Samsung’s Galaxy Note series has always been in the spotlight, be it for making the phablet popular, showing off its curves, rekindling controversy, or warning people about proper pen placement. This year looks to be no different, as the new Note hasn’t even been announced yet but has already attracted a fair share of attention. Several weeks ago, Evan Blass (@evleaks) indicated that the product would see launch in roughly two months and now a new leak, courtesy of SamMobile, has seemingly suggested the same:

The above image looks to be leaked from either an invite to be sent to the press, or else a possible design layout for promotional posters to paste in public. There are several key points to glean from it:

The most obvious would be the August 2nd launch day, which – as mentioned – lines up with both what Blass said and long-held speculation that the Note would launch earlier than in prior years, similar to what Samsung did with the Galaxy S7 in February. The design language is clearly stylized in a way such that the number “7” is displayed, which gives further credibility to the rumors that Samsung will indeed skip 6 in order to have caught-up consistency between it and the flagship Galaxy S handsets. The design language also clearly shows off curved edges, which line up with the recently leaked content suggesting the Note 7 will have a curved display. This, in and of itself, has caused much outrage amongst some fans who are teeming with anger at the idea of Samsung releasing only an Edge display model. The information also specifies the launch will happen in New York City, and will even be live streamed on YouTube, not unlike what HTC did with its recently released 10.

Analysis

Assuming this leak is legit, that the Note 7 will launch early is not really news so much as it just reiterates Samsung’s current strategy to push things up in 2016. The real question, now, is more about the curves. It seems quite obvious Samsung will launch a Galaxy Note 7 Edge, but will it be the standard – and only – Galaxy Note 7?

While this is mere speculation, the likelihood is somewhat low, given that (1) Samsung continues to release “traditional” Galaxy S handsets, (2) the Edge display costs more and therefore will raise the price, and (3) many people simply do not like the curved sides. Samsung has managed to repair some of last year’s damage by including microSD support with the S7, so it would be seemingly foolish for it to anger Note buyers once again by forcing upon all of them a different display dynamic. It is highly likely that there will indeed be two models, but obviously the Edge variant receiving the focus.

What do you think?