Report: Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ due to be announced on August 12, released August 21

By now we’ve heard multiple rumors and reports on Samsung’s next generation phablet. In today’s latest report from SamMobile, the publication claims that it knows when the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ will be unveiled and released to the public. Citing its “insiders”, the report states that the Galaxy Note 5 will be announced on August 12th and be available to buy shortly afterwards on August 21th.

Alongside the Note 5, it’s expected that Sammy will also announce the Galaxy S6 Edge+. It’s rumored that the S6 Edge Plus and Note 5 will launch on the same day in the US, timed with Samsung Pay on August 21st. This rumor goes against previous suggestions that Samsung might even announce the phone before the end of this month.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that the Note 5 may arrive before the iPhone announcement (which is presumably slated for around September). It’s also not the first time we’ve heard mention of an S6/Edge style phablet. That said, with all the details together in this one report, I believe it’s the first time we’ve seen a big-picture look at what Sammy has up its sleeve. Or what Sammy might have up its sleeve. This is, after all, still only speculation, regardless of how well sourced it may be.

As for features and specifications, the site reports that the Note 5 — just like the S6 — will not have a microSD card slot. Instead, its design will be unibody and completely sealed. As we had already seen in earlier 3D renders, the Note 5 is essentially a big version of the S6 which Samsung announced earlier this year at MWC in Barcelona.

The S Pen is also likely to see a design change. Samsung will purportedly make it look more like a real pen, and have it match the color scheme of the device. Those colors will be silver, gold, black or white. One thing we’ve only seen in one phone before: 4GB RAM. Apparently, that’s exactly the amount of memory we should expect to be crammed inside the Note 5.

Moving on to the S6 Edge+ and, as you’d guess from the name, this will allegedly be nothing more than a big version of the S6 Edge. It’s a phablet with curved secondary displays on either side of the main screen. If the rumor today is correct, Sammy will yet again favor an Exynos processor to the Snapdragon chips. It’s supposedly going to feature the Exynos 7420 with 3GB RAM.

If Samsung does pull this move and announces the devices a few weeks before IFA in Berlin, it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. Will getting a jump on Apple really make that much difference and help it claw back some market share at the high end of the scale? Will announcing too early have a negative impact on its holiday sales performance?

From the specs and rumors alone, the Note 5 and S6 Edge pairing could prove irresistible to fans of the larger, stylus-equipped smartphones. But there is much more to consider. Pricing – for instance – could prove a big stumbling block, assuming these cost more than the S6 and S6 Edge. Having used both of the current flagships, I genuinely can’t wait to see the new phablets when they arrive.