With only a couple of days left until IFA 2013, the rumor mill is churning out new rumors and leaks for all the unannounced devices, including the Galaxy Note III. The original Note was ridiculously mocked and criticized by everyone for its large screen size.
However, the phablet went on to sell in excess of 5 million units, making reviewers realize that there is a market for devices with humungous screens. The Note 2 was an even bigger success than the original Note, and sold in excess of 10 million units in just a few months within its launch. With the launch of the Note 3 being imminent, hopes are very high from phablet lovers that Samsung will once again come up with a revolutionary device.
Like any other device, a lot of information has leaked about the Galaxy Note 3, which when combined with the rumors floating around, should give us an idea of what the device will be.
Design and Screen
The Galaxy Note 3 is going to be just like the Note 2 and the original Note. This means that it will be nothing more than a bigger and stretched version of the Galaxy S4, with significantly reduced bezel space.
The Super AMOLED screen on the Note 3 will sport Full HD (1920*1080) resolution, and will not be PenTile in nature. It will instead have a different sub-pixel pattern arrangement, which should help improve the brightness and color re-production. The leaked images suggest that the Note 3 will sport a 5.68-inch AMOLED screen, inside a body that is of the same size as the Note 2. This is largely due to the reduced bezel space, which has been reduced to a mere 2.2mm on the sides of the device.
Specs
The Galaxy Note 3 will come in two major variants, one of which will be powered by a Snapdragon S800 processor and sport LTE-A network compatibility. The other variant will be powered by an Exynos 5420 SoC that will consist of four Cortex-A15 and A7 cores each. The new Exynos SoC does not suffer from any issues as the one seen on the Exynos 5410 does, and includes a beefier GPU as well.
Other rumored specs of the Note 3 include 3GB of RAM, 32/64GB of internal storage space with a microSD card slot, S-Pen 2.0 and more. Rumors suggest that Samsung is expected to use a 13MP camera module on the Note 3 that will feature optical image stabilisation. However, supply constraints may force the company to use a traditional 13MP sensor without OIS, as seen on the Galaxy S4.
The battery life of the Note 2 had set a benchmark in the Android world with some stunning numbers. The Note 3 is expected to improve things further, with a rumored battery capacity of 3200mAh (vs. 3100mAh on the Note 2).
Connectivity, Software and Availability
On the connectivity front, the Note 3 is going to be loaded with every possible technology including dual-band Wi-Fi with ac network support, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, NFC, GPS, and LTE-A support etc.
Not much is known about the software that the Galaxy Note 3 will run. It is widely expected that the device will run on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean right out of the box, but no one knows all the new enhancements that Samsung has added to TouchWIZ on the Note 3. Hopefully, the company will solve one of the major complaints of Note 2 owners, the ability to go back or use the menu key with the S-Pen itself.
Rumors and leak indicate that the Note 3 will be available within a couple of weeks after it is announced in IFA. The Snapdragon S800 version will be available in most regions of the world where LTE is present, with the Exynos variant being limited to a few markets in the Asian region including India. In the United States, expect the Note 3 to be available on all the major carriers, including Verizon, within a month from its announcement.
