News & Reviews:   Samsung Galaxy Note III

After teasing the Samsung Galaxy Note III for months now, Samsung are finally setting a date for it's unveiling. This date is 4 September 2013 for their Samsung Unpacked 2013 Episode 2 in New York city. While Samsung haven't stated for sure that it will feature the Note III there, the wording itself is suspect as Samsung have said to "Note the date" rather than the usual "Save the date" wording. As expected, the event is a few days before the IFA 2013 expo.

While there have been a whole bucket-load of rumours surprisingly, no really concrete evidence has managed to leak. So far we have estimates that there will be 3 separate versions of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III, each with a different screen along with a different processor. This could include combinations of flexible screens with Snapdragon 800 processors or new Samsung Exynos 5420 processors along with 3GB worth of RAM. Other surprises in store for us could include a Samsung smartwatch which is what Sony did when they launched their Sony Xperia Z Ultra.

Currently the limit on RAM in most smartphones and tablets is 2GB, however, many industry watchers have said that 4GB is actually already available for fabrication. Rumours have also surfaced that various smartphones from the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III to the Xiao Mi3 are going to arrive with 3GB of RAM built-in. As if to confirm this, Samsung have released the first of their 3GB RAM chips for smartphones based on the 20nm fabrication process. To add fuel to the fire Samsung are already manufacturing it and they could be rolling off fabrication conveyer belts very soon.

Samsung has recently announced an improved version of their Exynos 5 Octa chipset. While the Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500 already has the earlier version of the Exynos 5 Octa chipset it's performance has been overshadowed by the Snapdragon 800 from Qualcomm. Rumours indicate that the enhanced version of the Exynos 5 Octa chipset may be called Exynos Evolved  with the teaser from Samsung indicating that it will be "a more powerful, enhanced Exynos 5 Octa". 

There have been a lot of rumours about the Samsung Galaxy Note III. Some have said that it would come with a 5.7-inch screen, while others have said 6-inches. Others more have said that it would have an unbreakable / flexible display. In a recent rumour, perhaps it could be that all of the above are correct in that there may be more than one version coming out for the Samsung Galaxy Note III. According to rumours there may actually be 4 such versions which include:

• Version 1 - Premium materials (carbon fiber, etc.), 13MP camera, unbreakable AMOLED screen, limited edition
• Version 2 - Plastic body, 13MP camera, normal AMOLED display
• Version 3 - Plastic body, 13MP camera, LCD Screen
• Version 4 - Plastic body, 8MP camera, LCD screen

South Korea's newspapers are practically buzzing about Samsung's next big device, which is the Samsung Galaxy Note III. The latest reports have it that the phablet will have a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display and not the 6-inch display as rumoured by other reports. It is still expected to offer 1080p resolutions with a Snapdragon 800 chipset and 3GB of RAM. Other notable tech specs also include a 13MP rear camera that may or may not have Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). It is also said to be going for a slightly thinner profile than the Samsung Galaxy Note II. Reports also claim that the Samsung Galaxy Note III will be released during IFA 2013 and not before it as earlier reports suggest. With the IFA 2013 not that far off, all we need to do is be patient, wait and see.

Samsung's next big smartphone, the Galaxy Note 3 is rumoured to finally make a launch appearance on 4 September 2013 at a Samsung Unpacked event. This event will be held just before the IFA 2013 event. These rumours probably started because the first Samsung Galaxy Note was introduced at IFA 2011 while the Samsung Galaxy Note II got revealed at a similar Samsung Unpacked event in September 2012 (again right before IFA 2012). Tech specs for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 now include:

• 2.3GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor
• 3GB of RAM
• 13MP rear camera (OIS)
• 5.7-inch Super AMOLED (1080p) / Flexible 5.99-inch AMOLED screen
• Supports LTE-A
• 8mm thick | 183g

The next upcoming Samsung Galaxy device would have to be the Samsung Galaxy Note III. Rumoured to be packing in a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, OIS and a much better camera, some new image has appeared of the early prototype device. From the image, the device looks to be almost all screen with the Galaxy's typical curved corners and overall design. The look of the bezels confirms that it isn't a Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3. However, the pictures only show the screen side of the device so we can't confirm whether or not it is sporting a large camera hump (which would be there if it has OIS).

It is no secret that Samsung have not been able to keep up with the production of their Exynos 5 Octa chipsets and processors. Only 30% of the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphones sold had these processors, after all. For this reason, the rumour that Samsung may instead use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 to power their upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III phablet sounds very likely. Performance benchmarks of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 800 platform have been very good, so much so that they've overtaken Samsung's own Exynos 5 Octa.

As rumours continue to swirl about the soon-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy Note III, one of the latest rumours is that Samsung will include Optical Image Stabilization with the Note III. On top of the 13MP camera the Note III is supposed to have, this feature may also come with shutter functions. So far, tech specs for the Samsung Galaxy Note III include:

• Exynos 5 Octa
• 5.99-inch Super AMOLED (1080p)
• 3GB RAM
• 13MP rear camera (OIS)

The AnTuTu Benchmarks are quickly becoming one of the places to go to for the latest appearances of as yet unannounced smartphones. This time around it is the Samsung Galaxy Note III which makes an appearance and what an appearance it is. Delivering a blazing AnTuTu score of 27914 this device was called the GT-N7200, which matches with current naming conventions for the Samsung Galaxy Note series. Just to put it in perspective, the Exynos 5 Octa powered Samsung Galaxy S4 regularly gets a score of 27000+ on the AnTuTu benchmark site so you can just imagine how much power you're getting underneath the hood for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III.