The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has made its present felt, and how. Being the super-flagships that it is known for, the handset brings in the best of the Galaxy S line, and notches the productivity factor up. As is the tradition, Samsung have made the Note 8 bigger, more powerful and have taught it a few new tricks. Here are the five big takeaways from the Note 8 launch:
A screen that’s ahead of the curve
Looking at the Note 8 at first, might make fans concerned, especially since the screen’s curvature seems subtler, compared to its S8 siblings. While there is still the curve on the phone’s screen, it has been toned down a little, in order to make the screen more suited for drawing over with the S Pen stylus. The Infinity Display is still retained, but Samsung has recessed its presence in order to provide for infinite functionality when paired with the stylus. The phone’s 6.3-inch. Quad-HD AMOLED display is now narrower than its predecessors, following suit with the current trend in flagship smartphones.
It is Samsung’s most powerful handset to date
Just like the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Note 8 offers the latest and greatest in hardware in the current generation, offering the Exynos 8895 processor for international markets, and the Snapdragon 835 for the US market. For the first time, the Note 8 will be featuring 6GB of RAM to handle tasks, and will also come with 64GB/128GB/256GB of in-built storage along with expandability via microSD card. Samsung has taken extra care of the phone’s battery as well, with a conservative 3,300mAh unit. Whether this will be enough to satiate the power of the device for a full day can only be proven in real world tasks.
Dual cameras, finally
The Note 8 will also be Samsung’s first to feature dual cameras. And while the competitors make their modules feature one monochromatic sensor and one colored, Samsung has instead opted for one wide-angle sensor and one telephoto sensor. Both are 12MP cameras, with the former featuring f/1.7 aperture and the latter having an f/2.4 aperture. Both cameras can be used at once in order to save time and offer shots with depth and clarity. In first, the Note 8 is also the only phone right now, to feature optical image stabilization for both its camera sensors at the back.
It is still the undisputed multi-tasking king
Apart from the typical plethora of multi-tasking features that the Note line has started over the years, the Note 8 not only retains all of them, but also adds a few more layers of dexterity under the hood. Users will now be able to open two apps at once so they are opened in their split screen mode, saving the hassle for users to manually use split-screen. The Note 8 can pair any two apps together, and can also be launched simultaneously by the user if they should choose. Especially for those who like referencing and note taking, this will be a useful feature. With the S Pen, users will now be able to handwrite animated messages that can be shared as GIF files with contacts. The new Translate feature will also allow the S Pen to translate up to 71 languages of text wherever highlighted. The Screen Off memo app has also received an improvement, where in users will now be able to take up to 100 pages of notes.
It is still flawed
The handset, despite performing near identical to the S8 and S8+, also shares their quirks. The Note 8 now features the specially programmed Bixby button that cannot be re-mapped, forcing users to deal with Bixby whether they like it or not. Even the fingerprint sensor on the back, which was hoped to have been moved to the centre this time around, is again located just next to the rear cameras, making it difficult to accurately place one’s finger without smudging the camera lenses by accident.
The Note 8’s availability and pricing is not yet confirmed by Samsung, but even as the S8+ comes with the price tag of somewhere around $700, it is expected that the Note 8 will cost a lot more, with speculations and rumors suggesting an imminent price-tag of $1,000. All things considered, the Note 8 seems like a fitting addition to the Samsung portfolio, and will no doubt, be compared to the upcoming and even more anticipated iPhone 8.
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