Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Hands On
Samsung announced the Note 8 in Singapore yesterday - the 64GB variant that will costs you a whopping S$1398. Does it deserve such a price tag? I played with one at the Westgate store and here are my quick impressions of Samsung’s latest flagship. The device will only reach stores on 15th September but those who preorder it can collect it on 9th September.
When I first saw the Note 8, I was like "Wow, this display is beautiful!" and I am sure you will too. Like the S8 and S8 Plus, the Note 8 comes with what Samsung calls "infinity display", a combination of Samsung's edge display with really thin bezels all around. The display is a 6.3" QHD+ SAMOLED panel, up from the 6.2" found on the Galaxy S8 Plus.
Holding the device in my hand, it wasn't as unwieldy as I had thought it to be, but it is still not a one-handed device. Do not get fooled by the screen size. Due to the 18.5:9 aspect ratio, the Note 8’s display is basically an elongated 5.5-5.6” 16:9 display so if you are accustomed to using 5.5" or larger device, you will have no difficulty with managing the Note 8's size. The curved edges on the front and rear, as well as the device's relative lightness, results in a Note 8 that is really comfortable to hold.
Flipping the phone to the back, this is where the Note 8 gets a little disappointing. The black rectangle surrounding the rear cameras and fingerprint scanner is seriously ugly. Making things worse is the overall squareness of the device, which doesn't feel very Samsung to me. I wish Samsung had stuck closer to the S8 and S8 Plus's design.
One of the big leap from previous Samsung devices would be the dual rear camera. The Note 8 is the first Samsung device to feature dual 12MP cameras on the back. Like Huawei and Apple's implementation, a secondary telephoto camera is used to provide optical zoom, up to 2x. Unlike what we have seen so far, both rear cameras of the Note 8 are equipped with OIS, which means photos will still turn out clear when you use optical zoom.
What is a Samsung Galaxy Note device without an S-Pen? We see small improvements to the S-Pen on every iteration of Samsung's Note series and the Note 8 is no exception. Most of the new features are software features but one really cool physical change is that it is rated IP68 water and dust resistant, same as the Note 8. The new S-Pen's material allow it to be light and grippy, but doesn't quite match the spectacular feel of the Note 8.
Should you get the Samsung Galaxy Note 8? It depends. Without testing, it is not possible to tell how long the small 3300mAh battery will last, especially with the QHD+ display and flagship grade processor. However, the thing that is really holding me back from recommending the Note 8 would be the price. S$1398 is honestly too high in my opinion.
I only recommend flagship phones only under two conditions: Either the user requires the best camera available or he/she plays a lot of smartphone games. For an excellent pair of rear cameras, I recommend the Mate 9/P10 Plus from Huawei, which would save you a few hundred bucks. But if you have the cash to spare or if you absolutely need top notch gaming performance, go ahead and get the Note 8; Regardless of the price, there is no denying that the Note 8 will be one of the best devices of 2017, and the best that Samsung has to offer.
