An image of what’s said to be a tempered glass screen protector for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 leaked online on Friday, with one industry insider sharing it not long after several similar photographs were sighted online. The picture itself has been heavily compressed and it’s hard to make out whether the supposed screen protector that can be seen above this writing is just a render or a subject of a real-life photo. Regardless, the latest leak indicates that the South Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is looking to continue following the design language introduced with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, thus shipping a smartphone with a nearly bezel-less body and a massive screen featuring a tall (presumably 18.5:9) aspect ratio.
While the Galaxy Note series traditionally didn’t stray too far from its Galaxy S-branded peers in terms of aesthetics, the Galaxy Note 8 is still expected to be a somewhat different device that could offer an even smoother user experience and expand upon the capabilities of the Galaxy S8 lineup which was introduced earlier this year. Apart from a somewhat larger screen that insiders claim will have a diagonal of 6.3 or 6.4 inches and the next generation of Samsung’s signature S Pen stylus, the U.S. variant of the Galaxy Note 8 could possibly ship with the Snapdragon 836, a revision of Qualcomm’s first 10nm system-on-chip (SoC), in addition to featuring 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage expandable by up to 256GB via a microSD card slot. Previous reports indicated that the Seoul-based consumer electronics manufacturer is also working on a Galaxy Note 8 model with 8GB of RAM, though that particular iteration is unlikely to be sold outside of China and Samsung’s home country.
While the company’s brand took a major hit with last year’s Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, the Galaxy Note 8 is still predicted to be a massive hit among consumers that should easily become one of the best-selling smartphones released over the course of this year. Samsung is said to be preparing an official launch of the product in late August, with the phablet itself being scheduled to hit the market at some point in September.
Update: The same source just shared another image of a different screen protector that’s supposedly also meant for the Galaxy Note 8. The picture can be seen below and has the same implications as the original one.