It is definitely too early to be talking about Samsung Galaxy Note 8, but the fact that the company has basically confirmed that the Galaxy Note 7 was not the end of the Note series, rumors have been flowing in at an alarming rate with respect to what this 2017 flagship will actually be like.
The story is the same as far as Samsung Galaxy S8 is concerned, until recently when the company beefed up security in order to curb leakages of any S8 information. Of course, what consumers may desire to see on the 2017 Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 flagships might end up not materializing at all, but there are a number of features that you can start the year on a high, confident that Samsung will not be dropping them anytime soon.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 debuted quite a number of features and in fact, a huge number of them are expected to appear on the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus handsets that are just weeks away from launch. The South Korean tech giant is also expected to debut several other new features on the S8 as well as others on the Note 8. So, which of the many rumored features can you expect to meet on Samsung Galaxy Note 8 when it is launched in the second half of 2017?
Curved dual-edge display
While Xiaomi has recently taken the world of smartphones by storm with its almost bezel-less Mi MIX, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 should keep more of the same design as what appeared on the Galaxy Note 7. The device was excellently-built and in fact, people never got a chance to enjoy the new design language – Samsung will be more than happy to let them feel it while enjoying other newer features as well.
A dual-edge curved screen is still on the cards for the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 and if anything, this will be the new standard for the company’s flagship phones starting this 2017.
IP68
Last year’s Samsung Galaxy flagships debuted the IP68 dust and water resistance feature. The Galaxy S7 and Note 7 had this feature while the latter boasted it on its S Pen too, meaning the pen could be used on the phone from under the water. The same feature is expected to be used on the Galaxy S8 and Note 8, including the S-Pen. With IP68 rating, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8 will be able to work even after staying for up to 30 minutes in water that is 1.5 meters deep.
Iris scanner
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 debuted an iris scanning feature for authentication purposes. This feature, like the rest of the phone, was never enjoyed. As a result, expect to see it appear on the 2017 Samsung Galaxy Note 8 as well as the Galaxy S8.
USB Type-C
The industry is moving away from microUSB to USB Type-C connectivity. Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was the company’s first to come with this feature. It will also be expanding to the midrange Samsung Galaxy A 2017 series as well as the Galaxy S8. When Samsung Galaxy Note 8 comes around, this same feature will also be available.
Expandable storage
Samsung removed expandable storage from its 2015 flagships only to bring the feature back in 2016 following lots of negative feedback about the former move. As a result, this won’t be changing anytime soon, meaning the Galaxy Note 8 and S8 will both come with this feature on board.
While the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge can only accommodate a microSD card of up to 256GB, we could see Samsung extend this support, especially since many other Android OEMs allow up to 2TB of expandable storage.
No exploding batteries
The Galaxy Note 7 is no more because of explosions that meant the phone could no longer be used or sold in any place around the world. With the 2017 Samsung Galaxy Note 8, we don’t expect a repeat of this in whatever case. It is rumored that Samsung is considering using LG Chem batteries for its 2017 flagships, including the Note 8, but this has not been confirmed. Nonetheless, be sure that the Note 8 will have nothing to do with this kind of explosions.