Big-screen:Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Review

October 1, 2018, 3:47 pm
Big-screen:Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Review
Thats not a strike against it, by the way.The Note 8 was a fantastic big-screen smartphone, and the 9 follows in that same tradition.Throw in a nifty new AI-powered camera
featureSpecial attraction
that automatically tunes the shooter to capture the most vibrant image, and a larger battery, and youve got one heck of a handset.
Samsungs
Galaxy Notecellular phone made by Samsung
9 is here, and its exactly what youd expect.Its big, bold and exemplifies everything that makes the tech giants smart-phones some of the best on the market.Its also, like the companys recent handsets, not much of a departure from its predecessor.
Of course, thats if you have the $1,000 to cover the cost of the Note.
The more things change
The Android-powered Note 9 looks almost exactly like the Note 8, which costs $749 unlocked.So if you were hoping for a radical redesign, youre out of luck.The 9 looks like a carbon copy of the 8.There are some subtle differences the Note 9 is a hair larger, though youd need a magnifying glass to notice.Samsung(samsung.com) used that extra real estate to increase the size of the Notes display from 6.3 inches to 6.4.The change is likely a way for
SamsungTechnology company
to improved differentiate the Note from its Galaxy S Plus handsets.
Last year, the S9 Plus, $839 unlocked, offered a 6.2-inch display.Meanwhile, the Note 8, which is supposed to be the companys big-screen beast, had a 6.3-inch panel making it silly to opt for the pricier Note 8 since its not much bigger.Unless youre a huge fan of the Notes stylus.
View photosSamsungs Galaxy Note 9 is virtually identical to the Note 8.MoreAround back, the Note 9 has a dual-lens camera and and a fingerprint reader thats below the camera rather than next to it like on the Note 8.That should create it easier to locate the reader and keep you from getting your greasy paws all over the camera.
The one appreciable difference between the Note 9 and older Note 8 is that the 9 now comes in two vibrant colors, a deep blue and purple lavender.Whats more, the Blue Note 9
featuresSpecial attraction
a flashy yellow S Pen stylus that adds a bit more character to the phone.
Display and S Pen
Samsungs Super
ppiActive Matrix OLED- is a screen technology
displays are always among the best on the market, and thats not different with the Note 9s.This 6.4-inch colossus seriously, how much bigger will these things get? makes everything you see on it look downright gorgeous.Its saying something when, at this point in the game, theres little else
SamsungTechnology company
may do to improve on its displays.
Compared to Apples (AAPL)
iPhonecellular phone made by Apple
X, the other big-name $1,000 handset out there, the Note 9 offers fuller, more vibrant colors.I used the trailer for Thor: Ragnarok to test the phones screens head-to-head and while the iPhone Xs looked crisp and beautiful, the Note 9s tendency to exaggerate colors made the handsets display appealing.
View photosThe Note 9s new S Pen stylus lets you remotely control applications like the camera and YouTube.MoreOutside of its monolithic screen, the Note 9s second major selling point is Samsungs S Pen stylus.Samsungs been offering the S Pen since the Note line first debuted in 2011.And despite using every single iteration of the handset, Ive never seen the point of using one with a smartphone.
Story Continues
But there are plenty of Samsung consumers who love very much the stylus.And for the Note 9 theyre getting some extra functionality out of the tiny gadget.The new S Pen Remote feature will let you launch and control certain apps without having to touch your phone.
The best use case Samsung showed was being able to get into group photos easily without having to race against the timer.So far, you can only control a select number of apps such as the music player, camera, YouTube, Chrome browser and Hancom Office Editor.Be that as it may, that could change as the Note gets in the hands of more developers in the future.
Im not entirely sold on the concept, though.Im a fan of being able to launch and control the Camera app with the S Pen, but outside of that I dont truly see a purpose to the feature outside of serving as a gimmick for the Note.
Cameras
The Note 9s dual-lens rear camera isnt very different from the Galaxy S9 Pluss.Dont take that as a negative, though, as that phone had a truly impressive shooter.It does, be that as it may, feel like more proof that weve reached a kind of limit as to how much more smartphones can improve.Photos taken with the Note 9 are crisp and colorful, on par with what youd get from the iPhone X.
View photosThe Note 9s camera uses AI to adjust the brightness and contrast to help you capture the perfect shot.MoreSamsungs big addition to the Notes camera is its new AI feature called Scene Optimization, which uses artificial intelligence to automatically adjust the brightness, saturation, white balance and contrast to help you capture just the right shot.Samsung has preprogrammed the feature to recognize 20 scenes including pets, food, landscapes, flowers, buildings and more.
View photosIn this example, the iPhone Xs camera blows out the white rose.MoreI used the setting to take a photo of a bouquet of roses, and it worked as advertised enhancing the color of the petals and sharpening details.In a comparison shot taken with the iPhone X, one white rose looked too blown-out, making it more difficult to see.The Note 9, be that as it may, produced a clearer image overall.
That said, the Note 9s shot was also darker, which seems to be the case once using Scene Optimization.I noticed a similar effect when taking a shot of a portfolio of plants.Without Scene Optimization on, images looked far more natural.
Its worth noting that Scene Optimization takes a second to truly kick in, so its not going to be too useful when taking photos of quick-hit moments.Its more for staged photos, like when you feel the overwhelming need to take a photo of your dinner.There were a few times when I would test to take a photo using Scene Optimization, but it simply wouldnt kick in.Be that as it may, such issues were few and far between.
Power and performance
Theres plenty of horsepower packed into the Note 9, which should come as no surprise to anyone whos used a Note in the past.Samsung always makes its Notes the most powerful devices in its stable.The Note 9 follows that tradition using Qualcomms 845 8-core processor, 6GB of
RAMRandom access memory
and a whopping
128GB 128 GigaByte
of storage.
Want to crank your Note 9 up to 11? Then you can opt for a version with a ridiculous
8GB 8 GigaByte
of RAM and
512GB 256 GigaByte
of storage.Thats may be pushing the boundaries of whats necessary for a smartphone, but its still fun to have that kind of power available.
View photosThe Note 9 still has a headphone jack, unlike Apples iPhone X.MoreNeedless to say, the Note 9 doesnt suffer from any slowdown.I played games including Pokemon Quest and the Note kept powering along without a hiccup.To help manage the handsets power, Samsung says it increased the size of the heat dissipator in the handset, which should keep performance stable for longer periods of time.
The Note 9 also packs a larger battery power this time about.The 4,000 mAh unit gave me all-day performance and then some in my anecdotal testing.And while Samsungs Note line has had issues with batteries power in the past (hello, Note 7 fires), the company says this time around it is performing internal tests.Its also letting the Underwriters Laboratory test them to ensure their safety.
Should you get it?
The Note 9, like the Note 8, is a fantastic big-screen smartphone that will please any Android fan.But its similarities to the Note 8 mean that if you already have last years handset, theres no reason to upgrade.In fact, youre likely better off waiting until Samsung debuts the S10 or Googles next Pixel phones roll out later this year.
For anybody else, the Note 9 is as powerful, bold and impressive as ever, as long as you can get past that $1,000 price tag.
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