Device Advice – Samsung Galaxy Note 9
Welcome to the latest edition of our ‘Device Advice’ blog series, sharing our thoughts and insights into the most recent device releases from the world of mobile, tablets and beyond.
Announced at its Unpacked event in Brooklyn New York, Samsung had a point to prove to the market. The Galaxy Note 9 was introduced to the world as the “most powerful mobile device… a device designed to break through barriers”, according to DJ Koh, president of Samsung’s mobile communications business. Koh has a point, but the barriers may just be their own.
The Note series was originally an experiment by Samsung, produced well ahead of today’s landscape of larger screen phones. Sales were strong, but with 2016’s “battery gate” disaster (4.3 million Galaxy Note 7 devices had to be recalled following exploding or overheating handsets) partnered with the increase of larger ‘plus’ size devices from competitors, sales for Samsung devices such as these have fallen by the wayside.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has to make a hit, but is this device release more of an evolution over a revolution?
Poised as a business productivity powerhouse and running on Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 offers more functionality than its predecessor, the Note 8, from a longer lasting device through to remote access capabilities. The battery, at 4,000mAh, is Samsung’s largest to date (the Note 8 had a 3,300mAh), designed to last a full day easily. The storage capabilities have doubled, with 128GB and 512GB options available. For those looking for more, the Samsung Note 9 can even allow for a whopping 1TB of storage (via a microSD card slot), which allows the device to easily open up complex image-based files or act as a portable hard drive.
At 162mm x 76.4mm x 9mm the Note 9 it is practically the same size and weight as the older model and as seen with the Note 8, the Note 9 can run on a computer monitor (but without additional accessories). When plugged into a dock, the Note 9’s 8GB of RAM (and the 1TB of storage capabilities) can make for quite an attractive offering for those more comfortable on a PC, whilst also allowing for a smoother experience with reduced lag.
As a key feature to the Note 8, the latest Note 9 also offers the S Pen stylus, though arguably it has become a more integrated part of the device. In addition to navigating around the phone and note taking, the Note 9 stylus uses Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) technology so users can access the camera, skip presentation slides and unlock the phone remotely, using the stylus, with further development in the pipeline. A software developer kit for the S Pen will enable developers and organisations to customise the stylus for other applications too, suggesting the stylus is here to stay for a while yet.
The Note 9 has the largest edge-to-edge screen of a Note model to date, with a 6.4-inch super AMOLED infinity display. Samsung claims it has 21 per cent more capacity than the Note 8 which is sure to please media lovers, keen to view their photos and videos in style.
It’s not just the screen that will entice photography fans, but also the camera. The Note 9 has a dual camera system, carrying the ‘intelligent camera’ capabilities that are quickly becoming synonymous with Samsung’s latest devices – adjusting to whichever image the camera is requested to take. With a 12-megapixel dual lens, optical zooming and competitive aperture capabilities, the Note 9 has a very similar camera offering to that on the Samsung S9.
Price wise, the Note 9 solidifies itself in the premium price range. The 512GB device will retail at £915.83 (ex VAT) whilst the 128GB version will be priced at £749.17 (ex VAT). The Note 9 will be available in the UK from 24th August.
Stay tuned to the Adam Phones blog for more reviews of the latest devices, and make sure to keep in touch with us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.
