The Galaxy Note 9: A quick look at Samsung’s brand new flagship phone.

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The Galaxy Note 9 has been unveiled over a day ago and I must admit it didn’t receive more hype than previous flagship phones. I believe it may have to do with what you’d say are minor incremental features to the previous Note 8. The Note 9 is still a powerful phone but from what majority of us see, it’s just a Note 8 with a few upgrades. We have a few design changes on the back with the fingerprint scanner placement, and added functionality to the S-Pen. The rest a slightly higher bumps in specifications from the Note 8. We may compare it more with the Note 8 in this article to give you a thorough look into this new device.

On the front, the Galaxy Note 9 features a 6.4 inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 2960 pixels and 18.5:9 aspect ratio with 516 pixels per inch, falling in a very similar territory with the previous Note 8. It also has slightly curved edges. And in case you’re wondering, this is the best display on a smartphone yet. You can never go wrong with Samsung’s latest smartphone display.

Note 9 Display
Note 9 Display (Credit: MKBHD)

On the front still, you have an 8 megapixel camera sensor with f/1.7 aperture exactly the same as that in the Note 8. The Note 8 had one of the best selfie cameras and as many say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, we understand why Samsung may stick with similar camera sensors as in the previous device. There are other sensors on the front like the Iris scanner to add an extra level of security to the phone.

On the back we have two camera sensors both 12 megapixel shooters but one with variable aperture as in the Galaxy S9, meaning it adjusts depending on the scene to allow in the appropriate light into the phone.

Galaxy Note 9 Back
Galaxy Note 9 Back (Credit: MKBHD)

Essentially, it will widen to let it more light when taking pictures in low lit areas and contracts to let in more light in heavily lit areas.
The heart-rate sensor is placed right besides the camera modules. Below the top module is the rectangular fingerprint scanner.

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The S-Pen on the Note 9 has been given more functionality. It has been given what Samsung calls ‘Bluetooth Low Energy’ which basically means you can now use this S-Pen as a remote control for your new Note 9. The button on the Note 9 can easily be mapped and can be set to perform an action on the phone or open an app on your phone with a single press, a double press or even a long press. It can also be used to control presentations on your phone or even pause and resume videos while watching. By default it’s set to open the camera with a long press.
The S-Pen charges within the phone when you place it back.

Galaxy Note 9 S-Pen
Galaxy Note 9 S-Pen (Credit: MKBHD)

Internally, the Note 9 is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor with either 6GB of RAM in the 128GB storage model and an 8GB of RAM in the 512GB storage model. Both phones have a micro-SD card slot with expandable storage up to 512GB. The phone also comes with Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box.
It packs the largest battery in a Note device at 4000mAh, enough to get you through a day with added features like quick charge and wireless charging. The phone still retains the audio jack and water resistance.

In collaboration with EPIC Games, the Galaxy Note 9 will be the first Android phone to run the most popular game Fortnite. If you’re a gamer, this is probably good news.

The Note 9 comes in two colors Lavender Purple and Ocean Blue and according to a reports the Note 9 is claimed to be priced slightly over €1,000. The Galaxy Note 9’s base 128GB variant will cost €1,050 (£935) with Samsung opting not to release its 64GB model in Europe.