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Samsung’s next-gen enormophone, the upcoming Galaxy Note 3, could come in a cheaper, lower-specced ‘Lite’ version, according to a new industry rumour from Korea.
The story on Korean site ETNews, spotted by Android Beat, reckons there’s two versions of the Note 3 — one of which will have a cheaper LCD screen and a lower-res 8-megapixel camera.
Samsung is set to launch the Note 3 on 4 September, at a glitzy evening event in Berlin at tech show IFA. We’d previously heard on the rumour mill that it would be a towering powerhouse of a phone, running either a Snapdragon 800 or Samsung’s own eight-core Exynos — both mighty chips. A 1080p screen, somewhere between 5.5 and 6 inches, was a given, with the sharp and contrasty AMOLED tech powering it.
A lower-res camera on a Note 3 Lite would preclude the possibility of recording 4K-resolution videos — a snazzy touted feature for the full-fat Note 3. A previous bit of gossip suggested the Korean company was working on three Note 3s — 5.5-, 5.7- and 6-inch models.
This new rumour isn’t beyond the realms of likelihood, given Samsung’s predilection for producing slightly different versions of its most popular phones. Just look at this lineup of Galaxy S4s:
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What’s missing there is one called ‘Lite’, with the S4 Mini the budget option. (Samsung has used the term ‘Lite’ for cheap versions of its terrible Tocco range.) A Note 3 Mini wouldn’t make much sense, of course, with the Note brand standing for “so massive it looks ludicrous next to my face”, but a cheaper version with just as humungous a screen could be a winner.
This is Samsung, of course, so it already produces something like that — the Galaxy Mega, a 6.3-inch Android Goliath with an unimpressive dual-core processor that goes for about £440. A Note 3 Lite would, in theory, be about the same price, but slightly smaller, hopefully more powerful, and packing all of Samsung’s stylus-related Note software.
Would you be up for something like that? Or is the whole point of the Note to have the most powerful blower around? Embiggen your comments below, or on our vast Facebook page.
