Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Specs, Release Date And What To Expect From The Next 'iPhone Killer'

Samsung's Next 'iPhone Killer' Is Launching Today And Its Screen Is Out Of This World

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is now just hours away from launch at the company's next 'Samsung Unpacked' event.

Taking place at 4PM BST, the livestreamed event will see the company unveil potentially three new devices including two smartphones called the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 edge+ and a new smaller tablet.

The new Note 5 edge could look very similar to Samsung's Galaxy S6 edge that was launched earlier this year.

The latest version of the world's original 'phablet' is expected to feature an all new design while a curved screen edge version will be released under the name S6 edge+ or the Galaxy Note 5 edge.

Known for being one of the original Android flagships, the Note smartphone has been the productivity workhorse of Samsung's phone range offering a number of features including replaceable batteries and a MicroSD card slot that give 'power users' the ability to push their phone beyond the normal requirements.

There have been a number of rumours that Samsung will ditch the removable battery in a move that could anger the power users that have come to love its large screen, stylus and work-focused UI.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Release Date

The Galaxy Note 5's release date is expected to be either late August or the beginning of September, although the phone itself will be unveiled on 13 August at a special 'Samsung Unpacked' unveiling in New York.

Samsung Unpacked is the event where Samsung unveils all of its largest products.

Why now? Well Samsung likes to avoid launching its phones at the same time as anyone else and an August unveiling helps it in two ways. Firstly it helps them avoid the clash with IFA - the second largest technology conference in the world, and secondly it keeps them an entire month ahead of Apple's iPhone unveiling.

With Apple expected to launch the iPhone 6s Plus, Samsung will be keen to make sure that customers already know about the Note 5 before Tim Cook makes to the stage.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Design

If Samsung's Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge are anything to go on then expect the Note 5 to follow on with the company's new metal-focused design.

Indeed leaked images from nowhereelse.fr seemingly confirm that the Note 5 will sport a design that's almost identical to the flat-screen Galaxy S6.

With a single metal wraparound band the phone will have space for the classic stylus at the bottom while also featuring a smaller bezelled front that'll focus even more attention on the phone's large display.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Specs

While little is known about the specifics of the Note 5's specs, some leaked images have seemingly confirmed that while it'll lose the removable battery, it will now sport a dual-SIM and MicroSD card slot hybrid.

Along with the dual-SIM rumour, TechRadar reports that the Note 5 could come with a powerful new processor that combines a CPU with RAM and GPU all on one chip.

This should not only mean increased power but significantly increased efficiency across the board.

Samsung news site Sammobile reports that Samsung's next 'phablet' will sport either a 2K or 4K 5.9-inch display and actually contradicts the earlier reports about a MicroSD card slot saying that the Note 5 will move over to Samsung's new ultra-fast memory which means that while it'll be fixed, the experience should be much much quicker.

The camera could also get a major boost. Samsung recently announced that it had made the world's first 1.0 micrometre 16MP CMOS image sensor. In plain English that's really really small.

It means the camera can be more integrated into the phone's design while also boasting a massive increase in the amount of light that it can take in.

Result? Better low-light photography and a serious headache for Apple's next iPhone 6s.

Finally expect the Note 5 to sport the same standard premium features that have become commonplace on Samsung's flagship smartphones including wireless charging that's compatible with every standard and an improved fingerprint scanner that'll help with protection.

Of course the phone will also come with NFC and a special Magnetic reader that'll allow the Note 5 to support Samsung Pay, an Apple Pay rival that Samsung hopes will trump Apple's own efforts.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Software

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 will absolutely come running the latest version of Android Lollipop, of course that could also mean it'll come running Samsung's current version of TouchWiz.

TouchWiz is the appearance that Samsung gives to its version of Google's software, it has remained relatively unchanged over the past few years although the company has looked to update its software.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Price:

The Galaxy Note 4 cost around £599 when it launched in the UK. While you can expect this to roughly stay the same, the fact is that Samsung almost certainly will launch a 128GB version which will inevitably push the price even higher.

Add to that the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge costs over £700 and you're looking at one seriously premium smartphone.

The S6 edge cost £760 for the 64GB version when it first launched.

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