxy-note-7-gets-official.html

 

[RustyTech]

Thank you Shawn, although seems Samsung hasn't answered 2 most critical questions. Does it have a microSD card slot and is the battery removable?

 

[Agnomen]

Thank you Shawn, although seems Samsung hasn't answered 2 most critical questions. Does it have a microSD card slot and is the battery removable?

They mentioned in the presentation it has a microSD card slot that supports cards up to 256gb. Highly doubt the battery is removable since none of their current flagships have one.

 

[Shawn Knight]

Thank you Shawn, although seems Samsung hasn't answered 2 most critical questions. Does it have a microSD card slot and is the battery removable?

Thanks for pointing this out as I missed it in the coverage. There is indeed a microSD card slot but from everything I've seen and based off the design itself, the battery is not removable.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

It's a lovely device. Pity it's overkill for my needs and use.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Thank you Shawn, although seems Samsung hasn't answered 2 most critical questions. Does it have a microSD card slot and is the battery removable?

And some knuckleheads are also going to complain about the lack of of an IR blaster. IR blasters on phones are a thing of the past these days no matter how upscale the device is.

 

[axiomatic13]

It looks like impressive hardware. But I used to have a Note 4 and if TouchWiz is still on this phone then it's not for me. Not trying to hate on it, I just didn't like the experience.

 

[Skyyy]

It looks like impressive hardware. But I used to have a Note 4 and if TouchWiz is still on this phone then it's not for me. Not trying to hate on it, I just didn't like the experience.

I downloaded & use the Google launcher. Everything else, I kind of like on my Note 3. I don't think you're locked into anything, but I guess if you don't like any of the Samsung stuff, it might be better to save money with a Nexus.

 

[VitalyT]

I skipped Note 5, because Note 4 seemed like a way better phone (I'm still using it). Now that they bring the microSD back, I may finally consider an upgrade. The new phone looks real nice

 

[MaitieS]

Thank you Shawn, although seems Samsung hasn't answered 2 most critical questions. Does it have a microSD card slot and is the battery removable?

Hi,

Yes MicroSD card is available for 256GB & Battery will not be longer removable in other mobile devices.
Reason = waterproof You can damage it with opening your phone case.

 

[RustyTech]

Hi,

Yes MicroSD card is available for 256GB & Battery will not be longer removable in other mobile devices.
Reason = waterproof You can damage it with opening your phone case.

Thank you MaitieS, I will try to remember never to open my phone under water. I appreciate you bring this to my attention.

 

[ghostf1re]

This is a very nice phone and I will definitely be getting my hands on this. My Note 5 is nice, but I want the bigger battery and expandable memory. The only downside to this phone in my opinion is the lack of a removable battery and the curved display. I don't really care for the curved looks.

 

[Steve]

This is a very nice phone and I will definitely be getting my hands on this. My Note 5 is nice, but I want the bigger battery and expandable memory. The only downside to this phone in my opinion is the lack of a removable battery and the curved display. I don't really care for the curved looks.

Yep looks great, I will pick one up next month as well. Not excited about the curved display either but it won't harm the product so that's fine.

 

[amghwk]

Thank you Shawn, although seems Samsung hasn't answered 2 most critical questions. Does it have a microSD card slot and is the battery removable?

And some knuckleheads are also going to complain about the lack of of an IR blaster. IR blasters on phones are a thing of the past these days no matter how upscale the device is.

IR blaster is still very useful. I'm able to control many appliances at home and office.

Just because you don't use it, there is no need to go on calling others knuckleheads.

 

[poohbear]

Think it's fin ally time to update from Note 4! The thing I like about Samsung is they continue their support of their older phones! My Note 4 just got a software update today with bug fixes & optimizations! They release software updates every few months so it's good to know the support is there & that's one of the reasons I stay with them. that and they make kickass smartphones.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

IR blaster is still very useful. I'm able to control many appliances at home and office.

Just because you don't use it, there is no need to go on calling others knuckleheads.

You may have noticed posts like "It doesn't have an IR blaster so it's a pile crap" Those are the type of people I'm referring to as knuckleheads. Sorry I never made it so obvious.
Even though the Note 7 is going to be a fine, powerful, competent and beautiful device, *knuckleheads* are going to slander it just for that... just for the sake of something to slander it for

 

[p51d007]

The removable battery thing hasn't been an issue for me, for years. Last 2 phones I used, had batteries large enough to make it through the day. The current one, 4,050 gets around 2 days average.
If a phone has a big enough battery, it's ability to be swapped, isn't an issue. The problem I have with these "flagships" is the silly price. Typically, 200-300 to produce, 800 or MORE to purchase.
Hey, if that's your cup of tea, more power to ya!

 

[amghwk]

The removable battery thing hasn't been an issue for me, for years. Last 2 phones I used, had batteries large enough to make it through the day. The current one, 4,050 gets around 2 days average.
If a phone has a big enough battery, it's ability to be swapped, isn't an issue. The problem I have with these "flagships" is the silly price. Typically, 200-300 to produce, 800 or MORE to purchase.
Hey, if that's your cup of tea, more power to ya!

Contrary to why others want replaceable battery units (I.e. battery swapping on the go), I actually prefer the replaceable battery for extending the life of my phone. I replaced my Note 3's battery last year (after about 1½-2 years), and now the longevity is as how it was when I bought it brand new a few years ago.

Changing the battery when it's function has dropped very low, seems more logistically sound and economical rather than paying more for a new phone. And I wonder how much they charge officially if given a phone to replace the battery in, say, this upcoming Note 7 after two years.

 

[KD7CAO]

The lack of a user replaceable battery is going to be a deal killer. As a first responder I go through at least two batteries daily on my Note 4. I also would like to see dual-sim capability to support the new First Net.

 

[James Farmer]

Thank you Shawn, although seems Samsung hasn't answered 2 most critical questions. Does it have a microSD card slot and is the battery removable?

Thanks for pointing this out as I missed it in the coverage. There is indeed a microSD card slot but from everything I've seen and based off the design itself, the battery is not removable.

They tell you the Battery is Built in...But that is a Plus ...With the Battery Built in, the Phone has full Controll over all power use, and with it part of the device power usage is even more eficent .

 

[James Farmer]

Thank you Shawn, although seems Samsung hasn't answered 2 most critical questions. Does it have a microSD card slot and is the battery removable?

And some knuckleheads are also going to complain about the lack of of an IR blaster. IR blasters on phones are a thing of the past these days no matter how upscale the device is.

IR blaster is still very useful. I'm able to control many appliances at home and office.

Just because you don't use it, there is no need to go on calling others knuckleheads.

I agree we dont need name calling here, But I do want to point out that a IR Blaster takes a lot of power ...I thought it was going to be a cool feature on my S5 but after seeing how much juice it used ...I turned it off....just my opinion of course...

 

[James Farmer]

This is a very nice phone and I will definitely be getting my hands on this. My Note 5 is nice, but I want the bigger battery and expandable memory. The only downside to this phone in my opinion is the lack of a removable battery and the curved display. I don't really care for the curved looks.

Yep looks great, I will pick one up next month as well. Not excited about the curved display either but it won't harm the product so that's fine.

Yes I am getting one myself...I to am not crazy about the curved display...but as you say it does no harm........even though it can support 256 gig sd cards I still wish samsung had offerd a 128 gig version...as the internal storage is allways faster....but my s5 only has 16gigs so it will 4x more storage....and I allready have a 128 gig SD card in my s5 ....so it will do till the 256 gig sd cards come down in price.

 

[spydercanopus]

And some knuckleheads are also going to complain about the lack of of an IR blaster. IR blasters on phones are a thing of the past these days no matter how upscale the device is.

The IR emitter and higher resolution display are the only two features that would sell me on Galaxy over iPhone.

I envy the fact my wife can use her phone to type in a show and BAM, the TV finds it.

 

[MaitieS]

Thank you MaitieS, I will try to remember never to open my phone under water. I appreciate you bring this to my attention.

Kappa?

 

[edwardjones]

Samsung Note Consumers Demand:

1. Headphone on top
2. MicroSD Card
3. Removable Battery
4. IR Blaster
5. Wireless Charging

Note 3 & Note 4 were perfect, the Note 5 was skipped by consumers because Samsung started giving in to copying Apple hype, rather than sticking to their much smarter and better phones and letting CrApple copy Samsung!

Make the Note 8 just like the Note 4, only lighter.