Johannesburg - The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 - the follow-up to the world’s most controversial smartphone, the Note 7 - is expected to be launched on August 23 and photos of the device are already surfacing online.
Mobile reporter Evan Blass, renowned for accurate leaks prior to smartphone launches, has tweeted images of what the Note 8 smartphone might look like.
According to the leak by Blass, the Note 8 will take a design and shape similar to Samsung's current flagship, the Galaxy S8 smartphone.
Like previous models, the device will be larger than the S8 and phablet format.
The Note 8, which also features a stylus, the S Pen, is expected to ditch the physical home button, as did the S8 smartphone.
In an ongoing trend to increase the size of body to display ratio, manufacturers have begun to discard physical buttons on the face of the device.
The Note 8 will also feature Samsung's Infinity Display.
From the leaked images, it is expected that the Note 8 will have an iris scanner and fingerprint scanner, as did the S8.
When it rains etc. pic.twitter.com/D0lFR5Wn1B
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 1, 2017
The smartphone will also reportedly feature a dual camera for the first time in a Samsung Note smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy Note8 (in Midnight Black) pic.twitter.com/QZii9xFarQ
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) July 31, 2017
The Note 7 achieved notoriety after numerous devices around the world were reported to have exploded, igniting a global recall of the device.
The explosions were caused by a design flaw, and the South Korean company implemented an 8-point safety plan to ensure future devices don’t explode.
During the recall in late 2016, the smartphone was banned by numerous airlines around the world. While never officially launched in the country, the device was banned by South African aircraft operators, including South African Airways.