Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Highly anticipated successor to explosive phone to launch next month

There is a lot riding on the upcoming handset

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had to be recalled globally (REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)

Samsung will launch its highly anticipated follow-up to the Note 7 next month, it has been reported.

The company had been expected to kill off the Note brand after handsets started catching fire last year, but has decided to keep it going.

There is, therefore, a lot riding on the Note 8, which is likely to feature an enormous screen.

It will be unveiled on 23 August, according to a new report from the Bell, a South Korean publication.

Samsung launched the Note 7 much earlier than anticipated last year, choosing to reveal it at an event on 2 August, in order to beat the iPhone 7 Plus to market.

The phone proved disastrous, with numerous battery faults causing handsets to explode, which eventually led to a global recall.

Refurbished models, however, were recently relaunched.

The Note 8, as a result, will face intense scrutiny from the entire industry.

It’s been rumoured to feature a huge 6.3-inch display, which is even bigger than the Galaxy S8+’s 6.2-inch screen, which we considered to be excessively large.

It will likely look a lot like the S8+ too, but come with a stylus and a range of special productivity-focused features.

Unfortunately, recent leaks strongly suggest that it could also share the S8+’s worst feature – its problematic fingerprint sensor.

It’s small, shallow and badly positioned, and could damage the user experience significantly.