Samsung Galaxy Note 8 release date, specs and rumours: Samsung's next-gen phablets could feature folding screen

Display

The Note 8 has taken a leaf out of the Galaxy S8's book, and features Samsung's Infinity Display technology, giving the screen virtually no bezels. It's a QHD+ AMOLED panel, measuring 6.3in across the diagonal and with Mobile HDR support thrown in.

Samsung's display technology is almost universally flawless, and we've no reason to expect anything different from its latest model. The larger screen size compared to the S8 also means you'll have more room for whatever you're using your phone for.

Specs and hardware

The Note range has historically been a more powerful device aimed at 'prosumers' and enterprise users, and the Note 8 continues this tradition with some top-notch internal hardware. It's sporting a 10nm processor, most likely using the same chip setup as the Galaxy S8: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 for certain markets and the company's own Exynos 8895 CPU for others.

This is paired with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which should make it one of the most powerful smartphones on the planet - the S8 was one of the speediest phones we've ever tested, and the Note 8 looks set to match it at the very least.

Battery and charging

This is the big point of interest for the Note 8. Its predecessor, the Note 7, famously had an issue with its battery that caused numerous devices to literally go up in flames. Since then, Samsung has been at pains to emphasise the eight-point battery safety test that it puts all its new devices through, and has assured users that the Note 8 will not suffer the same flaws.

The Note 8 uses a 3,300mAh battery and charges via USB-C, with wireless fast-charging also included. The battery capacity is larger than the S8, but smaller than the S8 Plus, but should power it to a roughly similar battery life to the S8.

Camera

For the first time in its history, Samsung is putting dual-lens camera technology in one of its smartphones, fitting the Note 8 with a combination of an f/2.4 10x optical zoom lens and a f/1.7 wide-angle lens, both of which use a 12-megapixel sensor and have Optical Image Stabilisation

Features

As you'd expect from the Note series, the Note 8 is stuffed to the gills with features, including expandable storage, waterproofing and DeX compatibility, along with the various biometric security features previously seen in the S8.

It also has a raft of software features to support the S Pen, including improved memo and translation functions. Samsung has also introduced an 'App Pair' function, letting you launch two split-screen apps at once for improved multitasking.The Note 8 also supports Bixby, Samsung's Siri-style personal assistant.