Credit: Samsung
Samsung’s freshly unveiled Galaxy Note 7, complete with iris scanner and water-resistant body, is headed to U.S. carrier shelves – and soon.
Preorders for the device open as early as tonight for T-Mobile customers, with preorder access for Verizon and AT&T customers opening Wednesday and U.S. Cellular customers opening on Thursday. The device will be available in stores across carriers August 19.
T-Mobile is offering the device for $69.99 down and $32.50 for 24 months or for a full retail price of $849.99. For a limited time, customers who preorder the 64 GB version of the device will have their choice of a full year of Netflix, a Samsung Gear Fit2 or a 256GB microSD Memory Card, T-Mobile said.
AT&T is offering the Note 7 on AT&T Next for $29.34 per month for 30 months or on AT&T Next Every Year at $36.67 for 24 months.
Verizon is offering the Note 7 for $36 per month for 24 months on Verizon’s device payment plan or $864 retail. Verizon said customers will be eligible to receive a free Gear Fit2 or a 256GB Samsung memory card, as well as $20 in rewards when customers make their first qualifying Samsung Pay purchase.
U.S. Cellular is offering the Galaxy Note 7 on installment plans ranging from 20 to 30 months, with monthly payments as low as $27.80. Like T-Mobile and Verizon, the carrier is also offering customers who buy the Note 7 or Galaxy S7 edge a free Gear Fit2 or a 256GB Samsung memory card. U.S. Cellular customers will also get $20 in rewards when they make their first qualifying purchase on Samsung Pay.
Sprint is also offering the Note 7 for preorder starting August 19 for $0 down and $35.42 for 24 months or $849.99 retail.
For those looking to skip the carrier, Samsung said an unlocked version of the device will be available in the United States later this year.
Unveiled on Tuesday, the Galaxy Note 7 represents Samsung’s attempt to capitalize on the momentum generated by the launch of its Galaxy S7 flagship smartphone earlier this year. Despite the slight misnomer, the Note 7 is the successor to last year’s Note 5.
The 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 7 features a water-resistant body and S Pen, an iris scanner and a curved screen. Like the S7, the Note 7 comes to the U.S. market with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor running Android Marshmallow, 4 GB of RAM, quick wireless and wired charging capabilities and a 12 mp rear camera. The Note 7 also includes a 5 mp front camera, 64 GB of storage, a 3,500 mAh battery and NFC and MST mobile payment compatibility.
New to the Note 7 is USB Type-C charging, as well as a redesigned S Pen with a finer point and better pressure sensitivity. The iris scanner, which Samsung billed as a more secure upgrade over the traditional fingerprint scanner, will allow users to unlock content – including apps, photos, notes and more – stored in a private folder apart from the phone’s other content.
The launch of the Note 7 comes at the height of a wave of Samsung smartphone success that has built over the last year.
In the first half of 2016, Samsung’s Galaxy S7 edge was the top-selling Android smartphone worldwide, with an estimated 13.3 million units shipped, according to Strategy Analytics figures.
Samsung devices also took the number two and three spots among top selling Android smartphones in the first half of the year. The second place device, Samsung’s J2 smartphone, shipped an estimated 13 million units globally, while the third place Samsung Galaxy S7 shipped around 11.8 million units in the last six months. All told, those three models alone accounted for 6.6 percent of all Android phone shipments in the first half of 2016.
Despite this overwhelming success, Strategy Analytics Director Woody Oh said Samsung can’t let up the pace.
“Samsung cannot rest on its laurels, because it continues to be chased hard by emerging rivals, such as the Huawei P9, OPPO R9 and Vivo X7 devices,” Oh said.
Filed Under: Devices
