In less than a couple of weeks from now, Samsung will be unveiling its 2015 flagship phablet — the Galaxy Note 5. With the Korean company giving its flagship handset — the Galaxy S6 — a major design overhaul this year, expectations from the Note 5 are through the roof as well.
As it happens with any popular device in the technology world, the Galaxy Note 5 has already leaked in press renders, blurry camera shots and even CAD renders, which has given us a good idea of what to expect from the phone. If you somehow missed these rumours and leaks and are wondering what the Note 5 will pack, check out our Galaxy Note 5 rumor roundup below to know what Samsung’s flagship phablet will likely feature.
Confirmed
Design: If there is one thing that leaks of the Galaxy Note 5 have confirmed, it is that the phablet will follow a design language that is very similar to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. This means that the device will come with a front and glass back and an aluminium mid frame. The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge were complete stunner in the design department, and it is likely that the Galaxy Note 5 going to make heads turn with its design as well.
However, a design language that is similar to the Galaxy S6 means the Galaxy Note 5 will miss out on two key features that its predecessors were famous for: a microSD card slot and a removable battery.
Non-removable battery and SD card slot: The beautiful design of the Galaxy S6 forced Samsung to ditch a removable battery and a microSD card slot from the handset. Considering that the companies flagship devices were famous among power users for these features, it was a very bold move from the company. Since the Galaxy Note 5 will have the same design language as the Galaxy S6, it will also not come with a removable battery and microSD card slot.
While this will likely put off many power users from buying the Galaxy Note 5, it does translate into two benefits. A non-removable battery means Samsung will be able to fit in a higher capacity battery inside the phablet, which is always good. Secondly, the lack of a microSD card slot means Samsung will be using its fast UFS 2.0 NAND storage chip inside the device. These chips are up to 2x faster than the eMMC 5.0 based NAND chips used in most high-end Android devices and provide a significant improvement in performance in read/write intensive task.
Display: The final specs of the Galaxy Note 5 is still not confirmed, but if there is one thing that has remained the same across the different leaks of the device, it is that the presence of a 5.66″ Quad HD Super AMOLED display on the device. Considering that the Galaxy Note 4 and even the Note 3 featured a 5.7″ Super AMOLED display, Samsung going with the same display size should not really be surprising. This does not mean that the Galaxy Note 5 will use the exact Super AMOLED panel as the one found on its predecessor.
Samsung has been making tremendous progress with its Super AMOLED displays, and as things stand right now, the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge feature the best smartphone displays in the market. It is almost a given that Samsung will use the same — or an even better — panel on the Galaxy Note 5 with better power efficiency and color accuracy compared to the Quad HD AMOLED panel found on the Note 4.
Samsung Pay: Samsung has announced multiple times now that it will be launching its own mobile payment service, Samsung Pay, later this year. It is likely that the company would be announcing a release date for the service when it officially unveils the Galaxy Note 5 on August 13th later this month. Even if it does not, be rest assured that the Note 5 will definitely support the company’s upcoming payment service.
The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge already support Samsung Pay, and considering that Samsung’s Note series have always shared majority of the features from them, consider it a given that the phablet will also support Samsung Pay whenever it launches later this year.
Ambiguous
Specs: It is confirmed that Samsung will be going with an Exynos chipset inside the Galaxy Note 5, but the question that still remains unanswered is which one it is going to be. For the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, Samsung went with its in-house Exynos 7420 chipset. Rumours have indicated that the company will be using an Exynos 7422 chipset on the Note 5, which will be similar to the Exynos 7420 but feature an integrated LTE modem in an ePOP package for better power efficiency. However, recent leaks indicate that the company might just ship the device with a Exynos 7420 chipset.
While the chipset of the Galaxy Note 5 still remains a mystery, one thing that has been confirmed multiple times from different sources is that the device will come with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, a fingerprint scanner, a heart rate sensor, and a 16MP shooter with OIS and F/1.9 aperture.
Unknown
Battery capacity: The leaked pictures of the handset have confirmed that the Galaxy Note 5 will not come with a removable battery, but what still remains unknown is the battery capacity of the device. The Galaxy Note 4 featured a 3,220Ah removable battery, so it is likely that the Note 5 will also feature a battery capacity of somewhere in the same range. With the power efficiency of key components like the chipset, display and RAM greatly increasing on the Galaxy Note 5, even a 3,200mAh battery will be enough to make sure that the device lasts as long as its predecessor — if not more.
S Pen: For many, the S Pen is probably the most unexciting part of any Galaxy Note device, but that does not mean Samsung does not innovate on that front. Ever year, the company has made some meaningful improvements and additions to the stylus to still keep it relevant. Over the last two years, Samsung has managed to increase the sensitivity of the S Pen and even made it more pressure sensitive than a dedicated styluses created by Wacom for professionals.
This year, the leaks surrounding the S Pen have only been limited to whether it will come with an auto ejecting mechanism or not and an improv design. While an auto ejecting mechanism will definitely be cool, it will not really improve or extend S Pen functionality in anyway.
Software: One of the major differentiators between Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S handset and its Note devices are the software features. The Note devices come with many unique software features that better take advantage of the bigger screen offered by the phablet. The Note devices, after all, were the very first devices from Samsung to come with multi-window multitasking, windowed mode for apps, and more. It will be interesting to see how Samsung improves TouchWiz this year to take advantage of the bigger screen and S Pen.
What are your expectations from the Galaxy Note 5 this year? Will the lack of a removable battery and a microSD card slot on the device turn out to be a deal breaker for you?
