Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Q&A: Your questions answered!

You asked, and now we answer:

PA: Yes, you can. Most drawing and sketching apps for the Note 8 also support palm rejection so you can zoom in with your fingers while drawing with your S Pen.

PA: You can't, but thanks to a recent update you are allowed to altogether disable the Bixby button, which kind of... beats the whole purpose of that one. 

PA: Not that we can see, at least on our unit.

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PA: No, Samsung has been slowly phasing out IR blasters off of its high-end smartphones for a while now, and we don't expect to see this feature in any future Galaxy or Note flagship.

PA: Probably by the end of 2017, hopefully. Given that the Note 8 and the Galaxy S8/S8 Plus are priorities, you will have your update as soon as Samsung is ready with it. Should there be an Oreo beta, you could even get it earlier at the cost of potential bugs and instability, but your device, your rules.

PA: Boy, Samsung has come a long way since the Galaxy S4, ditto about TouchWiz (now known as Samsung Experience). A slew of useful features and functionalities from the olden days have transcended into the latest iteration of Samsung's custom Android distribution; on another note, the tons of S Pen-related functionalities are of course exclusive to the Note 8 and add tons of value to the overall package if you're into that kind of thing. Blame it on the powerful hardware if you wish, but the interface really feels buttery-smooth and lightning fast, without any noticeable stutters or visual hiccups to hinder your experience. 

As far as upgrading from the OnePlus 3, you should ask yourself if you'd really benefit from that S Pen in your everyday life. Make sure you don't view it as a party trick of some sorts, because it's one of the main selling points of the Note 8 and getting said phone without the intention of using the stylus everyday kind of beats the purpose — you will be better off with the cheaper Galaxy S8+.

PA: No idea, but we can speculate that Samsung could theoretically supercharge its capabilities when the time is ripe for the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus early next year.

PA: Based on the numerous user reports over at XDA, even though the Emperor Edition theoretically supports all of AT&T's LTE bands, it might either not work at all or you will have to modify your CSC (Consumer Software Customization). Either try talking to an AT&T rep or better yet get a Note 8 locally.

PA: 1. The RAM inside is LPDDR4X! 

The Galaxy S8 gave up at 44 tabs of PhoneArena in the native Samsung Browser (which is very good, by the way), while the Note 8 didn't refresh the first tab we opened even when we hit the limit of 50 tabs in the native browser. With both phones hooked to the same Wi-Fi network and sitting right next to one another–basically, with all conditions being the same–the Note 8 seems to be very well-optimized and making use of the RAM inside. Hope that helps, though your mileage may vary.

There is a slight transition, but we wouldn't call it choppy. Sure, it's slightly noticeable and takes a few fractions of a second, but that's not an issue at all. 

PA: It's Quick Charge 3.0. 

PA: Supposedly it's Gorilla Glass 5, just like the back of the phone.

PA: Sorry, we couldn't find any such functionality built into the Note 8. Best you can do is add tags to your photos or resort to some third-party app.