Samsung Note 8 updates: Full Specs And Review
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Samsung Note 8; the successor to the discontinued Note 7 which was also known for its exploding issue that led to the recall of over 2 million units of the phone within weeks of launching. Apart from the S-pen, which is the signature of "Samsung Notes", both Note 7 and Note 8 have other similar features such as USB type-C, 64GB base storage, 3.5mm audio jack and so on. However, there are new and interesting features of Note 8, these also include enhanced S-pen;
Refined S-Pen: From Artworks to the handwritten messages, Samsung Notes' S-pens are handy tools of writers and artists. However, with its 4096 pressure levels and 0.7mm tip, unlike any other, Note 8's S-pen has the precision and accuracy of a good pen and fine tip of a drawing tool. Another interesting aspect of the S-pen is that without unlocking your phone i.e. when in standby mode, you can quickly write and safe a few notes as they pop-up in your mind.
New design: Unlike S8 and S9 in which you can't readily spot the difference between them, note 8 is quite a change from note 7, and this is obvious in their designs. At a glance, the overall front design of S8 is the first thing you'll notice. The note 7's top bezel looks chunky in compare to the current slim one of note 8 and the entire bottom bezel (Chin) that houses Home button/fingerprint scanner in note 7 has been totally replaced with screen in note 8; thereby given once Note 7's 5.7" screen opportunity to become 6.3" in Note 8. As a result, The place (that once housed the Home Button/Fingerprint sensor) has now been replaced with what some called pressure-sensitive Home Button or virtual Home Button, because there is no visible button there again.
Bixby Button: it's a dedicated hotkey, placed below Note 8 volume buttons on the left side of the phone, it is totally absent in note 7, it can only be found in recent flagship Samsung phones, and it is similar to Google Assistant hotkey in LG G7ThinQ. With the aid of voice-recognition technology, Samsung extends AI-driven features to Note 8 through Bixby app and the button. For instance, while press or holding down the Bixby button, through voice command, you can instruct the phone to open certain apps or adjust some settings in the phone for you.
Dual camera: while Note 7 came with single 12MP rear camera, note 8 has horizontally aligned two (12 MP each) rear cameras and it is the Samsung second phone to have dual camera after S9+. This dual camera allows you take Wide-angle pictures and also pictures with Bokeh effects. These cameras have other features such as an Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) that let you take steady picture if your hand is shaking. 2X optical zoom, which allows you to have a sharp photo of the subject that you zoom in from a distance. Also the low-light feature of the camera enable the phone to offer clear and bright pictures from the shots taken at night or in low light condition. And the front camera of the phone is 8MP.
Ample 6.3" screen with 18.5:9 aspect ratio: Despite its larger 6.3" QHD+ screen, note 8 looks more beautiful than Note 7's average screen size of 5.7" QHD. This is partly due to minimal presence of top and bottom bezels, and also, partly due to the 18.5:9 aspect ratio of Note 8 instead of regular 16:9 aspect ratio of Note 7. Although, the 18.5:9 make the phone narrower, even taller than note 7, the aspect ratio makes note 8 fit perfectly in the palm and it also makes the overall design appear more aesthetic than note 7.
Face recognition: Iris scanner and USB Type-C were introduced in Note 7, and their presence continues in Note8, Face recognition is another form of security features in Note 8 which can be found in the likes of S8 and S9. Also Bixby voice unlocking is another Note 8 security feature.
However, There are features of note 8 of which one would have expected Samsung to offer better performance on.
3300mAh Battery: I think 3300mAh battery is limiting for the phone, especially if the owner is a heavy user. Going by the phone larger 6.3" screen and its top of the line specs, Samsung was suppose to come up with a better battery capacity. Even note 7 with small 5.7" screen has 3500mAh capacity.
Bottom speaker: The bottom firing speaker of note 8 doesn't offer much output, though it's OK on its own, but compare to the speakers of phones like S9+ and LG G7thinQ, it doesn't offer much output power.
Awkward positioning of fingerprint sensor: Samsung has moved the fingerprint scanner from front (in Note 7) to the back of the phone in Note 8. It's now positioned at the right side of the dual cameras at the centre back of the phone, in fact 3 of them (Dual camera and the sensor) are horizontally aligned with a small space between them. Unfortunately, this small space is occupied by Heart Rate Monitor sensor and LED flash. In basic terms, the whole arrangements will remind you of fingerprint sensor of S8 in which many users complained that it cause smudges to the camera lens before Samsung eventually move it downward in S9.
The following are the full specs of Samsung Note 8;
Refined S-Pen: From Artworks to the handwritten messages, Samsung Notes' S-pens are handy tools of writers and artists. However, with its 4096 pressure levels and 0.7mm tip, unlike any other, Note 8's S-pen has the precision and accuracy of a good pen and fine tip of a drawing tool. Another interesting aspect of the S-pen is that without unlocking your phone i.e. when in standby mode, you can quickly write and safe a few notes as they pop-up in your mind.
New design: Unlike S8 and S9 in which you can't readily spot the difference between them, note 8 is quite a change from note 7, and this is obvious in their designs. At a glance, the overall front design of S8 is the first thing you'll notice. The note 7's top bezel looks chunky in compare to the current slim one of note 8 and the entire bottom bezel (Chin) that houses Home button/fingerprint scanner in note 7 has been totally replaced with screen in note 8; thereby given once Note 7's 5.7" screen opportunity to become 6.3" in Note 8. As a result, The place (that once housed the Home Button/Fingerprint sensor) has now been replaced with what some called pressure-sensitive Home Button or virtual Home Button, because there is no visible button there again.
Bixby Button: it's a dedicated hotkey, placed below Note 8 volume buttons on the left side of the phone, it is totally absent in note 7, it can only be found in recent flagship Samsung phones, and it is similar to Google Assistant hotkey in LG G7ThinQ. With the aid of voice-recognition technology, Samsung extends AI-driven features to Note 8 through Bixby app and the button. For instance, while press or holding down the Bixby button, through voice command, you can instruct the phone to open certain apps or adjust some settings in the phone for you.
Dual camera: while Note 7 came with single 12MP rear camera, note 8 has horizontally aligned two (12 MP each) rear cameras and it is the Samsung second phone to have dual camera after S9+. This dual camera allows you take Wide-angle pictures and also pictures with Bokeh effects. These cameras have other features such as an Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS) that let you take steady picture if your hand is shaking. 2X optical zoom, which allows you to have a sharp photo of the subject that you zoom in from a distance. Also the low-light feature of the camera enable the phone to offer clear and bright pictures from the shots taken at night or in low light condition. And the front camera of the phone is 8MP.
Ample 6.3" screen with 18.5:9 aspect ratio: Despite its larger 6.3" QHD+ screen, note 8 looks more beautiful than Note 7's average screen size of 5.7" QHD. This is partly due to minimal presence of top and bottom bezels, and also, partly due to the 18.5:9 aspect ratio of Note 8 instead of regular 16:9 aspect ratio of Note 7. Although, the 18.5:9 make the phone narrower, even taller than note 7, the aspect ratio makes note 8 fit perfectly in the palm and it also makes the overall design appear more aesthetic than note 7.
Face recognition: Iris scanner and USB Type-C were introduced in Note 7, and their presence continues in Note8, Face recognition is another form of security features in Note 8 which can be found in the likes of S8 and S9. Also Bixby voice unlocking is another Note 8 security feature.
However, There are features of note 8 of which one would have expected Samsung to offer better performance on.
3300mAh Battery: I think 3300mAh battery is limiting for the phone, especially if the owner is a heavy user. Going by the phone larger 6.3" screen and its top of the line specs, Samsung was suppose to come up with a better battery capacity. Even note 7 with small 5.7" screen has 3500mAh capacity.
Bottom speaker: The bottom firing speaker of note 8 doesn't offer much output, though it's OK on its own, but compare to the speakers of phones like S9+ and LG G7thinQ, it doesn't offer much output power.
Awkward positioning of fingerprint sensor: Samsung has moved the fingerprint scanner from front (in Note 7) to the back of the phone in Note 8. It's now positioned at the right side of the dual cameras at the centre back of the phone, in fact 3 of them (Dual camera and the sensor) are horizontally aligned with a small space between them. Unfortunately, this small space is occupied by Heart Rate Monitor sensor and LED flash. In basic terms, the whole arrangements will remind you of fingerprint sensor of S8 in which many users complained that it cause smudges to the camera lens before Samsung eventually move it downward in S9.
The following are the full specs of Samsung Note 8;
GENERAL
|
Maker
|
Samsung Mobile
|
|
Name
|
Samsung Note 8
|
|
Colours
|
Midnight Black, Orchid Grey and Maple Gold.
|
|
Weight (S Pen)
|
2.8g
|
|
Weight (Phone)
|
195g
|
|
Thickness
|
8.6mm
|
DISPLAY
|
Size and Type
|
6.3” Super Amoled Infinity Display
|
|
Resolution
|
Quad HD+(2960*1440 pixels)
|
|
Aspect ratio
|
18.5:9 (521ppi)
|
|
Protection
|
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
|
HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE
|
Processor
|
Snapdragon835/ Exynos 8895
|
|
Speed
|
2.3GHz, Octa-Core
|
|
RAM Memory
|
6GB
|
|
ROM Memory
|
64GB/128GB/256GB
|
|
MicroSD Slot
|
Yes, Up to 256GB
|
|
Bixby
|
Hotkey and AI digital Assistant
|
|
O.S
|
Android 7.1
|
SIM, NETWORK
AND CONNECTIVITY
|
SIM
|
Dual, Nano Sim.
|
|
Network
|
GSM, HSPA+ and LTE.
|
|
Connectivity
|
USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi, Location (GPS, Glonass), NFC.
|
CAMERA AND
MULTIMEDIA
|
Rear Camera (Dual)
|
12MP, AF, with f/1.7 And 12MP, AF, with f/2.4.
|
|
Front Camera
|
8MP, AF, with f/1.7
|
|
3.5mm Headphone Jack
|
Yes
|
|
Video Playing Formats
|
MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM.
|
|
Audio Playing Formats
|
MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, WAV, WMA, AMR, MID, MIDI, AWB, FLAC.
|
BIOMETRICS
AND SENSORS
|
Biometrics Security
|
Fingerprint Reader, Face Recognition, Iris Scanner.
|
|
Sensors
|
G sensor, Proximity Sensor, RGB Light sensor, Hall Sensor, HR Sensor,
Accelerometer, Barometer, Pressure Sensor.
|
BATTERY
|
Lithium-Ion
|
3300mAh
|
|
Non-Removable
|
Yes
|
|
Fast Charging
|
Yes
|
|
Wireless Charging
|
Yes
|
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