Samsung today unveiled the Galaxy Note 8, its flagship phablet for 2017. Building on the Galaxy S8 and S8+, the Note 8 features largely the same key features, though it has been improved in certain areas with the usual Note features also thrown in.
The Galaxy Note 8 features the same design language which Samsung has used on the Galaxy S8 but with the traditional Note design elements like squarish corners and back thrown in. Then, there’s also a slot on the bottom right of the device for the S Pen. Similar to the Galaxy S8, the Galaxy Note 8 features an IP68 certification that makes it dust and water-resistant. The front and rear of the device make use of Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 with an aluminium chassis sandwiched in between.
At the front, the Galaxy Note 8 comes with a 6.3-inch QHD+ Infinity Display. The display is just a wee bit bigger than the panel used by Samsung on the Galaxy S8+. The lack of bezels surrounding the 18:9 aspect ratio display makes it an absolute gem to look at.
Internally, the Galaxy Note is powered by a Snapdragon 835/Exynos 8895 chip running at 2.45GHz. This is paired with 6GB RAM, 64GB storage, a microSD card slot, Wi-Fi ac connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Samsung Pay, GPS, USB-C with fast charging, wireless fast charging, and a 3300mAh battery.
The oddly placed fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S8 continues to remain in the same position on the Note 8 as well. The handset also features iris unlock and face unlock.
The traditional Note S-Pen is also here and it has not seen any upgrade when compared to the Galaxy Note 7 from last year. This means you are still looking at 4,096 pressure points and a 0.7mm tip. Samsung, however, has improved its software to take better advantage of it. This includes an improved translation feature, a more advanced Always On Display on which you can pin and edit notes, and more.
What sets the Galaxy Note 8 apart from the Galaxy S8 is its dual-camera setup at the rear. The Note 8 is the first Samsung device to feature a dual-camera setup at its rear. While the primary camera remains the same as the Galaxy S8 — 12MP f/1.7 aperture with 1.4um large pixels and OIS — it is now paired with a secondary 12MP telephoto lens. Featuring an f/2.4 aperture and OIS, the telephoto lens allows the Galaxy Note 8 to offer up to 2x digital zoom. Additionally, the Galaxy Note 8 offers a Portrait mode similar to that of the iPhone 7 Plus, though here you can also adjust the focus point after taking a photo. The front 8MP f/1.7 shooter is the same that Samsung debuted with the Galaxy S8 earlier in the year.
On the software front, the Galaxy Note 8 runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Samsung’s new Experience UI on top of it. The interface is similar to what Samsung had already debuted on the Galaxy S* earlier in the year with just a few tweaks thrown in.
The Galaxy Note 8 goes up for pre-orders across major carriers in the United States in Midnight Black and Orchid Gray colors from August 24th. It will start hitting the retail stores from September 15th. As a bonus for orders placed between August 24th and September 24th, Samsung is bundling a free Gear 360 camera or a Galaxy Foundation Kit consisting of a 128GB microSD card and a fast wireless charger.
