Galaxy Note8, the latest handheld arsenal Samsung Electronics Co. deployed under heavy pressure to impress and convince loyal fans of the big-screen phone around the world after they were forced to return theirs on safety issues last year, has been released in a spectacular 6.3-inch screen pushed to the edges and best-yet picture resolution of 2,960 x 1,440.

“We appreciate the relentless passion of the Note community. They’ve been a constant inspiration to us and we designed the new Note for them,” said Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung Electronics’ mobile communications division, in the unpacking of the seventh model under the pen-enabled Note series in New York on Wednesday.

“From the Infinity Display to the enhanced S Pen and a powerful Dual Camera, the Galaxy Note8 lets people do things they never thought were possible.”

The Note8 that follows last year’s disgraceful recall and discontinuation of the predecessor has all the features of the Galaxy S8 series, the best-selling phone so far since release in April, with a dual camera on the back and extra safe battery after going through rigorous battery-testing procedures following last year’s debacle.

Proving the company’s strong will to re-attract market’s passion for its Note series, Galaxy Note8 presents new features for upgraded multi-tasking experience. The new Note8 display is 6.3-inch, which is the biggest and highest resolution screen among its models, and allows users to easily and smoothly perform multi-tasks on multi-windows. The screen is also nearly bazel-free, making it tall and narrow for easy grip despite its big screen size.

Galaxy Note8 is fitted with 12-megapixel (MP) dual camera, a wide-angle lens and a telephoto lens, on the back that is capable of capturing two pictures simultaneously for its user to compare and select better one. It is Samsung’s first flagship smartphone with 12-MP dual camera.

S Pen, Samsung Note phone’s iconic feature, also has become smarter and made to feel more like a real pen. The pen pressure is divided to 4,096 steps, refined from previous 2,048 steps for greater sensitivity, and the software is upgraded to allow its user to handwrite a message on the screen and send it as an image file Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) as well as select texts and translate them automatically in 71 languages.

The phone also has a USB-C port, speaker grill, and a headphone jack so that it can work as a PC.

Galaxy Note8 will incrementally arrive in the global market from Sep 15. Former Note7 owners are eligible for instant trade-in value.

At 1:43 p.m., shares of Samsung Electronics were up 6,000 won or 0.25 percent at 2,380,000 won ($2,112).

By Hwang In-hyuk

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