Samsung Galaxy Note 7: Is the South Korean giant playing catch up with its flagship?

The first Galaxy Note device was a new product segment created by Samsung. Back then, it was monstrously huge (back in the days when Apple still made puny iPhones) with an added S-Pen for sketching that also doubled up as a UX navigation tool for some. It had few competitors, like the mammoth Dell Streak and the pure Google smartphone – the Galaxy Nexus. With its new found success and with humanity’s ability to simply grow bigger hands (yep, take a long hard look at them) Samsung decided to improve and launch new models every year which saw more success than the previous models with the last model being last year’s  Note 5 Dual SIM . I reviewed the smartphone and found it to be a great contender even months after the original model was launched. It had a breathtakingly beautiful display, TouchWiz made itself useful and the 60fps Full HD video recording blew me away. The only downside was battery life. It was not a flaw, but it’s just that we have grown used to bigger battery capacities such as Xiaomi’s tablet-sized Mi Max . Back then, I preferred it over the S6 and S7 models as well (hardware really does not matter unless its too outdated). It had just one major design flaw , the S Pen, but beyond that I could not think of better Note until Samsung's Project Valley comes to mind. [caption id=“attachment_324925” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 invite.[/caption] Samsung has just sent out media invites for the launch of its Note 7 smartphone. And this got me thinking as to why would one need to upgrade from an existing model when it practically packs in the same stuff. Expect a shiny new 8893 Exynos chipset or may be a Snapdragon 821 with the now standard 6GB RAM. Excited? Nope does not sound like much. [caption id=“attachment_324920” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Image: GadgetArena[/caption] Samsung also seems to be catching up with rest. There’s that USB type-C port that it missed out on with the Note 5 and then there plenty of leaks suggesting that the Note 7 will also pack in water and dust resistance capabilities similar to its S7 models this year. Most of the recently launched smartphones from the LeEco Le 1s to the LG G5 pack in a USB Type C port. So it’s good to see that Samsung has finally adopted the same in at least one of its flagship smartphones this year. [caption id=“attachment_324921” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Image: GadgetArena[/caption] While TouchWiz on the Galaxy S7 models did not disappoint this year, Samsung indeed has more than one reason to clean up its act with its Note 5. Tagged as the ‘Grace’ TouchWiz UI, the new software update is a massive one with a complete design overhaul and should hopefully run smoother as well. It was demoed in video  onboard a Note5 recently and we have to say it has plenty of new stuff. More importantly, Samsung has no choice but to stick to TouchWiz because a majority of the S Pen’s functionality would depend on it. The Iris scanner or the ‘Samsung Iris’ and ‘Samsung Eyeprint’ tech is also going to take up a major chunk of Samsung’s Unpacked announcement this year. Iris scanners on smartphones are not exactly new (remember the Fujitsu Arrows NX F-04G ,  TCL Pride T500L and the Lumia 950/XL ) either. It’s just that native support isn’t exactly available for developers to take advantage of. Samsung however is expected to make its smartphone more secure using the same. Why do you need an Iris scanner when a fingerprint reader exists? Ask Samsung (Or may be fingerprint readers are simply not reliable enough). Looking at the leaked images we have of the device so far. The Note 7 looks like an after thought that follows the design language of the S7 edge. Curved dual edge screen that does not curve too much. Check! Gorilla Glass on the front and back. Check! Waterproofing. Check! Bigger, non-removable battery. Check! VR compatibility. Check! Seems like really nothing to look forward to this year.