Samsung may not be killing off the Galaxy Note after all

By Rahul Srinivas December 10, 2021

When Samsung skipped launching a 2021 Galaxy Note smartphone earlier this year, most of us thought it was the end of the road for the company’s popular stylus-toting phablet. New reports, however, indicate that Samsung could do a complete about-face and revive the Galaxy Note lineup as soon as February 2021.

If we are to believe South Korean tipster Tron, Samsung could launch a Galaxy Note 22 alongside the Galaxy S22 series in the first quarter of 2022. What’s more interesting is that the device Samsung intends to brand as the Galaxy Note 22 will replace the top-end Galaxy S 22Ultra.

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S22 ULTRA IS DEAD

Next is the S22 Note 😉

— Tron ❂ (@FrontTron) December 10, 2021

This is not the first time we have heard about Samsung’s plans to rebrand the Galaxy S22 as the Note 22. In September, when the first supposed Galaxy S22 Ultra renders appeared, there were reports about that phone being christened the Samsung Galaxy Note 22 Ultra. However, following tipster Ice Universe’s tweet quashing any such possibilities, these rumors died a swift death. Two months on, it looks like the same rumors have made a comeback with a vengeance.

Galaxy S22 Ultra name is comfirmed 100%
Not Note22 Ultra

— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) September 30, 2021

While Samsung had a seemingly rational explanation for canceling the Note series, even they agreed that the Galaxy Note had its set of fans. Samsung did try to win some of those fans back by offering S Pen support on the top-end Galaxy S22 Ultra. But Samsung’s S Pen strategy for the Galaxy S22 Ultra was a complete mess.

Samsung wanted users to pay extra for the S Pen Pro to “unlock” all its features because the standard S Pen did not offer support for cooler stuff like air commands and Bluetooth features. Worse, the S21 Ultra did not have a slot for the S Pen — a feature that has remained consistent with all Galaxy Note handsets since their inception. Needless to say, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra — while a great phone — was not really an ideal Galaxy Note replacement.

With initial Galaxy S22 Ultra leaks indicating that it will get an S Pen slot, it makes sense for Samsung to just call it the Galaxy Note 22 instead, and try winning back all those disgruntled Galaxy Note lovers.

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Rahul is a smartphone buff turned tech journalist who has been tinkering with all things mobile since the early 2000s. He has…

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