Samsung Galaxy Note9 review

20 August 2018
How time has passed - we're at nine now. Seven years after the original, the Samsung Galaxy Note9 stands before us. The numbers don't add up, no, because Samsung chose to skip the 6, and it didn't really quite work out splendidly with the Note7. But that's all in the past and we're looking ahead.

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  • N
  • Note9 User
  • nE1
  • 06 Aug 2019

Malaysian Man, 19 Apr 2019I owned a Note9. Is it normal if the screen on time is just... more5hrs SOT is quite low & if you're having to charge your phone twice a a day that definitely is not normal, I could only charge it once every 2 days if I had to, but like most people I charge it every night when I go to bed with an approx. average of 50% battery left & I usually charge it before it drops below 20%, but I didn't to qualify this comment.

I think of each function like Torch, if I'm not using it or I've finished with it then I turn it off or close it, like GPS, Mobile Hotspot, when it starts getting dark I switch to Night mode.
Swipe down twice from the top of your screen to access your control panel icons to turn anything you not using off, swipe left to check the 2nd pane of icons to turn off anything not needed.

Take a look what's using your battery:
Swipe down & tap the Settings cog (top right hand corner), scroll down & tap Device care, tap Battery, here you can see which apps are using the most battery, you can tap on the worst offender(s) & choose to automatically put that app to sleep when not in use.
Back to 'Battery' you can see Power mode, I keep mine set on Optimised, but would change if I needed to.
Back to 'Battery', tap the 3 vertical dots (top right hand corner), tap on the Settings popup bubble to go to App power management, all options are on & you can can add any Sleeping apps to make sure that they never run in the background.

Back to 'Battery', tap on the 'Battery usage' bubble (top centre):
Here you can see what's using the most.
Screen= 10h 36mins 59% & then Android system= 10%.

1 day 18h on battery & I've got 3% left.

Also your battery is guaranteed 1 year from purchase, if it's faulty you can get it replaced by Samsung for free.

    • S
    • SanjeevM
    • te3
    • 06 Aug 2019

    Samsung, PLEASE discontinue the new charging port in your mobiles. It is really giving problems to a large number of customers in the rainy season. It is very vulnerable to moisture; when moisture enters the phone simply stops charging, and the service centres tell customers that their phones will have to be opened at a cost of Rs 1200 and at a risk to the display !!
    We are sufferring the cost of so called "technology upgradation" at a risk to the precious display !! WHY ??
    WHY cant you keep the charging pin separate from USB? Just use the single pin design. Very robust and reliable.

      • h
      • humaira
      • PU0
      • 29 Jul 2019

      can i know how to do reset network setting for this phone

        • D
        • Daredevil
        • S7y
        • 28 May 2019

        Malaysian Man, 19 Apr 2019I owned a Note9. Is it normal if the screen on time is just... moreSame here. That's it.

          • M
          • Mark
          • tRr
          • 29 Apr 2019

          In battery test, what browser does gsmarena use for testing? Is it the stock browser? Or do they use certain browser so to have the same load or consumption as other phones when running the test.
          Tnx

            • M
            • Malaysian Man
            • wc6
            • 19 Apr 2019

            I owned a Note9. Is it normal if the screen on time is just 5 hours? I used my phone for youtube, social media and an hour of gaming. Mine is Exynos version. To be honest I have to charge my phone twice a day! Can someone answer ?

              • N
              • Note 9 Dhaka
              • XSX
              • 20 Mar 2019

              I didn't get the pie update

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • hct
                • 14 Feb 2019

                About how long do these phones last within hours and minutes.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • nCf
                  • 14 Feb 2019

                  Anonymous, 22 Jan 2019Need your help in buying a new phone. I'm torn between not... moreEven though price is high i think it's worth it since you're already embedded into the apple ecosystem. Seamless integration between your other apple devices. You can always buy the phone on a payment plan making it easier to afford. I have the iPhone XS Max and let's just say you will not be disappointed with the user experience. Performance is buttery smooth... so go for it.

                    • H
                    • Hasnat Dhaka
                    • uNV
                    • 13 Feb 2019

                    Without any mishandling, whatsoever, songs aren't playing more than 1 to 2 minutes from yesterday. I bought my Note9 in September last year.

                      • H
                      • Hasnat Dhaka
                      • uNV
                      • 12 Feb 2019

                      After new update, photo edit in Secure Folder is missing white color. Please reinstate white color in photo edit option in secure folder.

                        • N
                        • Note9 User
                        • nG%
                        • 26 Jan 2019

                        maher, 25 Jan 2019This phone has a real hardware issue lot of users reported ... moreSounds like a hardware issue, make sure that you contact Samsung customer support to get it fixed under warranty.

                          • N
                          • Note9 User
                          • nG%
                          • 25 Jan 2019

                          I saw about the camera freeze, because it's fix was included when I got my Note9 in November, you say about the weird problem of Google Play Store not being visible, if you mean that it's disappeared from your home screen, then from the Home screen, swipe up to access your app drawer & you'll see it there.
                          You can do a long press on the Google Play icon to drag a copy of it back to your home screen.
                          Hope this helps, otherwise you can ask for help in the GSMA Note9 Community:
                          https://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note9-reviews-9163.php
                          Or contact Samsung customer support by phone or email.

                            • m
                            • maher
                            • 6ue
                            • 25 Jan 2019

                            This phone has a real hardware issue lot of users reported the same which is :

                            Buzzing sound when using 2x Zooming on the camera resulted a blurry picture on the camera, and i want return back until you cancel zooming,

                              • A
                              • Andy
                              • 4xe
                              • 25 Jan 2019

                              This phone has multiple issues. I'm using this phone 26 October 2018 and my 1st month experience was kinda okay. In second month this phone start giving me bunch of problems such 1 second delay when you camera application or when you launch instagram or tinder. In 3rd month, camera starts lagging, while recording a video the camera lags here is YouTube link: https://youtu.be/Y0D2H57k6L4
                              I also wrote an email to Samsung and I got the reply that 'please hard reset your phone' woww! Are you kidding me? I don't have much time to backup my data into my computer and then restore it, but well anyhow I didn't this and to very honest this whole process took 3.5 hours and video lag problem is solved now.
                              And right now there is Wierd problem in this piece of crap, Google Play Store is not visible and thanks to the all Korean developers for this.

                              I recommend everyone who read this comment please don't buy this crap piece. Invest your money buying another phones. This is definitely NOT.

                                • N
                                • Note9 User
                                • nG%
                                • 23 Jan 2019

                                Anonymous, 22 Jan 2019Need your help in buying a new phone. I'm torn between not... moreOkay, 1st, size wise you wouldn't really compare the Samsung Galaxy Note9 to the Apple iPhone XS, you'd compare the Note9 to the iPhone XS Max:
                                Check that they fit in your pocket when standing & sitting down (go into the shop or your network carrier, if the phones are securely bolted down, then try a case for each:
                                Compare & read the reviews (which give you a really good insight & are fair, unbiased & accurate) for each & realize what is most important to you:
                                https://m.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?&idPhone1=9163&idPhone2=9319

                                Also this review comment section is 6 months old now, (when the Long Term Review is released then that comment section will become busy) you will get a better response from the User Comment sections (some user responses maybe be biased, so take those with a pinch of salt.:

                                Copy & paste your enquiry comment here:
                                https://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note9-reviews-9163.php
                                & here:
                                https://m.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_xs_max-reviews-9319.php

                                A factor worth mentioning is, if your planning on your mobile device to communicate to your Mac & iPad then the XS/Max maybe best for you (I tried to Bluetooth some JPEG's to my iPad & frustratingly it wouldn't work).
                                Good luck, whatever you choose : )

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • sxr
                                  • 22 Jan 2019

                                  Need your help in buying a new phone. I'm torn between note9 and xs. The price of the iphone is just way too high and I've been an android user ever since. I do have a MacBook pro and iPad air. i think this is the best time to get an iPhone but I'm not sure about the price and how it performs. Pls help planning to buy this week. Thanks in advance

                                    • N
                                    • Note9 User
                                    • mX@
                                    • 08 Jan 2019

                                    SquadBoi, 29 Dec 2018No S845 is proven to be the more efficient and more powerfu... moreThe Note 9 review unit is Exynos with 97H battery endurance rating.

                                    SD 845 maybe more efficient, I don't know, but Exynos is faster & I'm very happy with battery performance, which has always lasted me more than 24h (the highest duration that I've achieved so far is 2d 16h with 5% (2h 29min) left, 8h 59m 43% of the battery used on Screen time, so yeah it should easily last anyone a day, and I'm sure this is the case with the SD version too).

                                    Snapdragon's Adreno 630 GPU has the upper hand with graphics.

                                    Both are great in handling heavy multitasking & heavy apps without a slowdown.

                                    Performance: Synthetic benchmarks:
                                    https://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note9-review-1805p6.php

                                      LilSweetLin, 21 Aug 2018Is the 97H battery endurance rating for the Exynos Note 9, ... moreNo S845 is proven to be the more efficient and more powerful chipset of the two

                                        Philansel7, 23 Nov 2018Note 9 won the Best Smartphone of 2018. After weeks of t... moreYou can disable bixby

                                        https://youtu.be/YPDCWbB7KAI

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