A few days ago, an alleged Samsung Galaxy Note 8 firmware appeared online with version number N9500ZCU0AQEF, a confirmation that the Korean tech giant has commenced testing the Chinese variant of the Note 7 successor.
Even though the report came from someone not associated with Samsung, this person has once before leaked details of the Galaxy S8 when it was being tested back in 2016. Now, in another similar report, it appears that the firmware being tested on the Galaxy Note 8 is based on the newer Android 7.1.1 Nougat.
According to someone who is reportedly close to Samsung and through the Galaxy Club, it’s possible that the Galaxy Note 8 will ditch the inaugural Android 7.0 Nougat OS in favor of the newer version when it comes out later this year. This makes sense, especially now that we already have several devices that are based on the newer Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box.
As expected, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will keep the same 18.5:9 aspect ratio that made debut with the Galaxy S8, meaning the Infinity Display thing is now a mainstay on Samsung’s flagship phones. Despite the mention of the operating system being tested on the Note 8, the source did not highlight the details of the internals. But looking at what has already been leaked, we expect to see the same hardware specs used on the high-end Galaxy S8+ alongside a dual-lens camera, bigger battery and of course, the S Pen.
Similar to other years, the Galaxy Note 8 will be unveiled in the second half of this year, but the specific date is still unclear. The tech giant might push the date further ahead compared to the August release date of the Galaxy Note 7 in order to give the refurbished version of the latter some time to kick-start a new campaign. The Note 7 is expected to be unveiled by the end of this month, but the date and global availability details remain unclear.