Samsung Galaxy Note9 review: No compromises
The latest entry in Samsung's Galaxy Note series is finally here and, while it looks quite similar to last year's model, it does boast a few impressive upgrades over its predecessor.
Overview
The latest entry in Samsung's Galaxy Note series is finally here and, while it looks quite similar to last year's model, it does boast some impressive upgrades over its predecessor.
Samsung has upgraded the dual rear camera to the excellent setup from the Galaxy S9+, which includes the dual-aperture f/1.5 and f/2.4 main lens. The Note9 has also been given a boost in performance thanks to a new top-end spec that boasts 8GB RAM and a whopping 512GB internal storage, and it has a massive 4,000mAh battery, which is the biggest Samsung has ever put in a smartphone. You also get stereo speakers tuned by AKG, a new DeX desktop mode that only requires an HDMI to USB-C adaptor and best of all, a new Bluetooth Low Energy S Pen that lets you use it as a remote control. Here's a quick rundown of some of these features and what's new on the Note9 vs. the Note8:-
Like the S9+, there are now two storage variants for the Note series. The base model has 6GB RAM and 128GB storage and, we're pleased to see, hasn't increased in price from last year's S$1,398 SRP. On the other hand, the new 8GB/512GB model comes with a hefty price hike and will cost you S$1,728, a S$330 premium over the base model that makes it by far Samsung's most expensive smartphone ever.
Is that premium price tag worth it? Let's find out.
Design: Mostly refinements
The Note9 uses basically the same design Samsung has used for the past two years, with a display that curves over the sides like an infinity pool, no physical buttons on the front, and only tiny bezels at the top and bottom. And unlike almost every other phone this year, there's no notch in the display.
The Note9 is slightly bigger and thicker than its predecessor, measuring 161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8mm, and it's also a little heavier, at 201g, but comparing the two side-by-side, it's hard to tell the difference.
Compared to the S9+, the only major difference in design is that the curved edges on the side of the Note9's display are slightly steeper, which provides a larger surface area to use the S Pen.
If you look closely, there are some minor differences too. The diamond-cut chamfered bevels actually have a more polished, glossy finish than the rest of the frame, which produces an interesting but subtle two-tone effect.
The back of the device is once again glass and curved at both edges for a more comfortable grip. The camera module is now color matched to blend in with the rest of the phone instead of being black on every model, which gives the back a much cleaner look.
While the camera module has received a significant upgrade, the bump remains minimal - other than a slightly raised bezel, it's basically flush against the back of the phone.
The rectangular fingerprint scanner has thankfully been relocated to below the camera module. On the Note8, it was inexplicably right next to the camera, which meant you were just as likely to smudge your camera lens as unlock your phone.
The new position is still a little high up, and requires some stretching unless you have really long fingers, but it's definitely an improvement. The scanner has also been turned sideways to match the horizontal orientation of the camera module, however this appears to be purely for aesthetical reasons and doesn't seem to affect its unlocking speed or accuracy.
At the bottom of the phone there's a port for the S Pen, a USB-C port, a headphone jack, and a downward firing speaker. Like the S9 and S9+, the Note9 has been upgraded with stereo speakers custom tuned by AKG with the earpiece doubling up as the second speaker. Unfortunately, they are not front facing stereo speakers.
The power button can be found on the right-side, while the volume rocker is once again on the left. Below the volume rocker there's a dedicated Bixby button (Samsung's AI assistant), which unfortunately still can't be remapped (at least not without some help).
On top, you'll find the dual SIM card tray, with the second slot doubling up as a microSD card slot. The Note9 is compatible with microSD cards up to 512GB in capacity, so if you get the 8GB/512GB model, you can have up to a whopping 1TB storage! If you dread backing up your media files when you run out of space, with this phone, Samsung hopes that you don't ever need to worry about storage concerns.
Like last year's Note8, both the phone and the S Pen are IP68 rated.
The phone is available in four colors: Midnight Black, Metallic Copper, Ocean Blue, and Lavender Purple, however Lavender Purple is not currently available in Singapore. Each color comes with a color-matched S Pen, except for Ocean Blue, which has a yellow S Pen.
If you'd rather have a color-matched Ocean Blue S Pen, Samsung will actually be selling one separately. The yellow S Pen will not be sold separately, so if you like that color, the only way to get one is to buy an Ocean Blue Note9 - just make sure you don't lose it, because you won't be able to buy a replacement!
Display: Bigger and better than ever
The Note9 has a slightly larger display than the Note8, measuring 6.4-inches. That sounds huge, but in hand, it doesn't actually feel that big, and is about comparable to a 5.7-inch phone with a 16:9 aspect ratio display.
The Super AMOLED display has a 2,960 x 1,440 resolution (516ppi) and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio, and is absolutely gorgeous. This is probably the best display I've seen on a smartphone so far: it's bright, with natural but rich colors, deep contrast, and perfect blacks. Quite often I find myself having to adjust the default color balance of smartphones I'm reviewing, but the Note9 display is perfect right out of the box. And unlike some other OLED panels, there's no graininess or off-angle color shifting.
The display supports HDR10 and it's Mobile HDR Premium certified too, so it looks fantastic when you're watching HDR movies in wide-screen format. The lack of a notch also lets you enjoy a full widescreen experience without any content being cut off:
In fact, the display is so good that the gurus over at DisplayMate have given it their highest A+ rating.
As usual, the display is an always-on panel, so you'll see the time, date, battery life and any notifications when you're not using the phone. Like last year, the display has a spot of pressure sensitivity right over the virtual home button. This spot lets you push harder on this part of the screen to wake the display or return to the home screen at any point, even when you're using a full screen app that doesn't have a home button displayed.
Audio: The Note finally gets stereo speakers
The Note9 is the first Note smartphone to feature stereo speakers - a feature that's long overdue. The speaker setup is the same as the S9 and S9+, which means you get one speaker on the bottom of the phone, and the earpiece doubles up as the second speaker. The speakers are tuned by AKG and boast a surprisingly rich and full sound.
Like the S9 and S9+, the Note9's speakers also support Dolby Atmos surround sound imaging. Dolby Atmos works best when paired with a good set of headphones, but it actually also works with the onboard speakers. The experience isn't as good though, as the maximum volume is noticeably lower with Dolby Atmos turned on, and I wouldn't really describe the sound stage as '360-degree surround sound'. While there's more left-right separation, I didn't feel it was more immersive. Personally, I would recommend turning Dolby Atmos off if you're using the onboard speakers, and only switching it on when you have headphones plugged in.
Finally, if you prefer wireless audio, you'll be pleased to know that the Note9 has the same extensive support for high-quality Bluetooth audio codecs as the S9+, including SBC, AAC, aptX, LDAC, and Samsung HD.
S Pen: More useful than ever
The S Pen stylus has long been the signature feature of the Note series, and this year, it's more useful than ever. The S Pen has been completely rebuilt with a new Bluetooth Low Energy module that enables a wireless connection up to ten meters away and allows you to use it as a remote control.
By default, long pressing the S Pen's button launches the camera app (although you can change this to any app you like). Once you've opened the camera, click once to take a picture, or click twice to switch between the front and rear camera. It's really convenient and a great way to take selfies without having to awkwardly reach for the volume button or on-screen shutter. Using a remote shutter also helps keep the phone stable, resulting in sharper photos.
The remote control feature works in other apps too. In YouTube, Spotify, and Samsung Music you can click once to pause/unpause, or click twice to advance to the next video/track. In Microsoft Office Powerpoint, you can click once to go forward one slide, or twice to go back a slide. In Chrome, click once to go back a page, and twice to go forward.
In total, there are 11 apps that currently work with the S Pen Remote. If an app is compatible, a little badge will pop up to alert you - hovering over the badge will tell you what actions are available. Samsung has also made the S Pen Remote SDK available to app developers, so expect more compatibility to be added soon.
The S Pen's remote control feature requires power to work, but fortunately, the S Pen charges really fast thanks to its super capacitor battery. In fact, it takes just 40 seconds inside the phone to reach full charge, which will give you 30 minutes of standby time or about 200 clicks.
In case you're wondering, turning Bluetooth off on your phone won't disable the S Pen's Remote feature, however turning Airplane mode on will.
Of course, the S Pen is also still really useful for taking notes and sketching on the go. The stylus has the same 0.7mm tip and 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity as its predecessor, and drawing with it on the Note 9's display feels fluid and responsive, and very close to writing with an actual pen.
All of the useful Screen Off Memo and Air Command features are all still there, with one interesting new quirk being that Screen Off memos are now written in the same color as your stylus - yellow for the Ocean Blue's yellow S Pen, white for the Midnight Black model, purple for the Lavender Purple model and copper for the Metallic Copper model.
Of course, Samsung has also added some new productivity features for the S Pen, my favorite being a new trace option that lets you overlay any picture and trace on it to create a drawing - perfect for people like me with no artistic talent.
By the way, although the S Pen's remote control feature requires power to work, drawing and writing with it, or using Air Command don't, so even if you see the low battery warning, don't feel like you need to stop what you're doing.
DeX: No dock required
Desktop mode via a DeX dock was a nice feature introduced in the Note8, and it's now even easier to use on the Note9. You no longer need a dedicated dock to access Desktop mode, all you need is a USB-C to HDMI adaptor (any generic one will do). Connect the phone to any monitor or TV and you'll be able to use the phone's display as a trackpad, or you can wirelessly connect a mouse and keyboard.
There are still a few benefits to using a DeX dock though. If you want to display a resolution higher than Full HD, you'll need a DeX dock, which can output up to 4K resolutions. Additionally, the DeX dock will charge the Note9 while in use, whereas a USB-C to HDMI adaptor will not. Lastly, the DeX dock also comes with additional ports to plug in peripherals for longer desktop usage needs, which you forego when using the USB-C to HDMI adaptor.
Security: Multiple forms of biometric authentication
The Note9 features three forms of biometric authentication you can use to unlock it: fingerprint, Face Unlock, and Iris Scan. You can also opt for Intelligent Scan, a combination solution we first saw on the S9 and S9+ that uses both Face Unlock and Iris Scan.
Intelligent Scan works by first using the front-facing camera to scan your face. If your phone fails to unlock (which might happen if there's insufficient light), the device will then check your irises. If both fail, Intelligent Scan will try to authenticate your identity using a combination of the two. This all happens almost instantaneously. At each step, Intelligent Scan also checks for spoofing, for example, if someone is trying to fool the phone with a picture of you.
It's worth noting though that Samsung still warns that the most secure biometric authentication on the Note9 isn't Intelligent Scan, but Iris Scan. Intelligent Scan is more of a compromise between the more secure, but slower Iris Scan, and the less secure, but more convenient Face Unlock. By combining the two, it ensures that no matter what conditions you're in, some form of biometric security should unlock your phone. It's also worth noting that there's still no way to use Intelligent Scan for Samsung Pay - you'll need to use Iris Scan or Fingerprint unlock for that.
UI: Waiting for Pie
The Note9 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo, which makes it almost identical to the S9 and S9+'s UI. That's not a bad thing, but considering Google just launched Android 9.0 Pie two weeks ago, Oreo is now old news. For now there's no update from Samsung on when Pie will be available for the Note9, but hopefully it doesn't take too long.
Compared to last year's Note8, there are a couple of notable differences with the Note9's UI. For starters, there's now a landscape mode that automatically rotates the home screen when you're holding the phone sideways. However, for some reason, the display is locked into Portrait mode by default, and you have to go into Display -> Home Screen menu to turn off Portrait Lock first.
Folders on your home screen can now be customized with a variety of color options. This option can be accessed through an icon on the top-right once a folder is expanded. You can even change the opacity of the color, view a history of your selections, and see a list of recommended colors for your theme.
You can now also customize apps on your home screen with App Shortcuts, which is quite similar to how 3D Touch works on the iPhone. Each app is allowed up to five shortcuts, accessible by long-pressing on the icon. So for example, if you want your camera app to load straight into Selfie mode, you can long tap it, then select Selfie, or you can setup Twitter to launch directly into composing a new tweet, direct message, or search.
Bixby, Samsung's virtual assistant, is also smarter now. Bixby Vision can translate signs and other text in real time, similar to the Google Translate app, however one big difference is that Bixby requires an internet connection to work, whereas the Google Translate app works offline.
Bixby Vision is also smarter at recognizing objects, and now gives more information based on what you're looking at. For example, show it some food and it can tell you how many calories you're about to consume. Point it at the sky and it gives you the current temperature and weather report. Again though, you'll need an internet connection for any of this to work.
Bixby is also supposed to be better at understanding natural speech and commands, however I had varying levels of success with this.
Benchmark Performance
As usual, there are two variants of the Note9, each using different processors. The US and China get Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor, while everyone else gets Samsung's own Exynos 9810.
Like the 845, the Exynos 9810 is a 10nm 64-bit octa-core processor running on a 4x4 big.LITTLE configuration. It uses four high-power Mongoose M3 cores clocked at 2.7GHz, and four high-efficieny Cortex-A55One cores, clocked at 1.8GHz. The 9810 uses a Mali-G72 MP18 GPU.
N.B. As previously mentioned, the Note9 is available with both 6GB/128GB internal storage, and 8GB/512GB internal storage. Our review unit is the 8GB version.
SunSpider Javascript
SunSpider JavaScript measures the browsing performance of a device when processing JavaScript. It not only takes into consideration the underlying hardware performance, but also assesses how optimized a particular platform is in delivering a high-speed web browsing experience.
Samsung phones always perform well on this benchmark and the Note9 is no different, losing only to Apple's iPhone X. However, in actual browsing performance, the Note9 feels just as fast and responsive as the X.
Basemark OS II
Basemark OS II is an all-in-one benchmarking tool that measures overall performance through a comprehensive suite of tests including system, internal and external memory, graphics, web browsing, and CPU consumption.
Unfortunately, even with the extra RAM Samsung's Exynos processor still trails behind both Qualcomm and Apple on this benchmark.
3DMark Sling Shot
3DMark Sling Shot is an advanced 3D graphics benchmark that tests the full range of OpenGL ES 3.1 and ES 3.0 API features including multiple render targets, instanced rendering, uniform buffers and transform feedback. The test also includes impressive volumetric lighting and post-processing effects. We're running this benchmark in Unlimited mode, which ignores screen resolutions.
Like Basemark, the Exynos 9810 can't keep up with either the iPhone X or 845-powered OnePlus 6. This is a little disappointing considering how much effort Samsung has put into optimizing the gaming experience on the Note9.
It's worth noting that benchmark performance doesn't always reflect real world experience. I tried out a few games of Injustice 2 and Need for Speed: No Limits no the Note9 and both ran perfectly.
Imaging: Still one of the best dual rear camera setups out there
The Note9 uses exactly the same front and rear camera setup as the Galaxy S9+. That means on the back you get a 12-megapixel wide-angle main camera with a dual aperture f/2.4 and f/1.5 lens, paired with a 12-megapixel, f/2.4 telephoto camera, both of which have OIS. On the front, you get a single 8-megapixel, f/1.7 selfie camera.
The camera has received a few software improvements, which includes wider HDR range, better background blurring in Portrait mode, and improved AI-powered scene recognition software - it can now detect up to 20 different scenes and optimize the snap you intend to take.
Flaw detection has also been improved, and can now recognize four problems: eye blink, image blur, lens smudge, and too much backlight. If your photo has one of these problems, a pop-up will warn you to retake the shot. Check out the first video embedded in this review to see it in action. All of these software improvements should also be rolled out to the S9+ at some point, however Samsung hasn't been able to confirm when that will happen yet.
Image quality on the Note9's rear camera is excellent with great detail retention, sharp focus, natural colors, and no noticeable artifacts or graininess. Even at 100% crop, details remain fairly sharp and there's no over aggressive processing or smoothing typical of most smartphone cameras.
For an in-depth look at what this camera is capable of, check out our review of the S9+'s camera.
Click for full-size image.
The telephoto lens isn't quite as good as the main wide-angle, but is still very good. In fact, I would say it's better than a lot of smartphone main cameras.
Click for full-size image.
Battery Life
Our standard battery test for mobile phones has the following parameters:
- Looping a 720p video with screen brightness and volume at 100%
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity turned on
- Constant data streaming through email and Twitter
The Note9 has a 4,000mAh battery, the largest Samsung has ever put in a smartphone. Despite this, while battery life was good, I expected it to be better. The Note9 lasted nearly 13 and a half hours on our video looping benchmark, meaning it was only slightly better than the S9+, which has a 3,500mAh battery.
The Note9 is compatible with Samsung's Fast Adaptive Charging, which will charge the phone to about 50 percent in around 30 to 40 minutes. The Note9 is also compatible with Qualcomm QuickCharge 2 chargers.
It's worth noting that Samsung hasn't made any changes to its Fast Adaptive Charging in a number of years now, while other fast charging standards have continued to evolve. For example, Huawei's Super Charge will get the P20 to around 65 percent charge in just 30 minutes, and Oppo's new Super VOOC standard claims to be able to fully charge a phone from 0 to 100 in just 15 minutes. While Fast Adaptive Charging does provide faster charge times, it's probably about time Samsung made some improvements here.
The Note9 is also compatible with wireless fast charging through the Qi v1.2 standard. This is the most widespread wireless charging standard available, so there are plenty of wireless charging pads out there that should work, just make sure they deliver at least 7.5W (if not more) power.
Conclusion
No phone has a more complete feature set than the Note9.
Yes, it's very expensive, but for that price, you get the best display on a smartphone, arguably the best dual camera setup out there, a gorgeous and unique curved display design, an IP68 build, stereo speakers, fantastic battery life, and the unique feature set that comes with the S Pen. If you opt for the 512GB version, you also get the most internal storage available on any smartphone. Is it worth the extra S$330 to get that? That depends on if you need it, but it's worth remembering that internal storage is always going to be faster than a microSD card.
The only real argument I can make against the Note9 is that it's not a game-changer. It doesn't really move the needle in any way, and there's a sense of déjà vu that comes from using it if you're already familiar with the Note8 or S9+. It looks just like the Note8, and its cameras and UI are basically identical to the S9+.
If you're looking for the next big thing, the Note9 isn't it (for that you'll have to wait for the rumored Galaxy X smartphone, which should be unveiled sometime next year). What the Note9 is though is the ultimate refinement of a design Samsung has been perfecting since the S8: a big, beautiful, no compromise device that is without a doubt the best smartphone of 2018 so far.