Should you upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy Note9?

From S5, Note 4, Note Edge or older to Note9

From S5, Note 4, Note Edge or older to Note9

This one is a no brainer. If you're still using an S5, Note 4, Note Edge or anything older, it's really time to upgrade. The S5, Note 4, and Note Edge were the last of Samsung's old plastic smartphones, and the Note9 bears almost no resemblance to them. Upgrading will get you a more premium metal and glass build, a much bigger, higher resolution bezel-less always-on display, a much faster processor, wireless charging, much better cameras, a much better S Pen, and much better biometric security features.

What stays the same

• Super AMOLED display
• Fast charging
• 3.5mm headphone port
• Slightly worse IP67 dust and water resistance

What you get for upgrading

• Completely different design with 18.5:9 aspect ratio bezel-less dual-curved Infinity display
• Larger display: 6.4-inches
• Always-on display
• QHD+ resolution (2,960 x 1,440)
• Much faster Samsung Exynos 9810 processor
• More RAM: 6 or 8GB
• More storage: 128GB or 512GB
• MicroSD card compatible up to 512GB
• Larger battery: 4,000mAh
• Bluetooth Low Energy S Pen with remote control feature
• Improved S Pen with 0.7mm tip and 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity
• Android 8.1 Oreo OS
• Desktop mode without DeX dock
• 12-megapixel main camera with dual aperture f/2.4 and f/1.5 lens and "Super Speed" Dual Pixel sensor
• Secondary 12-megapixel, f/2.4 rear camera
• Portrait Mode
• Super slow motion recording at 960fps
• Front-facing 8-megapixel f/1.7 selfie camera
• Bixby
• AR Emoji
• Intelligent Scan biometric security that combines Iris and Face scanning
• Rear fingerprint scanner
• Stereo speakers
• Reversible USB Type-C port
• Wireless charging

What you lose for upgrading

• Removable battery

	Samsung Galaxy S5	Samsung Galaxy Note 4 4G+	Samsung Galaxy Note Edge 4G+	Samsung Galaxy Note9 (512GB)
Launch SRP	From S$1068	From S$1088	From S$1248	From S$1728
Operating system	Android 4.4 KitKat	Android 4.4.4 KitKat	Android 4.4.4 KitKat	Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung Experience
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core 2.5GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core 2.7GHz	Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core 2.7GHz	Samsung Exynos 9810 octa-core (4x2.8 GHz Mongoose M3 & 4x1.7 GHz Cortex-A55)
Built-in Memory	2GB RAM	3GB RAM	3GB RAM	8GB RAM
Display	5.1-inch / 1,920 x 1,080 pixels / Super AMOLED	5.7-inch / 2,560 x 1,440 pixels (518 ppi) / Super AMOLED	5.6-inch / curved screen / 2,560 x 1,600 pixels (540 ppi) / Super AMOLED	6.4-inch / 2,960 x 1,440 pixels (516 ppi) / 18.5:9 ratio / Super AMOLED Infinity Display Always-On Display
Camera	Rear: 16MP f/2.2, 0.3 second autofocus, LED flash Front: 2.0MP	Rear: 16-megapixel with Smart OIS and LED flash Front: 3.7-megapixel with f/1.9	Rear: 16-megapixel with Smart OIS and LED flash Front: 3.7-megapixel with f/1.9	Rear: Dual 12-megapixel, dual f/1.5 and 2.4, 26mm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS, LED flash and 12-megapixel f/2.4, 52mm telephoto, 2x optical zoom Front: 8-megapixel, f/1.7
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, MIMO, GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, NFC, IR LED, micro-USB 2.0 (MHL 2.0), 3.5mm headphone jack	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 + 5GHz), 4G+ LTE, Bluetooth 4.1, VHT80, MIMO (2x2), GPS, GLONASS, NFC, Screen Mirroring	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 + 5GHz), 4G+ LTE, Bluetooth 4.1, VHT80, MIMO (2x2), GPS, GLONASS, NFC, Screen Mirroring	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 + 5GHz), 4G+ LTE Cat 18 (up to 1200Mbps), Bluetooth 5.0, VHT80, MIMO (2x2), GPS, GLONASS, NFC, Screen Mirroring
Storage Type	16GB/32GB internal storage microSD support up to 128GB	32GB internal storage microSD support up to 128GB	32GB internal storage microSD support up to 128GB	512GB internal storage microSD expansion (up to 512GB)
Battery	2,800mAh	3,220mAh	3,000mAh	4,000mAh Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging Wireless charging
Dimensions	142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm	153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5mm	151.3 x 82.4 x 8.3mm	161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8 mm
Weight	145g	176g	174g	201g