Samsung has already said it's working on a Galaxy Note 8 that will launch this year, and now that handset is the subject of a leak that could hint at what the company has planned.
An image has been published to Slashleaks that the poster says is a Galaxy Note 8. The image appears to show a large handset running Samsung's new virtual personal assistant Bixby. The person who snapped the image placed an S Pen stylus to the right of the handset. On the bottom-right of the screen, there also appears to be a menu option for activating the S Pen's options.
On the design front, the smartphone in question looks strikingly similar to the Galaxy S8+, boasting a small bezel at the top and bottom, curved edges to the left and right, and a button on the right that would ostensibly be used to activate Bixby. There's also no physical home button in the handset, suggesting Samsung could move to the virtual option like it has in the Galaxy S8 line.
MORE: Galaxy Note 8 Rumors - Features, Release Date and More
Samsung confirmed earlier this year that despite challenges last year with the Galaxy Note 7's battery that saw the handset blow up in some cases, it plans to release a Galaxy Note 8 in 2017. Samsung has remained silent on its plans, but several reports have cropped up, suggesting the device could come with a 6.3-inch screen and be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip.
Like its predecessors, the Galaxy Note 8 will likely support the S Pen.
The leaked image published on Monday (Apr. 10) could be the real thing, but there's also a chance that it might not. The handset in question looks like a Galaxy S8+ and it's possible the person, trying to dupe Internet users, simply placed the S Pen next to the device to suggest it was a Galaxy Note 8. Adding an icon for S Pen options is a simple Photoshop trick.
That said, it's been rumored that Samsung isn't planning a big design shift with the Galaxy Note 8, and the handset might indeed look like the Galaxy S8 line. The big difference, though, will be a slot for the S Pen. And this latest leak doesn't show that slot to confirm it's actually a Note 8 design.
Look for more info on the Galaxy Note 8 info as we slowly but surely inch towards the handset's unveiling.
