Samsung has already made life difficult for Apple’s next-generation iPhone with its stellar Galaxy S8 series, but it won’t stop there.

The South Korean company has confirmed it is planning another flagship smartphone for the second half of 2017 that will give iPhone 8 an even tougher challenge.

Unless you’re completely committed to iOS, it’s difficult to buy an iPhone right now. The iPhone 7 series looks incredibly outdated alongside rivals like the Galaxy S8 and the LG G6, which offer stunning edge-to-edge displays, features like iris scanning and wireless charging, and even greater cameras.

Apple will know its next smartphone needs to be special, then, but it will have competition it knows nothing about yet. Samsung has revealed that it has another flagship smartphone up its sleeve for the “second half” of 2017 that should be even more impressive than the Galaxy S8.

There are no prizes for guessing that device will be the Galaxy Note 8. There was some concern last fall that the Note lineup was dead following the disastrously short lifespan of the Note 7, but Samsung, determined not to let the debacle drag on, has already hinted at a successor.

We don’t know much about it just yet, other than the fact it is codenamed “Great” internally. The device is likely to look a lot like the Galaxy S8, but could pack an even larger display, more RAM, and the Note’s trademark S Pen.

A recent rumor also promised dual rear-facing cameras that delivers performance even greater than that of the iPhone 7 Plus, with up to 3x optical zoom.

The Note 7 landed last August, earlier than previous models, but it’s thought Samsung’s rush to bring it to market ahead of the iPhone 7 could have been one of the reasons why faulty batteries made it into final units. It’s likely the Note 8 will launch later — possibly around October.

Samsung has also confirmed that it plans to add new devices to its low- to mid-range portfolio this year to “sustain profitability.” However, it also plans to streamline these segments, which could mean fewer releases than in previous years.

Via: Pocket-lint

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