My view of the Galaxy Note8

Is it really worth the hype?

Anthony Kiplimo
Aug 24, 2017 · 4 min read

Well this isn’t one of those posts that are praising Samsung. Far from it. I always recommend Samsung phones not because of anything but because support for them in this region is good and commendable. Their designs are good but only exciting if you’re in the S or Note line of phones. The rest are just okay. And that’s just it. It’s okay.

The Note8 was launched yesterday during the Galaxy Unpacked event in New York with Samsung being as flashy as always during their presentations. Of which I admit are lit. Would love to go for the Galaxy S9 one just to experience it. What they announced in my opinion is underwhelming. Usually the Note line was the big bad wolf of the Galaxy line but now it’s a game German Shepherd like the rest of them.

It sports a 6.3 inch display which is a hair thinner than the one on the Galaxy S8+ but sporting the same Infinity display that curves just slightly less than the S8 displays. This is to allow for more writing space for the S Pen which is largely unchanged from the ill fated Note7. Waterproofing makes a return. It’s basically now in every major flagship phone out there. Except the Essential phone and the Pixels. You also have the same processors and internals as the S8+(Snapdragon 835) except for the standard 6GB of RAM. You also have a slightly smaller battery than the S8+ which is ridiculous considering this is supposed to be Samsung 's beast device.

Software remains unchanged with Samsung pushing for Bixby to be used more on its devices. Bixby Voice has rolled out to more than 200 regions. They want it to coexist alongside Google Assistant to prevent any unwanted lash back from Google itself. Bixby is hit or miss as you might see from various reviews on the Internet but all the same it has something special to offer. It can control your phone with your voice meaning you can have it perform deep functions within Apps without having to actually use your thumbs. That’s cool.

Because of the slightly bigger screen they’re adding a function on the Edge menu that allows you to start two Apps and having them launch into splits screen mode. Super cool and super useful if you’re a heavy multitasking guy. I am but I don’t use split screen all that much if I’m to be honest.

What I see as a big thing is the cameras on the Note8. Two 12MP cameras sit at the back. One is an f/1.7 wide angle lens while the second is a telephoto f/2.4 lens which means you have that artificial bokeh effect in tow as well as some cool wide angle shots. It’s a better use of the camera than Huawei 's RGB and monochrome sensor combination. They showed off some of the camera’s prowess during the presentation and no one should have a doubt about the ability of this camera duo.

So what are my final thoughts on the Note8. But it if you can. It’s the top of the range phone that will cost about $1000 or Ksh 100,000. Should you spend that much on a phone in 2017? Heck no. For the same price you can get two base model OnePlus 5s. And you can still get the Galaxy S8+ at about $200 or Ksh 20,000 less. Moreover if it’s new phones we’re looking at we have the LG V30 and Huawei Mate 10 that are also being released soon that in my opinion are far better buys than the Note8. Apple is also set to launch the iPhone 8 of which might cost about the same and you don’t have the gimmicks to go along with it. So, no Samsung. I don’t think I’d jump on the Note8 hype train.


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