Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review: Nine things that set the smartphone apart​​

Price: Rs 67,900 (6/128 GB) | Rs 84,900 (8/512 GB)

Rating: ****1/2

THE SCREEN EVERYONE COVETSx

Samsung has been at the top of the super amoled panel game for a while now. Which is also why Apple turns to Samsung when they need oled screens for their flagship phone. The Note 9 screen is not a drastic step up from the Note 8 screen but it is big, beautiful and dazzling from every angle. Plus it gets really bright outdoors and offers a bunch of adjustments like blue light filter, adjustable colours and three different screen resolutions to choose from.

SUSTAINED PERFORMANCE
The Note 9 uses an Exynos 9810 flagship chipset (or Snapdragon 845 in some parts). These chips can deliver excellent performance but if overheated, will start to reduce performance. To beat this, the Note 9 has a unique water-carbon liquid cooling system. In a detailed post, Samsung explains how it works by using a carbon fiber layer as a thermal interface material, which transfers heat (generated by the processor) to a copper pipe thermal spreader. The copper pipe has some water in it that turns to steam and back into water as it cools the hot components. The solution does seem to work because the Note 9 can keep up with long gaming sessions without breaking a sweat.

THE AMAZING NEW DEX MODE
DEX or DEsktop Xperience is a Samsung innovation that’s been around since the Galaxy S8/S8+ (2017). You needed to buy a separate DEX dock for the phone and it allowed you to connect an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. Essentially, the phone powers a desktop interface that you can use for basic computing work (web, documents, spreadsheets, presentations) and multimedia. With Note 9, DEX is built in — no dock required! That’s an instant saving of ₹9k. All you need is any USB-C to HDMI adapter (even the one you use with laptops will do). The important bit is that the phone can remain functional on its own — even while powering a separate desktop experience on a large screen.

THE FIRST 1TB CAPABLE PHONE
The Note 9 will be available in two storage variants. Even the base version gets you 128GB of storage which will be enough for most people. The higher end variant has 512GB and a couple extra GB of RAM. Samsung will soon be launching a 512GB micro SD card — the highest capacity in the world. Add one of those to the 512GB version and you have a phone with a full Terabyte of fast, solid state storage! Most SSD laptops don’t have that kind of space today.

DUAL OIS, DUAL APERTURE CAMERA
There’s nothing radically new in the camera hardware — it’s the same module carried over from the Galaxy S9. That being said, it’s also one of the finest shooters in the smartphone business. The dual aperture system is still unique (to S9 & Note 9). It auto switches between an ultra-wide f1.5 to a smaller f2.4 as needed. If you like, you can take control of the aperture in Pro mode. Both lenses have OIS to counter shake, which means that whether you choose a wide angle shot or a 2x telephoto (zoomed), it’s less likely to give you blurry shots.

THE LITTLE THINGS
There are some cool new colours like Metallic Copper and Ocean Blue. The blue comes with a bright yellow S Pen (which also writes in yellow in screen off memo). The fingerprint scanner is placed a little better. There are stereo speakers now — a first for a Samsung Note. Battery has been boosted to 4,000mAh. It’s also priced quite well considering the prices elsewhere.

IT CAN TELL IF YOU TAKE BAD PHOTOS
One of the features in the camera (apart from the new AI system that auto adjusts settings) is called Flaw Detection. Just toggle this option on in camera settings. It can warn you, right after capturing a photo, if the photo is blurry, whether the subject blinked or if the camera lens is dirty. Instead of missing the moment, you can just take another photo.
KEEPS LEGACY FEATURES INTACT
To start, the USB type C ports supports USB 3.1 transfer speeds. It offers fast charging (fast charger in box) and fast wireless charging with compatible chargers. There are multiple ways to unlock (including a very accurate iris scan). You still get the 3.5mm audio out which is fast becoming a rarity. There’s Bluetooth 5.0 with support for dual audio (output to two speakers simultaneously) and finally, the heart rate sensor is still very much included.

THE VERSATILE BLUETOOTH S PEN
This is probably the biggest upgrade. The S Pen looks familiar but hides a lot more innovation. It still has pressure sensitive tech and hover mode but it now has Bluetooth connectivity too. This means the button on the S Pen can be used to trigger the shutter button in camera mode. Or you can double tap to switch to front camera. Similarly, you can use it to advance presentation slides, move to the next photo in a slideshow, change tracks and play/pause any video. Remember, all this can be done from 30 feet away — it’s Bluetooth after all. The S Pen charges fully in under a minute when docked in the phone and Bluetooth functions remain active for about 40 minutes. If you keep using it post that, it still functions as a regular S Pen.

BUT WE DIDN’T LIKE
The yellow S Pen writes in yellow digital ink which is quite visible on a black background. But when you actually go to view the note, it shows up with a white background (yellow on white is hard to read). Samsung’s Bixby assistant is still around and has a dedicated button on the left side too. You can’t disable Bixby or reassign that button to something else. Finally, the design is derivative of last year’s Note 8, which is not entirely a bad thing. But it is a tad larger and heavier than before and far too big for some people.