Samsung Electronics will launch the Galaxy Note 8 in mid-August, South Korean media reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official of the Seoul-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The tech giant is reportedly looking to introduce the Galaxy Note 8 at a special “Unpacked” event that’s similar to the one held for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus in late March, the same source claims. Samsung reportedly opted against unveiling the device at IFA Berlin 2017 in September in an effort to accelerate its release and beat the Apple iPhone 8 lineup to the market, Korean media reports, corroborating previous rumors on the matter that mentioned the same reasoning but indicated that Samsung will launch the Galaxy Note 8 in late August.
The Galaxy Note 7 that was introduced on August 19, 2016, was also said to be rushed to the market as Samsung was looking to release it at least a month before the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which may have indirectly led to its discontinuation. Due to a series of missteps and omissions related to the company’s design, manufacturing, and quality assurance practices, the Galaxy Note 7 proved to be an unstable device with a heavily compressed battery that was too volatile for everyday use due to its tendency to catch fire and explode seemingly at random. The 2016 ordeal ultimately led to the discontinuation of Samsung’s otherwise highly praised phablet following two unprecedented recalls that reportedly cost the company billions of dollars. Samsung previously vowed to improve its operations in an effort to avoid a similar incident in the future and while the company has taken a number of steps to do so, it seems that it still isn’t willing to alter its release schedule in the long term and is confident that its smartphone unit is capable of delivering a safe upgrade over the Galaxy S8 series in a timely manner.
The Galaxy Note 8 is expected to ship with specs that are similar to the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, albeit featuring a somewhat larger display panel and Samsung’s S Pen stylus. Likewise, the phone will presumably follow Samsung’s latest design philosophy and feature an almost bezel-less body and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. More details on the upcoming handset should be available in the coming weeks.