Our first look at the phones that will fill the Galaxy Note 7 hole

When a phone as significant as the Galaxy Note 7 suddenly goes missing from carriers’ and retailers’ shelves, something has to fill that vacuum. We already know that Samsung is ramping up Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge production in the hopes that brand loyalty will be strong enough to keep unlucky Note 7 owners in the Samsung fray. We also know that Google is set to benefit with the Pixel phones, as will Apple with the iPhone 7. But what about other Android options?

In the case of Rogers in Canada, one of the devices trying to fill the Note 7’s shoes looks to be the HUAWEI Nova Plus. While the Nova Plus is in an altogether different league than the Note 7, demonstration models have started appearing at Rogers’ authorized dealers, despite not being mentioned previously as a device the carrier was planning to stock.

Prime Communications, an authorized Rogers dealer, just received the Nova Plus you can see below to put on display. Our source claims there is no pricing information, no orders and no other information to go along with the Nova Plus. A “live demo unit” simply showed up, unannounced by the carrier.

We’ve already heard that HUAWEI is planning to take advantage of Samsung’s bad luck to stake a claim on a bit of Samsung’s turf, and we know there has been significant carrier interest in the Mate 9. That said, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the HUAWEI Mate 9 take a very aggressive position as a “Note 7 alternative” when it arrives next month.

If you’ve seen those renders of the curved-screen variant of the Mate 9 you’ll know it’s going to be a much easier substitute than it otherwise might be. We’ll have to wait until November 3 to find out if those renders are indicative of the final look of the Mate 9, but the overt similarities to the Note 7 are unmistakable.

Whether looking like “the phone that blows up” is a good or bad thing we’ll just have to see. But getting more HUAWEI phones into stores that would otherwise have been dominated by the Galaxy Note 7 can only be a good move, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see more manufacturers doing similar things in the lead up to the holiday season.

What phone do you think will “replace” the Note 7?

Thanks to Locoguy87 for the tip!