Galaxy Note 8 official, packs wide-angle and telephoto cameras [Update]

Update, 10am, 24 August 2017: After a glance at GSM Arena’s listing, it appears that Samsung doesn’t actually have an LG-style wide-angle camera on the Galaxy Note 8. It’s essentially the Galaxy S8 main camera, featuring the same focal length (26mm), as opposed to something like the V20’s wide-angle shooter (12mm).

In plain English? Despite Samsung saying it has a wide-angle camera on the Note 8, it’s merely wider than the telephoto shooter (which is narrow to begin with) but the same as the S8.

Original article: Samsung has finally taken the wraps off the Galaxy Note 8, being true to leaks for the most part.

The phablet stands out thanks to the camera department, packing dual 12MP cameras, with both shooters featuring optical image stabilisation. Interestingly enough, Samsung is using a wide-angle camera (f/1.7) and a telephoto camera (2x zoom, f/2.4). The combination also means you can do Apple-style portraits, with the ability to tweak the background blur (ala Huawei).

On the front, you’re looking at an 8MP f/1.7 camera.

In the horsepower arena, we’ve got either an Exynos 8895 or Snapdragon 835 chip, 6GB of RAM and 64/128/256GB of storage. As for the display, Samsung is opting for a 6.3-inch 2960×1440 AMOLED screen.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 offers depth-of-field effects, much like other dual camera phones

This is all backed up by a 3300mAh battery, being a few hundred mAh less than the 3600mAh Galaxy S8+.

Excited about the stylus S-Pen? Samsung has also added a few more features, such as quick translation, the expanded ability to take notes while the screen is off, and a “live message” function.

Interestingly enough, Samsung still has the fingerprint scanner near the camera housing, but has opted to put the flash between the cameras and the scanner. Nevertheless, the iris scanner returns once again, in case you prefer this option.

As for South African details? You’re looking at an R18 499 price tag and a 22 September launch date.