What has long been suspected is now official: there will be no more new Galaxy Note. However, Samsung is not saying goodbye to its pen smartphone, it is moving to a new series.
Up until 2020, Samsung launched new smartphones from its two major premium lines every year – the Galaxy S in spring and the Galaxy Note in summer. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra from last year combined both series for the first time and could be operated with a pen. At the same time, there was no new Note model. Both were quite concrete indications that Samsung is planning a major change in its smartphones. And the company has now officially confirmed this at the MWC 2022.
Samsung Galaxy Note becomes Galaxy Ultra
At the Mobile World Congress, Roh Tae-moon, head of Samsung Electronics’ mobile experience business, gave an insight into the company’s future plans in an interview with Korean media. It confirmed what many had already suspected: the Ultra model of the Galaxy S series will completely replace the Note series in the future. This means that Samsung will no longer introduce new Galaxy Note smartphones in the summer. The Galaxy Note 20 is therefore the last of its kind. Samsung itself no longer offers the device in its German online shop. However, it is still available at Media Markt, Saturn and Amazon.
For a long time, the Galaxy Note series differed from the Galaxy S models in two main features – the larger display and the pen operation using the S Pen. However, both features can also be found in the Galaxy S21 Ultra from February 2021. The current Galaxy S22 Ultra comes even closer to the Note series. Because here Samsung has integrated a slot for the S-Pen in the case for the first time. The manufacturer already pointed out during the presentation of the smartphone that the Ultra will combine the Galaxy S and Note series in the future.
Also read: A big comparison of Samsung’s three new Galaxy S22 models
Is there a new premium smartphone range?
However, the unification of the two smartphone series does not mean that Samsung will forego innovations in the second half of the year. The manufacturer is now expanding the range of its folding smartphones. Instead of a new Note model, he showed the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 in August 2021. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is the first in its series that can be operated with an S Pen. However, as with the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the pen cannot yet be stowed directly in the housing.
It can be assumed that Samsung will continue to use the summer to present new generations of its Fold and Flip series in the future. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4 will probably await us next August.