Samsung Goofs with the Galaxy Note 8 (Updated)
(Updates at the end of the article)
I’m a Samsung Galaxy Note fan. Have been since the Galaxy Note 2. The reason is simple. I’m a digital note-taker dating back to the days of the Tablet PC, scribbling notes on a variety of devices large and small along the way. Samsung’s Galaxy Note line has provided an ever improving series of smartphones with digital note-taking as a core feature. Yes, that includes a stylus, but that stylus comes in a small enough package with a large enough screen to allow me, with my note-taking needs, to do my work on a device that also functions quite capably as a small mobile computer.

When Samsung released the Galaxy Note 7, I picked up the device shortly after release, prepared to move on from a very beloved Galaxy Note 5. (Samsung skipped the number 6 in the lineup.)
Wow. The Galaxy Note 7 was one of the best smartphones I have ever held in my hand. Samsung made some nifty improvements in the note-taking capabilities, and the improvements in form factor and other areas were even more stunning. Most folks who experienced the Note 7 felt the same. Samsung had an explosive hit on its hand.
Of course we all know what happened. Galaxy Note 7s started exploding and got recalled. I returned my personal fire hazard. Samsung tried again. So did I. Second verse, same as the first, and I was back to using a Galaxy Note 5, while hoping Samsung would not discontinue the line as a consequence of the disaster it had on its hands and in customers’ pockets.
As good (and reliable) of a device as the Galaxy Note 5 is, when news of a Galaxy Note 8 started trickling out I began to get excited for a newer Note. That excitement cooled a bit with the release of Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8+. I just wasn't enamored of the taller profile of those devices. Once I got to fondle the S8s in a store that hesitancy was confirmed and I was less than excited. The effect of creating a larger display by extending the height did not feel good in my hands. Certainly not as compared to the Galaxy Note 7.
Please, I thought, don’t let Samsung go in this direction with the Galaxy Note 8. Samsung did. The newly announced Galaxy Note 8 does indeed stretch the device into a taller form factor (162.5 vs 153.5mm). I was disconcerted enough not to think about a pre-order based on what I was seeing, but given my interest in the Note lineup I was certainly willing to wait until I could put my hands on the device to see how it felt.
I got that opportunity over this past weekend as I traveled to a local Best Buy and got to fondle an inoperable Galaxy Note 8. I say inoperable because the device couldn’t be powered up. I was told that would be possible in the days to come. I’m not sure Best Buy, Samsung, or anyone is served well in that scenario, but hey, not my call.
Setting that aside, I was able to hold and fondle the non-working device enough to know that my visual dissatisfaction with the form factor translated to a tactile disappointment as well. Confirming my fears, the device is just too tall for my liking. Those with larger hands may feel differently, but to me the device just feels misshapened with the height of the phone feeling awkward. (The CNET photo below I think shows that off well.)

In addition the placement and design of the buttons is a puzzler. Samsung continues the premium glass and metal materials approach of recent generations, but the way those buttons protrude and their placement make the device feel cheap and clunky in my hands. Combined with the awkward length/height of the device the difference between the feel of the Note 7 and the Note 8 is like following a glass of fine wine with a swig of Mad Dog 20/20.
Addressing the size issue, keep in mind that Samsung gets credit for the popularity of “phablet” sized phones after introducing the original Galaxy Note. Samsung has led us into a field of large smartphones and its continued evolution of the Note form factor has been about finding the right combination of look, feel, and performance as it continued to innovate and improve on the original. In my opinion, each new Note generation did improve on the last. Earlier versions were indeed wider and for many required two hands when using the device without a stylus because of that width. Samsung kept cutting down the width to make reaching across the width of the display easier, but by stretching the height, Samsung has made one-handed navigation next to impossible again.
Samsung reached a pinnacle of design with The Galaxy Note 7. That device felt great in my hands, it was beautiful to look at, and the performance was outstanding. In most cases I could use the device one-handed when I wasn’t using the stylus. That stylus and inking improvements were a large step forward. Many others agreed with those observations.
We won’t know about the Galaxy Note 8's performance and other features for a bit yet as we’ve seen nothing but first-look quickie reviews of the devices. For the same reason we also won’t know about how well the new digital note-taking features really work, though they look impressive. That said, and in my view following one fondling session, I know that Samung has goofed enough with the form factor design of the Galaxy Note 8 to make me play a much longer wait and see game before I consider a purchase.
I don’t mind paying a premium price for a Galaxy Note smartphone given how I depend on the stylus. I do mind paying that premium (and an increased one at that) for a next generation device that feels clunkier and less manageable than the previous one.

UPDATE: I did some more fondling in local stores over this past Labor Day Weekend. (In the stores I ventured into at least the smartphones were turned on this time around.) My views as stated above still stand. Perhaps more to the point of the raison d’être of the Samsung Galaxy Note line of devices, my experimenting makes me question the button placement/stretched form factor even more. FOR MY HANDS (your mileage may vary) the best way to hold this elongated smartphone while using the stylus comfortably finds my hand resting directly around the buttons, causing inadvertent button presses.
With the Note 5, and as I remember it the Note 7, this was not an issue as my hand found natural grabbing zone just below buttons on either side of the phone. If I try to hold the Note 8 with my hands below the buttons, the taller size makes the newer design feel out of balance, giving me less control of the stylus on the screen.
