Samsung Galaxy Note8 review
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- NichtsGemacht
- K3e
- 19 Sep 2017
Anonymous, 17 Sep 2017OIS is good when you need slower shutter speed. It is hard ... morethanks!
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- Anonymous
- n5u
- 19 Sep 2017
Anonymous, 18 Sep 2017I owned the Note 4. Just spent £780 on one, arrives... moreAnother reason for getting one is the battery seems relatively easy to replace yourself (ifixit gave it a score of 'easy' taking 20 minutes. I had my G5 in pieces three times for repairs
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- Ghostwolf
- 4Jq
- 18 Sep 2017
A "flagship" phone with a mid-range battery. Like that is going to last any length of time before the battery just quits from too many deep discharges.
And they can keep the whole 2:1 display ratio. Has to be one of the ugliest design decisions out there and all the other companies follow like lenmings right off the cliff.
I had a Note 2, and do regret not getting a Note 4 when I could have.
Now, Samsung has nothing that even remotely looks useful. I didn't leave Samsung, they pushed me out the door with their stupid all-glass designs.
Can we say guranteed design obsolete in a couple more years. They have run out of gimmicks.
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- Anonymous
- n5u
- 18 Sep 2017
I owned the Note 4.
Just spent £780 on one, arrives Wednesday.
Tough to justify the cost but decided to treat myself
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- AnonD-67138
- Ks{
- 18 Sep 2017
The Note 8 is surely the best Note till now.The second place is for Note 4.
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- Imperator Neubaticus
- sxr
- 18 Sep 2017
TheNE1GHB0R, 18 Sep 2017That's just it. Manufacturers create super phones yet the b... moreOh shut up. Make your own damn phone if you want it to be perfect.
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- Binbin
- KiN
- 18 Sep 2017
Why the snapdragon variant just got only 76h battery score? I mean LG with their V30 can get 87h score with same processor and screen res :/
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- TheNE1GHB0R
- 7Xh
- 18 Sep 2017
AnonD-98399, 18 Sep 201710 hours wifi in battery test meaning is 4pm you only left ... moreThat's just it. Manufacturers create super phones yet the battery is not going to last the whole day, unless you don't use it so much.
I'm getting the Note8 from my subscription very soon, yet I know I have to carry a charger/powerbank and plug in around 3pm. That's what happened to me with the Note7. Note8 has even lesser capacity.
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- AnonD-98399
- KZK
- 18 Sep 2017
10 hours wifi in battery test meaning is 4pm you only left 24% in this phone. for those willing bring power bank or can charge in office should be no problem. i got no time and pocket for charger or powerbank.
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- TheNE1GHB0R
- 7Xh
- 18 Sep 2017
Anonymous, 18 Sep 2017There is a feature for Samsung phones charging that when th... moreOvercharging is not the point. The circuit battery logic will prevent that from happening. Battery degradation over time while in use or not is the problem, now that sealed battery is the only option for top-tier smartphones these days. You people do not know or do not care about about how that sealed battery will not be as good in about 12 months or so.
A user-removable battery system gave me the option to just change the battery when I need to renew it. It even gave me the option to use extended batteries. But I need that camera update and better S Pen system.
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- Anonymous
- mqp
- 18 Sep 2017
TheNE1GHB0R, 18 Sep 2017Battery technology has remained the same for the past 20 ye... moreThere is a feature for Samsung phones charging that when they hit 100% it will not over charge and degrade the battery, no matter how long you leave plugged in for over night for example.
I recently upgraded from my Samsung S6 edge plus to the note 8 and i can say i never had a issue with poor battery on my s6.
so maybe they have found a temporary solution but I don't see the big problem a lot of people are saying about Samsung battery's on here, from my experience they are 10 times better then I phone battery's (no offence)
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- Anonymous
- JT5
- 18 Sep 2017
89 Degrees, 18 Sep 2017I have my Exynos Note 8 and it's truly amazing ! Having not... moreIphones of 2018 will use LG's screen.
Pixel 2 will have LG's too.
They are running from Samsung already.
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- Anonymous
- FXM
- 18 Sep 2017
pre-ordered mine and not ship till 10/1 :)
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- Anonymous
- PA7
- 18 Sep 2017
Should not put 1plus5 on comparison due screen not 4k, the load is easier for 1plus, different class.
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- MdN8
- p41
- 18 Sep 2017
Samarth N8 808 user, 18 Sep 2017The flaws I find to be affecting me are:- 1. No new slow... moreDon't worry about the weight. My S5 with case weighs the same as Note8 and I never thought it was too heavy. It actually surprised me as I thought it was lighter.
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- 89 Degrees
- 39x
- 18 Sep 2017
I have my Exynos Note 8 and it's truly amazing ! Having not had a Note series officially released phone here in the UK since Note 4 , It's been a long time coming ! The phone is big and slightly heavy but for a man it's no big deal, Ladies may struggle finding this difficult to grip .
The screen is amazing and shows why Apple want to amoled screens although nowhere as good as the Note 8's .
All this rubbish about the fingerprint scanner is irrelevant because I use the retina scanner and so no need for fingerprint .
If there was a slight moot point it would have to be battery size but then the room needed for the Spen is a valid point and of course last year's Note 7 debacle.
It's going to be interesting to see what the Note 9 brings :-)
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- Samarth N8 808 user
- KAL
- 18 Sep 2017
The flaws I find to be affecting me are:-
1. No new slow motion modes, after the S7... At least they can go for 1080p120 or 1080p90, or 720p480fps or 360 via firmware update.
2. too heavy and huge, although maybe I'll be looking at something else & not Note series if that is a priority,
3. mono speaker,
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- AnonD-632062
- 3Ye
- 18 Sep 2017
The Note8 is undoubtedly one of the most versatile all-rounder flagships today along with the S8+ and the LG V30. I'm sure power users will love it and it is the closest thing to a PC on a smartphone.
Great goodies and content-filled Unboxing. Love it. IP68 on a phone with 3.5 mm headphone jack (and stylus slot for S-Pen), shows others how (Apple, HTC, Moto, Xiaomi) how it's done.
Waterproof S-Pen with 4096 pressure points (bless you Note7) is awesome as usual. Backward compatibility and non-charging passive solution are some of it's awesome attributes. 6 years since the launch of then original Note, there is still not a smartphone that even comes close to the Note series in terms of offering an awesome stylus (Definitely not the LG Stylo, maybe Palm really should come back to challenge the Note).
Fingerprint scanner is obviously not in the optimal position, but after considering the bezel-less design, Iris Scanner and looking at the iPhone X, we should be glad that it is somewhere rather than nowhere.
The screen is one of the best, if not the best, with it's super-high resolution, large screen diagonal, AMOLED technology, HDR. But I am slightly disappointed with the Note8's brightness and the sunlight contrast ratio, which is lower than that of the S8. You see, we have very high expectations from Samsung's flagships. :P
Battery is another area with a very good result but doesn't really convince you fully (especially considering Samsung's usually high scores). The Exynos version is good, but the SD 835's background draw pulls down it's better usage times. That leaves a bit of a bad taste, especially when I remember the huge batteries of the S8 Active and the A9 Pro (2016).
Samsung's Connectivity suite is superb as usual, with the main omissions being FM Radio and Infrared Blaster.
Nice software that is brimming with features, yet looks like it has not been designed in haste. (Multi-windows, Screen Pinning & other features have been available for years on Samsung flagships). Kudos to Samsung for innovating. The good thing about it is if you don't want it you can disable it. Customisability is king and Samsung gets that. Bixby is still a work in progress though and I hope they don't push it down people's throat if they don't want it. Secure folder is awesome though.
The performance is very good for an Android flagship, although the differences in CPU & GPU test between Exynos and Snapdragon in contrasting the S8, S8+ and the Note8 make for a confusing mess. But seeing Apple iPhone X scores, leaves me underwhelmed with the state of benchmark performance in Android. Apple isn't just ahead, it's nearly double of it's nearest competitor (which itself is usually the last-gen iPhone).
The Dual camera with Dual OIS, f1.7 Dual Pixel autofocus main sensor and f2.4 sharper than usual Telephoto with autofocus, look amazing (yep, lots of Duals there). It makes for an interesting Duel (pun intended) with the iPhone X and the V30. Multi-frame stacking gives it an edge too. Pro mode is really professional like the one on LG's flagships. Samsung's Live focus seems like one of the best implementation of artificial smartphone bokeh's. Low-light & Nights shots are just splendid. As for the selfie camera, I really don't think there is a better well-rounded solution out there. 1/3.6" sensor size, f1.7, 8MP resolution, autofocus, QHD video recording, 1.22 µm pixel size, AutoHDR.....Very nice for great selfies, night or day. The fact that they just publishes a rare sample of a selfie at night (with no dedicated flash too) proves it.
Videos are great with OIS and EIS available. HEVC option is bonus. But after seeing Sony XZ Premium and iPhone X, I think the next should go for more than the default of 1080@ 60fps.
The Note4 was one of the best phones of all time, after it's highly three successful predecessors. Then came the Note5, the worst Note of all times, with lowest battery capacity, the shock of removing the MicroSD, Removable Battery and the Infrared Blaster. Plus it wasn't even available in Europe. The Note6 was never meant to be. The Note7 looked like the dark years were over for Note fans, with IP68 water-proofing, HDR screen, Iris scanner, much-improved S-Pen, largest Note battery ever, wonderful camera and other goodies. Alas, those dream went up in flames.
Hope the Note8 steadies the ship once and for all, and looking for towards seeing an all-confident, 4000+ mAh battery, Waterproof, 7nm Powerful chipset & even more stunning Note9!
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- AnonD-274309
- a0y
- 18 Sep 2017
Watch out for light leaks between the front glass and the frame. I received one with light coming out from the entire left side of the phone between the frame and front glass.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-8/831629-note-8-has-physical-problem-light-leakage-edges-3.html
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- SZ Tadir
- KGa
- 18 Sep 2017
Anonymous, 18 Sep 2017Wow, your standards are pretty low. I guess all you care ab... moreActually I don't care about any of that. I run a Blackberry priv which has neither a good camera nor a great processing power. Display is great, but I was satisfied with Sony that I owned before. I care about great battery life.
I haven't handled the phone, but the review shows that it has very good battery, things you said, as well as a ton of other things. I didn't see anything negative from the review at all.
Now, reviews could be biased (not saying that it is here), but you have to agree that the hardware is excellent, probably better than anyone else is putting out anyway.