It is customary for Samsung to launch its Note flagships each year during IFA in Berlin, sometime around the beginning of September. This year though might be different, as rumors are starting to circulate that the Note 5 could launch a little earlier than that — toward mid-August.

According to our good friend, "a person familiar with the matter," who has spoken to both Reuters and The Wall Street Journal, Samsung is planning on changing its strategy to short-circuit Apple's yearly iPhone launch. It seems that the company wants to grab as big of a piece of the pie as it can before the others even arrive to the party. Samsung's 2014 profits hit a three-year low, and although it seems to be back on the right foot in 2015, its performance in the second quarter was below market expectations. An earlier Note 5 launch may give it enough leeway to improve its numbers in the third quarter.

This being a rumor (albeit from reliable sources), we can't know for sure how Samsung plans to unveil the Note 5. And the question still remains whether the device will be accompanied by the rumored Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, or if the latter will be left for IFA. Not much is known for sure about both devices, but SamMobile seems confident they'll carry a 5.7" 2K Super AMOLED display, with an Exynos 7422 for the Note 5 and a Snapdragon 808 for the S6 Edge Plus. It's also a good bet to say they'll have the distinctive design and finish of this year's Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

Source: Reuters, The Wall Street Journal