Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 7 is here to tackle iPhone 7 Plus

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The Galaxy Note 7 will amaze you.
Photo: Samsung

The iPhone 7 Plus might be more than a month away, but Samsung’s more than prepared for it. The South Korean company today launched its new Galaxy Note 7 — a flagship phablet that packs everything you could want in a smartphone and a whole lot more.

The Galaxy Note 7 builds upon the precedent Samsung set with its excellent Galaxy S7 series. It’s just as pretty, with curved glass front and back and a smooth metallic frame, and just as spectacular on the inside. In fact, it’s even better.

Like the Galaxy S7 series, the Note 7 is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM. You also get 64GB of internal storage as standard, and a microSD card slot for adding more — plus a 3,600mAh battery to keep it all going.

The Note 7 has a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display just like its predecessors, and it maintains that incredibly sharp Quad HD resolution fans of the series will be familiar with. It’s also the world’s first smartphone with Corning’s new Gorilla Glass 5.

Galaxy Note 7
Galaxy Note 7 has curved glass front and back.
Photo: Samsung

Curved display, iris scanner

Samsung has finally switched to USB-C for the Note 7, which means no more fiddling around with micro-USB connectors. The company has also added an iris scanner that lets you unlock your phone simply by looking at it, and of course the beloved S Pen stylus has returned.

The S Pen has also gained new functionality within Samsung’s latest TouchWiz software. A new Air Command lets you translate text by hovering the stylus above it, and you now have the ability to pin memos to the lock screen.

The Note 7 packs the same stellar cameras as the Galaxy S7. That means you get an insanely fast 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with Dual Pixel autofocus and an f/1.7 aperture, and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with the same f/1.7 aperture.

The Note 7 will come pre-installed with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and it will go on sale on August 19 in Blue Coral, Gold Platinum, Silver Titanium and Black Onyx.

Galaxy Note 7 back
iPhone 7 Plus will have a hard time competing with this.
Photo: Samsung

With that gorgeous design, killer specifications, and features like wireless charging and IP68 water-resistance, the Note 7 has already given the iPhone 7 Plus some tough competition. We’ll have to wait until Apple’s new devices land this fall to see if it’s up for the fight.

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