Galaxy Note 3 Rumors Roundup

The tech world can hardly breathe with all the hype and expectations surrounding Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S IV, but that doesn’t stop their other flagship from hogging the limelight as well. Fresh rumours have surfaced about the latest edition to their highly successful phablet series – The Galaxy Note 3.

Galaxy Note 3 Spec Sheet

The latest iteration of the Galaxy Note series is rumoured to have a 5.9-inch display, a 0.4-inch increase from the current Note 2, and 0.6-inches from the original Note.

Samsung is working on introducing a new phablet using a 5.9-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen – an official told The Korea Times.

The phone is being scheduled to launch in the second half of 2013, and is being said to include an 8-core processor, much like the Galaxy S4, releasing on the 14^th March at an ‘unboxing’ event by Samsung in New York City.

The insider reportedly revealed:

The new handset will be powered by the in-house Exynos octa-core chipset to meet consumer demand for faster data processing and download speeds. Even if these kinds of sizes ― from 5-inch to 6-inch ― are stretching the limits of traditional pockets, well-made phablets using bezel-less technology have been warmly received. Users prefer bigger phones and they use them more often. Samsung will be more focused on larger phones.

Note 3 is also being said to have the Eye-Tracking technology that the S4 is being expected to ship with. This would include “Smart Scroll” and “Smart Pause” – which would automatically scroll the phone’s display – and pause video – whenever the user looks away from the display. Additionally, the Note 3 will have 4G LTE capability.

With a scheduled launch for the second half of the year, the Galaxy Note 3 would most likely ship with Android 5.0, which itself is expected to be unveiled at Google’s I/O event in May this year.

While the HTC Butterfly has led the trend of high-density full HD displays, Samsung is not expected to fall behind. Note 3 is being said to have a full HD display, with a pixel density of approximately 373 pixels per inch.

Being bigger and better than the Note 2, the handset is expected to be more expensive than its predecessor – around the £620 mark, which would make it a rather expensive phone, tablet, phablet, or whatever you want to call it.

Going by the rumors doing the rounds so far, one can be fairly certain about the following specifications:

• Exynos Octa-core chipset
• 2GB RAM.
• 5.9-inch Full HD display
• Eye-Tracking technology with Smart Scroll and Smart Pause
• 4G LTE connectivity
• Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie
• 3300mAh+ battery

Huge Screen Size

Previous rumours had suggested that the Galaxy Note 3 would have a mammoth 6.3-inch screen, which would push it more towards the tablet category, rather than the phablet one. A 5.9-inch screen, fortunately, is a little easier to digest.

A major concern for many with such a big screen would be the handset’s battery life. Running such a large display, that too with an 8-core processor, could make the handset a heavy battery-hog. There is no news on the battery specifications yet, but the handset is unlikely to have anything less than 3300mAh.

The launch of a 4.9-inch S4, and a 5.9inch Note 3, are examples of a shift by all major manufacturers towards having large-sized flagship models, with Samsung leading the way. This is now leading to pocketability-issues, with consumers now wanting to stick to smaller-sized phones. Manufacturers, however, don’t provide the same performance for smaller-sized handsets.

An exception to this trend is Apple, which only moved from a 3.5-inch screen to a 4-inch screen for its latest iPhone last year, and has stuck to its commitment for providing a handset that could fit comfortably in the hands. Samsung, however, is confident that such a screen size will not discourage sales of the Galaxy Note 3.

What do you think about this continual increase in screen size with every launch ?