South Korean electronics company Samsung today launched its premium phablet, the Galaxy Note 8.
Samsung unveiled the device at an event in New York and live-streamed the event around the world.
The Note range is aimed at 'power users', with better specs and a larger screen than the flagship Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, and comes standard with a stylus. The Note 8 features a 6.3-inch screen.
Last year, Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 had to be recalled and eventually cancelled after a fault in the battery design led to the smartphones catching fire.
By the time the company cancelled the device, 2.5 million units had been sold in the countries it was launched. By January, the company said it had successfully recalled more than 93% of all Note 7 devices in the US.
Samsung did not skirt around the issues it had with the Note 7 last year but instead faced them head on in the beginning of the presentation. It thanked all its die-hard fans that did not give up on the brand.
The new Note 8 runs on a Samsung Exynos 8895 processor with six gigs of RAM and 64 gigs memory, with the option to add more with an SD card slot.
The phone features a 3300mAh battery, that Samsung stresses it has tested extensively. It also features fast wireless charging.
This is the first Samsung smartphone to sport a dual camera rig at the back. Rivals Huawei, LG and Apple have all had this feature for at least a year. Samsung's twin camera set-up features a telephoto lens and a wide-angle lens; both are 12MP and feature optical image stabilisation.
The camera set-up allows users to take photos that have a blurred background with the option to adjust this after the picture was taken. Another new feature, called Dual Capture, takes two pictures at the same time with both cameras. This gives users the option of a picture that captures the whole scene, and a more zoomed in image.
There is also a new multi-tasking feature, called App Pair, which lets user open two apps at the same time. For example, users may choose to pair their maps and music apps, which they open together when they get in the car.
The Note will come with Samsung's personal assistant, Bixby, which launched globally last night.
The device is available in gold, black and grey.
Pre-orders will start tonight on the Samsung Web site and the device will officially be available in South Africa from 22 September.
The recommended retail price is R18 699.
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