Samsung on Tuesday unveiled the new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone at its Galaxy Note Unpacked 2016 event, held simultaneously in New York, London, and Rio de Janeiro. The Galaxy Note 7 will be available starting on August 19, and will be offered in Blue Coral, Gold Platinum, Silver Titanium and Black Onyx. For now, no pricing information has been provided, or launch market details.
The biggest highlight of the Galaxy Note 7 is its iris scanner, and it is the first smartphone from Samsung with such a feature. To recall, the Galaxy Tab Iris tablet was the first Samsung device with the iris scanner feature. Much like previous Galaxy Note phones, the Galaxy Note 7 features the S Pen stylus, which is now new and improved. In the US, the Galaxy Note 7 will be available via all mobile carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless. Pre-orders start Wednesday.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is dust and water resistant with IP68 certification. The South Korean company says the new Galaxy Note 7 comes with Samsung Knox security suite with biometric authentication that includes both the iris scanning feature and the fingerprint scanner. Also new is the Secure Folder feature, which is meant to keep private information safe. It is an upgrade over the Private Mode that the company previously offered that hid files but was limited to a few apps. The new Secure Folder stores files as well as entire apps in a secure location.
The Galaxy Note 7 features a 5.7-inch QHD (1440×2560 pixels) dual-edge Super Amoled display with an impressive pixel density of 518ppi, and Always On display functionality. It is the first device featuring the recently unveiled Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Depending on the region, the Galaxy Note 7 is powered by either a Snapdragon 820 SoC (two Kryo cores clocked at 2.15GHz and two Kyro cores clocked at 1.6GHz) or Exynos 8890 SoC (four cores clocked at 2.3GHz and four cores clocked at 1.6GHz). Both variants come coupled with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM. The handset packs 64GB of inbuilt storage (UFS 2.0) that’s expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB).
The Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-based Galaxy Note 7 sports ‘Dual Pixel’ 12-megapixel OIS (optical image stabilisation) with an f/1.7 aperture and dual-LED flash. There is a 5-megapixel front camera which also boasts of an f/1.7 aperture. The dual-pixel sensor technology on the Galaxy Note 7 with wide aperture enables it to quickly focus, so that it can click sharp images even in low-light conditions.
The Galaxy Note 7 packs a 3500mAh battery with fast charging support on wired as well as wireless. Samsung says the wireless charging is compatible with WPC and PMA. Connectivity options include Bluetooth, 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), GPS/ A-GPS, Glonass, 3G, and USB Type-C. The smartphone also supports LTE and is compatible with LTE Cat.12, LTE Cat.10, and LTE Cat.9. The LTE compatibility may differ by markets and mobile operators. The smartphone also supports the Samsung Pay system, with both NFC and MST support.
The handset supports assortment of sensors including barometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic, proximity, and ambient light sensor. It also packs fingerprint scanner. The Galaxy Note 7 measures 153.5×73.9×7.9mm and weighs 169 grams.
Samsung says the all-new iris recognition technology on the Galaxy Note 7 will be also utilised to authenticate purchases made through Samsung Pay. The new Note smartphone will come with Game Pack, which is also available through Google Play, and included top game titles.
The new Galaxy Note 7 also comes with an upgraded S Pen which is now dust and water resistant with IP68 certification. Some of the new features of the S Pen are creating gif image animations with Smart Select, and new Air Command functions for magnify and translate. The new S Pen has a tip which is 0.7mm smaller than its predecessor and the company claims it has improved pressure sensitivity.
The Galaxy Note 7 can also be used with Gear 360 camera which means it can capture, edit, and share 360-degree images videos on the go. It will also come with regular assortment of Samsung suite of apps including the S Health 5.0. The Galaxy Note 7 users will also receive up to 15GB of free space on the newly unveiled Samsung Cloud to backup content, such as videos and photos. It also allows for easy transfer of data, apps, settings, and layouts between devices.
Speaking about the launch, DJ Koh, President of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics, said, “The Galaxy Note 7 combines productivity and entertainment, with strong security features. Powering a robust ecosystem, it is the ideal device for those who want to achieve more in life. Life moves faster than ever now so we created the Galaxy Note 7 to help users get things done more easily wherever, whenever.”
Samsung says a new line of accessories for the Galaxy Note 7, from the S View Standing Cover, to an IP68 certified water resistant Backpack for on-the-go charging, will also be made available at launch.
The company at the event also unveiled a new Gear VR headset, called Gear VR for Galaxy Note 7 or just the new Gear VR. The upgraded headset, which offers improved viewing angles and a dedicated home button, works with older handsets like the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, and Galaxy S6 Edge+. The headset offers both USB Type-C and Micro-USB connections to support this.
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