Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Design, screen, camera, price, release date – Everything we know so far

Samsung is holding an Unpacked press conference on 13 August, where the Galaxy Note 5 and a larger version of the Galaxy S6 Edge are expected to be announced. A third device, thought to be a small tablet, could also be unveiled at the event, which takes place simultaneously in New York and London.

As is increasingly becoming the norm in consumer technology, both handsets have already been widely leaked. Just days before the big event, retail packaging for the Galaxy Note 5 appeared online, revealing the phone's specifications, along with photos showing what the handset looks like. Here, we have gathered all of the Note 5 leaks and rumours together ahead of the big announcement.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Design

Leaked renders and press images show how the Note 5 will have a design very similar to the Galaxy S6. This means an aluminium body with glass on its front and back, plus a flat screen. The phone's exact size and weight aren't yet known, but a thickness of 7.9mm has been touted, undercutting the Note 4 by 0.6mm.

The Note 5 will include the same stylus as the previous model, only this time it is spring-loaded. Just like how SD cards are released from phones and cameras with a push, the Note 5's stylus has the same action, where in previous models it had to be pulled out manually.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Display

The display of the Note 5 will be the same as its predecessor's. This means a 5.7in screen with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 and a pixel density of 515 per inch. This is significantly higher than the Note 5's closest rival, the iPhone 6 Plus, and even though Apple is expected to announce the 6s (and 6s Plus) in early September, it will reportedly offer no improvement over the 1920 x 1080 screen of the 6 Plus. As mentioned in the design section above, the Note 5 will have a flat screen, not a curved one like the Galaxy S6 edge.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Camera

It was originally thought that Samsung would increase the resolutions of the Note 4's front and back cameras, but a photograph claimed to be of the phone's box shows the rear resolution will remain at 16-megapixels. This camera is also expected to have optical image stabilisation (OIS), mirroring the Note 4. Indeed, the only change expected here is a small resolution increase for the front camera, up from 3.7MP to five.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Processor, RAM, storage and software

It should go without saying that the Note 5 will come with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop installed, along with Samsung's Touchwiz user interface. The leaked retail box claims the Note 5 will have a 64-bit octa-core processor, and recent rumours claim this will be Samsung's own Exynos 7420 chipset, plus a massive 4GB of RAM – a figure printed on that leaked box.

The box states storage is 32GB, although we suspect Samsung will also offer a 64GB model, as it does with the Galaxy S6. A 128GB version may also be announced, but don't expect it to be cheap – an issue compounded by the phone's apparent lack of a microSD card slot for increasing storage cheaply. It looks like an international (read: not for the UK) version will have two SIM card slots, of which one can also accept SD cards, but we will have to wait until 13 September to be sure.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5: Price and release date

Going on previous Note prices, we expect the Note 5 to cost between £500 and £600 SIM-free for the entry-level 32GB model. As for a release date, Samsung isn't usually the quickest to get newly-announced handsets onto shelves, so we would conservatively expect the Note 5 to arrive within a month of the 13 August announcement.

One more thing...

Although the Note 5 has taken much of the limelight leading up to the Unpacked event, Samsung is also expected to announce the Galaxy S6 edge+, a larger version of its curved-screened flagship. This will have a 5.7in screen and essentially be the same phone as the Note 5, but with a screen which curves at both edges and the S Pen stylus taken away.

IBTimes UK will be at the Unpacked event in London, where we hope to get some hands-on time with everything Samsung announces.