Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Launched, Features Curved Display, Iris Scanner (theverge.com)

Another day, another new, shiny new smartphone. On Tuesday, Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 7 featuring a handful of new interesting hardware capabilities. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 sports a 5.7-inch QHD (2560x1440 pixels) display, and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SOC, 4GB of RAM. It also supports quick charging and quick wireless charging. On the photography front, there's a 12-megapixel sensor on the back, 64GB of internal storage (with support for more via microSD card), and a 3,500mAh battery. The Verge adds: Since the specs are largely the same between the Note 7 and the S7 series, Samsung is differentiating its larger flagship with features. The Note 7 has a new iris scanner that joins the familiar fingerprint scanner and lets you unlock your phone with your eyes. Samsung says the iris scanner is more secure than a fingerprint scanner. It's similar to the Windows Hello login features seen on Microsoft's Lumia 950 and a number of Windows 10 laptops and relies on an infrared camera that works well in low light, but less so in direct sunlight. The iris scanner can also be used to lock apps, photos, notes, and other content in a secure folder, separate from the rest of the phone's data. And of course, the Note 7 wouldn't be a Note without Samsung's S Pen active stylus. The S Pen has been upgraded this year with water resistance, a finer point, and twice as fine pressure sensitivity (4,096 levels, as opposed to 2,048 on earlier models). There a handful of new software features for the S Pen, including a magnifying loupe, quick text translation tool, and a new tool that makes it easy to create GIFs from any video that's currently playing. Samsung has also updated its software interface for the Note 7, with a cleaner color palette, softer white menus, and an overall nicer-looking aesthetic. It seems that with each new phone, Samsung's software gets better looking, and the Note 7 is no exception. The company says that the new software interface will likely come to older models, such as the S7, but it did not provide a timeline for when that might happen. Out of the box, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 runs Android 6.0. No word on pricing yet, but Samsung says it will be higher than Galaxy S7 Edge's $770 retail tag.Update: 08/02 15:46 GMT by M : The unlocked Galaxy Note 7 will retail on AT&T at a price point of $880. Expect similar price on other networks, and for the standalone unit.

Comments

Re:Same as S7 Edge

[green1]

Ok, please explain the benefit to a curved screen as implemented in the Samsung phones.

So far we have:
- Can't hold the phone without touching part of the touch screen
- videos look weird either curved over the edge, or arbitrarily ending before it
- parts of everything that appear on the screen are distorted as they go over the edge, or you don't use the whole screen.

I'm open to some form of game changing use for the "edge" of the screen, but I've never heard of one.

Also please explain the benefit of the battery not being removeable.
So far we have:
- Decreased life span of the phone as you have to replace the whole phone if the battery lifespan gets too short

Note that you specifically stated that these features were a BENEFIT, not simply neutral, please explain why these 2 features are an IMPROVEMENT over the readily available alternatives.

Expensive

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

"The unlocked Galaxy Note 7 will retail on AT&T at a price point of $880."

After tax (roughly 10% in WA state), you're within spitting distance of $1000...maybe it's just me, but that seems like a hell of a lot of money for a phone.

Yeah, I know it's got a lot of cool features and is undoubtedly a very capable device...but still, almost $1000 for a phone?

I also understand that most people will get this with a phone plan so they won't just buy it outright, but even so...I guess I'm out of touch with what a new, top-of-the-line phone goes for these days. Personally I couldn't see spending that much on a phone, but that's just me.