Samsung Galaxy Note9 hands-on review

Samsung Experience on top of Android Oreo

Since we've already established the Note9 is more of an incremental update to the Note8, design-wise, it should come as no surprise that the same logic mostly applies to software, as well. In this respect, however, the newer Galaxy S9+ seems to be the foundation, upon which the Korean giant based the Note9 Samsung Experience.

This should not be misconstrued as criticism, though. Samsung's custom skin has really come a long way in recent years, mostly shedding the bad reputation of old, for being slow and "laggy". Now, it's probably one of the most mature and popular custom Android ROMs around.

That being said, both newcomers and long-term fans need to adjust their expectations accordingly, going into the Note9's UX. It's essentially the same Samsung Experience, imbued with a few Note-line extras, here and there. Also, still running on top of Android 8.1 Oreo.

If you've never encountered Samsung's Android builds for yourself, there are definitely certain bits to love and others to hate. Bixby - Samsung's AI assistant is still around and still just as good at controlling the phone, via voice and executing command sequences, but mostly lagging behind the competition in more traditional aspects, like surfacing online info.

Samsung isn't backing down from its AI effort and Bixby is still front stage and center on the Note9, with its own dedicated Bixby hardware button a separate home screen in the launcher and deep integration into the camera, for nifty, if not exactly reliable, visual searching and AR functions. Thankfully, Bixby is easy enough to ignore after you disable the hardware button and pretend it's not there.

That being said, Samsung's insistence on the polarizing AI is very indicative of the company's overall approach to software and services. Mainly, that Samsung strives for a certain level of independence, trying to rely on as few AOSP services as possible and making alternatives of its own, instead. Perhaps that's a pretty sound business strategy for a company this size and it could come in handy if Google ever decides to change its open policies towards Android.

From a pure end-user standpoint, this, however, means that there are plenty of Samsung pre-loaded apps, you may have to deal with if you are an Android purist. We can't exactly claim that the Samsung app store is really necessary in a Western, Google-supported market, but other Samsung apps are genuinely great to use, like the default browser, complete with ad-block support. Then there are things like the Secure Folder, which really provides added functionality. Based on Samsung's acclaimed Knox security platform, this is arguably one of the best secure spaces on any Android device, currently out there. It is also conveniently integrated deep within the OS, complete with access to all the Note9's biometric security options, including the Iris Scanner and now re-positioned fingerprint reader. There is even a convenient, auto-fill password manager, that works system-wide, as part of the mix.

DeX is another great value-added feature, especially for more business-oriented usecases. Again, it's one of the better desktop environments, currently available, within the Android realm. With only Huawei's own implementation coming off as a viable alternative. Especially now that Samsung made it even better.

The DeX version, debuting on the Note9, has taken some hints from Huawei and now offers trackpad and pen input functionality on the phone, while it is connected to an external display. The handset can also be used for keyboard input, although, that's not nearly as convenient, as leveraging it as a touchpad. This could, theoretically, limit the need for a separate mouse, for certain tasks and could power interesting new usecases for digital artists.

Another likely Huawei-inspired novelty to come to DeX is the ability to use it without a docking station. The latter has always been rather cumbersome and requires power input. Now, a simple dongle is enough for DeX to work. Samsung has been offering such dongles for quite some time now, but until now, the DeX environment was limited to the dock.

If you still prefer to carry around a set of input peripherals, now you can free the UI of the Note9 entirely. When It doesn't have to pull double-duty as a mouse/keyboard, the phone actually remains perfectly usable. You can keep using it, without having to close the DeX desktop experience. The new S-Pen can offer some nifty remote input in DeX as well. But, more on that in a bit.

Overall, just like the rest of the OS, the new DeX seems to offer incremental updates and refinements, rather than a major lap forward. Still, the added functionality could, potentially, be a game-changer for many, finally making it a viable tool to explore.

DeX and a slightly more intelligent camera aside, the list of new, purely-software features to debute with the Galaxy Note9 is rather thin. Samsung did draw attention to its revamped Live message feature, which now works with AR Emoji.

All new S-Pen

The S-Pen has long been a staple of Samsung's Note line. The concept of a stylus is hardly new. In fact, it's more of a remnant of a bygone era of pocket PC's and personal organisers. Even so, the Korean giant's implementation is one of the few that survived the test of time and is still sticking around in the new smartphone era.

Over the last few Note generations, Samsung's stylus has remained essentially unchanged in functionality and operating principle. A few ergonomic tweaks aside, the S-Pen has typically been a reliable accessory, always present and favoured by Galaxy Note fans.

The Note9 S-Pen does come with some extra functionality, thanks to the addition of Bluetooth LE technology. On the surface, you wouldn't really guess there is anything fundamentally different about this iteration of the S-Pen. Well, perhaps, it's a bit chunkier than the Note8 alternative, measuring 5.7 x 4.35 x 106.37mm and weighing in at 3.1 grams. Holding the two at the same time does reveal the difference, but some extra heft and size are kind of welcome on a stylus, making it more comfortable to hold.

The other visual difference is the color. Historically, the S-Pen has been monochromatic. This time around, Samsung decided to match its body with the finish of the phone. We kind of like the added personality. Especially on the Coral Blue variant, which is the exception to the color-matching approach and is paired with a bright yellow S-Pen.

The design team even went as far as to make the Screen-off memo writing color match the color of you particular S-Pen, by default.

Back to the added functionality then - Bluetooth LE allows the pen to be constantly connected to the phone, with a range of up to 10 meters. This, of course, means the stylus is no longer passive. To power the small Bluetooth circuit, Samsung has included a tiny capacitor inside, which is good for about 200 clicks or 30 minutes outside the S-Pen groove, in the phone. Once inside, the capacitor charges up fully in about 40 seconds.

It's a pretty neat system. Also, Samsung didn't forget to ensure the same IP68 waterproofing rating for the S-Pen, to match the rest of the phone.

In terms of functionality, the new BLE S-Pen currently recognises a short press, a long press and double tap. It can be used as a remote shutter, within the camera app, with a single press. Double tapping, switches between the primary and selfie snapper. There is also integration for the new clicker within DeX, for things like a presentation remote, to change between slides. The S-Pen can also be used to control multimedia playback.

Probably best of all, though, is the fact that Samsung will be releasing an SDK for the pen button, for third-party developers. So, the possibilities are limitless and could include things like innovative game input mechanics. Some apps, like Snapchat and YouTube already support the S-Pen clicker, out of the box.

And, just in case you were wondering what would happen if the capacitor ever breaks or runs out of juice: The S-Pen, basically looses the BLE functionality and becomes a standard S Pen. Complete with its traditional hover detection, quick actions, mapped to the button and 4,096 detectable pressure levels. Just like the one on the Galaxy Note8.

Performance

Yet another area, where Samsung opted for incremental improvement, rather than any fantastic leap forward. Well, depending on your priorities, that is. From a purely hardware standpoint, the Galaxy Note9 utilizes the same chipset options, like the Galaxy S9+. That means either an Exynos 9810 Octa: Octa-core (4x2.7 GHz Mongoose M3 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A55) and Mali-G72 MP18 GPU in most places or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: octa-core CPU (4x2.7GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4x1.7GHz Kryo 385 Silver) and Adreno 630 GPU in the US and China.

There is, however, a higher tier RAM option of 8GB. The base option, still sitting at a hefty 6GB. We won't really get into the whole RAM usability argument on Android. However, if you do opt for the higher-tier Note9, you also get 512GB of on-board storage. That's also good news for the base model, which now gets 128GB. Apparently, Samsung felt that users are starting to film more and more 4K video, so the extra storage is necessary. We can't really complain.

There is also a microSD slot, which Samsung has certified for up to 512GB cards. That's what allows the PR department to toss around impressive claims of up to 1TB of mobile storage. These are definitely true, as long as you can afford the eye-watering price tag of a microSD card, that big.

Another mobile trend, Samsung is clearly aware of is the increasing popularity of Android gaming. The Galaxy Note9 is distinctly better than its predecessors in this area, thanks to a number of things, including the stereo speaker setup and hefty 4,000 mAh battery. There is also another, behind the scenes improvement, Samsung is bringing attention to.

The Galaxy Note9 has an improved heat-pipe cooling design, to combat thermal-throttling and facilitate long gaming sessions. As per Samsung's reps, the Note 9 has a "water carbon cooling system" with 3 times bigger pipes than the Galaxy S7's setup. This, allegedly, results in 20-ish percent faster cool-down times on the Note9, compared to the Note8.

Now, we would love to properly test that claim, but that can only happen once we get a review unit at the office. Plus, this comparison, in particular, seems kind of flawed, to begin with, given that the Note8 uses a totally different pair of chipsets.

Regardless, we will definitely put the Note9 through its paces, even though we don't expect to see drastically different performance numbers, compared to the Galaxy S9+. Even on-screen frame rates should be rather identical, given that both phones use the same 1440 x 2960 pixel resolution.