Coming up to almost 5 years since the original Galaxy Note released way in 2011, we’re now nearing the horizon for the first proper official unveiling of this year’s Galaxy Note 7. There have been plenty of rumblings on the web surrounding what we can expect with the upcoming device, yet none of it has been confirmed by Samsung.
We’ve gathered all the information we have so far about the Note 7 and while all we have so far is largely made up of rumours and leaks, it gives us a bit of a glimpse as to what we can expect when it launches later this year.
First off the bat is that according to recent reports, @evleaks claims that it won’t even be called the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 this time around, instead being known as a more simplified: Note7 instead. Stylistically, this makes sense given the lack of gap between the S and 7 in Samsung’s S7 series of smartphones but of course, what Samsung ends up calling it remains to be seen.
Galaxy Note 7 release date and price
While we haven’t had any conclusive information from Samsung yet, we have been gifted a little teaser of an announcement that’s happening very soon. Invites have been sent out for Samsung’s Unpacked event, which has given us our first tantalising look at the Note 7.
The invite clearly teases the S Pen and while nothing has been confirmed yet, it looks like Samsung are really teasing us with the official unveiling. Taking place at 4pm BST on 2nd August, we’ll be given our first glimpse, and you can expect the device to launch not too long after, perhaps around Autumn time.
If you're after a SIM-free Galaxy Note 7, one can assume to have to fork out in the region of £600 for one, but official pricing is yet to be revealed. While 2015’s Galaxy Note 5 retailed for £450 at release, you can expect Samsung to up the price, especially considering the recent Galaxy S7 Edge cost upwards of £600.
Galaxy Note 7 specs
Obviously, we don’t have a whole lot of concrete information at the moment, regarding any new features and specs the phone might have, but recent leaks and rumours look promising.
This wouldn’t be a highly anticipated phone launch without some pictures leaking ahead of the reveal, with the Galaxy Note 7 being no exception. Pictures, leaked on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, appear to suggest that the Note 7 will feature a 5.7in display and fingerprint technology. There also looks to be a USB Type-C port and headphone/microphone jack too.
Rumours suggest we’ll see a Qualcomm Snapdragon 823 processor and a speedy 6GB of RAM. I think we can make an educated guess at this point that the Note 7 will be running Android 7.0 Nougat, which is expected to launch sometime this summer.
Again, according to @evleaks, we should expect to see 64GB of storage, along with expandable MicroSD support too. There’s also supposedly going to be a 3,700 mAh battery for longer use when compared to the 3,020 mAh battery found in the Note 5.
It’s reasonable to expect we’ll see the 12-megapixel rear camera from the S7 rearing its head again here and perhaps even a dual-lens camera in an effort to compete with the iPhone 7. Rumours have suggested a 20-megapixel camera, but I doubt Samsung would really make such a drastic difference from their S7 range.
We might even see a ‘lite’ version too, with a lower resolution display, with less RAM and a slightly slower processor. Expect this version to be a little cheaper than it’s fully beefed out counterpart.
What happened to the Galaxy Note 6?
With the impending Galaxy Note 7 announcement on the horizon, you might be asking yourself: “But what happened to the Galaxy Note 6?” Don’t worry - you didn’t sleep in and miss it, Samsung is said to be skipping the 6, in order to bring the Note 7 in line with all of their other numbered devices.
Following the announcement of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge earlier this year, 2016 looks to be the year of the 7 - especially when the inevitable iPhone 7 launches later this year too.
Obviously, we’ll be bringing your more information once we get some more conclusive information from Samsung at this year’s Samsung Unpacked event on 2nd August.