Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 5
Samsung has dominated the phablet market in recent years and 2015 looks set to see the manufacturer continue in a similar fashion with the expected arrival of the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.
Although many scoffed when the original, 5.3-inch Note landed back in 2011, smartphones have continued to grow in size since. Now, four year’s later, the Note line has risen from bit-part player to smartphone king, holding its own against flagship devices such as the LG G3, the recently introducted HTC One M9, and event Samsung's own Galaxy S6.
Now, despite the Galaxy Note 4 still only being a matter of months old, a flurry of Galaxy Note 5 rumours have already started to flow.
According to early reports, the Galaxy Note 5 release date will take place in Q3 2015. While this is hardly surprising, what might grab your attention are claims the handset will become the first smartphone to feature a 3840 x 2160 pixel Ultra HD, 4K display – now you’re listening.
Likely to be the oversized sibling to the S6 and spin-off Galaxy S6 Edge, the Note 5 is also shaping up to pair quality improvements with size bumps. As well as adopting a 4K panel, it has been suggested the Note 5 will move to a Nexus 6 rivalling near 6-inch form factor.
What's more, recent announcements from Samsung have revealed the Note 5 will benefit from improved memory components, allowing the phablet to handle more substantial multitasking capabilities with aplomb.
We will continue to update this post with all the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 5 release date info, leaks, news and rumours as new details emerge.
Watch our video on what to expect from the Galaxy Note 5
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 release date
Given the still popular Note 4 was only introduced back in September, as you might expect, Samsung has yet to shed any formal light on the potential Galaxy Note 5 release date.
Fortunately, given that the Korean manufacturer is a predictable creature of habit, the company’s annual product cycles give a pretty clear indication as to exactly when we can expect the fifth-generation phablet to land.
While MWC is the recognised time for a Galaxy S refresh, September and the Berlin-based IFA conference is firmly Note territory.
Given that IFA has acted as the launch platform for all past Note handsets, tradition suggests the same can be expected for 2015 and the Galaxy Note 5. As such, we would suggest marking September 2015 in your diaries for the first official look at the next iPhone 6 Plus rival.
For 2015, IFA has been scheduled to run between September 4 and 9. You can expect the Note 4 in the days leading up to the show, however, as the European trade show is always preceded by a flurry of press days and key announcements.
At this early stage, we would expect the Note 5 unveiling to be held on Wednesday, September 2.
Sadly, unlike Apple, which gets its flagship phones in to consumers’ hands within 10 days of unveiling, Samsung will force us to wait for the Note 5. If a September 2 unveiling proves accurate – and we think it will – expect to see the Note 5 in stores in early October.
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Samsung Galaxy Note 5 News
As with the Samsung Galaxy S6 – a device which will finally hit retailers on April 10 – Samsung has a lot resting on the success of the Note 5.
Having risen to smartphone supremacy in recent times, 2014 was a year of financial woes and sales slumps for the Galaxy S5 maker. Despite shifting 11 million S5 units during the phone’s opening month on sale, Samsung has seen is annual sales figures dive a massive 60 per cent over the past 12 months.
Disappointing smartphone sales are the key factor for this slump. As well as the S5 failing to hit long-term sales targets, Samsung has seen its entry-level smartphone lines fall short of expectations. The company has already outlined how it will look to rectify these issues.
“We will strengthen our product competitiveness by reinforcing our premium brand reputation, powerful product line-up, and cutting-edge technology,” an official Samsung spokesperson stated recently.
Design – and a move to more premium materials – will play a key part of Samsung’s efforts to improve its smartphone offerings. This has already started with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Alpha and Galaxy Note 4, both of which accentuate their plastic rears with new metal framing.
Although Samsung will continue this push for a premium look and feel with the Note 5, those hoping for a fully metal handset look set to miss out. According to Samsung’s designers, the Note 4 omitted a full metal body over fears the handset would be too ‘hard and cold’.
“The designers have been aware of people’s desire for a metal frame. However, using metal material just for the sake of using it didn’t make much sense,” one of Samsung’s lead designers said via an official company blog post.
They added: “One thing the designers did not want to do was to use metal and give out the sense that the device is too hard and cold.
“The soft cover allows the user to change batteries, which is also a big part of the user experience of the Galaxy Note 4.”
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Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Rumours
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 screen has been the key focus of many early rumours. With the Note 4 having taken the phablet line from Full HD to QHD territory, it has been suggested that Samsung will continue its technical push and make the jump to a 4K panel in 2015.
According to recent reports citing unnamed ‘insiders’, Samsung will start mass production of its first phone-bound 4K displays next August. It has been suggested that production will be quickly ramped up in order to get the Galaxy Note 5 in to retailers by October.
With the claimed insiders suggesting the Note 5’s 3840 x 2160 pixel 4K display will be stretched across a 5.9-inch form-factor, this eye-wateringly delicious screen is said to boast a stunningly detailed 746 pixels-per-inch image density.
Far from pure conjecture and speculation, Samsung itself has confirmed it is looking to bring the first UHD 4K phone to market in 2015.
Speaking at its annual Analyst Day in Korea back in late 2013, the manufacturer revealed it would launch its first 4K phone in 2015. With the same report having highlighted the company’s 2014 QHD efforts – realised with the Note 4 – we have no reason to doubt the plans.
One Galaxy Note 5 rumour which is currently shrouded in a little more mystery, is the nature of the phone’s screen.
While Samsung is expected to stick with its beloved AMOLED panels – that’s vibrant colours and deep blacks sorted then – it has been suggested the flagship phone could adopt the side-incorporating technology found on the Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge.
Although Samsung clearly sees a future in this technology – as does LG which has promised bent smartphone displays for 2015 – we can’t see the manufacturer bringing the expensive and little demanded feature to its flagship lines just yet.
Given the S6 Edge is priced from £760, up on the standard S6's lowest asking price of £599, the added cost of a flagship phone with a curved screen still feels a little out of reach at this stage.
Other screen tech has been teased too. Although it might come a bit too soon for the Note 5, Samsung has revealed it is working on foldable phone designs.
“The industry believes that the commercialisation of foldable smartphones will be possible in 2016," a Samsung Display official said in a recent interview.
Read More: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs iPhone 6 Plus
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Specs
While a 4K display will undoubtedly steal headlines when the Note 5 is eventually introduced, based on recent reports, the phone is shaping up to be an all-round smartphone powerhouse.
Grunt is something the Note 5 will not be short of. The Note 4 became the first widely available phone to adopt a quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, and next year things are set to go 64-bit.
With Android 5.0 Lollipop – the likely OS of choice for the Note 5 at launch – bringing 64-bit CPU support to the Android platform, the Note 5 is expected to run either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor or a newer, as yet unconfirmed chipset.
Given Samsung’s habit of launching a second smartphone configuration with its own chipsets onboard, the mainstream Qualcomm powered Note 5 will be joined by an Exynos loving option in certain markets. The Samsung chip powered Note 5 will reportedly add a new octa-core chip for serious multi-tasking capabilities.
Both handsets are expected to run a massive 4GB of RAM and increased storage options – up to 128GB – as well as microSD support.
One component which might not grab headlines but will have a significant effect on the phone's performance is the introduction of high-density EPOP memory.
The new memory chips, which combine 3GB LPDDR3 DRAM, 32GB eMMC (embedded multi-media card) and a controller, will reportedly allow for speedier multitasking and slimmer handset designs.
“By offering our new high-density ePoP memory for flagship smartphones, Samsung expects to provide its customers with significant design benefits, while enabling faster and longer operation of multi-tasking features,” Jeeho Baek, Samsung's Senior Vice President of Memory Marketing, said. “We plan to expand our line-up of ePoP memory with packages involving enhancements in performance and density over the next few years, to further add to the growth of premium mobile market."
The Note 4’s camera is still shrouded in mystery. Given Samsung’s impressive imaging improvements in 2014, however, we expect something special. The Note 4 features a 16-megapixel, OIS-enhanced primary snapper.
Finally, a Note wouldn’t be a Note without Samsung’s beloved S-Pen stylus. Given the Note 4 doubled its S-Pen sensitivity over past Note handsets – now at 2048dps – it is expected the Note 5 will adopt the same stylus skills as its predecessor.
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Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Price
As impressive as the Note 5 is shaping up to be, price could be the phone’s stumbling block.
The Note line has always charged a premium, and adding new technologies such as a 4K display are sure to further bolster the phone’s asking price.
At launch the Galaxy Note 4 set wannabe owners back a hefty £629. Given this lofty starting price, we would expect the Note 5 to be around the £650 mark on day one.
If you’re happy to wait a little longer, however, the Note 5 price is likely to come tumbling down.
Research prior to the Note 4 launch showed how its predecessors had dropped in price by up to a quarter within the first three months on sale.
“As the analysis shows, the price declines more rapidly from the market release with each newly-released model in the Galaxy Note range,” an idealo report found.
For all the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 5 rumours, including the phablet’s release date and specs, bookmark this age now.
What would you like to see included in the Galaxy Note 5? Let us know via the comments section below.