Galaxy Note 7 Rumors: Summer Release, Curved Screen

You may not have to wait long to see what Samsung has in store for the next version of the Galaxy Note. A new report says production will soon begin on the latest in Samsung's popular phablet series, with the new Note reportedly featuring everything from dual-edge displays to potentially an iris scanner. And several rumor sites point to early August as the debut date for the Galaxy Note 7.

"The Note 7?" you're probably asking as you stare at last year's Galaxy Note 5. "What happened to the Note 6?" That's another expectation for the next Note — South Korea-based ETNews says that Samsung is likely to skip over the Note 6 and go directly to 7, with an eye toward bringing the phablet's number in line with its Galaxy 7 phones.

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Besides the new name, what else can you expect from the Note 7? Here's everything we've heard about the upcoming model so far and how likely we think each rumor is to come true.

An August Launch Date

Traditionally, Samsung has announced its Note phablets in the fall, but it looks like the company wants to get the jump on Apple and the iPhone 7 with an earlier-than-usual release. That's what analysts told Bloomberg earlier this year, and recent reports seem to suggest that Samsung is moving forward on that plan.

A June 16 report from ETNews says that mass production of the Note 7 will begin in July, with Samsung gearing up to have 5 million phones ready to sell by August. That would fit with the time frame proposed by SamMobile, which posted an image of a Galaxy Unpacked invitation of an event on August 2 in New York, when the phone is expected to make its debut.

Via SamMobileWhether that turns out to be the date or not, a summer deb ut for the Note wouldn't be an unprecedented move. Both the S7 and S7 Edge came out this past March, a month earlier than Samsung Galaxy releases of the last few years. And the Note 5 made an August debut in 2015 rather than wait until the IFA trade show in the fall like past Samsung releases.

Likelihood: August seems very likely.

Dual-Edge Screens

The S7 Edge won praise for the changes Samsung made to the Edge screen, improving the functionality by adding another row of app shortcuts. That dual-edge display could be headed to the Note as well, based on several reports.

In its report on Note 7 production, ETNews says a dual-edge OLED display will be used on the Note. PhoneArena.com says it was tipped off to a Note 7 teaser that hints at a phone with curved edges.

Whatever shape the display takes, it's expected to be a biggie: earlier this year, SamMobile said the next Note would feature a 5.8-inch display. That would make it slightly larger than the 5.7-inch Note 5 as well as the 5.5-inch S7 Edge.

Likelihood: Samsung seems committed to curved screens.

Water Resistance

Butterfingers, rejoice! Just like the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, the next Galaxy Note is likely to come in a water-resistant body so you never need worry about using your phone near the pool or in the rain again. SamMobile reported that the next Note will be rated IP68 for dust and water resistance, meaning it will survive dips in 1 meter (3.3 feet) or more of water for up to 30 minutes.

That's good news for fans of the Galaxy phablet, considering its larger size makes it harder to hold on to with one hand. Although water resistance has yet to be officially confirmed, we're pretty sure this feature will be coming to the Note 7.

Likelihood: Basically real.

Iris Scanner

Samsung may also be looking into novel new ways to secure the new Note. GalaxyClub spotted a Samsung Mobile order for 200 pieces of a part called "iris cam," which is listed for "captive use." This may be a way to enable unlocking your phone or authenticating transactions by scanning your eye.

Details are scarce on whether this will be implemented on the Note 7 or if Samsung is simply playing around with an idea for future phones. As a result, we're not sure how likely this rumored feature will is.

Likelihood: Don't hold your breath.

Return of SD Card Slot

For some reason, Samsung had a brain fart last year and decided to remove microSD card support on its 2015 flagship models, upsetting plenty of power users. This year, the company brought back the microSD card slot in the Galaxy S7 devices, and it's expected to do the same thing on the Note 6.

Tech Times reported that Samsung is supposedly considering the return of upgradeable memory in the new Note, although the publication doesn't cite sources for that tidbit. However, Samsung has already demonstrated its ability to include a microSD card slot in a beautiful, water-resistant body with the Galaxy S7, so this is a fairly likely feature.

Likelihood: Almost certain.

More RAM

In addition to enhancements that we can generally take for granted, such as an improved processor and new operating system, some rumored specs sound particularly exciting. In its report on the expected 5.8-inch display SamMobile says the next Note will have a whopping 6GB of RAM. That would put it on par with the just-announced OnePlus 3.

Considering Samsung has reportedly been mass producing larger-capacity RAM components in 2015, the 6GB RAM rumor seems pretty plausible.

Likelihood: Pretty certain.

Features We Want

We haven't heard about these potential goodies yet, but we'd sure like to see the Note 7 come with the same super cameras on the Galaxy S7, which are our current favorite smartphone cameras. A USB Type-C port would go a long way in future-proofing the phone, but since it did not appear on the S7, we don't expect it to show up on the Note 7 either.

You'd hope that a new Note will run the latest version of Android. Pushing the release of the phone up to August could complicate that, but Google is promising a summer release for Android N. If the timing works out, the Note 7 might be the first phone to ship with Android N.

The Galaxy S7 handsets both came with larger batteries, and we're hoping for the same on the Galaxy Note 7. The Note 5 lasted a decent 9 hours and 35 minutes on our battery test, but rivals such as the iPhone 6s Plus and the Nexus 6P clocked 10 hours and an epic 12 hours respectively. Samsung will have some catching up to do on the Note's endurance.

Source: Galaxy Note 7 Rumors: Summer Release, Curved Screen