Last night, at around 11pm Malaysia time, Samsung announced the latest high-end device in its Note series of large-format smartphones: the Galaxy Note 8. The new model is the Korean manufacturer’s first device with a dual-camera on the back, but while Samsung is a little late to the dual-cam game, at least on paper, the Note 8’s camera specs look quite promising.
The camera module combines a 26mm equivalent 12MP wide-angle module (with 1/2.55″ sensor, F1.7 aperture and optical image stabilization) with a 52mm equivalent tele camera. Like pretty much all other tele implementations we have seen on smartphones, the secondary camera comes with a smaller sensor and slower aperture than the main module – 1/3.6″ and F2.4 to be exact.
However, the Note 8 is the first dual-cam smartphone we are aware of to feature optical image stabilization not only on the main camera, but also on the tele lens.
As you would expect, the dual-camera comes with a background-blurring portrait mode and can also record pictures with both cameras at the same time. 4K video, a 240 fps slow-motion mode at 720p, and an 8MP front camera are on board as well.
Images can be viewed and edited on a massive 6.3″ Quad-HD+ display that also allows for dual-window operation. Computing power is provided by an octa-core chipset that, depending on region, comes either from Qualcomm or Samsung’s Exynos in-house brand. All of these components are wrapped up in a water and dust resistant (IP68) metal unibody that comes with the S-Pen stylus that is characteristic for the the Note series and offers improved sensitivity over previous models.
The Note 8 will be released in stores on September 15th. US pricing for the unlocked model has not been released yet, through carrier T-Mobile the Note 8 will be available from US$930 (Around RM3975).
Key specifications:
- Dual-camera
- 26mm Wide angle with 12MP 1/2.55″ sensor (1.4 µm pixel size), F1.7 and OIS
- 2x Tele with 12MP 1/3.6″ sensor (1.0 µm pixel size), F2.4 and OIS
- PDAF
- Dual-LED flash
- 4K video, 240fps at 720p slow-motion
- 8 MP / F1.7 front camera, 1/3.6″ sensor, 1440p video
- 6.3″ Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display, 2.960 x 1.440
- Octa-Core (2,3 GHz Quad + 1,7 GHz Quad) chipset (Exynos 8895 for EMEA /
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 for USA and China) - 6GB RAM / 64GB storage
- Samsung S-Pen stylus