Galaxy Note 9 review - Samsung's new phablet with stylus and flagship features

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A life hacker tested the new product and found out what is remarkable about it and how far it has gone from the previous version of the Galaxy Note.

Table of contents

1. Specifications
2. Equipment
3. Design and ergonomics
4. Screen
5. Sound
6. Camera
7. Stylus
8. Security
9. Performance
10. Autonomy
11. Interface, control and software
12. Differences from Note 8
13. Outcomes

Specifications

Frame	Glass, aluminum
Colors	Indigo, black, copper
Display	6.4 inches, Full HD + (1,440 × 2,960 pixels), Super AMOLED
Platform	Exynos 9810 processor, Mali-G72 MP18 video processor
RAM	6/8 GB
Built-in memory	128/512 GB + slot for microSD cards up to 512 GB
Cameras	Main - 12 Mp, front - 8 Mp
Shooting video	Main camera - 4K with 60 FPS, Full HD with 240 FPS, HD with 960 FPS; front camera - Quad HD with 30 FPS
Degree of protection	IP68
SIM card	Two slots for nanoSIM (one hybrid)
Wireless interfaces	Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac (2.4 / 5GHz), VHT80 MU-MIMO, 1024QAM, Bluetooth 5.0, ANT +, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
Connectors	USB Type-C, 3.5mm audio jack
Sensors	Accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, Hall sensor, heart rate sensors, proximity sensor, RGB light sensor, pressure sensor, fingerprint sensor, iris scanner, face scanner
Unlocking	PIN, fingerprint, iris, facial features, smart identification (iris + face)
Operating system	Android 8.1 Oreo, Samsung Experience 9.5
Battery	4000 mAh (non-removable), fast charging, wireless charging
Dimensions (edit)	161.9 × 76.4 × 8.8mm
The weight	201 g

Equipment

In the box: a smartphone with a stylus, a folder with documentation and a clip for removing the "cradle", a USB - USB Type-C cable, an AKG headset with additional ear pads of different sizes, a USB - USB Type-C adapter and a microUSB - USB Type-C adapter.

Design and ergonomics

Note 9 is sold in three colors: indigo, black and copper. Depending on the color, the style of the stylus also differs: for the indigo it is yellow, for the black version it is black, for the copper version it is bronze. In my opinion, we got the prettiest option - an indigo with a dark blue body and a gold S Pen.

The Note 9 is not a bezel-less smartphone, but the rounded edges on the sides give the impression that the screen almost fills the bezel. In this case, no accidental clicks and swipes occur. Nice and comfortable. Some users complain about the strange glow along the edges of the smartphone, but definitely in vain - it's just a reflection inside the screen, arising from the rounded shape of the display.

The frame at the top is highlighted for sensors, front camera and earpiece. On the verge there is a hole for one of the microphones and a "cradle" for SIM and microSD cards. On the left are the volume and assistant call buttons, on the right are the power and lock buttons. Below is another microphone, speaker, audio jack, USB Type-C input and stylus clicker.

On the back are cameras, a flash and a fingerprint. Perfectionist hell - the main camera is located as if a couple of millimeters to the left than necessary.

The smartphone is made of smooth-to-touch glass and aluminum frame. It is very thin, but feels good in the hand. The back panel is quite easily soiled, but to call it a serious drawback, when almost everyone is already making smartphones with a glass body, it is impossible.

The Note 9 feels solid and sturdy - at least if dropped onto the aluminum frame, it is unlikely to be damaged. And he is not at all afraid of dust and moisture is almost not terrible: the degree of protection is IP68. This means that it can be submerged to a depth of more than a meter for more than half an hour.

You can still find fault with the Note 9's ergonomics. Due to the fact that the body is thin, the thickness of the buttons is barely a couple of millimeters - it is not very pleasant to press them. Plus the eternal problem of phablets - to use the fingerprint scanner or press the side buttons, palms now and then have to "walk" up and down. It's good that the weight is distributed correctly and the Note 9 can be used with one hand without fear of dropping.

Screen

Diagonal - 6.4 inches. The screen is really big, which is convenient - especially when using the mode with two applications on one screen. This can be useful if, for example, you need to simultaneously work in Google Docs and comment on the document in the messenger.

The screen resolution is 1 440 × 2 960 pixels, the aspect ratio is not even 2: 1, but 18, 5: 9 - and this again makes it more convenient to work in two applications at the same time.

The screen is Super AMOLED from Samsung. The characteristics are the same as in the previous models of the manufacturer: excellent calibration, high brightness, support for the Always On Display function, which saves battery power when the screen is locked. You can't find fault with the screen - the colors look natural, you can look at it from any angle, and it is difficult to use a smartphone only in very bright sunlight.

Sound

The sound, as usual, is loud and clear - you can't expect more from the small speakers of the smartphone. There are two dynamics here, and they support the panorama. This means that with the horizontal arrangement of the smartphone, you can comfortably watch, for example, videos on YouTube.

And Note 9 also supports Bluetooth 5.0 - you can connect two wireless headphones or two speakers. And even set them up so that the sound goes to the devices not synchronously, but from different applications. You can play music from the streaming service on the speaker in the office, and watch YouTube videos yourself with headphones.

Interesting fact. Not that in 2018 anyone was interested in ringtones, but Samsung still excelled - some of the official ringtones were recorded by famous blogger and musician Andrew Huang.

Headphones

Comes with an AKG headset. Despite the fact that this is a brand with a reputation that has a large number of great headphones on its account, the sound is not even a compromise. Generally mediocre sound. The ergonomics and tactile sensations are the same as in most in-ear headphones - for an amateur.

Camera

The Note 9 fulfills its flagship title with a 12-megapixel dual camera. It allows you to take great pictures, comparable to those of the iPhone X or Google Pixel 2 XL. In terms of iron, everything is fine here: there is a double optical zoom and even a mechanical aperture with two values: ƒ / 1, 5 and ƒ / 2, 4. The aperture is automatically adjusted depending on the lighting. The second lens is used for bokeh when creating portraits.

In natural light

Macro

Also macro - Note 9 works fine in this mode

In low natural light, the automation failed a little - a lot of light, a minimum of shadow and contrast

Under artificial lighting

Under artificial lighting

Under artificial lighting

The main camera can take pictures with a resolution of 4,032 × 3,024 pixels and shoot videos with a resolution of up to 3,840 × 2,160 pixels at 60 FPS. There is also a super slow motion video mode with a completely insane frame rate - 960 FPS. But this does not fundamentally change the situation - for most people this is a feature that can be played several times, besides, to create a slo-mo video, the camera must first find an object to shoot. By the time this happens, the moment may have already been missed.

All this stuff in high definition requires a lot of space, and in this regard, the Note 9 breaks all records. If you take a modification with 512 GB of memory on board, and then insert a USB flash drive with the same capacity into your smartphone, you get a terabyte. Terabytes of space for your photos and videos.

There is not much to say about the front camera. The resolution is 8 megapixels, the aperture is ƒ / 1, 7. You can take great selfies, create self-jis and shoot selfie panoramas.

It should be understood that when comparing flagship cameras, we often talk about their software work - in terms of hardware, they are all about the same. And the results of this comparison often depend on preference. Example: We looked at how portrait modes work on the Note 9 and iPhone X, and the shots came out very different.

Designer Leonid and the Note 9's portrait mode

Designer Leonid and iPhone X Portrait Mode. Smoking Harms His Health

The iPhone X stands out for its sharpness and color saturation, while the Note 9's picture is more faded, paler, hazy. The next nuance is clipping. On the iPhone X, it is sharper and more contrasty. And similar differences can be found in any shooting mode. It's up to everyone to decide which is better.

The stock camera application seems a bit overloaded, which is often the case with Android smartphones. There is not only manual mode and panorama mode, there are also masks, "selfimoji" and much more. Fortunately, it is quite simple to figure it out, and there is no need - features and add-ons quickly get bored, and classic images are almost always handled perfectly by automation. The application itself selects the necessary mode for shooting (for example, macro or night) and even says when the picture was not successful.

For those who like to tinker with the settings, there is a manual mode where you can calibrate ISO, white balance, aperture (optical), focus and even the type of exposure metering.

Stylus

The stylus from the previous version of the Galaxy Note has changed: now it has its own battery and it works with a smartphone via Bluetooth - it can be used as a remote control. The charging station is located inside the smartphone, the charge is replenished in less than a minute.

The presence of a stylus can hardly be called a plus, especially considering that e-pencils have long since passed into the category of additional devices for artists and designers. In ordinary scenarios, it is easy to do without a stylus - it is quite possible that many Galaxy Note owners simply forget about its existence. But the fact is - it's just a pleasure to use it. The dynamic "feather" takes into account the force of pressing, and you can easily spend several minutes for one stupid drawing in notes. It is pleasant to click the clicker on the end - a real anti-stress toy.

Speaking of functions, here's what you can do with the stylus:

• create quick graphical notes on the locked screen;
• edit screenshots;
• control the camera and take pictures with your participation without a timer;
• control video playback when connecting a smartphone to a monitor or projector;
• draw with thin lines in Instagram Stories;
• send animated drawings in messages;
• highlight and translate texts.

The stylus is a great solution for those who are used to constantly sketching, noticing and fixing something. It can also be useful for those who work with text - highlights, copies and translates into other languages.

Security

There are several ways to unlock your smartphone: using a PIN, fingerprint, face or iris. You can customize each of them and use the one that is more convenient at the moment.

For me, as the owner of the iPhone X, smart unlocking seemed to be the most familiar. This is a mode that combines face and iris identification. The smartphone chooses the preferred method itself, and the system learns to recognize the owner faster and adapt to changes in his appearance. Smart unlocking works confidently and correctly, but is somewhat inferior in terms of the speed of fingerprint identification. But you still have to reach for the fingerprint scope. And the camera is easy to accidentally smudge.

Performance

The modification that is sold in Russia has an eight-core Exynos 9810 processor, working with four cores at 2.7 GHz and four more at 1.8 GHz. Video card - Mali-G72 MP18. The result, as befits a flagship, is excellent. There is nothing to find fault with - everything flies, PUBG does not lag at maximum speeds. Test results in Geekbench 4:

And here are the "parrots" in AnTuTu:

Autonomy

Battery capacity Note 9 - 4000 mAh. According to the developers, this will be enough for 11 hours of video viewing on a single charge. It is quite possible - after three hours of active work with a smartphone and running Note 9 according to benchmarks, the charge fell by only 15%. It is more convenient to measure the battery life in days - and one, even an extremely active day, the Note 9 will definitely survive.

With fast charging, the battery is fully charged in a little over two hours. Qi and PMA wireless charging supported.

Interface, control and software

Note 9 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with the classic Samsung add-on. No complaints - you can get used to everything, everything works quickly and even looks logical. There are many pre-installed services from Samsung, Google, and Microsoft - some of them are useful and you don't need to uninstall them. Worst of all, Bixby is the assistant that you have to constantly bump into with the Note 9: it opens by swiping on the left of the main screen, it even has a whole button on the case. You can reassign it, but for me, an adherent of the Jobs sect, this is a real event and dancing with a tambourine. Minus Note 9.

A swipe to the right brings up the quick access panel to applications and contacts, a swipe from above brings up the control point. The panel that appears when working with the stylus is also convenient - it is immediately clear how it can be used. In general, the interface can be called intuitive. You can just turn on your smartphone and use it.

Differences from Note 8

Samsung again did not show any special changes and bold experiments. Here's a list of the new features:

• the screen diagonal has become a couple of millimeters larger;
• the smartphone has become thinner and heavier, but not so that it can be easily noticed;
• increased memory size;
• increased battery capacity;
• the operating system is Android 8.1;
• iron has become a little more productive;
• the location of the rear camera and fingerprint has changed;
• the stylus began to work as a remote control.

Outcomes

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is a great smartphone and sturdy flagship that's a pleasure to use, with its own flair and character. Again - for those who love to draw and constantly sketch, but do not want to carry a tablet with them everywhere, there are simply no alternatives. For those who don't like drawing, but love to pick the best, the Note 9 is one of the good options.

But the expediency of buying Note 9 for the owners of the previous series phablet is a controversial issue. The changes are hardly dramatic, and the price, even with participation in the trade-in program, comes out decent.

Note 9 price - 69,990 rubles for the version with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of physical memory; 89,990 rubles for a modification with 8 and 512 GB, respectively. The start of sales in stores is tomorrow (August 31), and today you can still pre-order and get a wireless docking station as a gift.

Go to Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Page →