Handsets

Limited Edition Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with flexible display rumored to launch next month

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samsung_youm_demo

Seems like every year rumors begin to swirl of a new Samsung device releasing with one of the manufacturers fancy new flexible LCD displays. We saw it back with the Galaxy Note 2, a few months later with the Galaxy S4, and of course, the recently announced Note 3. In the end, it always ends up the same: another Galaxy iteration with the same ‘ol design and flat display panels we’re all accustomed to. But there’s still hope yet for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

It wasn’t too long ago — just before the official announcement — there were rumors of the Galaxy Note 3 launching in 4 different hardware versions. This kind of lines up with the official release of the Note 3, in which we saw 2 versions of the device announced at IFA 2013: the Snapdragon 800 model, and the Exynos Octa version. Although it hasn’t been announced yet, a lower-end model is also said to launch later this year with a traditional LCD display and 8MP camera.

Today there’s new whisperings coming out of Korea suggesting Samsung could be planning to launch an even higher-end version of the Note 3 as early as next month in limited quantities. This premium model will feature Samsung’s long rumored flexible OLED display, and come with a more industrial metal chassis. We imagine Samsung might have something planned along the lines of the prototype that was shown off back during CES 2013. Shown in the picture above, the prototype featured a display that wraps around the edges of a device.

Why the limited edition? Well, given flexible OLED is still a relatively new technology, it seems Samsung might not be ready to begin mass producing the panels on a large scale just yet, hence the limited quantities. Given rumors that Samsung would bring their first flexible display device to market in November, it seems we wont have to wait much longer to find out.

[via SamMobile]

Chris Chavez
I've been obsessed with consumer technology for about as long as I can remember, be it video games, photography, or mobile devices. If you can plug it in, I have to own it. Preparing for the day when Android finally becomes self-aware and I get to welcome our new robot overlords.

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50 Comments

  1. this is a joke right lol

  2. you can’t be serious…they’re going to release a even more powerful version of the most powerful phone to ever come out…a month after releasing it? why not just spit on every Note 3 buyer’s eye and call it even?

    1. They did it with the UK s3… not long after I bought it, they released a version with double ram and LTE

    2. You do realize the A7 chip is beating the 800 in many tests. I think it is fair to say Apple’s SoC wins but Google’s OS wins.

      1. ill take a note 3 with snapdragon 800 over iphone 5s A7 anyday.

      2. You do realize that Samsung manufactures the A7 chip right?

        1. Well, we need that chip in our phones…

          1. You have succumbed to the Apple marketing machine.

      3. In browser tests lol, which mostly rely on browser software and not CPU , in terms of graphics the s800 is more powerful, might not seem like it but all the devices using the s800 chip have 2.8x more pixels than the iPhone

        1. Perhaps you might benefit from learning more about the testing performed and how SoCs work. Apple beat Qualcom by designing smarter and not designing for a bullet list the marketing people love to flaunt so much.

          The 800 chip is mostly about marketing. It isn’t a quad core done right.

          1. Wrong, thanks for trying to sound smart. They’re both based off two different types of the same architecture, the SD800 is based off an older architecture than the A7. Naturally, ARM v8 is going to have tremendous advantages over ARM v7.

          2. Maybe you are not as that bright as you think?Think about it. Obvisiously you know zilch about these tests.

          3. Wha… I don’t have words for your idiocy.

          4. For someone who claims to know so much you sure are oblivious. first off, its not the SoC that gives iOS an advantage its the operating system, Android has a higher workload due to that fact its the only smartphone OS to support true multitasking. let me put it in terms you can understand: Lets say you are moving to a new residency, and you have 2 tons of stuff to move for a distance of 2 miles, well say Android is a Ford F-150 and iOS a luxury sedan (your choice), now the sedan will only be able to carry 300-400 pounds at maximum but the F-150 will be able to carry that entire 2 tons, which means you only need to travel 2 miles while with the sedan you will have to make 5-6 trips back and forth for a total of 10-12 miles, the F150 is traveling at a slow pace of 30mph while the sedan is cruising at 60mph (double the speed), the truck will be done in 4 minutes the sedan in 10-12 minutes. In reality a high end android phone is about the same speed as a iPhone in real world tests, to accomplish the same tasks and Android phone can complete simultaneously the iPhone would have to be 5-6x faster which we all know isnt the case. With that said a lot of apps in the Play Store are just ported iOS apps, in other words they haven’t been built from the ground up for Android, that’s why a lot of apps like temple run when launched on Android will jump into a black screen with a small icon on the left hand corner before entering the app, the reason for this is because on iOS a screen shot will appear until the app is ready to load ( have you ever seen your battery status change for no apparent reason?) which will then switch to a live view giving the appearance for a smoother and faster interface. Apple could just have easily used a snapdragon 800 and made a few tweaks to iOS, the term A7 is just a marketing thing, just like how they introduce every feature that other smartphones have already had than added a unique name to it to make it stand out, like whatever they called their new camera this time which is pretty much the same thing HTC did with the one or Motorola did with their line up, same tech different lingo

      4. What do you expect? They release their products at the end of the year, and next year’s flagships are also going to feature the same type of technology. It’s only natural that the ARM v8 architecture in the A7 SoC would come close to, or beat the ARM v7 based SoCs. If Apple’s A7 is that powerful, imagine what ARM v8 SoCs for Android are going to be like early next year.

      5. said same about iphone 5 and look who was faster in the end..so yawn!!on that one.

    3. They did this to Korean consumers. They just released a new Galaxy sIV with an even better processor and LTE-A on board….only 3 months or so after the release of the original. Don’t believe me…Google it!

  3. AT&T exclusive I bet

    1. Or China.

  4. The price will be much higher than a normal note so don’t get your panties in a bunch.

    1. …or do, depending on how you look at it. :P

  5. Unfortunately for the guy who got her card, she’s also very flexible.

  6. S-Pen doesn’t need soft flexible, it needs hard non scratchable display.

  7. Liked the last model, that is something that is worth the wait for.

  8. hoping they somday use this to make a flip phone that when opened is like the phones we have now, but can be closed to make them take up less pocket room and protect the screen like the foldable one in the video)

  9. I cringed so hard at that corny video….

  10. Wtf I’m currently planning on getting the note 3 the day it comes out now this

    1. This is why u should always wait. glad i never thought bout the NOTE III. Been waiting for the YOUM to come that is if i don’t buy the Z1.

      1. Ha, don’t worry, I could have upgraded from my S1 to the S3 two months after launch and yet I’m still waiting. Honestly though, it has its disadvantages, my phone is starting to fall apart and it isn’t even my original S1. I wonder though, it I had kept the second one in a protective case, would it have survived as long as my first one, probably.

  11. Finally been waited this long for their flexible NOTE phone

  12. Any guesses on the cost of this phablet?

  13. And I’ve just preordered the Note 3! Damn you progress damn you….

    1. Still an awesome phone that should serve you well. If not there’s always craigslist.

  14. Hmmmm….. actually am a big fan of the Samsung smartphones……so I cant able to wait for long… from all aspects this is just an incredible creation that loaded with number of high end specs.

  15. Just take my money!

  16. Uhm… I’m calling BS on this

  17. Believe it when i see it. It be a test run for the next galaxy s phone but who knows it’s just rumors until it’s out for the public to have.

  18. The bezels on the side are already thin enough that they cause accidental touches on a lot of devices… This seems counter productive unless they have some really good software to weed out unwanted touches.

  19. I bet it’ll be limited to GSM providers.

  20. I can’t see how this would help in cell phones (unless a foldable, superthin version could be made). Perhaps it’d be useful in other realms, and therefore reasonable to do r&d on it. The device in the article photo is just ridiculous.

    1. It would help in cell phones by not having to worry about your screen breaking if you drop it (hints unbreakable screen). Another thing is the screen is thinner which allows a bigger battery with a thinner phone, and less battery consumption. Those are just a few reasons.

  21. Can anyone tell me the point of a flexible screen on a phone when the rest of the phone itself isn’t flexible at all? I mean unless the phone itself can bend and twist which would be REALLY difficult to pull off seeing as how batteries don’t exactly do that then this screen tech seems a bit pointless for a phone.

    1. If you watch the embedded video you can see some real world applications of the flexible screens such as the phone the presenter pulls out of his jacket that can display alerts along the outer edge. Just because it’s flexible doesn’t mean it’s going to allow you as the end user to bend it this way and that. It means they can package it into new form factors that are not available today.

    2. Flexible screens are extremely difficult to break, if not impossible. There’s a video of this screen being smashed with a hammer and taking no damage somewhere on youtube.

    3. Really, you should have watched the video before commenting…silly you

  22. *sighs* Dear Samsung. Galaxy Gear should have been using this hardware instead.

    1. Seriously! This is the main reason I don’t believe these rumors. If there was ever a spot to use the flexible display it would have been on the Galaxy Gear and if they are that close to bringing it to market even in a limited capacity they should have used it there. I really don’t believe the rumors. Lastly, Samsung seems to be traversing a deadly path with these upgraded devices shortly after release. This is quite a slap in the face to the loyal consumer. I live in Korea and bought the Galaxy SIV about a month after release. Well, now they have the Galaxy SiV with an updated processor and LTE-A shortly after release of the model. That’s just going to cause distaste for Samsung. I’m already starting to feel it a bit.

  23. A flexible screen on a non flexible device. .. genius!

  24. This could fit on the fantasy product “Smile Emopulse”… Maybe 2 fantasy products could get together and make baby?

    P.S. I don’t buy this stuff until I see a working practical product!

  25. Gotta love the Samsung Tech Whore. “Ohh you’ve got an AMAZING phone. Call me Playa!”

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