To be honest, Samsung's Note series didn't face any competition in the smartphone market in the past mostly because of an indispensable stylus, now called S-pen, which has been its highlight since inception and its sporty look. However, with an ever-increasing 'war' to win the flagship battle becoming more genuine these days, Samsung is vying to retain its place in the hearts and minds of those who are willing to spend a few extra bucks to seek the best deal available.
After the Note 7 fiasco dented the South Korean smartphone maker of its reputation, Samsung was actually on to something and returned to the Note series with a vengeance. It has gone from strength to strength ever since. With the Galaxy Note 9, Samsung has attempted to outclass other players in the flagship segment in 2019 and its success depends upon surpassing the expectations of the mobile users. Let's see if the world's leading smartphone maker has been able to achieve that or not.
The flawless design
The boldest thing about the Note 9, like it has always been in previous Notes, is its design, which remains almost unchanged from that of its predecessor Note 8. When I say "almost", it means you will need 'eagle-eyes' to spot the difference between the all-new Note 9 and the old Note 8. The Note 9 packs a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio and a Quad HD+ resolution. Place the Note 9 and the Note 8 side-by-side and you'll hardly discover that the latest Samsung flagship is 0.1-inches larger than the previous one and the new phone is roughly 5 grams heavier than the Note 8. You won't feel the difference when holding both devices. The ratio and resolution, however, remain the same.
The Infinity Display, as Samsung calls it, on the Note 9 qualifies to the best smartphone screen in the world right now. Colours are punchy and vibrant, brightness is strong, contrast is deep and vivid and sharpness is no less than excellent, making the Note 9 simply unsurpassable in the design language. The major change is the fingerprint sensor, which Samsung moved from beside the dual-lens camera to beneath it, in a wise decision. Now you won't be accidentally touching the camera sensors while trying to unlock the phone.
Second to none camera
Because competition is so fierce, the camera on any flagship smartphone remains the most talked about feature. With the likes of Pixel 2, iPhone X and Huawei P20 Pro in the market, the camera department is an essential part to get right. The Note 8 was the first device from Samsung that included a dual-camera setup and S9+ improved on it. The Note 9, without taking any chances in the most hotly-contested department, adds a few extra features, such as Scene Optimiser, Flaw Detection and others, to the S9+ camera.
On the Note 9, we find two sensors of 12 megapixels each, both with optical image stabilization, but one of them has a variable aperture of f/1.5 and f/2.4 so that it can adapt to the amount of light received by the sensor accordingly. It grants the phone excellent adaptability when shooting in overcast condition or when the light gets dim. The second camera has a fixed aperture f/2.4 that will also serve to obtain a 2x optical zoom.
Samsung has added artificial intelligence (AI) to the Note 9’s camera software. Scene Optimiser uses artificial intelligence to identify elements of a photo, such as a scene and subject. It determines what you are taking a picture of and adjusts the settings accordingly. The Note 9 recognises around 20 scenes, including snow, sunsets, beaches and backlit subjects, and adjusts the contrast, brightness, saturation according to them. You can also turn off Scene Optimizer if you don't want it to intervene your photoshoots. Flaw Detection does exactly what it says. Once you've have taken a shot an immediate notification appears if the image is blurry, the subject blinked, there is a smudge on the lens, or there’s backlight impacting the quality of the image, and you can take another shot before you lose the moment.
There are several shooting options available, including Auto, Pro, Panorama, Live Focus, Super Slow Motion (960 fps at 720p) and AR Emoji/Selfie. As of now, Note 9's is a near-perfect phone camera. Samsung has enhanced the AR Emoji option of the S9 series and brought it to the Note 9 with a few extra avatar customisation options. The Note 9 also has super slow-motion 960fps video with motion detection. It offers many video recording options in terms of resolution and frame rate.
The Note 9's camera shines when shooting at night, where it captures remarkable levels of colour and keeps exposure at best. Needless to say, Samsung continues to lead the way in the camera department when it comes to Android devices. Since it launched the S7 in 2016, Samsung has been among the frontrunners in the camera department and the Note 9 proves that.
The indispensable S Pen
It's the S Pen that differentiates Samsung's Note series from other devices. This defining feature, which began as a tool for writing and drawing, is now putting more power and control in the hands of Note users. In the Note 9, the S Pen has now evolved to incorporate Bluetooth technology so that it can be used as a remote control. For example, if you're on YouTube, the S Pen now enables you to play and pause the video you're watching. You can also switch to the next video by pressing the button present on the S Pen. Another such example is if you want to take a family photo and you do not have anyone to take the photograph; in that case, the S Pen helps you to take the picture by just pressing the button.
You can also switch between rear and front cameras with the help of the S Pen. Samsung has also empowered you to connect the Note 9 to an HDMI screen to use the Samsung DeX desktop interface and open a PowerPoint presentation. S Pen will act as a remote control to change slides. When connected to a monitor, the Note 9 can power a virtualized desktop and even serve as a fully-functional second screen. You can take notes with the S Pen while watching a video, or use the Galaxy Note 9 as a trackpad, to right-click, drag and drop, and use multiple windows on a monitor.
Beyond all that the S Pen remains a delight to use. If you're busy and need to jot something down in a hurry, just take the stylus out and start writing on phone's display even during sleep mode. After getting done, you can 'save' it in 'notes' and your 'Screen Off Memo' will get saved. With the Smart Select feature, you can edit and share the selected content across social media platforms. The S Pen allows you to animate notes in GIF format, select text for real-time translation, and much more.
Fast and powerful performance
The Note 9 carries a 64-bit Samsung Exynos 9810 CPU under the hood, making the smartphone's performance smooth and reliable. It's the same processor which is used by the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The OS runs like silk, without any lag. Games like PUBG and Asphalt 9, work perfectly. Samsung has innovated smartphone cooling on the 9 with its Water Carbon Cooling system, which prevents the phone from getting warm during intense multitasking, and playing games. We will be doing an extended review of the Note 9 in coming weeks to let you know more about its performance.
In terms of RAM and storage, the Note 9 comes in two models: the first with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and the second with 8GB of RAM and 512GB storage. And if 512GB storage isn’t enough for you, the Note 9 also supports a microSD card for up to 1TB storage.
The Note 9 also has two AKG-tuned stereo speakers. They sound louder and clearer than the speakers any other previous Note.
The battery that lasts long
The 4,000 mAh battery of the Note 9 is the biggest ever in a Samsung handset. We managed to cover an entire day and a couple of hours the next day on a single charge while browsing the internet, doing social media, streaming music and taking photos.
Verdict
The Note 9 stands out mainly for its reinvigorated S-Pen which functions as a remote control to be used in presentations, take group photos from a distance, play and pause YouTube videos, among other uses to sway your mind away with its functionality. We also have a larger screen, powerful hardware, stereo speakers, a double camera with variable aperture, and best of all, a battery that lasts long. In a nutshell: The Note 9 is a luxury smartphone that has almost everything you can imagine plus the S Pen.