Samsung Galaxy Note8 hands-on review: First impressions

23 August 2017
The successor to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4/5 is finally here - meet the Galaxy Note8. Wait, what? Okay, Europeans didn’t get the Note5 because Samsung, and we all know how the Note7 lived a shorter product life than it deserved. So in a way, a few of us Note lovers have been stuck with three-year-old Notes, looking at some poor S-Pen-less S7 edges and S8s to fill the void.

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android keyboard is the worst

    • L
    • Lagos
    • Lfs
    • 25 Aug 2017

    man all them fanboys in denial here. Say what you want, it still is god damn expensive.. $1k+ for a phone is a lot of cash no matter how you sugarcoat it. I bought my 2014 13" Macbook pro laptop for the same price man...

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • fnI
      • 25 Aug 2017

      no Dolby Vision

      am not buying it

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • JG0
        • 25 Aug 2017

        AnonD-694466, 24 Aug 2017Note 7 design is still my favourite, along with the S7 Edge... moreS7 Edge is the worst Samsung from 2016. The flat screen S7 and S7 Active are much better.

        If Samsung phones had removable battery or if the non-removable battery weren't a deal breaker, I would buy the normal flat screen S7 with Snapdragon (or S7 Active if it were international). Snapdragon is better than Exynos not only in single core performance and GPU, but also it has FM Radio chip, which the Exynos doesn't have. But since S7 has non-removable battery, I'm forced to buy LG V20 and use it forever.

          • F
          • Fayth
          • tDP
          • 25 Aug 2017

          AnonD-694700, 25 Aug 2017Can't agree more . Note 7 is a way better for me . I wish I... morewell, you can hope Note 7 FE to be released globally.
          i think it still limited in Korean market

            Harsenik, 24 Aug 2017To be honest, the I find the Edge screen really annoying...... moreuse fleksy keyboard

              • D
              • AnonD-633729
              • 6p$
              • 25 Aug 2017

              AnonD-687487, 24 Aug 2017Yes I agree that the Note8 slightly has innovated compared ... moreAnd signature bootloop. Lmao!

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • 4Ak
                • 25 Aug 2017

                imma samsung guy but this year the iphone 8 will be much better than the note 8. maybe the s9 will redeem samsung

                  • D
                  • AnonD-189861
                  • vjt
                  • 25 Aug 2017

                  Ridiculous price!

                    • D
                    • AnonD-694700
                    • T0q
                    • 25 Aug 2017

                    AnonD-694466, 24 Aug 2017Note 7 design is still my favourite, along with the S7 Edge... moreCan't agree more . Note 7 is a way better for me . I wish I could buy it .

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • krW
                      • 24 Aug 2017

                      krystian, 24 Aug 2017Depends. Are you saying their chips are so good that they ... moreNo. But what is apparent is you have zero reading comprehension skills.
                      That or are just trolling. Up to you I guess.

                        Anonymous, 24 Aug 2017Where does it working well or being optimized at all have a... moreDepends. Are you saying their chips are so good that they don't even have to optimize?

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • krW
                          • 24 Aug 2017

                          krystian, 24 Aug 2017Well I've never had problems with iphone 6 and 6s plus. It... moreWhere does it working well or being optimized at all have anything to do with me saying their optimizing is exaggerated?
                          And if you want to go that route apple only just recently finally started fixing a 5 or 6 year lead of app crashes with more ram and attempted software tweaking....finally

                            Hmm, its ok. No much more than the S8. Very nice front and i mean no disrespect but that set up on the back like so many Samsung camera rears with logo looks blocky and unrefined. Some will find the size handy, however, i would think in the front pockets i think it will be too big of an square slab.

                              • D
                              • AnonD-80165
                              • 8Rs
                              • 24 Aug 2017

                              Anonymous, 23 Aug 2017Congratulation to you than :) But you are in minority of p... moreI'm a game designer. I miss it A LOT to make my sketches on the go. Else I wouldn't botter even looking at the note since the S8+ is sexier looking.

                                • D
                                • AnonD-694466
                                • 7Ac
                                • 24 Aug 2017

                                Note 7 design is still my favourite, along with the S7 Edge from Sammy

                                  • R
                                  • RogueBazingga
                                  • UD{
                                  • 24 Aug 2017

                                  Martin, 23 Aug 2017UGLY UGLY!!! Only f/1.7? lol V30 with f/1.6. Samsung copy ... moreat least you dont have to worry about the death screen with samsung :D LG phones will always have that deadly reboot thing

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 0YM
                                    • 24 Aug 2017

                                    I have been waiting patiently for the note 8.Seems like eeverything is sounding great. Base on the breakdown of this article I'm looking forward to getting my note 8. Sou dscape like a winner....Give thanks......Samsung galaxy is the best product for me....wishing all the best.....Lovealways

                                      Anonymous, 24 Aug 2017Their optimizing is heavily and severely exaggeratedWell I've never had problems with iphone 6 and 6s plus. It doesn't matter how many apps I open it is always smooth and continues where things left. Even android nougat has a tendency to kill apps after a certain time and on the samsung s8 too. There will be a point Google kills the app and all resources it can use. And since permissions/resources are freshly assigned there's no way to restore the app as it just looks like a fresh launch. I sometimes have a similar problem on win 10 mobile. Although MS is obviously killing the OS so they don't care.

                                        Does it also have a dual-tone flash?

                                        Plus I used a Mega 6.3 and it's the same screensize with larger bezels and 4g heavier than the note8 with a slightly smaller battery. The Mega wasn't unusually heavy for a phone its size. I got used to it over a short period of time.