Samsung Galaxy Note 8 launched in India, priced at ₹67,900

Samsung on Tuesday launched its latest premium smartphone, the Galaxy Note 8, in India. The Galaxy Note 8 succeeds the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7, which had to be recalled from several markets following reports of units exploding and catching fire. Interestingly, Note 8 launched in India on a day when all eyes are on Apple's big-ticket event in Cupertino to when the tech giant will unveil its latest range of iPhones.

The smartphone is priced at ₹67,900 and will be available from September 21. It will be available online through Amazon India and Samsung's official e-store. The pre-order for the smartphone begins today.

Samsung also announced that its Bixby digital assistant will be available for Indian users in coming weeks. The AI-based assistant will be available on the Samsung Galaxy S8 , Galaxy S8+ and Note 8. Samsung said that the Bixby voice assistant has been optimised for Indian accent.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Specifications, features

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 sports a 6.3-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display with 18:5:9 aspect ratio. It is marginally bigger than the Samsung Galaxy S8+ which has 6.2-inch QHD+ display.

The Note 8 runs on Android 7.1.1-based TouchWiz UI and is powered by a 10nm-based Exynos processor coupled with 6GB of RAM. Its 64GB built-in storage can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card. The smartphone has a hybrid SIM slot which means users can either use two SIM cards or use the slot for a SIM and SD card each.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 comes with a dual-rear camera setup: It consists of two 12-megapixel sensors featuring Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS). While the first sensor is a wide-angle lens, the other one is a telephoto lens capable of 2X optical zoom. The smartphone can also deliver real-time bokeh effect (DSLR-like depth of field experience). For selfies, it has an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with f/1.7 aperture.

For connectivity, the Note 8 supports USB Type-C, NFC, 3.5mm audio port, Bluetooth 5.0 ad LTE Cat. 16 and Wi-Fi. It also comes with IP68 certification for water and dust resistance.

Samsung has also improved the bundled stylus, known as S Pen. The device now lets users to take up to 100 pages of notes on the off screen. Users can use the stylus to scribble emojis within the message to create live messages, similar to Apple's updated iMessage.

The smartphone also comes with bundled AKG headphones.