What did Samsung basically have left to reveal with the Note 9. The Note 9 was so extensively leaked that the Unpacked event held in New York was just a formality for many enthusiasts. Now that the Note 9 official, let’s report on that, shall we?
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is yet another lean refinement over its predecessor, the Note 8. With this year’s Note 9, everything we suspected and leaked was present in the phone.
The Galaxy Note 9’s Physical Changes – Larger Battery, Display & Specs
With this year’s Note 9, there isn’t much of an upgrade on the outside. However, with the Note 9, on the inside, we’re looking at a 4000mAh battery. This is the largest battery Samsung has ever equipped their flagship with. Given how bad this went with the Note 7, I”ll be stoked to see the same happen with this year’s model. But I wouldn’t bet on it, Samsung has certainly learnt their lesson. So yeah, relax, your Note 9 is about to last a whole lot longer.
Regarding overall build of the phone, in typical Samsung fashion, we’re looking at a glass sandwich cushioning the larger 6.4-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display. What’s interesting with this year’s model is that the Note 9 actually features a larger display with smaller dimensions overall compared to the Note 8. Despite the larger battery and the larger display, this year’s Note 9 is actually smaller in height and width compared to the Note 8.
The dimensions of the Note 9 are 161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8mm. In contrast, last year’s Note 8 dimensions came to 162.5 x 74.8 x 8.6mm. This means that we’re looking at a slightly thicker body at the cost of adding a 21% larger battery and an extra 6g of weight.
Coming back to the overall design of the device, we’re looking at a re-positioned fingerprint scanner at its rear, along with two optically stabilized camera sensors.
Regarding specs, there’s a lot to commend Samsung for, seriously. Regarding of re-using the Snapdragon 845, Samsung has officially bumped up the storage on their phones. For those who really want that beef, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 comes in two variants, a 6GB/128GB variant and a 8GB/512GB variant. This could be expanded even further upto 1TB with the help of a 512GB MicroSD card. Impressive indeed.
Regarding the SoC side of things, we’re still looking at a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, up to 8GB RAM paired with up to 512GB of internal storage.
The S-Pen & DeX
Coming over to the S-Pen on the Note 9, leaks and rumors had been teasing that the Note 9 would come with some credible upgrades. With this year’s Note 9, Samsung has officially given the S-Pen some credible improvements. It still features a single button. However, this year’s S-Pen allows you to do a bunch of tasks. From taking pictures to playing with the alarm on your phone, it’s here.
This year’s S-Pen also features Bluetooth. Since previous Notes never packed S-Pens that required power, this year’s S-Pens would inductively charge within the Note 9’s body. Since it features quite a small battery in its thin shell, you’ll forget that the S-Pen ever needs to be charged again.
Similar to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4, it seems like Samsung is really pushing to entice users into actually using their DeX technology. Not only does it allow you extend your display, but also aims to give you a desktop-like productive environment so you could get the most out of your Note 9.
Samsung integrates AI into their camera experience
Regarding the whole camera hype that we had going, the Note 9 certainly doesn’t come with anything ground-breaking. However, most of the improvements made to the Note 9 are on the inside. A few algorithm changes here and a few there.
With the Note 9, we’re looking at a 12MP f/1.5 / f/2.4 + 12MP f/2.4 setup at its rear, both optically stabilized. One camera acts as your usual shooter featuring the dual-aperture technology from the S9 and S9 Plus. While the second camera on the back on the Note 9 is actually a telephoto camera that aims to zoom into your subject for a worthwhile shot.
Similar to how well its Chinese rivals are implementing AI into their photography experience, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 features AI capabilites that would allow it to understand and recognize the subject, resulting in tweaked images that look appealing to everyone.
However, that isn’t where the AI capabilities stop. In fact, when taking a picture with the Note 9, the Note 9 could detect if someone blinked while taking a shot or if someone appeared in your background while taking the shot. This is a part of Samsung’s new “flaw detection” technology.
Similar AI capabilities could be triggered when you intend to record super slo-mo videos. With the Note 9, it would automatically trigger the video recording once it detects some form of movement to avoid and delays adding themselves to that epic moment.
Availability
Regarding availability, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 would go into full swing online and in your local retail stores by August the 24th. This means that yo’re going to have to wait for a week or two to finally get your hands on the device. Pre-orders are open in selected countries,
