In the previous few weeks we have seen several leaks of the upcoming Galaxy Note 8 and they seem to be fairly inconsistent. Today we have seen another Galaxy Note 8 render leak and this one seems to show what at this stage is the most superfluous button even, a Bixby button.
We have seen case renders for the Galaxy Note 8, a tweet from Samsung showing the Galaxy Note 8 sans any buttons and some apparent official renders from Samsung showing only three buttons. Todays leak shows what is apparently the Galaxy Note 8 front on.
The new leaked render shows the same button configuration that was present on the case renders a few weeks ago. There is a power button on the right hand side, a volume rocker on the left and a button below it that we can only assume is a Bixby button. When the Galaxy Note 8 launches it will have been around six months since the Galaxy S8 and Bixby was announced so we can only hope that they have it functional by then. The latest rumours have it close to ready to go although it will possibly be a while before it is adapted to our voices.
The render shows the infinity display that is present on the Galaxy S8 and is once again a very attractive phone; such a pity there is a useless hardware button. Luckily, at this stage, there are ways to remap the Bixby button to useful functions but that is a constant cat and mouse game between Samsung and developers (and most users) that Samsung seems intent on having the last say on.
Are you interested in this phone? How do you plan to combat the Bixby button? Do you think Bixby is competition for Google Assistant and Siri?
I actually don’t care about a stupid button that I won’t press anyway. I care more about the things that actually matter, like a headphone jack, and stylus….
To answer the question “am I interested in this phone?”, nope. I still think Samsung’s software is overly burdensome, bloated, janky and slow to be updated. The hardware is attractive but I’ll always maintain UX is more important. The Google Pixel is just so much more appealing in every area that matters to me – speed, fluidity, software, camera, UX, security and updates.
To answer your question, having gone from Note 7 to Pixel XL. I can tell you that the Pixel XL is severely OVERPRICED. There has been 1 update in 9 months of ownership, it added the ability to double tap to wake the phone, and similar features that were poorly implemented and failed to work consistently for many users. Aside from that update, there have been security updates every month. Same for S8 and S7 as an example. After 9 months of ownership of the Pixel, I have had 2 RMAs, I am now on my third Pixel XL, and… Read more »
This is a great example that the best phone for you largely depends on what you prefer and your usage habits. I’ve gone between Samsung Galaxies and Nexuses for the past 5 years and for me the Nexus (and I assume subsequently the Pixel) is usually the better phone. I’m on a Galaxy S8 now (free replacement for a bootlooping Nexus 6P) and definitely appreciate its pretty hardware and swiss army knife of hardware/software features, but after about a month I don’t really notice aesthetics anymore and stop using the gimmicky features. What comes to the fore by that point… Read more »
I’m on my 3rd RMA Pixel XL. I got better battery life on the Note 7. Note 7 was not as fast, but 9 months down the track neither is my Pixel unless I factory reset it AGAIN. The thing with stock is it has no intuitive smartphone functionality from out of the box. This is an inherent issue with Android compared to IOS, and as a lesser extent AOSP vs Samsung/LG/Sony software. I think the biggest problem lies where you actually use the features of the smartphone, such as a Samsung, then you go to Nexus/Pixel, and realise that… Read more »
you make a good point re the dev community and the pixel. Google is making it more and more difficult but for me that means i just find a rom and stick to it until the next update. eg. used resurrection remix for ages on my Pixel XL but the last few weeks have used Pure Nexus. It is no longer easy to flash rom, vendor image, kernel, recovery, magisk/SuperSU etc. for me though the software experience on the Pixel makes it worthwhile. I dislike custom skins and what they do to the slick sleekness that is pure Android from… Read more »
I just hope that Google adds something to the software to keep us pixel owners happy. I mean once the pixel 2 comes out there will be no reason to buy the pixel, and rom Dev will slow down even more. I guess the thing i miss is change. That’s why i liked flashing ROMs etc. Pixel just feels boring. Note 7 for me lasted 3 months before i had to return it, and during that time I not once felt bored, as i would just download a new theme built in for example.
Is a curved screen a problem for a stylus toting phone ? Can’t imagine people doing notes and illustration would like it
Is it sad that I will absolutely refuse to buy this, even though I want it – simply due to a Bixby button that I can’t reprogram?
No. It’s Samsung who are wrong.
These renders seem to conflict with the previous renders that have no Bixby button. That said, Samsung can shove their Note 8 where the sun don’t shine if a Bixby button is present (especially given the ongoing war with devs/users surrounding remapping the button to something else on the S8/S8+).