With the disastrous fallout from the exploding Note 7 fiasco now well and truly behind it, Samsung has moved on.
The company is now onto its second version of the Note since the 7, the latest being called the Note 9.
Phablets aren’t for everyone. But those that like them, tend to love them.
The Note range is credited with being the original phablet – the device that spawned a whole new category.
But is it still the best?
DESIGN:
Like its predecessor the Note 9 is a premium attractive looking device.
It uses the now signature Samsung Infinity Display – a glass covered design with curved edges front and back.
The iris scanner, sensors and front camera are neatly tucked under the upper edge.
That means there’s no "notch" to speak of, but equally the screen doesn’t quite cover the entire front of the device, with a small bezel top and bottom.
The dimensions of the device have changed a little – it is fractionally wider and shorter – but that has little or no impact on the overall user experience either way.
It does, however, remain a big device. Not big heavy (actually it feels pretty light to hold) but big in the hand, especially small hands.
Another change is that the fingerprint scanner has shifted position on the rear and is now placed directly underneath the camera.
That’s still likely to create smudging, particularly given its small size. But overall the position is better on the Note 9 than 8.
There’s a Bixby button on the left side below the volume rocker, and the power button remains on the right.
Samsung has kept the 3.5inch audio socket, which will be important to some.
The top edge is where the microSD card slot lies.
DISPLAY:
The screen on the Note 9 is, frankly, enormous.
But if that’s your thing you’ll love it, because the quality of the display is exceptional.
In size terms it is fractionally larger than the Note 8, measuring in at 6.4 inches.
The screen isn’t quite bezel-less, as is the trend these days, but it is very close, with a thin black strip top and bottom and along the edges.
The Infinity Display’s Quad HD+ Super AMOLED screen is familiar but still superb.
Colours are bold and vibrant, blacks are inky deep and whites brilliant.
The screen itself is extremely sensitive to the touch of the finger and the S-Pen.
It is a perfect canvass for the multi-tasking tool that the Note 9 is meant to be – from video to note taking to picture editing to gaming.
There’s also an Always On display which can be customised with widgets and can show notifications.
CAMERA:
The screen isn’t the only thing on the Note 9 that’s inherited, but excellent.
The camera setup is also almost completely borrowed from the Galaxy S9 Plus, save for a few software tweaks, and that is a good thing.
That means you get a dual aperture unit for the main camera set up, with a 12MP wide angle lens and another 12MP telephoto lens, with dual optical image stabilisation.
As a result, you can reap all the benefits including taking photos with the bokeh effect and avail of 2X optical zoom.
It also boasts a number of other intelligent features, including a scene optimiser that identifies elements of a photo, such as scene and subject, to automatically classify it into one of 20 categories and instantly optimise it based on the category.
There’s also Flaw Detection built in, which lets users know if the first shot is blurry, overly exposed by backlight or there’s a blinking eye, so they can take another picture without losing the moment.
The overall result is an excellent camera experience that produces high quality shots in a range of light conditions.
The front camera has an 8MP sensor, which takes excellent selfies. That process is made easier with the S-Pen, which enables you to trigger the selfie camera shutter remotely.
The Note 9 also has the gimmicky AR emoji feature, which lets you create an emoji avatar based on your own appearance.
PERFORMANCE:
The Note 9 is exceptionally well powered.
Under the bonnet is the Samsung Exynos 9810 – the same chip as the Galaxy S9, but an improvement on the Note 8.
That, combined with the entry level of 6GB of RAM and 128GB of on board memory, makes the device trot along with few lags or delays.
Upgrade to the 8GB RAM version which has 512GB of memory and you will enjoy lightening fast pace, with few tasks capable of slowing it.
There’s a microSD card slot that enables the device’s memory to be expanded by another 512GB – yes people, that’s a maximum available memory on the Note 9 of 1TB.
The battery has had an upgrade too. It is now a 4,000mAh unit, up from the 3300mAh on the Note 8 which was a little underwhelming.
The extra power, coupled with the efficient performance of the processor, means you’ll rarely have to reach for the charger or turn on power saving features at the end of the day, even after heavy use.
And if you do need to top up, you can avail of fast charging and wireless charging.
OTHER FEATURES:
The device has an IP68 rating making it dust and waterproof, up to 1.5 metres for 30 minutes.
You’ll also have the option of using Samsung’s Knox security system to keep your data safe.
There are multiple biometric options for unlocking the phone, including iris, face recognition and fingerprint scanning.
The AKG speakers couple with Dolby Atmos make for a rich audio experience – well, as rich as a small device can be.
One of the stand-out features of the Note 9 is the S-Pen.
For the first time, it is now Bluetooth enabled, with the result that you can use it as a remote control for the device, like for example taking photos or moving slides on.
Charging it is easy – just 40 seconds back inside the Note 9 will give another 30 minutes use.
I’m not much of a stylus user, but the S-Pen is genuinely useful for jotting notes, and controlling the device with customisable options.
The user interface on top of the Android 8.1 that runs the Note 9 is easy to navigate and intuitive.
CONCLUSION:
The Note 9 looks great, it performs well, the display and camera are outstanding, it is packed with features and the S-Pen is suddenly very useful.
There’s not a huge amount new, and yet there’s very little to fault the Note 9, it seems.
Except, there’s a catch. It is very, very expensive. €950 expensive, and that’s just the entry level version.
In fact so expensive is the 8GB/512GB model that operators here don’t appear to be planning to stock it.
You get a lot of bang for your buck for that and let’s face it, if it’s that kind of device you are after and you have the money, then if you don’t buy a Note 9 your other options like the iPhone X or Galaxy S9 Plus are all going to cost you similar amounts.
But it is an awful lot of cash.
A powerful product, for power users at a significant price.
Comments welcome via Twitter to @willgoodbody
