Samsung Galaxy Note 9 August 9 Launch Date Reiterated; Gear S4 Said to Accompany New Phablet

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is anticipated to debut on August 9 at an "Unpacked" event in New York. Ahead of any formal announcement, a report from South Korea has reiterated the launch date that was rumoured previously. It has also separately been reported that alongside the new Galaxy Note model, the company is launching the Gear S4 in August. This new smartwatch will be the successor to the Gear S3. Unlike the previous model, the new offering is said to have an application processor built using Panel Level Packaging (PLP) to enable a thinner profile along with a cheaper price over the predecessor.

Citing people familiar with the development, Korea Herald reports that Samsung is set to launch the Galaxy Note 9 as its another premium flagship on August 9, two weeks earlier than the Galaxy Note 8 launch. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman tipped the same launch schedule earlier this month, also citing people familiar with the matter.

Apart from the launch schedule, ETNews separately reports that Samsung will bring the Gear S4 alongside Galaxy Note 9. The new smartwatch model is said to have an SoC based on PLP process. This will enable the company to build the Gear S3 successor with a thinner design. Further, the new process will reduce the cost of the SoC. This could drop the launch price of the Gear S4 in comparison with the price of the Gear S3. Notably, the Gear S3 was launched in January last year at Rs. 28,500.

The South Korean news source hasn't specified any details about the specifications of the Gear S4. However, tipster profile carrying the username of Ice Universe in a Weibo post recently claimed that the new Gear S smartwatch will come with a bigger, 470mAh battery compared to its predecessor that had a 380mAh battery. With PLP SoC and a large-enough battery pack, we can safely presume that the new model will deliver a day of power on a single charge. But this won't be a breakthrough as many smartwatches come with a similar battery life.