NEW YORK ( MEDIA REPORT )
Samsung’s next phone-tablet hybrid device has officially landed. The company introduced the sixth-generation Galaxy Note 7 phablet in New York City on Tuesday. It features the latest hardware, a pressure sensitive stylus, and a spruced up interface, all packaged into a shiny metal-and-glass, water-resistant shell. And for the virtual reality-obsessed, Samsung has announced a new GearVR headset designed just for the Galaxy Note 7.
That’s because Samsung opted to skip that number and jump straight to the number 7 so that its phablet line and flagship family—the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are directly aligned. Frankly, it makes sense to have both device types on the same page, so to speak.
The name change also helps illustrate that the Galaxy Note 7 features many of the same components as the Galaxy S7. This includes a capable quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, and an impressive 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with dual-pixel technology. And even though it has a larger 5.7-inch screen, it’s just as vibrant as the smaller Super AMOLED displays featured on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. It’s the same resolution too (2560×1440, or Quad HD), though the larger size will make binge-watching on your commute more comfortable.
The Galaxy Note 7 isn’t just a blown-up clone of its smaller brother. It has a 3,500 mAh battery (increased from 3,000 mAh in the Galaxy Note 5, but curiously a tad smaller than the 3600 mAh battery in the GS7 Edge) with both fast charging and wireless charging capabilities. It’s also water resistant, so you can dunk it in the pool with nary a worry, and it’s Samsung’s first phone to drop microUSB in favor of the newer USB-C standard.