越来越多的用户喜欢拥有大而漂亮的高分辨率显示屏的大手机，例如 Google 的Pixel、OnePlus 6或 Apple 的iPhone X，但三星的旗舰Note 品牌(Note brand)（现已升级至第 9 版(version 9)）在大而美方面处于领先地位从几年前的Note 1开始。(Note 1)
当然，它之所以被称为“Note”，是因为它内置且执行良好的S Pen 手写笔，随着(S Pen stylus)Note 智能手机(Note smartphone)或平板手机的每次新迭代，它都会变得越来越好。除其他外，最新的S Pen确实令人印象深刻，Note 9本身也是如此。
优点：(Pros: )
- 美丽的高分辨率Super AMOLED 6.4 英寸显示屏
- S Pen成熟，包括蓝牙(Bluetooth)遥控器
- 内置人工智能的优秀相机
- 巨大的存储分配
- DeX 模式(DeX mode)，没有可选的扩展坞（您只需要一根HDMI 电缆和适配器(HDMI cable and adaptor)）
- 大电池，长寿命
- 快速地
- 令人印象深刻的构建质量
- 很棒的立体声
缺点：(Cons:)
- 昂贵
- 比克斯比仍然很烂
- 指纹读取器(Fingerprint reader)离相机太近
判决：(Verdict:)
三星旗舰Galaxy Note 9的价格可能与 iPhone X 一样高，但它在很多方面都物有所值，包括华丽的显示屏、超长的
电池续航时间(battery life)、Note 著名的S Pen、背面的双光圈智能摄像头等等。
Galaxy Note 9 规格(Galaxy Note 9
Specifications)
|
Battery
|
4,000 mAH
|
|
Battery Life (Hrs:Mins)
|
12:36
|
|
Colors
|
Lavender Purple, Ocean Blue, Cloud Silver, Midnight
Black
|
|
CPU
|
Snapdragon 845
|
|
Debut Price
|
$999 list (128GB), $1,249 list (512GB)
|
|
Display
|
6.4 inches Super AMOLED (2960 x 1440)
|
|
Front Camera
|
8 MP (f/1.7)
|
|
microSD
|
Up to 512GB
|
|
OS
|
Android 8.1 Oreo / Upgradeable to Android Pie
|
|
RAM
|
6GB or 8GB
|
|
Rear Camera
|
Dual 12 MP Cameras (f/1.5 and f/2.4)
|
|
Size
|
6.3 x 3 x 0.34 inches
|
|
Storage
|
128GB or 512GB
|
|
Weight
|
7.1 ounces
|
设计(Design)
Note 9的物理构造和外观并不是(build and appearance aren)真正的新(new)产品。最新款 Note 8 尺寸为 6.3 x 3.0 x 0.34 英寸 ( HWD )，重 7.1 盎司，除了比Note 8略大更重之外，最新款 Note 看起来非常像它的前身。
Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+非常相似。事实上，如果你不需要或不想要手写笔，Galaxy S9 or S9+都是有吸引力的、更便宜的替代品。
无论如何，让我们来看看Galaxy Note 9，从它极具吸引力、制作精良的铝制机箱(aluminum chassis)开始。这是一款外观光滑、手感极佳的手机，具有光滑、紧密、略微圆润的边缘和角落，接缝几乎无法察觉。
根据您购买的地点，您还可以选择鲜艳的颜色，包括薰衣草紫和海洋蓝(Lavender Purple and Ocean Blue)。Ocean Blue配备黄色S Pen ，在(S Pen)屏幕关闭备忘录(Screen-Off memo)模式下在显示屏上以黄色书写，而淡紫色型号配备(lavender model)一支使用紫色数字墨水的紫色钢笔 - 一种有趣(ink—an interesting)、低调的触感。
去年发布后不久，三星(Samsung)宣布推出新的Cloud Silver 和 Midnight Black 版本(Cloud Silver and Midnight Black versions)。Cloud Silver仅通过百思买(Best Buy)和三星(Samsung)自己的网站销售，而Midnight Black 型号(Midnight Black model)
将在所有零售商和运营商处销售，包括：AT&T、Verizon、
Sprint、T-Mobile和US Cellular。
右侧边缘(right edge)只有Power/Sleep/Awake button。在右侧边缘(right edge)，您会找到用于激活三星语音激活功能的按钮Bixby，类似于 iPhone 的 Siri 和 Windows 的 Cortona，以及音量控制，如下图所示。稍后我们将仔细查看Bixby和此按钮。
底部边缘包含耳机插孔、迷你 USB
charging/data connection port、重置针孔(reset pinhole)、立体声扬声器格栅，当然还有S Pen 隔层(S Pen compartment)，如图所示……
这种设计表明，三星(Samsung)在使手写笔不显眼并将其放在一边（S Pen可以在其中自行充电）方面拥有丰富的经验。
这种方法比 Apple 的 iPad Pencil巧妙得多——它无处可藏。当我更深入地谈论S Pen时，你会看到，Note 的手写笔很可能是最先进的数字笔。
Note 9的背面装有双光圈摄像头和
指纹识别器(fingerprint reader)，如下图所示。当然，前面还有一个摄像头。稍后也会深入讨论这些相机。
顶部边缘有一个隔层，用于存放同时容纳SIM 卡(SIM card)和 microSD 卡的托盘，可将存储空间增加多达 512GB，或者，如果您愿意，您可以使用托盘插入两张SIM 卡(SIM card)，然后允许您为Note 9 分配两个电话号码，例如(Note 9—say)，一个工作号码(work number)和一个个人号码。
如果您购买 512GB 型号，然后添加 512GB microSD 卡(microSD card)，您的Note 9将成为 1TB 设备，这在智能手机技术(smartphone technology)中尚属首创。三星(Samsung)以大约 200 美元的价格提供 512GB SD 卡，这与当前价格差不多。(SD card)
但是，在 512GB Note 9本身和 512GB SD 卡(SD card)之间，您可以轻松地为您的手机花费近 1,500 美元，这无疑是一笔不小的数目。
好消息是，当我写这篇文章时，我在亚马逊和其他地方发现了 512GB 型号，建议(Amazon)零售价(MSRP)为 1,250 美元，售价约 200美元（以及还支持 512GB microSD 卡(microSD card)的 128GB 版本，比其标价低约 150 美元。
最后， Note 9(Note 9)不仅做工精良，而且还符合IP68 防水(IP68 waterproof)和防尘标准——无论是否嵌入S Pen 。
三星(Samsung)表示，你可以将它浸入 5 英尺深的水中，这比你的马桶(toilet bowl)深得多。还有丰富的安全功能，包括前面提到的指纹读取器(fingerprint reader)、面部和虹膜识别、PIN、点阵模式(dot pattern)等。
炫目的展示(Dazzling Display)
从智能手机到Galaxy平板电脑，再到电脑显示器，再到 90 英寸超高清电视，没有人能比(UHD TVs)三星(Samsung)制造更好的屏幕，而Note 9的 2,960 x 1,440 分辨率Super AMOLED Infinity Display是业内最好的。
它比 Note 8 更亮，对比度(contrast ratio)高出约三分之一，Note 8本身并没有懈怠。三星的近乎无边框的弯曲边缘简直就是，好，太棒了。
即便如此，屏幕分辨率(screen resolution)与Note 8和Galaxy S9+相同。这不仅是在旅途中观看电影的绝佳尺寸，而且无论您是从极右、极左、顶角或底角观看还是直接观看，画质(picture quality)看起来都一样，没有明显的下降。
根据我的测试，Note 9的屏幕再现了 228% 的sRGB 色域(sRGB color gamut)（范围），而Note 8为209%，S9 为 217%，iPhone 为 135%。
不过，除了规格和基准(Specs and benchmarks)之外，经过多年对平板电脑、笔记本电脑和智能手机屏幕(smartphone screen)的评估， Note 9无疑是我迄今为止见过的最好的智能手机屏幕——其中包括 iPhone X 令人印象深刻的 2,436 x 1,125(smartphone screen)视网膜显示屏(Retina Display). 虽然Galaxy S9 and S9+ displays很相似，但即使它们看起来也不像Note 9那样壮观。
S Pen：手写笔加(S Pen: Stylus Plus)
S Pen一直在变得更好。一段时间以来，它一直是用于记笔记、绘图、选择文本等的最佳触控笔，但在Note 9中，三星(Samsung)添加了蓝牙 LE(Bluetooth LE)和一个可重新映射的按钮，用于远程控制兼容的应用程序。
默认情况下，长按按钮打开相机应用程序(camera app)，短按或点击，拍照，允许您在没有相机应用程序(camera app)的内置计时器或在前面挥手的情况下进行自拍或合影。相机镜头来激活尴尬的手势启动相机定时器(camera timer)。
您还可以使用S Pen 按钮在(S Pen button)PowerPoint演示文稿中推进幻灯片，在图库(Gallery)中滚动图片，在音乐播放器(Music Player)中播放、暂停和跳至下一曲目，在前后摄像头之间切换等等。
到目前为止，除了谷歌和三星的核心应用(Google and Samsung core apps)之外，还缺少支持S Pen的应用，但三星(Samsung)提供了一个软件开发工具包(software development kit)( SDK ) 来帮助第三方开发者创建兼容S Pen的应用，这将有助于提高S Pen-ready 应用程序的(S Pen-ready apps)数量太长了。
我可以继续讨论S Pen的功能，但其中一个更令人印象深刻的功能是能够截屏备忘录。当您在显示屏关闭的情况下取下手写笔时，Note 9会进入黑色背景下的笔记界面。
这使您无需解锁手机并启动特定应用程序即可记笔记，从而使记笔记变得快速而轻松。屏幕关闭备忘录会自动保存。
如前所述，S Pen确实需要充电，在它的隔间里只需要大约 40 秒。根据我的测试，这 40 秒应该给你大约 40 分钟的待机时间或大约 220 次遥控器按钮的点击。
专业级相机(Professional-Grade
Cameras)
在过去几年中，智能手机相机取得了长足的进步，其中一些相机拍摄的照片和视频与低端专业摄影师相机相媲美。
与当今大多数智能手机一样，Note 9配备前置摄像头，主要用于自拍，但后置摄像头是带有广角远摄镜头的双光圈摄像头。Note 9的相机继承自Galaxy S9+，由先进、高效的相机应用程序(camera app)支持。
Note 9的8MP（百万像素）前置摄像头(front-facing camera)包括自动对焦（Note 品牌(Note brand)的首创）以及无数模式选项：720p 分辨率、每秒 960 帧的超慢动作数字视频、AR 贴纸、宽组自拍等等——使其成为功能最丰富的
智能手机相机应用程序(smartphone camera apps)之一。即便如此，它也很容易使用。
但展示相机应用程序(camera app)实力的是后置摄像头。(rear camera)双 12MP 镜头使用可变光圈技术自动从低光条件下的 f/1.5 光圈切换到正常照明摄影的f/2.4 opening光圈
。
相机应用程序(camera app)的众多技巧之一是内置人工智能 (AI)，可根据您的拍摄对象自动配置设置。Note 9可识别 20种场景，包括海滩、背光对象、食物、雪景和日落。
然后，它会在关闭场景优化器(Scene Optimizer)的情况下调整亮度、对比度、饱和度、白平衡和一系列通常在应用程序的专业模式下(Pro mode)手动配置的其他设置。我对Scene Optimizer的体验是，它在大多数情况下都运行良好，尤其是与我在关闭该功能的情况下拍摄的照片相比。
不过，场景优化(Scene Optimizer)器并不完美。我的几张照片，尤其是几张食物照片，有点过于饱和并且缺乏一些细节，但切换到专业(Pro)模式可以解决这个问题。
更令人印象深刻的功能之一是瑕疵检测(Flaw Detection)，它会告诉您您的照片何时没有按要求(photo didn)拍摄(t shoot)。检测到模糊、红眼、镜片污迹、闭眼等缺陷，然后应用程序会向您发出警告并提供第二次机会，如图所示……
事实是，我可能是世界上最差的摄影师之一。我无法在完美的照明条件下拍摄IT 硬件(IT hardware)的静止图像，而且这些评论没有背景。
我需要我能得到的所有帮助，让Note 9的双镜头、人工智能和瑕疵检测(Flaw Detection)正好适合我。现在不是我所有的照片都很糟糕，我发现自己拍的照片比以前多得多。还值得注意的是，它也需要很棒的 4K 视频。
比克斯比(Bixby)
三星的
语音激活应用程序(voice-activation app)Bixby在这里我不会多说，主要是因为它一直是其竞争对手的劣质应用程序，没有人喜欢它。Note 9上
的奥利奥版本(Oreo version)并没有太大的改进。它仍然误解了Siri、Cortana和亚马逊的Alexa没有的许多单词和短语。
而且，是的，Bixby按钮——对于我们这些不想使用Bixby 的人来说——(Bixby—is)仍然在一个不方便的地方，你不能将它重新映射到另一个应用程序或功能(app or function)。然而，当我完成这篇评论时，Android Pie ( Android 9 ) 可用于Note 9，我安装了它。
三星(Samsung)声称Android 9修复了Bixby，现在它可以与同行竞争。坦率地说(Frankly)，在提交这个故事之前我没有足够的时间来测试它，但我可以告诉你，是的，你现在可以将Bixby 按钮(Bixby button)重新映射到几乎任何其他应用程序或功能(app or function)。
至于Android Pie本身，我没有花太多时间在它上面。然而，它确实削弱了我正在使用的第三方启动器，以及我经常使用的其他几个应用程序，例如三星的文件管理器(File Manager)。不过，看起来我需要花一两个小时来重新调整我的主屏幕(home screen)和其他区域，以使其恢复到我想要的方式。
出色的表现(Stellar Performance)
尽管我确实运行了一些基准测试，包括使用Geekbench 4(Geekbench 4)进行的整体性能测试和使用 3DMark Slingshot Extreme 进行的图形性能测试，但我不会花太多时间详细讨论测试结果——除了说Note 9略微落后于iPhone X 和 OnePlus(iPhone X and OnePlus) 6，略领先于Galaxy S9+，并且远远领先于Note 8和 Google Pixel 2XL。
可以说Note 9的速度不如 iPhone 和超快的OnePlus 6快。至于我过去几周使用手机的体验，到目前为止，我还没有等待任何应用程序打开；无论我打开了多少应用程序，在应用程序之间切换就像切热黄油一样顺畅。
我玩的游戏不多，但在我玩硬件繁重的 3D 游戏Fortnite（在我写这篇文章时，除测试版外，Android 9不可用）期间，我没有遇到任何延迟，屏幕很漂亮，而且，虽然手机确实发热了一些，不过分。
所有这一切，我循环播放了最近的星际迷航电影(Star Trek movie)，直到电池耗尽 12 小时 36 分钟。为什么会有如此快速、流畅、持久的性能？好吧，我们已经讨论过Infinity Display，它解释了华丽的图形。
下面(Below)是Note 9的其他性能硬件(performance hardware)及其功能的列表。我的测试单元是带有 6GB (test unit)RAM的 128GB 版本。（假设 8GB RAM 型号(RAM model)在某些情况下运行得更好一些。）
- Snapdragon 835 处理器：(Snapdragon 835 Processor: )虽然不如 Apple 的A11 Bionic CPU或配备 8GB (A11 Bionic CPU)RAM的 OnePlus 6快，但Note 9中的CPU绝不是懈怠。但是，正如我所说，我对这款CPU（及其内置GPU）的性能没有任何抱怨。请注意，这与 S9+ 中的CPU相同(CPU)。另请注意，在英国和其他几个非美国地区，Note 9配备了三星 Exynos 9810 ，它比高(Samsung Exynos 9810)通骁龙 835(Qualcomm Snapdragon 835)快一点。
- 6GB RAM：显然，在合理的范围内，计算设备(computing device)的内存越多越好。在我的测试中，6GB 似乎绰绰有余，至少对于我使用智能手机的方式而言。而且，如前所述，它毫不犹豫地运行了Fortnite 。
- 水冷 CPU：(Water Cooled CPU: ) Note 9采用“笔记本级”(Note 9)水碳(water carbon)冷却系统防止过热。三星(Samsung)声称这可以保护手机免受过热，并允许它在更长的时间内以峰值运行。我只能说它对我来说从来没有太热，我也没有注意到它会放慢速度来补偿过热。
- 4,000mAh 电池：(4,000mAh Battery:) Note 9比Note 8大 700mAH，比 S9+ 大 500mAH，Note 9的 4,000 毫安时电池是迄今为止业内最大的电池。同样，在我的(Again)电池消耗(battery drain)测试中，它持续了 12.5 多个小时。
Galaxy Note 9 与竞争对手的对比(Galaxy Note 9 versus
Competitors)
|
| SG Note 9 | SG S9 Plus | iPhone X | OnePlus 6 |
| Display size, resolution | 6.4-inch Super AMOLED; 2,960×1,440 pixels | 6.2-inch; 2,960×1,440 pixels | 5.8-inch; 2,436×1,125 pixels | 6.28-inch OLED; 2,280×1,080 pixels |
|
Pixel density
|
516ppi
|
529ppi
|
458 ppi
|
402ppi
|
|
Dimensions (Inches)
|
6.4x3x0.35 in
|
6.2×2.9×0.33 in
|
5.7×2.8×0.30 in
|
6.1×0.3×0.31 in
|
|
Weight
|
7.1 oz
|
6.7 oz
|
6.1 oz
|
6.2 oz
|
|
Mobile software
|
Android 8.1 Oreo, upgradeable
to Android 9 Pie
|
Android 8.0 Oreo, upgradeable to Android
9 Pie
|
iOS 11
|
Android 8.1 Oreo, upgradeable to Android
9 Pie
|
|
Camera
|
Dual 12MP (wide), 12MP (telephoto)
|
Dual 12MP
|
Dual 12MP
|
16MPstandard, 20MPtelephoto
|
|
Front-facing camera
|
8MP
|
8MP
|
7MP
|
16MP
|
|
Video capture
|
4K
|
4K
|
4K
|
4K
|
|
Processor
|
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core
processor (2.8GHz + 1.7GHz), or Octa-core Samsung Exynos 9810 (2.7 GHz + 1.7
GHz)
|
Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
processor (2.8GHz + 1.7GHz), or Octa-core Samsung Exynos 9810 (2.7 GHz + 1.7
GHz)
|
Apple A11 Bionic
|
2.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
|
|
Storage
|
128GB, 512GB
|
64GB, 128GB, 256GB
|
64GB, 256GB
|
64GB, 128GB, 256GB
|
|
RAM
|
6GB, 8GB
|
6GB
|
3GB
|
6GB, 8GB
|
|
Expandable storage
|
512GB
|
400GB
|
None
|
None
|
|
Battery
|
4,000mAh
|
3,500mAh
|
2716mAH
|
3,300mAh
|
|
Fingerprint sensor
|
Back
|
Back
|
None
|
Back
|
|
Connector
|
USB-C
|
USB-C
|
Lightning
|
USB-C
|
|
Headphone jack
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
Special features
|
Water resistant (IP68); wireless
charging; S Pen with Bluetooth; Iris and facial scanning
|
Dual-aperture camera, water-resistant
(IP68); wireless charging; iris scanning
|
Water resistant (IP67); wireless
charging; Face ID 3D unlock
|
Portrait mode, dual-SIM, Dash Charging
|
|
Price MSRP (USD)
|
$1,000 (128GB), $1,250 (512GB)
|
Varies: $840-$930 (64GB)
|
$999 (64GB), $1,149 (256GB)
|
$529 (64GB), $579 (128GB), $629 (256GB)
|
不仅仅是一张漂亮的脸蛋(More than a Pretty
Face)
我读过关于Note 9的每条评论都在抱怨 1,000 美元的购买价格(purchase price)，但如果你货比三家，你会发现它的价格要低得多。事实上，eBay 提供了一些新的未开封的盒子，价格低至 700 美元。
诚然，这仍然是一大笔钱，但如果你像我一样经常使用智能手机，那就值得了。屏幕大到足以让我老化的眼睛进行研究，而S Pen非常适合在Microsoft OneNote或任何地方突出显示段落。当我将它与键盘配对时，它与使用 PC 不太一样，但对于在家里打字来说已经绰绰有余了。
除非你被锁定在 iPhone X 上，或者必须拥有最快的Android Galaxy Note 10将于今年晚些时候问世。
但我猜它会列出超过 1K 的列表……
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Review
More and more users are in to big phones with big beаutiful high-resolution displays, such as Google’s Pixel, OnePlus 6, or Apple’s iPhone X, but Samsung’s flagship Note brand (now up to version 9) has lеd the way in big аnd beaυtiful since the Note 1 several years ago.
It’s called the “Note,” of course, because of its built-in and well-implemented S Pen stylus, which just keeps getting better with each new iteration of the Note smartphone, or phablet. Among other things, the latest S Pen is indeed impressive, as is the Note 9 itself.
Pros:
- Beautiful high-res Super AMOLED 6.4-inch display
- S Pen matures to include Bluetooth remote
control
- Excellent cameras with built-in AI
- Huge storage allotment
- DeX mode without the optional dock (all you need is an HDMI cable and adaptor)
- Big battery, long life
- Fast
- Impressive build quality
- Terrific stereo sound
Cons:
- Costly
- Bixby still sucks
- Fingerprint reader too close to the camera
Verdict:
Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Note 9 may cost as much as the
iPhone X, but it’s worth it in many ways, including a gorgeous display, long
battery life, Note’s famous S Pen, dual-aperture smart camera on the back, and
much more.
Galaxy Note 9
Specifications
|
Battery
|
4,000 mAH
|
|
Battery Life (Hrs:Mins)
|
12:36
|
|
Colors
|
Lavender Purple, Ocean Blue, Cloud Silver, Midnight
Black
|
|
CPU
|
Snapdragon 845
|
|
Debut Price
|
$999 list (128GB), $1,249 list (512GB)
|
|
Display
|
6.4 inches Super AMOLED (2960 x 1440)
|
|
Front Camera
|
8 MP (f/1.7)
|
|
microSD
|
Up to 512GB
|
|
OS
|
Android 8.1 Oreo / Upgradeable to Android Pie
|
|
RAM
|
6GB or 8GB
|
|
Rear Camera
|
Dual 12 MP Cameras (f/1.5 and f/2.4)
|
|
Size
|
6.3 x 3 x 0.34 inches
|
|
Storage
|
128GB or 512GB
|
|
Weight
|
7.1 ounces
|
Design
The Note 9’s physical build and appearance aren’t really new. At 6.3 by 3.0 by 0.34 inches (HWD) and weighing 7.1 ounces, aside from being ever so slightly larger and heavier than the Note 8, the latest note looks very much like its predecessor.
It also bares a strong resemblance to the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. In fact, if you don’t need or want the stylus, the Galaxy S9 or S9+ are both attractive, less-expensive alternatives.
In any case, let’s take a look around the Galaxy Note 9, starting with its highly attractive, very well-built aluminum chassis. This is one slick-looking and -feeling phone, with smooth, tight, slightly rounded edges and corners with nearly imperceptible seams.
Depending on where you buy it, you also get your choice of vibrant colors, including Lavender Purple and Ocean Blue. The Ocean Blue comes with a yellow S Pen, which writes in yellow on the display in Screen-Off memo mode, and the lavender model comes with a purple pen that uses purple digital ink—an interesting, understated touch.
Shortly after last year’s release, Samsung announced the
availability of new Cloud Silver and Midnight Black versions. Cloud Silver is sold
solely through Best Buy and Samsung’s own website, while the Midnight Black model
will be sold at all retailers and carriers, which include: AT&T, Verizon,
Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular.
On the right edge resides only the Power/Sleep/Awake button.
On the right edge you’ll find the button for activating Samsung’s voice
activation feature, Bixby, which is similar to the iPhone’s Siri and Windows’
Cortona, and the volume controls, as shown in the image below. We’ll take a
closer look a Bixby and this button later.
The bottom edge holds the headphones jack, the mini-USB
charging/data connection port, a reset pinhole, the stereo speakers grill and,
of course, the S Pen compartment, as shown here…
This design demonstrates that Samsung has plenty of experience with making the stylus unobtrusive and placing it out of the way (and the S Pen recharges itself in there).
This approach is much, much slicker than Apple’s iPad Pencil— it has nowhere to hide. As you’ll see when I talk more in-depth about the S Pen further down, the Note’s stylus is most likely the most advanced digital pen available.
The back of the Note 9 holds its dual-aperture camera and the
fingerprint reader, shown in the image below. There’s also a camera on the
front, of course. The cameras are discussed in depth a little later, too.
The top edge hosts a compartment for storing a tray that holds both the SIM card and a microSD card for increasing storage by as much as 512GB, or, if you prefer, you can use the tray to insert two SIM cards, which in turn allows you to assign two phone numbers to your Note 9—say, perhaps, a work number and a personal number.
If you buy the 512GB model and then add a 512GB microSD card, your Note 9 becomes a 1TB device, which is a first in smartphone technology. Samsung offers a 512GB SD card for about $200, which is about the going rate.
However, between the 512GB Note 9 itself and the 512GB SD card, you could easily spend close to $1,500 for your phone, which is undoubtedly a lot of money.
The good news is that as I wrote this, I found the 512GB model at Amazon and elsewhere for about $200 off the MSRP of $1,250 (and the 128GB version, which also supports the 512GB microSD card, for about $150 less than its list price.
Finally, not only is the Note 9 well built, but it also meets the IP68 waterproof and dust-proof standard—with or without the S Pen embedded in its compartment.
Samsung says you can dunk it in up to five feet of water, which is much deeper than your toilet bowl. There’s also a wealth of security features, including the aforementioned fingerprint reader, facial and iris recognition, PIN, dot pattern, and others.
Dazzling Display
From smartphones, to Galaxy tablets, to computer monitors, to 90-inch UHD TVs, nobody makes better screens than Samsung, and the Note 9’s 2,960 by 1,440 resolution Super AMOLED Infinity Display is the best in the business.
It’s much brighter and has about a third more contrast ratio than the Note 8, which is no slouch itself. And Samsung’s near-bezel-less curved edges are nothing short of, well, awesome.
Even so, the screen resolution is the same as on the Note 8 and Galaxy S9+. Not only is this a great size for watching movies on the go, but whether you’re looking at it from an extreme right, left, top, or bottom angles or straight on, the picture quality looks the same, with no noticeable degradation.
According to my testing, the Note 9’s screen reproduces 228% of the sRGB color gamut (range), compared to the Note 8’s 209%, the S9’s 217 percent, and the iPhone’s 135%.
Specs and benchmarks aside, though, after years of evaluating tablet, laptop, and smartphone screens, the Note 9’s is certainly the best smartphone screen I’ve seen so far—and that includes the iPhone X’s impressive 2,436 by 1,125 Retina Display. While the Galaxy S9 and S9+ displays are similar, even they are not as spectacular to look at as is the Note 9’s.
S Pen: Stylus Plus
The S Pen just keeps getting better. It has been the best stylus around for jotting notes, drawing, selecting text, and more, for some time now, but with the Note 9, Samsung has added Bluetooth LE and a remappable button for controlling compatible apps remotely.
By default, a long press of the button opens the camera app, and short presses, or clicks, snap pictures, allowing you to take selfies or group shots without the camera app’s built-in timer or by waving your hand in front of the camera lens to activate the awkward gesture-initiated camera timer.
You can also use the S Pen button to advance slides in PowerPoint presentations, scroll through pictures in Gallery, play, pause, and skip to the next track in Music Player, toggle between the front and rear cameras, and so on.
So far, aside from Google and Samsung core apps, there’s a shortage of apps that support S Pen, but Samsung offers a software development kit (SDK) to aid third-party developers in creating S Pen-compatible apps, which should help increase the number of S Pen-ready apps before too long.
I could go on for a while about what S Pen can do, but one of the more impressive features is the ability to take screen-off memos. When you remove the stylus while the display is turned off, Note 9 goes in to a note-taking interface against a black background.
This allows you to take notes without unlocking the phone and launching a specific app, thereby making note taking quick and easy. Screen-off memos are saved automatically.
As mentioned, the S Pen does require charging, which takes
only about 40 seconds in its compartment. That 40 seconds should give you,
according to my testing, about 40 minutes of
standby time or about 220 clicks of the remote-control button.
Professional-Grade
Cameras
Over the past few years, smartphone cameras have made great strides, to the extent that some of them shoot photos and videos on-par with lower-end professional photographer cameras.
Like most of today’s smartphones, the Note 9 comes with a front camera primarily for taking selfies, but the rear shooter is a dual-aperture camera with wide-angle telephoto lenses. Inherited from the Galaxy S9+, the Note 9’s cameras are supported by an advanced, highly effective camera app.
The Note 9’s 8MP (megapixel) front-facing camera includes
autofocus (a first for the Note brand), as well as countless mode options: Super
Slow Motion digital video at 960 frames per second at 720p resolution, AR
stickers, wide group selfies, and much more—making it one of the most feature-rich
smartphone camera apps, period. Even so, it’s easy to use.
But it’s the rear camera that shows off the camera app’s
prowess. The dual 12MP lenses use variable-aperture tech to switch
automatically from an f/1.5 aperture for low-light conditions to an f/2.4 opening
for normal lighting photography.
One of the camera app’s many tricks is a built-in artificial intelligence (AI) that automatically configures settings depending on your subject. The Note 9 recognizes 20 scenes, including beaches, backlit subjects, food, snow, and sunsets.
It then adjusts the brightness, contrast, saturation, white balance and a slew of other settings normally configured manually in the app’s Pro mode, with Scene Optimizer turned off. My experience with Scene Optimizer is that it works well most of the time, especially compared to the photos I shot with the feature shut off.
Scene Optimizer isn’t perfect, though; a couple of my photos, especially a few shots of food, came out a bit over saturated and lacking some detail, but switching to Pro mode fixed that.
One of the more impressive features is Flaw Detection, which tells you when your photo didn’t shoot as desired. Flaws like blurriness, red-eye, a smudged lens, closed eyes, are detected, and then the app warns you and offers a second chance, as shown here…
The truth is, I’m probably one of the world’s worst photographers; I have trouble shooting stills of IT hardware in perfect lighting and no background for these reviews.
I need all the help I can get, making the Note 9’s dual lenses, AI, and Flaw Detection just right for me. Now that not all my photos suck, I find myself taking a lot more pictures than before. It’s also worth noting that it takes great 4K videos, too.
Bixby
I’m not going to say a lot about Bixby, Samsung’s
voice-activation app, here, primarily because it has always been an inferior
app to its competitors, and nobody likes it. The Oreo version that comes on the
Note 9 isn’t much of an improvement. It still misinterprets a lot of words and
phrases that Siri, Cortana, and Amazon’s Alexa do not.
And, yes, the Bixby button—for those of us who don’t want to use Bixby—is still in an inconvenient place and you can’t remap it to another app or function. However, as I was finishing this review, Android Pie (Android 9) became available for the Note 9 and I installed it.
Samsung claims that Android 9 fixes Bixby and now it rivals its peers. Frankly, I didn’t have enough time to test it before filing this story, but I can tell you that, yes, you can now remap the Bixby button to almost any other app or function.
As for Android Pie itself, I haven’t spent much time with
it. It did, however, cripple the third-party launcher I was using, as well as a
couple other apps I use regularly, such
as Samsung’s File Manager. It looks like I’m in for an hour or two of
re-tweaking my home screen and other areas to get it back the way I want it,
though.
Stellar Performance
Though I did run a few benchmarks, including overall
performance tests with Geekbench 4 and graphics prowess with 3DMark Slingshot
Extreme, I’m not going to spend much time discussing test results in detail—except
to say that the Note 9 fell slightly behind the iPhone X and OnePlus 6,
slightly ahead of the Galaxy S9+, and well ahead of the Note 8 and Google Pixel
2XL.
Suffice it to say that the Note 9 isn’t quite as fast as the iPhone and the super-fast OnePlus 6. As for my experience using the phone over the past few weeks, so far, I haven’t waited for any app to open; switching between apps, no matter how many I have open, is as smooth as cutting warm butter.
I don’t play a lot of games, but during the time I played the hardware-taxing 3D game Fortnite (unavailable for Android 9 except in beta as I wrote this), I experienced no lags, the screen was beautiful, and, while the phone did heat up some, not excessively so.
All that, and I ran a recent Star Trek movie on a loop until the battery conked out for 12 hours and 36 minutes. Why such fast, smooth, long-lasting performance? Well, we’ve already talked about the Infinity Display, which explains the gorgeous graphics.
Below is a list of the Note 9’s other performance hardware and what it does. My test unit was the 128GB version with 6GB of RAM. (Assume that the 8GB RAM model runs a little better still in some scenarios.)
- Snapdragon 835 Processor: While not as fast as Apple’s A11 Bionic CPU or the OnePlus 6 with 8GB of RAM, the CPU in the Note 9 is by no means a slouch. But, as I’ve said, I have no complaints about this CPU’s (and its built-in GPU) performance. Note that this is the same CPU that’s in the S9+. Note also that in the UK and several other non-U.S. locations the Note 9 comes with the Samsung Exynos 9810, which is a little faster than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835.
- 6GB RAM: Obviously, within reason, the more memory a computing device has the better. During my tests, 6GB seemed more than adequate, at least for the way I use a smartphone. And, as mentioned, it ran Fortnite without hesitation.
- Water Cooled CPU: The Note 9 is protected against overheating with a “notebook-class” water carbon cooling system. Samsung claims that this protects the phone against overheating and allows it to run at its peak over longer periods. All I can say is that it never got too hot for me, nor did I notice it slowing down to compensate for excessive heat.
- 4,000mAh Battery: At 700mAH bigger than the Note 8 and 500mAH bigger than the S9+, the Note 9’s 4,000 milliampere hours battery is to date the biggest in the business. Again, it lasted over 12.5 hours during my battery drain tests.
Galaxy Note 9 versus
Competitors
|
| SG Note 9 | SG S9 Plus | iPhone X | OnePlus 6 |
| Display size, resolution | 6.4-inch Super AMOLED; 2,960×1,440 pixels | 6.2-inch; 2,960×1,440 pixels | 5.8-inch; 2,436×1,125 pixels | 6.28-inch OLED; 2,280×1,080 pixels |
|
Pixel density
|
516ppi
|
529ppi
|
458 ppi
|
402ppi
|
|
Dimensions (Inches)
|
6.4x3x0.35 in
|
6.2×2.9×0.33 in
|
5.7×2.8×0.30 in
|
6.1×0.3×0.31 in
|
|
Weight
|
7.1 oz
|
6.7 oz
|
6.1 oz
|
6.2 oz
|
|
Mobile software
|
Android 8.1 Oreo, upgradeable
to Android 9 Pie
|
Android 8.0 Oreo, upgradeable to Android
9 Pie
|
iOS 11
|
Android 8.1 Oreo, upgradeable to Android
9 Pie
|
|
Camera
|
Dual 12MP (wide), 12MP (telephoto)
|
Dual 12MP
|
Dual 12MP
|
16MPstandard, 20MPtelephoto
|
|
Front-facing camera
|
8MP
|
8MP
|
7MP
|
16MP
|
|
Video capture
|
4K
|
4K
|
4K
|
4K
|
|
Processor
|
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core
processor (2.8GHz + 1.7GHz), or Octa-core Samsung Exynos 9810 (2.7 GHz + 1.7
GHz)
|
Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
processor (2.8GHz + 1.7GHz), or Octa-core Samsung Exynos 9810 (2.7 GHz + 1.7
GHz)
|
Apple A11 Bionic
|
2.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
|
|
Storage
|
128GB, 512GB
|
64GB, 128GB, 256GB
|
64GB, 256GB
|
64GB, 128GB, 256GB
|
|
RAM
|
6GB, 8GB
|
6GB
|
3GB
|
6GB, 8GB
|
|
Expandable storage
|
512GB
|
400GB
|
None
|
None
|
|
Battery
|
4,000mAh
|
3,500mAh
|
2716mAH
|
3,300mAh
|
|
Fingerprint sensor
|
Back
|
Back
|
None
|
Back
|
|
Connector
|
USB-C
|
USB-C
|
Lightning
|
USB-C
|
|
Headphone jack
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
Special features
|
Water resistant (IP68); wireless
charging; S Pen with Bluetooth; Iris and facial scanning
|
Dual-aperture camera, water-resistant
(IP68); wireless charging; iris scanning
|
Water resistant (IP67); wireless
charging; Face ID 3D unlock
|
Portrait mode, dual-SIM, Dash Charging
|
|
Price MSRP (USD)
|
$1,000 (128GB), $1,250 (512GB)
|
Varies: $840-$930 (64GB)
|
$999 (64GB), $1,149 (256GB)
|
$529 (64GB), $579 (128GB), $629 (256GB)
|
More than a Pretty
Face
Every review of the Note 9 I’ve read rants about the $1,000 purchase price, but if you shop around, you’ll find it for much less. eBay, in fact, has some new-unopened-box offers for as low as $700.
Granted, that’s still a lot of money, but if you use your smartphone as much as I do, it’s well worth it. The screen is big enough for my aging eyes to do research, and the S Pen is perfect for highlighting passages in Microsoft OneNote or wherever. When I pair it with a keyboard, well, it’s not quite like using a PC, but more than adequate for typing away from home.
Unless you’re locked in to the iPhone X, or simply must have the fastest Android available, I can’t think of a reason not to buy this phone, unless, of course, you want to hang out with what you have now until the Galaxy Note 10 comes out later this year.
But I’m guessing that it will list for a bit more than 1K…
