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The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is here and we waste no time to look at all of its notable new features.
A safe, evolutionary upgrade
There are three key features that make the Galaxy Note 8 stand out: first, it's the new Dual Camera with portrait mode, then, the S Pen, of course, which is now more capable, and last but not least, it is the combination of a large screen and powerful hardware.We take a look at these three key characteristics in detail, and we also cover all the other important features of the Note 8 right below.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8: all new features
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6.3" Infinity display
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The Galaxy Note 8 is the first Samsung phone with a dual camera setup and the secondary camera comes with a telephoto lens that allows users to take DSLR-like portrait pictures with a blurred background. Samsung calls this effect Live Focus and it even bragged on stage that it offers more flexibility than Apple's iPhone 7 Plus Portrait Mode, as you can adjust the level of background blur. You can do this before you capture the image and afterwards, which gives you finer control over the looks of a photograph.
Dual camera with Live Focus portrait mode
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In an industry first, Samsung introduces optical image stabilization (OIS) for the secondary telephoto lens. We have seen OIS in wide angle cameras for quite a while, but this is the first time that we get to see it on a telephoto lens. The benefits are obvious: a telephoto lens is particularly sensitive to hand shakes and amplifies them, which results in blurry photos and videos. OIS can fix a lot of that: Samsung showed a comparison with the iPhone 7 Plus's telephoto camera in video and the difference was drastically in favor of the Note 8.
Optical image stabilization (OIS) on both rear cameras
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The other key feature of the Note series is the S Pen, and in the Note 8, the S Pen has a finer tip. At just 0.7mm (down from 1.6mm on the Note 5), the tip of the S Pen is more precise, which allows for drawing and writing with greater accuracy. In addition to that, the S Pen now supports 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity that improve the drawing experience. Click on the tip of the S Pen, and you can erase the last step.
S Pen with finer tip and better pressure sensitivity
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Samsung introduced screen off memo with the Note 7, a functionality that allows you to take notes on a locked screen, without even waking up the Note 8, as soon as you take out the S Pen. Now, you can add as many as 100 pages to Screen Off memos, and you can easily pin a note to the Always On Display for easy access.
Improved S Pen software with Screen Off memos
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The S Pen also becomes a cool creative tool in the Note 8. You can use it to crop parts of an image with great accuracy, but you can also now use it to draw a response that will be saved as an animation that you can easily send on social networks as a GIF.
When you travel abroad or come across a website in a foreign language, the improved Translate feature of the S Pen lets you hover over text to quickly translate not only individual words, but entire sentences, into 71 languages and instantly convert units and foreign currencies.
When you travel abroad or come across a website in a foreign language, the improved Translate feature of the S Pen lets you hover over text to quickly translate not only individual words, but entire sentences, into 71 languages and instantly convert units and foreign currencies.
S Pen other new features are animated GIFs, translate and magnify
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One thing that the Note 8 has - regrettably - carried over from the Galaxy S8 series is the unfortunate position of the fingerprint scanner. It's on the back... right next to the cameras in a weird and hard to reach spot. It would have been a lot easier to have it properly centered and within actual reach, don't you think, Samsung?
Fingerprint scanner is still annoyingly placed off center, next to rear cameras
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The Snapdragon 835 and a similarly powerful Exynos chip will hum under the hood of the Galaxy Note 8. Both chips are made on the newest and most power-efficient 10nm architecture. The Note 8 also ships with 6GB of RAM, an upgrade over the 4GB RAM on the Galaxy S8 series.
Snapdragon 835 in the US, Exynos elsewhere
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Having an S Pen means having less space for battery and the Galaxy Note 8 features a 3,300 mAh battery, a cell smaller than the 3,500 mAh battery on the Galaxy S8+. Will that be enough? Battery life actually takes a hit in official stats. The Note 8 will last 12 hours on 3G, while the S8+ lasts 13 hours; the Note 8 will last 13 hours on LTE vs 15 hours for the S8+; and the Wi-Fi battery life of the Note 8 is 14 hours vs 15 hours on the S8+.
On a more positive note, the phone supports fast wireless charging (the wireless charger is not included in the box).
On a more positive note, the phone supports fast wireless charging (the wireless charger is not included in the box).
3,300mAh battery + fast wireless charging
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An IP68 certification means that the Galaxy Note 8 would be able to be submerged in water up to 5-feet (1.5-meters) deep for up to 30 minutes at a time.
IP68 water protected
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Thanks, Samsung, for not removing the 3.5mm headset jack! You can easily plug in those in-the-box AKG earbuds, as well as your favorite headphones without worrying about adapters. Not surprisingly, this announcement drew appleause and cheers from the cloud at the Note 8 unveiling event.
Those AKG buds that come in the box are higher class than your usual bundled headphones and they come with three, different sized rubber tips that you can change to make sure the earbuds fit your ear canal perfectly.
Those AKG buds that come in the box are higher class than your usual bundled headphones and they come with three, different sized rubber tips that you can change to make sure the earbuds fit your ear canal perfectly.
A pair of AKG headphones come in the box, 3.5mm audio jack is here
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The Galaxy Note 8 will ship in three versions, a base one with 64GB of native storage, one with 128 gigs of on-board memory and a third one with 256GB storage. This is an interesting move from Samsung because the Note 8 supports a microSD card slot for expandable storage, so users can simply use their own cards for expanded storage, but it is also giving them those extra storage options.
64GB/128GB/256GB storage versions + microSD card support
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The Galaxy Note 8 will be offered in a choice of four colors worldwide: Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Deep Sea Blue and Maple Gold colors. In the United States, though, only the first two - the black and the gray ones - will be available. Both of these colors will have a black front side.
Four color options, only two of them available in the US
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All of those features do not come cheap. The Galaxy Note 8 might turn out to be the most expensive mainstream phone in history (until that rumored iPhone 8 launches, of course). Its base price is set at around $950 in the United States, some $100 pricier than the already costly Galaxy Note 7. Of course, you can lease the phone on all four major US carriers and on six regional US carriers, but the grand total is still a rather high sum to pay for a phone. Still, we would not rush to buy the Note 8 on day one, unless you really want to get it right away. Samsung phones are known to quickly come down in price and Samsung has run numerous buy-one-get-one deals for the S8 and S8+, and the same will likely happen with the Note 8 in the not too distant future.
Still, you should feel lucky to get the Note 8 in the United States. The price of the phone in Europe stands at an average of €1,000 (the equivalent of $1,180).
Still, you should feel lucky to get the Note 8 in the United States. The price of the phone in Europe stands at an average of €1,000 (the equivalent of $1,180).
The highest price ever for a mainstream phone?
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If you place your Galaxy Note 8 order within the first month of availability (starting on August 24th until September 24th), you will likely get one of two available freebies. The first option is a Samsung Gear 360 camera ($230 value) or a free Galaxy Foundation kit with Samsung 128GB EVO+ memory card and Fast Wireless Charging Convertible ($190 value).
Freebies
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The Galaxy Note 8 goes on pre-order on August 24th, 2017, and will hit retail store shelves on September 15th, 2017. It will be available on all four major US carriers and all across the globe.
Release date
Samsung Galaxy Note 8: all new features
The Note 8 features only a slightly larger display than the Galaxy S8+: a 6.3-inch one versus the 6.2-inch one on the S8+. It's the same resolution and it uses the same Super AMOLED technology, as well as the same 18.5:9 taller aspect ratio and Quad HD+ resolution.
What it does change, though, is the curve towards the edges. It is now steeper, with more flat space that works better with the S Pen.
What it does change, though, is the curve towards the edges. It is now steeper, with more flat space that works better with the S Pen.
What it does change, though, is the curve towards the edges. It is now steeper, with more flat space that works better with the S Pen.