Samsung finally took the wraps off the hotly anticipated Galaxy Note 7 on Tuesday morning, and nothing shown off on stage at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom came as much of a surprise to Android fans. Leaks leading up to the event revealed just about everything there was to know about the new Note 7, as has been the case with other recent flagship phones.
Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 7 features a design that is similar in many ways to last year’s Galaxy Note 5. As a brief aside, you’ll notice that Samsung skipped the “Galaxy Note 6” name in order to bring its Note flagship line up to speed with its Galaxy S lineup. Samsung released the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge earlier this year, and now the Galaxy Note 7 will join those models.
Samsung Note 7 Key Specifications:
Inside, the Galaxy Note 7 features a 64-bit quad-core processor with two 2.15GHz cores and two 1.60GHz cores. As a result, the phone can sip power slowly when the user isn’t doing anything too complex, or it can kick things up a notch when an app needs more power.
Other key Galaxy Note 7 specs include Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, 64GB of UFS 2.0 storage, microSDXC support up to 2TB, a 12-megapixel Dual Pixel rear camera, a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, a huge 3,500 mAh battery with fast-charging support, and a 5.7-inch quad HD Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 518 ppi.
Two things need to be called out from within those specs: the first is the fact that the phone only comes in one storage size, 64GB. The second is the rear camera, which is the exact same camera as the one in the Galaxy S7. The S7’s camera is the best the world has ever seen on a smartphone in my opinion, but at the same time, Samsung historically offers some upgrades with each new model.
There’s plenty more to discuss beyond the Galaxy Note 7’s specs, of course. The S Pen stylus is new and improved, offering a writing experience similar to a real ballpoint pen; there are a bunch of new S Pen-specific features and enhancements like the ability to quickly select a video clip and convert it into a GIF; there’s a remarkably fast iris scanner that lets users unlock the Note 7 or authenticate mobile payments; and more. Since I only spent a short amount of time with the phone though, I’ll wait for the full review before diving in too deep.When can you buy one?
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Release date and price
Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 7 becomes available for preorder from today, i.e August 3rd. Customers who preorder the phone will also be able to choose a nice bonus along with their purchase — either a free 256GB Samsung microSD card or a free Gear Fit2. The phone will then be released on August 19th, and will be available from a wide range of retailers including all four major US wireless carriers and U.S. Cellular.
Pricing has yet to be announced but we will update this feature as soon as we know how much the Galaxy Note 7 will cost.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 will be sold in three colors in the US market, including silver, black and Blue Coral with rose gold metal around the edges of the phone.