Remember when the first Galaxy Note was announced to the world? Samsung took to the stage at its annual Unpacked event back in 2011, and showed off a big honking device with a 5.2″ display and a stylus, and it was one of the most bizarre smartphones we’d ever seen. Hell, it even created a new category of smartphone altogether — the phablet was born! The Galaxy Note launched with top-of-the-line specs, matching Samsung’s tablets of the time, and though I didn’t buy one at launch, I traded my Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 10.1 for a white model (in retrospect, I may have overpaid in that exchange), and I don’t remember being more excited for a phone until Motorola updated its Moto X last year. Since then, huge phones have become synonymous with a premium experience, and the Galaxy Note series has remained at the top of the phablet chain.
The Galaxy Note has consistently been a go-to recommendation for tech enthusiasts and power users who want the most powerful hardware, best battery life, and best camera in one device, all while experimenting with unconventional features like styli and curved displays. Most importantly for some people, it’s always reliably been one of the few remaining superphones with both microSD expansion and a user-replaceable battery, but if the rumors and leaks are to be believed, that’s about to fall apart. We’ve been seeing leaks for weeks now of the upcoming Galaxy Note 5, the followup to last year’s crazy-popular Galaxy Note 4, and while we mostly like what we’re seeing, a few things stand out that may anger some fans of the series. The Note 5 looks to take after from the design of Samsung’s controversial flagship, the Galaxy S6, which forewent replaceable parts in favor of a seamless design — something not everybody was thrilled about. You know where this is going. If the Note 5 eliminates storage expansion and removable batteries, it could be eliminating the very reason that people buy it over other high-end smartphones.
It’s still entirely possible that the Galaxy Note 5 will have microSD expansion at the very least (we’ve seen rumors of such at least being available on the dual-SIM variant), but at this point it’s safe to say that a removable battery is a lost cause. On top of that, with the faux-leather backing being replaced with glass à la Galaxy S6, the phablet will be more fragile than ever before, and will undoubtedly necessitate a case for most users. The once-business class device is becoming more of a “piece of jewelry,” as HTC would say. Maybe that’s why internal leaks have suggested that the Galaxy S6 edge+ will be Samsung’s true new flagship focus for its Unpacked event. Maybe the Galaxy Note has become nothing more to Samsung than an extension of the Galaxy S series with an S Pen.
What do you think? Has Samsung forgotten the true appeal of its own halo product, or is the omission of expandable storage and removable batteries just the next logical step in revising hardware?
Source: Pocketnow
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