Alleged Samsung Galaxy Note 3 pictures hint at a redesigned body

With Samsung announcing nearly all of its major smartphones for 2013, the attention turns to the Galaxy Note 3, the next big device from the Korean company. Widely expected to be unveiled at IFA in September, the Note 3 has been doing the rounds in the rumour mill for quite some time, but we haven’t got a look at the phablet itself. But SamMobile has stumbled upon a prototype Galaxy Note 3 unit, which could give us a hint or two about the upcoming smartphone.

The device in the leaked pictures has a more rectangular design, in line with the original Galaxy Note, released in 2011. It does have a much larger display than the Note, which was to be expected. The Note 3 is said to come with a 5.99-inch full HD Super AMOLED display. The prototype did not have the S-Pen functionality enabled, but the resolution has been confirmed as full HD. All the icons in the notification tray, such as the battery status, the time and signal strength are in line with the current icons on the Galaxy S4.

One of the leaked images of the Note 3 (Image credit: TechTastic and SamMobile)

Those hoping for on-screen buttons will have to look elsewhere as Samsung has decided with the same three-button setup that has become so ubiquitous on its phones. If indeed Samsung does go with this design in the final version, it will be a departure from its usual strategy of basing the Note’s body on the current Galaxy flagship.

Earlier rumours say that the Note 3 will come with a 13 megapixel camera with enhanced OIS capability as well as a new S-Orb feature for shooting 360-degree panoramas. There’s no clarity on the processor side, but we expect it to be powered by either the Exynos 5 Octa SoC or the Snapdragon 800 chipset, based on the region. Undoubtedly, it will have the latest version of Android, just like Samsung’s recent phones, along with the company’s TouchWiz UI.