Samsung on Wednesday, 23 August, officially launched the Galaxy "Note 8", in a return for the South Korean smartphone major that recalled its Note 7 worldwide
last year. This is Samsung's first smartphone to feature dual camera set-up at the rear with portrait mode and dual optical image stabilisation (OIS).
It also comes with "Bixby" intelligent assistant, water and dust resistance and iris scanner.
Similar to the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+, the Note 8 also sports "Infinity Display" with an aspect ratio of 18.5:9.
The 6.3-inch screen is Super AMOLED with a resolution of 1440 x 2960 pixels. Note 8 sports top-notch features such as 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core chipset with 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage.
Galaxy Note 8 will come with 64-bit Exynos 8895 octa-core processor in regions like India and other Asian countries.
The dual cameras at the back include a 12MP wide-angle lens with an aperture of f/1.7 and a 12MP telephoto lens with an aperture of f/2.4. The 8MP front camera also comes with optical image stabilisation. The "S Pen" stylus with Galaxy Note 8 comes with a latency of fewer than 50 milliseconds.
The smartphone also comes with USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer. 3,300mAh battery powers the Note 8 with support for fast-charging and wireless fast charging.
The handset also houses a microSD card slot for expandable storage. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and GPS.
Note 8 runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS with Samsung's TouchWiz UI on top. To regain the customers' trust, the company is believed to have enhanced safety checklist by using in-house '8-point battery test'. The fiasco over Samsung's Note 7 caused the firm operating losses of some $5 billion.
Note 8 best features
The Note 8 is Samsung's first smartphone to come with a dual camera lens, the technology employed in the iPhone 7 Plus and Android challenges such as the Nokia 8 and OnePlus 5.
It has two 12MP cameras on the back, which let users create depth effects and zoom further.The Note 8 also showcases Samsung's Bixby voice assistant, its challenger to Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa and
Google's Assistant. Bixby is activated through voice control, responding both to the wake phrase "Hi, Bixby" and when the button dedicated to Bixby is held down.
"Because it is controlled through the phone it is secure to the user," said Conor Pierce, head of Samsung UK, "it is not just sitting in the corner of the room listening to you."
Pierce added the Samsung brand has "never been in better shape" in the UK, where the company launched its Bixby voice control on Tuesday.
Note 8 Specifications
Display: 6.3in, 18.5:9 Super AMOLED, Always-on display
Operating system: Android Nougat 7.1.1
Processor Qualcomm: Snapdragon 835/Exynos 8895
RAM: 6GB LPDDR4
Storage: 64GB/128GB/256GB plus microSD
Primary camera 12Mp dual-lens rear camera (12Mp, f/1.7 wide-angle + f/2.4 telephoto with 2x optical zoom), OIS
Selfie camera: 8Mp f/1.7
Connectivity: 802.11ac dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, 4G LTE Cat 16, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
Extra features: S Pen stylus, rear fingerprint scanner and heart-rate sensor, DeX support
Battery: 3,300mAh with wired (USB-C) and wireless fast charging
Waterproofing: IP68 (phone and stylus)
Dimensions: 162.5x74.8x8.6mm
Colours: Midnight Black & Maple Gold Orchid Grey & Deep Sea Blue may follow