Galaxy Note 9 to square off against new iPhone
By Baek Byung-yeul
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Seen is a concept image for Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 9 smartphone. / Captured from Android Central
Samsung Electronics is set to square off with Apple in the premium smartphone market in the second half of the year, as the Korean tech giant will unveil the Galaxy Note 9 this week.
Samsung's latest premium smartphone will be showcased in New York, Thursday. To turn its sluggish smartphone sales around, Samsung is expected to give significant improvements to the Galaxy Note 9.
Samsung has decided to release the Note 9 smartphone about a month earlier than its archrival Apple's next iPhone in an effort to take the initiative in the premium smartphone market in the latter half of this year.
According to industry analysts, Apple will likely unveil three new iPhone models in September: a 6.5-inch iPhone X Plus and 5.8-inch iPhone X, both with OLED displays, and 6.1-inch LCD iPhone.
According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the 6.5-inch OLED iPhone will be around $1,000, similar to the current iPhone X price tag, while the LCD iPhone will be around $700.
The 6.5-inch iPhone will offer three color options including black, white and gold, while the LCD iPhone will be offered in five colors.
In contrast, Samsung's Note 9 will feature a huge 4,000 mAh battery, which is the largest-ever among Samsung phones. With a 6.4-inch screen, the Note 9 will also come with an industry-leading 512 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM.
The latest Galaxy Note is expected to come with a more advanced S Pen stylus. It is reportedly known that the S Pen will come with Bluetooth connectivity. A button on the stylus can be also used as a camera shutter and a remote control for other apps.
For processors, the Note 9 will be powered by the Exynos 9810 processor or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor. It is also expected to feature an updated version of Samsung's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant Bixby. It also reportedly will feature dual cameras on the back and an 8-megapixel lens on the front.
Samsung previously said in a conference call on July 31 that it would launch the new Note smartphone early at a “reasonable price.”
Considering this, industry watchers said the price tag of the 512 GB edition will be about 1.35 million won ($1,200) while the 128 GB edition will be around 1.09 million won. Its predecessor the Galaxy Note 8 came with a price tag of 1.25 million won for the 256 GB edition and 1.09 million won for the 64 GB edition last year.
For Korean consumers, Samsung is expected to receive pre-orders starting Aug. 14 and pre-order buyers will be able to receive the Note 9 starting Aug. 21. The company will officially start selling the device on Aug. 24.