You may have heard that Samsung officially announced the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 at 4pm on August 2nd. If you didn’t have chance to watch the live reveal, here’s the Gadgety take on the important bits.

There have been leaks and educated guesses, and it seems that most of them were spot on.

“Hang on!” I hear you cry. Yup. we’ve gone straight to 7 without bothering with the traditional courtesy of having a Galaxy Note 6. Well, Samsung decided to skip a number to keep the Note inline with the rest of Galaxy S series.

You see, the Galaxy S series of smartphones is 7 years old but the Note started a year later and is 6. It seems that someone at Samsung also gets antsy when things don’t align just like me and made the decision to match the ranges. Now we have the Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, and finally, the Galaxy Note 7. My OCD likes this.

Note 7 will please gamers

Importantly, the Galaxy Note 7 features a larger battery than Samsung’s last Note phone. This has been upgraded from a 3000mAh battery to a 3500mAh battery. This allows the phone to last longer under heavy use. Hardware-wise the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 also has 31% more CPU power and 58% more GPU power when compared to the last Note. There is also the matter of 4GB of system memory, making this mobile phone a potential portable gaming powerhouse.

With Vulkan compatibility and such huge boosts in GPU performance with modern SoCs, mobile phones now have the gaming power to play some fairly demanding titles, though developers will still need to work on the problems that mobile controls present to gamers.

Note 7 hardware

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is wrapped up in that lovely dual edge curve display and features a microSD card slot, which is a great thing.

Other great things include a USB-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and IP68 water resistance. The latest addition though is the much rumoured iris scanner – you can unlock this phone with your eyes!

Note 7 spec sheet:

• Display: 5.7-inch 2560×1440 (Quad HD) SuperAMOLED Edge display
• Chipset: Octa-core 2.3GHz processor in the international model (likely the same Samsung Exynos 8890 used in the global GS7)
• RAM: 4GB of RAM
• Storage: 64GB of storage as standard, microSD up to 256GB
• Battery: 3,500mAh battery with wireless fast charging
• Other features: USB Type-C, Iris scanner, IP68 water-resistance, fingerprint sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack
• Camera: Dual-Pixel 12MP camera with OIS, f/1.7 aperture; 5MP front-facing camera
• Software: Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS
• Dimensions: 153.5mm x 73.9mm x 7.9 mm
• Weight: 168g

Note 7 features

Software

TouchWiz is running on Android Marshmallow with Nougat lined up for update once its cleared.

There’s the all new Samsung Cloud. This cloud storage service lets you back up information and content. Think Google Backup when you log into a new Android device. The difference here is that Samsung Cloud also adds in your photos and saved files. This is a nice insurance policy that means, should you lose your phone, just buy another  Sammy phone and you can restore up to 15GB of saved data and cherished memories. Oh, and it’s free.

Samsung Pass is the biometric authentication tech that runs the fingerprint scanner and that new iris scanner to secure apps. Now, the Note 7 uses these to unlock the device but, for any extended functionality, this relies upon app developers supporting them. So, we’ll just have to see if these take off.

Water and dust resistance

Samsung has made the Note 7 water and dust resistant. The phablet now boasts an IP68 rating. This means that it can be submerged in water for up to 30 minutes. Water resistance has also been extended to the S-Pen for note taking in the rain – great news for UK owners, I guess. The new S-Pen has been sharpened 1.6mm to 0.7mm and should aid more precise scribbles. Pressure sensitivity has also been increased meaning that it should feel more like writing with an actual pen.

Corning Glass 5

The Galaxy Note 7 becomes the first handset to come with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 protection. According to the company, it’s the strongest glass to date and can withstand a drop from 5.25 feet (1.6 meters) on rough surfaces in “up to 80% of cases”. The glass protects the curved display as well as the rear of the Galaxy Note 7 so it’s a well-protected handset.

Note 7 accessories

First party accessories to accompany your new device have been listed now. Kicking off with the S View cover which can now shift into a stand “in one swift move, letting you enjoy all your favorite multimedia more comfortably.”

The rest of the Galaxy Note 7 cases and covers are nothing new or special, including LED View, Clear View, Leather, Clear, Keyboard and Lens accessories, and borrowing heavily from their S7 Edge-made predecessors. Well, that how it looks to me.

Then there’s the “power” section, headlined by a robust, water-resistant 3,100 mAh “Backpack”, as well as a massive 10,200 mAh Battery Pack. No new wireless chargers though. You’re stuck with the old ones for the time being.

Gear VR

A new Gear VR headset has been launched to go along with the Galaxy Note 7. This time, there is an all-black colour scheme and an updated visor.

There aren’t any radical changes and of the hardware with the USB-C connector appearing to be the biggest difference.

The new connection is essential for the headset to communicate with the Note 7 but don’t fear if you’re rocking an older Sammy phone – The new Gear VR is compatible with older Samsung flagships, like the S6 and S7 series, thanks to an adapter that accommodates the microUSB connection.

The straps and padding have been tweaked for better comfort and quality but the most substantial improvement would be the headset’s wider field of view. This has now jumped from 96-degrees with the previous model, to now 110-degrees

The new Gear VR 2016 headset will be available on August 19th priced at $99, £80 or AU$159.

Note 7 price and availability

Pre-ordering starts today. But brace yourselves, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 isn’t cheap folks. With an RRP of £749 to buy outright most people will be hoping for subsidised carrier deals.

You only get one choice of storage size and that’s 64GB. However, since there’s that MicroSD card slot, you can boost it up to 256GB worth of expansion.

Launch is on the 19th of August in Blue Coral, Gold Platinum, Silver Titanium and Black Onyx.