Samsung Galaxy Note 9: If Samsung in 2018, then the
15.10.2018
Translation: machine translated
Video: Stephanie Tresch
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 does a lot of things right. And a lot of fun. But the big question is: why does the Note series still exist? A radical proposal in a review.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 does everything right that this year's S series messed up. The S9 and S9+ are solidly good phones, but they lack the wow effect and the reason why users should upgrade from the S8. The battery is too weak, the camera is okay, but not the best.
At least Samsung has got its act together with the battery. With its 4000 mAh, the Note 9 has enough stamina to get through a normal working day and perhaps get a bit of an evening out. The S9 became a paperweight shortly before the end of the working day, and the Plus version was used for an after-work beer or after sport.
The Note 9, on the other hand, easily lasts a day, even when used by power users. A day and a half even. The battery performed flawlessly in both my test and that of video producer Stephanie Tresch.
The screen is the highlight
The quality of the screen is rarely mentioned in reviews. Somehow it always sounds something like this: "AMOLED and that's fine, anyone who wants something else has a slight distortion of taste. Full stop. Done." With the Note 9, however, Samsung has done a great job. The colours are rich and bright without the screen ever becoming garish or even hurting the eyes. The colours are soft and powerful at the same time. I have no idea how Samsung managed this, but the South Korean company has outdone itself here.
Whether you're texting or watching Netflix, the screen always looks great. This makes working with the Note 9 a real pleasure. Because you don't always need oversaturated colours or the neon look that we don't know we're exposed to.
The 6.4-inch screen is thinner than that of the S9+ so you can work better with the redesigned S Pen. The pen has some new features that are hardly useful in everyday use, but make perfect sense in the context of a power or business user. The pen can now be connected to the device via Bluetooth and you can control the Note 9 from a distance of around ten metres. By default, the pen is set as follows:
- One click: Camera takes a photo
- Two clicks: Switch between front and main camera
This could be the end of the selfie where the photographer's arm takes up about a third of the picture. And even if you think that's just gugus, it's nice to see that Samsung is thinking further than just "here pen, done". You can define further actions in the settings. That makes it fun. The pen is also extremely helpful when it comes to employees and working with text. Marking and so on is extremely easy.
Source: Dominik Bärlocher
I have to admit, however, that I mainly used the S Pen to draw pigs and send them to colleagues. Why piggies? Look at my great drawing above and tell me: Why not?
This thing slips and looks bad
A little warning: the Note 9 is heavy. It weighs 201 grams and is therefore heavy enough to slip off, even if you place it calmly and seemingly stable on a slightly inclined surface. I rarely drop the phone, but Stephanie is the kind of person who likes to do concussive testing. Planned and deliberate, of course. We strapped an Otterbox to the device to ensure that it remained intact during her tests.
This makes the phone even heavier, but easier to grip. I like the slipperiness of phones, Stephanie likes grip. But if I dropped phones all the time, like a video producer who doesn't want to be named, then I would definitely be in favour of a case.
Short test of the Otterbox: Fits. The phone becomes a brick, but also indestructible. You quickly get used to the case and it's still a long way from becoming a brick like a Cat S61. What's more, there's hardly a situation in life that can't be improved with otters.
Furthermore, facial recognition is weak for people who wear glasses. Obviously, Samsung's face recognition is poor at abstracting glasses with thicker rims. If you have wireframe glasses, it works fine, but it's difficult with horn-rimmed glasses or hipster glasses. Sunglasses don't work at all.
Thinking outside the box: Why the Note series still exists
After testing, the question arises: Why does the Note series still exist? After the debacle with the exploding Note 7 in 2016, I thought that Samsung would be wary of launching another phone with the Note name on the market. The Note 8 saved the series' reputation. Amazing.
But then the S series phones got bigger and bigger. The S9+ is currently 6.2 inches diagonally, the Note 9 6.4 inches. That's a difference in diagonal of 0.508 centimetres. Is it still worth it? The Note series has lost its reputation as a "gigantic phone" or phablet - whoever introduced this dreadful term should be standing on a Lego brick. Hence my radical suggestion: do away with the name "Note" and let the Plus range of the S series become what the Note is today.
There are several reasons for this. Above all, the Plus would actually offer considerable added value. The normal S-without-Plus would then be a solid phone, without all the bells and whistles. AMOLED, Infinity Display, good camera. Fits. The Plus, on the other hand, would have the S-Pen, a killer camera and a screen that will make you melt. Then you have the choice between "small and solid" and "big and great", of course with a corresponding price tag, which is then more justifiable.
There is currently no good reason why you need to buy an S9+ or a phone from the S Plus series. Because if you generally want more from a phone, then the Note series is the least you want. But the S Plus devices are like "a small phone in a big way", and just having a dual cam as opposed to a single cam at the back doesn't necessarily convince me to buy one. Especially not when I know that a few months later, a device will come along that really offers more, has plenty of power and a killer screen. Will I then buy a Plus? Probably not. I'll wait for the Note. Because the name of the S9 or S10 alone will only be able to survive with brand recognition for so long before power users demand more. Or until the occasional user raises their expectations. Demands that the market itself awakens with its urge to develop new products.
Because if you want to buy a Samsung phone this year, it's the Note 9. There's no reason to buy the S9, because the Note 9 simply does everything the S series does better.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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