Samsung shows successor to jinxed phone
Samsung is trying to move past last year’s disastrous Galaxy Note 7 launch with a successor sporting a dual-lens camera, animated messages, expanded note-taking — and lower battery capacity.
The South Korean tech giant is no longer trying to squeeze more battery power into each phone. Last year’s Note 7 had to be recalled after dozens spontaneously caught fire because of defective batteries.
Samsung responded by subjecting new phones to multiple inspections and giving the battery more physical protection.
Although the success of this past spring’s Galaxy S8 phone suggests that Samsung has recovered from the Note 7 debacle, which included bans on airline flights, any further mistakes could prove fatal.
The price tag
Unveiled this week, the Galaxy Note 8 will go on sale Sept. 15 in the U.S., about the time Apple is expected to come out with new iPhones. Advance orders for the Note 8 begin Thursday. The phone is among the priciest, starting at about $930. The iPhone 7 starts at about $650 and the S8 at $750. Samsung’s Note phones tend to aimed at people who use their phones more than average consumers.
What’s new
The Note 8 phone offers significant improvements over the last Note model still selling. But the S8 already has one of the Note 8’s signature features, an “infinity display” that maximizes screen size by reducing the frame, or bezel, surrounding the display. The Note 8’s screen will measure 6.3 inches diagonally, up from the Note 7’s 5.7 inches.
The Note 8 also matches the S8 in offering the ability to unlock phones with iris patterns, free premium earbuds from Samsung’s AKG brand and a slot for adding storage beyond the 64 gigabytes included.
Unlike the S8, the Note 8 will have two camera lenses on the back — one with twice the magnification — allowing for sharper closeups. The Note 8 will match Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus in using that second lens for software tricks that blur the background in portrait shots. Samsung offers more tweaking capabilities after the shot.
Pen features
Samsung’s Note line is notable for its stylus, and the new pen restores some of the hardware improvements introduced — then taken away — with the Note 7. A popular feature has been the ability to write notes on the phone’s lock screen, much like a chalkboard. Samsung is expanding how much people can write — up to 100 screens of notes rather than just one.
Also coming is the ability to handwrite text messages, rather than just typing them. They are sent as animated GIF files, so friends without Note 8 phones can read them, too.
The pen will also enable full-sentence translations for travelers, with automatic conversions of currencies and units such as feet and meters.
Power matters
Samsung is taking a conservative approach to its battery, as it did with the S8. Capacity is down by 6 percent, as thicker walls and other safety measures take away room once devoted to the charge. Still, Samsung says the capacity is enough for all-day use, thanks to software efficiencies.
To boost confidence, Samsung is also seeking certification from an outside safety lab, UL.