Which direction will Samsung take with the Galaxy Note 5?

Samsung’s flagship smartphones have never been cheap or ugly by any means, but the company has generally chosen to focus more on functionality than design. That changed with the Galaxy S6 as Samsung chose to drop features like micro-SD compatibility and removable batteries in order to give the device a more premium feel. Many people forget, however, that the first smartphone that Samsung did this with was the Galaxy Note 4, so can we expect the company to do the same thing with this year’s Galaxy Note 5? 

In the past, the Samsung Galaxy Note series has often been referred to as the Korean giant’s “real flagship”, largely due to the fact that the Note series generally had the best specs, arguably the best aesthetics, and is one of the phones the sets the tone for what to expect from Samsung, and the competition, in the following year. The Note 4’s big contribution in pushing Samsung forward into 2015 was being the first major flagship from the company with a metal frame. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge took this concept even further, upping its game by melding glass and metal to form a design that stands out from the crowd. Of course, the departure in design hasn’t been without sacrifices, with microSD and the removable battery both getting the ax. Will Samsung make the same sacrifices and improvements with the Note 5, or will the Note series continue shaking up Samsung’s direction in late 2015 and into 2016? Obviously it is too early to know the answer to that, but let’s speculate on a few areas that Samsung could switch things up both from past Note devices and from the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.