We already know the launch date of the Galaxy Note 8, and thanks to some recently-leaked press renders, we know exactly what it will look like. But the deep state leakers haven’t stopped there.
Evan Blass, the notorious mobile leaker who published the Note 8 renders earlier this week, is back. This time he’s sharing all the Note 8’s specs, according to a source “briefed on the device’s final configuration.”
According to Blass, the device will have a 6.3-inch AMOLED display with a 1440 x 2960 resolution, housed in a waterproof IP68-rated body that we’ve seen so much of already. Thickness is pegged at 8.5mm, a sliver more than the 8mm Galaxy S8.
Inside, the US version will have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, while the international version gets Samsung’s own Exynos 8895 system. The Snapdragon 835 is the same chipset that powers the Galaxy S8 and S8+, although you can count on a little more tuning to potentially get marginally better performance.
The biggest internal upgrade over the Galaxy S8 is the additional RAM. The Galaxy Note 8 will get 6GB, whereas the Galaxy S8 has to make do with 4GB. Both devices have the same 64GB of internal storage, according to Blass.
With so much seemingly identical — even the screen is only half an inch bigger than the Galaxy S8 — Samsung is going to rely heavily on the camera to make a difference. We’ve got a similar dual-camera setup to the iPhone 7 Plus, with main camera and a second telephoto lens that enables a 2x optical zoom. The Note 8’s cameras have absurdly wide lenses: f1.7 on the main lens and f2.4 on the telephoto. A wider aperture means a shallower depth of field and much better low-light photography, so it’s a stat that can actually make a difference.
Finally, it looks like Samsung is playing it safe with a 3,300mAh battery in the Note 8. After the Note 7 fiasco, you can be sure that this battery is carefully and religiously sized for the Note 8 chassis, and has been tested thoroughly. Quick-charging goes over USB-C or wireless.
The phone will apparently launch first in gold and black, with a grey and blue color following later.
Price could be the most interesting stat from Blass’s leak. He says it will cost around $900, right on the top end of what’s been charged for a smartphone before. It might sound like a lot, but numerous leaks have the iPhone 8 coming in right around $1,000, which could make the Note 8 look like a real bargain.
