Is the Galaxy Note 9 a Phone

Welcome to T3's full, starred, Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review. This is the culmination of my weeks-long reviewing process that has seen me analyse every part of the flagship handset, all in society to see if it is the all-time Android phone in the world, likewise equally if information technology does enough to enter our prestigious best smartphone buying guide.

This full Samsung Annotation 9 review, therefore, covers every aspect of the handset, and is cleaved down into the cadre scoring sections of design and build quality, hardware and screen, camera and S Pen, battery and audio, as well as Bixby AI assistant, features and Bone.

For shoppers looking to weigh up the phone in calorie-free of a brilliant discount in the 2019 Black Friday deals auction, this is without doubt a great way to kickoff discovering if the Annotation 9 is the perfect phone for you, as it leaves no stone un-turned in analysing this phone's hardware and features.

So, to observe out if the Notation ix is better than Samsung's other 2018 flagship phones, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, too as if it can fend off tearing challenges from rival devices like the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, read on.

First up, though, I'll cover the Samsung Galaxy Notation 9's price, models, and availability.

Samsung Galaxy Annotation ix review: cost, models and availability

The Samsung Milky way Notation 9 price is £899 ($i,000) for the entry level model, and £ane,099 ($1,250) for the tiptop spec model.

The two models are specced identically aside from the included RAM and internal storage space, with the base model packing 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space, and the top spec model coming with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is available in three colourways, Midnight Black, Ocean Blueish (the model reviewed), and Lavendar Majestic.

The new Galaxy Note 9 is available to purchase from a variety of retailers, including Samsung'southward official online store, John Lewis, Amazon, Currys PC Earth, Carphone Warehouse, and Selfridges.

Samsung is currently running a promotion where you tin trade in certain phones to become a discount on ordering the Note nine. Instance price deductions range from -£400 for a Milky way Note viii 64GB, -£350 for a iPhone 7 128GB, and -£100 for a Pixel ii 128GB. Many more than phones are included, likewise, from a range of makers.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review: design and build quality

Open the Samsung Milky way Annotation 9 box and the showtime thing you observe when lifting the phone out of its internal cradle is just how dense the device feels in the hand.

Despite its slimline design, with its total dimensions measuring in at 161.9 ten 76.4 x viii.8 mm, the Note nine in no fashion feels lite, plasticky or hollow, which a few other flagships have done in 2018 with displeasing results.

Look at the spec sail, though, and that premium feel is backed up past a substantial 201-gram weight, which even outweighs technical build-quality leaders similar the HTC U12 Plus, which itself felt very premium in the hand.

The actress weight could very well come courtesy of the device's enlarged four,000 mAh bombardment, which is far larger in capacity than its predecessor's, which was just iii,300 mAh.

Rival makers' best efforts at a premium wait and feel are blown away by the new Milky way Note nine

This combination of thinness and density means the Note nine merely exudes quality in terms of feel, while its dripping-with-luxe six.4-inch Infinity Display (more on that tomorrow) completes the parcel – rival makers' best efforts at a premium look and feel are blown away by the new Galaxy Notation 9.

Aye, the Annotation ix does look and feel similar to the Samsung Galaxy Notation viii , and if y'all put the phones side-by-side screen up so they are nearly identical to look at.

However, when you get close-upwardly, and peculiarly when you clock the re-positioned fingerprint reader on the backplate, which is now positioned below the photographic camera lenses rather than to their right, the pocket-size improvements Samsung has fabricated on this new Annotation become more axiomatic.

In terms of physical layout of the buttons and stylus port, which now houses the new and improved version of Samsung'due south S Pen, it is business as usual. Aforementioned, likewise, with the device's headphone jack (yep, Samsung continues to buck the trend on the wireless only sound push) and SIM card / microSD card slot, which remains on the elevation left of the phone.

In terms of frame, the Notation 9 features a brushed metal exterior frame that merges near-seamlessly with the telephone's Gorilla Glass screen and backplate. This feels smooth and cool nether the skin, and is only interrupted by the Note ix'south various ports and cooling / audio vents.

Lastly, an additional point to annotation about the Notation 9'south build quality is that the device is as well IP68 water and dust resistant, which for a device that costs nearly £900 in its base of operations configuration are qualities that are definitely most welcome. In no way should this device like this ever come up into contact with water, or large piles of dust, just it feels expert to know that the telephone has this official certification in its locker.

Samsung Milky way Note 9 review: screen and hardware

Despite all those stories about rival parts makers snapping at Samsung'due south heels in the construction of AMOLED displays, the half-dozen.4-inch Super AMOLED installed on the Notation 9 reminds you, if anything, that those competitors are nevertheless streets behind the South Korean maker.

The xviii:v:9 Infinity Display on the Annotation 9 is, simply put, a stone-cold stunner and the all-time smartphone screen in the world right now.

Its super size, despite the detest spewed by large phone naysayers, is a thing of iPhone-beating beauty, with its rich and vibrant colour reproduction, stiff brightness, high-resolution (1,440 x ii,960, 516 ppi) picture sharpness, HDR back up, and lush curved glass absolutely destroying the competition.

The Note 9's screen'south allegiance, vibrancy, and real-estate are only unparalleled.

I thought the screen on last year's Notation 8 was very potent, and the unit installed on the Samsung Milky way S9 Plus equally stunning, merely the slightly taller console fixed into the Note ix is – marginally – the all-time of the lot. Its fidelity, vibrancy, and real-estate are simply unparalleled.

From streaming HDR movies from Netflix, to enjoying a couple of rounds of intense paw-to-mitt gainsay in Dragon Ball Legends, to reading the fine, fine content on T3.com, and onto taking notes and taking some time out to pen some ballsy illustrations with the Note 9's S Pen digital stylus, this phone's screen makes information technology an absolute pleasance.

In terms of hardware, the Notation 9 is right up at that place in terms of 2018'south flagship Android phones, and definitely at the same level of Samsung'southward own Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus flagships, which both vacuumed upward 5 stars from T3.com when we reviewed it.

The new entry-level spec Galaxy Notation comes packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 128GB of storage infinite (a 512GB version costs more), 6GB of RAM (this is increased to 8GB on the 512GB storage model), and a four,000 mAh battery.

Running the phone through GeekBench 4, as you lot would expect, it returned very salubrious scores, notching 3,750 in a unmarried-core test, and 9,016 in multi-core. These are scores that, OnePlus half dozen aside, are top of the Android tree. And, perchance with the actress 2GB of RAM installed on the higher-spec Note nine, the absolute king.

The Note 9 cements the series' reputation every bit a technical leader in the smartphone field.

In terms of RAM, CPU, and storage this compares either identically or very, very similarly to many of this twelvemonth's best flagship phones, including the Sony Xperia XZ2, OnePlus six, HTC U12 Plus, and LG G7 ThinQ, while arguably chirapsia final twelvemonth'southward iPhone X quite comfortably on paper.

Concluding year'southward Galaxy Note eight was a similar technical powerhouse, as you lot would expect from a phone that has a heritage of technical excellence (perhaps aside from the Galaxy Note 7 and its battery issues), and while you could contend that the Note 9 doesn't evangelize a spec that reaches boldly into the future, it does evangelize an excellent all-round package.

Every bit yous would wait from such a flagship-grade internal hardware suite, using the Note 9 is a rapid, fluid experience: I experienced zero slow-downward or lag while opening and using apps, playing games, switching usage modes (such equally when using the Due south Pen), downloading content and browsing the net.

To exist honest that level of performance should admittedly to exist expected at £899, though.

Overall, so, the Note 9 is a technical juggernaut in terms of screen and internal hardware, with the device cementing the series' reputation equally a technical leader in the smartphone field.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review: camera and South Pen

If y'all want to have a good thought of how the Note 9's camera arrangement performs yous should wait to the Galaxy S9, which it has inherited its dual-aperture rear photographic camera features from.

The Annotation nine features a brace of 12MP rear camera lenses and a single 8MP front camera lens.

The dual-aperture rear setup allows the Note 9 to switch between an f/1.5 discontinuity for depression-light photography, and then a f/2.iv aperture for regular lighting atmospheric condition, granting the phone excellent adjustability when shooting, especially when weather condition become clouded or dark, or when the lite is flat.

The secondary rear photographic camera on the back of the Annotation 9 also comes packing a 2x optical zoom, allowing for some pretty decent zoomed in, telephoto-style shots. Both rear cameras come packing optical image stabilisation, besides, which I find most useful when pulling out the phone to take quick snapshots.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 camera samples

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Samsung Galaxy Note ix photographic camera samples

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Samsung Milky way Note nine photographic camera samples

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Moving round to the front of the Annotation nine, the 8MP front camera now comes loaded with a start for the Note series, a front-facing camera with autofocus, which if anything helps to exploit the other major new innovation this yr, the Bluetooth-packing S Pen digital stylus (more than on that before long).

In terms of shooting modes it is concern every bit usual for Samsung, with a dump truck-load of shooting options available, including Auto, Pro, Panorama, Live Focus, Super Irksome Motion (960 fps at 720p) and AR Emoji/Selfie. There's also a new scene-optimiser congenital-in, too, which can automatically adjust images in terms of colours, sharpness, and dissimilarity.

AR Emoji, which was such a big play on the Samsung Galaxy S9 serial, is back on the Note 9 but at present with a few extra avatar customisation options.

As you tin can see from the image beneath, creating your AR Emoji with the Note 9's photographic camera system is super easy, with yous merely plonking your face up in a capture circle, then sitting dorsum for 5 seconds while the arrangement builds your virtual you.

As with the S9, though, the results from my reviewing feel remain sketchy and a little too generic that what I would ideally want. For some reason the organisation kept making me look like David Duchovny, which while not a bad thing, did seem to highlight the limitations of the system. I also got a few colleagues here at T3 to create avatars, too, and they were equally sketchy every bit well.

At least the process is fast, though, and when you've created your avatar they are then added to your emoji list in the Note 9'due south menu organization meaning you can easily call upon them and insert them into messages.

Lastly, while the Annotation 9 offers many video recording options in terms of resolution and frame charge per unit, with the telephone topping out at 4K, 60fps, it doesn't support HDR recording like, say, the Sony Xperia XZ2. Information technology'due south super slow-motion recording capability, too, remains impressive, with footage capturable at 960fps at a 720p resolution, that is also beaten by the XZ2's 960fps at 1080p recording capabilities.

Overall, though, I think it fair to say the Note 9 is a picture-taking, video-recording powerhouse, offering a plethora of shooting options and modes that will entreatment to phone and camera enthusiasts in equal measure.

I of the unique weapons that the Note series has had in its armoury for years is its inclusion of a stylus. And in the Notation 9, Samsung has taken the stylus to a higher new level, that markedly separates information technology even from last year'due south Galaxy Notation 8.

This time round the stylus has in-built Bluetooth, which allows for some pretty darn neat shortcuts, including the power to open up the photographic camera app and take pictures remotely (cracking for selfies and wide-selfies; see below prototype) from up to xxx feet away.

You lot can flip the camera remotely, too, and likewise start and terminate recording video.

You lot tin also use the S Pen to first and stop sound tracks, with me easily able to break the Guardian Football Weekly podcast remotely, and also scan through photos and PowerPoint slides.

All these deportment are enacted past curt, long or double presses of the South Pen's button.

The Southward Pen does demand to exist charged, which is done when housed internally in the phone. However, only 40 seconds of charge time volition banking concern you effectually 30 minutes of standby battery, and so I tin can't envisage its tiny internal battery e'er running out of juice.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 — Extract the Southward Pen and you can quickly write on the screen. Or y'all tin can create hand-written notes and illustrations by creating a notation from the S Pen'southward bill of fare wheel.

I also establish its accuracy when taking notes or making illustrations to be very good, and it felt natural to use in my hand, and the stylus' ability to take notes, annotate screengrabs and photos, translate foreign text (you select the words with the S Pen on the screen), and ship Alive Letters, were genuinely useful.

I also liked the fact that the telephone'southward yellowish S Pen (I've been reviewing the Blue Ocean colourway, which comes the yellow stylus), which defaulted on the black screen with yellowish ink and stood out well.

Overall, then, the S Pen is far from a unproblematic gimmick on the Note ix and with this year'south addition of a Bluetooth connection has added some slap-up new functionality that, believe it or not, you'll probable find yourself using on a daily or at to the lowest degree weekly ground.

Samsung Galaxy Note ix review: battery and audio credentials

The battery installed in concluding yr's Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was, as we noted in our review, a "relatively pocket-size iii,300mAh" unit, which was even smaller than the battery installed on the Milky way S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, too.

This led to a less than stellar functioning return on the powerful, vi.3-inch screen equipped Annotation 8, which demanded power that its internal battery could actually merely deliver by the skin of its teeth.

This was nearly certainly downwards to the fiasco the South Korean maker had landed itself in the year before with the Note 7.

And then what about the Note 9? Well, the good news is that the new Milky way Notation comes packing a far more stiff 4,000mAh bombardment, which not merely feels more suitable for a super-powerful flagship phone with massive 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen, but also far more competitive with its rival devices, too.

The Huawei P20 Pro, for example, packs a four,000mAh battery, and with rumours of the incoming Huawei Mate 20 Pro swinging an even larger bombardment than that, the Note 9 needed to compete in the same ball park.

GeekBench 4 battery test

[Partial belch, hour, screen dimmed]

Battery Score: 5,672

Confidence: Medium

Note 8 comparison score: 3,892

And, as yous tin see from the nearby boxout, when I ran the Note nine through the GeekBench 4 battery test, the phone went ahead a lodged a larger score than last year's entry, raking upwards v,672 points in comparison to the Notation 8'southward iii,892.

I was definitely heartened to encounter the Note nine posting a much stronger score, as while it doesn't arroyo the battery life male monarch, the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (a monstrous score of 6,059), it is now firmly eating at the top table, so to speak.

That said, information technology is important to note that GeekBench 4 returned an overall confidence score of "Medium" in terms of battery performance, though, and from my personal real-globe, day-to-day usage, my gut tells me that is correct.

I feel the Annotation 9 delivers a battery that tin can indeed go the "all-day" feel that is being officially touted past Samsung, and with medium mixed usage, too. Only my time with the Note ix has led me to the conclusion that unless yous employ the device very lightly, y'all'll rarely be able to comfortably extend that over into day two.

This isn't a massive issue, just as it isn't with the vast majority of smartphones, which like it or not, are notwithstanding very much locked in a daily recharge cycle, exist it in the evening or overnight.

However, for a telephone that prides itself on going big in everything, and beingness a productivity powerhouse, too, ideally I would want to encounter an even larger battery slotted in the Annotation 9.

You do become both Fast Charging and Fast Wireless Charging capabilities in the Notation 9, though, so at to the lowest degree refilling the telephone'southward tank is a rapid feel.

Moving on to audio credentials, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 comes packing a prepare of AKG tuned stereo speakers (these are loud and offer a petty more depth of sound compared to the Notation 8), Dolby Atmos audio support, an in-built equalizer forth with selectable UHQ upscaler and reverb-arific Concert Hall toggle, besides as the Adapt Sound system establish in the S9.

Flicking the switch improves definition and richness beyond the soundscape

The Adapt Audio arrangement, for those unfamiliar with the software, allows you to select sound profiles based on your historic period, or create a custom personalised contour by undertaking a hearing test (requires you to put on headphones).

We've seen plenty of other handsets recently enabled with Dolby Atmos audio, including the Razer Telephone, Nokia 6, iPhone X, and Huawei P20 Pro, among others, and equally on them flicking the switch improves definition and richness across the soundscape, even if the file isn't encoded for Atmos.

Naturally, for the full virtual surround sound effects that Atmos tin deliver, with 360-degree audio capabilities, you lot practise take to feed it compatible media.

Messing effectually with the phone'south equaliser also pays dividends when switching between, say, listening to song-heavy podcasts and electronic music albums, and if y'all have a portable DAC (check out the best DAC 2018), yous can go your audiophile on with hi-res or upscaled audio, too.

Overall, and then, I feel the Galaxy Note 9 does enough in the bombardment department without really pushing the boundaries of battery life, and delivers the aforementioned high-quality, audiophile-ready sound playback equally found on the S9 and a few other flagship Android phones.

Samsung Milky way Annotation 9 review: Bixby, features and OS

Bixby'due south back babe! And aside from yet sounding like ane of Bertie Wooster'due south chums, it returns to the Annotation 9 with its own dedicated, physical push yet in-tact.

The Note ix's Bixby button is located on the left hand side of the phone under the volume rocker, with a single press opening the AI banana's dwelling screen, where you can enter text commands, configure settings, and run through its tutorials, and a long printing taking you lot directly to vocalism command input.

Providing you enable the option, Bixby tin too exist raised with a "Hullo, Bixby" voice control, which worked for me like 8-9 out of 10 times while on exam. Every bit before, Bixby only recognises certain accents and dialects of US English, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese, though, then yous are still bang out of luck if you want to converse in another language.

Samsung says Bixby is smarter and better than ever, and it does feature enhanced functionality than before, such as greater learning capabilities that permit it to tailor its responses and suggestions for yous ameliorate (such every bit which eateries to recommend based on your past preferences).

Even so, I found Samsung'southward AI banana as patchy every bit ever when on test.

Many requests that I felt it would be able to handle it didn't register, or if it did register them, sometimes information technology would do random things that weren't peculiarly useful.

Asking, for example, "Howdy Bixby, how long volition information technology take me to get home today?" saw Bixby open up The Weather Channel, while reporting "I couldn't find the specific atmospheric condition you asked for, hither'due south the overall weather instead".

Ask Google Assistant, which is also available on the Note 9, the exact aforementioned question, and within a second a Google Maps box has opened with a time estimate to my house and a recommended route.

What'due south more, some of the more avant-garde features that Samsung demonstrated at the Annotation 9'southward Milky way Unpacked event, such equally the ability for Bixby to club y'all a taxi are not withal supported, with Bixby returning me the error message: "Lamentable, for now the function is non supported."

These limitations and inconsistencies, naturally, make you lean towards using Google Assistant. However, Samsung however does not allow you to customise the Bixby button, and so that you could use it to raise the more powerful, functional AI assistant.

Yes, there are ways to become circular this via third political party apps, however that is not an ideal scenario and really I don't experience y'all should exist dodging round something that seems like it would be pretty straightforward for Samsung to fix.

Overall, I feel if you lot play to Bixby's strengths, such as opening core organization apps, sending messages, performing music searches, setting reminders, checking the weather, and raising Samsung's own software like Samsung Health, then you'll get a pretty solid and consistent experience on Notation 9. But, stray exterior of them, and yous'll very speedily discover Bixby remains a work in progress.

Here'due south hoping those more avant-garde features get added to Bixby soon.

The Notation 9 runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box and, equally you would wait from a phone coming out in the shadow of the impending Android nine Pie launch, it runs similar a bug-free dream on the Notation 9.

The Samsung Experience software, which replaced the crude and unpopular Samsung TouchWiz from earlier Galaxy devices, has likewise reached an incredibly refined level on the Annotation 9, with information technology guiding you at all times with useful hints and pointers in how yous tin navigate the very open and complex operating system on offer.

Combined, Android 8.i Oreo, along with Samsung Experience and security platform Samsung Knox, deliver a rapid, secure mobile and computing environment, which hopefully will only be added to in terms of speed and security when the Notation 9 gets its inevitable Android 9 Pie update in a few months time.

The software partnering the Annotation 9's new South Pen digital stylus also syncs seamlessly with Oreo. Extracting the Southward Pen when the phone is unlocked causes a dedicated overlay to announced with a customisable app wheel, allowing y'all to quickly brand a note, or run an app. I have to confess that I added Football Manager Mobile 2018 to this most immediately (seriously, the Southward Pen is perfect for configuring your fake ix formation). And, talking of gaming…

A key piece of gaming software on the Annotation 9 is the launch-exclusive Fortnite third-person online PVP shooter past Epic Games.

Fortnite is playable at present on the Note 9, as well as other Galaxy devices from the Galaxy S7 and up, and I can confirm that it shows off the gaming power locked into the telephone very well, fifty-fifty if the install process to get there is slightly laboured past a non-Play Store standalone installer and patcher (I'd recommend checking for updates before you get out the business firm each morning, as otherwise your information programme is going to exist destroyed).

The brilliant and violent world of Fortnite is well shown off by the Note 9's vi.4-inch Super AMOLED screen, which also gives you plenty of real-estate to control your character accurately, and runs smoothly on the Snapdragon 845 CPU with 6GB of RAM combo.

This slick performance was carried over into other graphically impressive Android games, such as Tekken, Concluding Fantasy Xv Pocket Edition, and DBZ Legends.

Now expect, past this betoken nearly flagship Android phones run these games well, so the Note 9 certainly isn't in a league of its own or anything, only with its gorgeous, best telephone screen in the world Super AMOLED display, along with its impressive Dolby Atmos-toting sound, it definitely delivers a zero-compromise mobile gaming platform.

Samsung Milky way Annotation 9 review: verdict

With the Samsung Galaxy Notation ix picture at present fully viewable, I feel we are left with a device that is one of the very all-time Android smartphones in the world correct now.

And, that is despite the Note ix dropping the ball slightly with Samsung's half-baked Bixby AI assistant and merely competitive, not standout battery.

The Note 9 seems to have completed a transition from productivity powerhouse for work-orientated, smartphone enthusiasts, into simply a phone that excels across the board, delivering a slice of hardware that makes gaming, listening to music, and watching TV and movies, besides as mobile computing in all its forms, a no compromise experience.

Equally such, if yous can afford the Samsung Galaxy Note ix's admittedly high toll point, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 news, updates

3 May 2019: A new update is being pushed out to the Notation 9 which allows users to set a schedule for Nighttime Mode and switch to a wider field of view when taking selfies (from the default 68 degrees to fourscore degrees). This selfie mode first appeared on the Samsung Galaxy S10 phones and was brought to the Galaxy S9 in March. Sammobile tested the update and confirmed that it does non bring a night mode to the camera app – that's likely to stay an S10 exclusive for at present, at least.

sixteen May 2019: Good news everybody! Samsung is rolling out a new software update for the Milky way Note 9, which brings the very latest Android security patch to the handset. Right now the scroll-out is restricted to to Russian federation, French republic and Bulgaria, however other countries are presently expected to follow. If the update follows the one that was recently released for the Samsung Galaxy S9, then the changes should fix a series of 21 identified vulnerabilities. To check if y'all can get the update, head to the phone's Software update menu in the Note nine's settings and then select Download and install.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 vs Note viii: the productivity powerhouses head-to-caput