Samsung officially launched their new Note 7 device in Dublin last night. The event took place in Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin, with Newstalk's Pat Kenny hosting the proceedings.
There's yer man @PatKennyNT hosting the Samsung event #benoteworthy pic.twitter.com/zFrrbPgIpz
— Jess Kelly (@jesskellynt) August 18, 2016
The Note 7 was unveiled two weeks ago, much to the delight of phablet-fans everywhere. Samsung opted against the launch of the Note 5 in Europe last year, which caused upset for some customers here in Ireland. Speaking to me at the launch event last night, Conor Pierce - Samsung Vice President, IT & Mobile in the United Kingdom & Ireland told me that it was a tough call to make.
"We don't like letting our customers down, so it was a tough call to make. A petition calling for the release of the Note 5 in the UK and Ireland received some 50,000 signatures. We think people will see that it was worth the wait for the 7."
The Note 7 has a 5.7-inch screen, placing it securely into the phablet category, which Samsung really pioneered all those years ago with the original Note device.
A key feature of the Note is, and always has been, the S-Pen aka the stylus. It has been given extra functionality this time around; users can write, sketch and even create GIF with the little pen.
The pen may seem like a gimmick but research (conducted by Samsung) shows that the stylus is used by 2/3 of users weekly. As a former Note 4 user, I can confirm that the pen has some very practical uses, such as the hover / magnify functionality.
Aside from that, there's three other important pillars upon which the Note 7 is built. They are:
- Security
- Entertainment
- Galaxy Foundation
Head of Samsung in Ireland, Gary Twohig talked through some of the key features of the new phone.
"Security is key with the Note 7. The inclusion of the iris scanner makes the device more secure than the use of a thumb print or pin lock".
Some of the other features Samsung are particularly proud of include a GIF creator:
And the device's waterproof body:
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is available to pre-order now and will be available in store from September 2nd.
