Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Review

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 launch date is only a few weeks away and consumers in the United States have begun turning their attention towards Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 2 successor. And ahead of its release date, there are things that consumers should, and should not be expecting from the Galaxy Note 3 release date in the U.S.

Last year, Samsung announced the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 ahead of IFA 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The device, which made its debut at an Unpacked event in late August, was the star of Samsung’s second half of the year. Unlike the Galaxy Note, the Galaxy Note 2 arrived on a host of U.S. carriers later in the year, making it an extremely attractive option to those in the market for a new smartphone here in the United States. So it should come as no surprise that Samsung is thought to be working on a successor to the Galaxy Note 2, dubbed, Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

The arrival of the Galaxy Note 3 was a given. The success of the Galaxy Note 2 and this year’s Galaxy S4, compelled Samsung to muster up yet another S Pen toting phablet that it will likely be bringing to the world on September 4th. Several days ago, the company sent out invites to a media event in Berlin, Germany that is clearly going to be geared toward Samsung’s second big act of the year.

The success of the Galaxy Note series, and the increased amount of competition has put added pressure on Samsung to deliver a fantastic Galaxy Note 3 and on paper, the device looks like it is shaping up to be worthy successor.

Rumors suggest that it will have a 5.7-inch 1080p display, quad-core processor of the current-gen variety, 13MP camera, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, and maybe best of all, a wealth of carrier options around the globe including in the United States. The device has been pegged with a late September release date though that remains uncertain.

We’ve already taken a look at what to expect from the global Galaxy Note 3 release date and now, it’s time to take a deeper dive and take a very specific look at what we don’t expect from the Galaxy Note 3 U.S. release date which should arrive later this year.

Release as Late as Last Year

Last year’s U.S. Galaxy Note 2 release date came long after the initial announcement. While some regions saw the Galaxy Note 2 arrive in late September, the United States was made to wait until late October and late November for the Galaxy Note 2 to arrive with Verizon bringing up the rear on November 29th.

The same deal happened with the Samsung Galaxy S3 in 2012 with American carriers lagging behind the rest of the pack and missing its initial late May release date.

The Galaxy Note 3 should land on September 4th. Its release date is still unknown.

Consumers should know expect this to happen with the Galaxy Note 3 release date in the U.S. For one, Samsung closed the gap immensely with the Galaxy S4 which arrived in the United States around the same time as other regions. It helped that the Galaxy S4 was announced in New York but even though the Galaxy Note 3 will debut in Europe, we expect there to be some type of U.S. Galaxy Note 3 launch event as well, perhaps on the same day.

More important to consider is just how important the U.S. market is to Samsung, especially this year with all of the Galaxy Note competitors springing to the surface. Samsung cannot afford to launch as late it did with the Galaxy Note 2 and with the Galaxy S4 as evidence, we don’t expect it to.

Instead, look for the Galaxy Note 3 to arrive much earlier than late October, or late November in the United States.

Smaller Carriers

At this point, don’t expect the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to arrive on a host of smaller carriers like the iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S4. The Galaxy Note series remains a bit of a niche device and thus, smaller carriers are likely a little reluctant to offer the device to their customers, especially since a large screen device like the Galaxy Note thrives with with a massive 4G LTE network covering it.

Expect major carriers. Don’t expect minor carriers.

The Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2 avoided smaller regional U.S. carriers so the best that consumers should be hoping for, at the moment, is an arrival on U.S. Cellular, the nation’s fifth largest carrier.

Lack of U.S. Cellular

Rumors suggest that AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon will be getting the Galaxy Note 3. Their model numbers showed up awhile back and given that they carried the Galaxy Note 2, this appears likely.

However, consumers shouldn’t expect the device to miss U.S. Cellular. The carrier has shown a willingness to carry big name smartphones, the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, Moto X, Galaxy Note 2 among them, and it will be carrying the iPhone later this year as well as it looks to compete with the big boys.

Don’t expect the carrier to skip the Galaxy Note 3, despite a lack of rumors.

Every Official Accessory at Launch

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 may offer wireless charging, just like the Samsung Galaxy S4. However, those looking to buy the Galaxy Note 3 should not expect the device to have the official accessory available to them at launch. Same goes for some of the other official accessories that Samsung is likely cooking up for the Galaxy Note 3.

Don’t expect every official Galaxy Note 3 accessory to be available upon release.

With the Galaxy S4, we saw Samsung put a focus on official accessories introducing a wireless charging kit, cases, and more. However, those accessories arrived in the weeks after the device arrived, not the day of.

We don’t expect that to change with the Galaxy Note 3. Instead, official accessories will likely trickle out to the surface in the weeks after its arrival in the U.S. That of course doesn’t mean that accessories won’t be available. We should see a good amount of third-party accessorizes available at launch, particularly at AT&T.

Multiple Color Options

The Galaxy Note 3 could arrive in several different colors, just don’t expect them on release day.

Samsung loves to launch its devices in an assortment of colors but the company also loves to launch them in specific regions and launch them long after the initial launch.

With the Galaxy Note 3 U.S. release date, we expect Samsung to follow a similar route, meaning, consumers should not expect a host of color options in the United States when it arrives.

Instead, we should see one or two with select U.S. carriers getting different colors down the road. It’s a strategy that we’ve seen Samsung and HTC use with the Galaxy S4 and HTC One and we should see it employed with the Galaxy Note 3.

Exclusives

Speaking of the HTC One, when it arrived, it came with a huge exclusive to AT&T. The AT&T HTC One is the only variant that comes with 64GB of storage space while the others on Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon only come with 32GB.

Don’t expect this type of exclusive with the Galaxy Note 3. In fact, besides the color options, the Galaxy Note 3 release should be a fairly even playing field in the United States.

There might be some carriers that boast larger storage variants, rumors suggest that we could finally see a 32GB model, but don’t expect those variants to be tied to a carr