At their event in New York this morning, Samsung has unveiled their latest flagship phone the Galaxy Note9 with a new and improved S Pen that features a few new tricks.
While the launch of the Note8 last year addressed the issues with the Galaxy Note7, the launch of the Note9 is all about looking forwards and the announcements show that there is a lot of life left in the Galaxy Note brand and the Note9 is set to carry on the legacy.
‘The Note has always been our showcase for premium technology and industry-defining innovation, and Galaxy Note9 is no exception’ said President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics, DJ Koh. As teased by Samsung in the lead up to the launch, the Note 9 concentrates on three key aspects of the premium smartphone experience with the Note9 set to offer Speed and Power, All Day Battery life, and the ability to Store More, Delete Less.
Hardware
Samsung has included premium specs with the Note9 starting with a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED WQHD+ resolution edge-to-edge Infinity Display which is their largest display to date. The screen is housed in a lovely body that’s been laser cut to achieve some stunning angles and it’s coming in four colours – Midnight Black, Lavender Purple, Metallic Copper with matching S Pen, and Ocean Blue with a Yellow S Pen. – the body is IP68 dust/water resistant and Samsung has solved one of the only design flaws from the Note 8 – the position of the fingerprint scanner which is now positioned sensor below the camera module.
Inside the phone you have an Exynos 9810 processor (Snapdragon 845 in the US and China) with two options for RAM and storage: a model with 6GB RAM/128GB on-board storage or 8GB/512GB of storage with a microSD card slot – and the best news of all is that Samsung is bringing the 8GB/512GB model to Australia. Samsung says that the Note9 is able to deliver all day battery life with the inclusion of a 4,000mAh battery that supports fast charging on both wired and wireless chargers.
Camera
As with all Samsung Galaxy flagships, Samsung has brought the best of their camera technology with the Note9 including dual camera sensors on the rear offering a wide-angle 12MP AF sensor with the dual F1.5/F2.4 aperture introduced on the Galaxy S9 next to a 12MP sensor with AutoFocus and a fixed f2.4 offering 2X optical zoom (up to 10x Digital) and both include Optical Image Stabilisation. The Note9 also includes an 8MP front-facing sensor behind an f/1.7 aperture.
It’s not just great hardware in the Note9, with Samsung including AI in their camera software with scene optimisation that lets the phone recognises elements of the scene and then offer optimised settings in order to let you capture a ‘stunning, lifelike image with bold colors and dynamic definition’.
Samsung’s camera also has ‘Flow Detection’, which automatically detects when a photo you take is less than optimal for example if the image is blurry, the subject blinked, there’s a smudge on the lens, or the lighting isn’t quite right, flashing up a notification instantly.
Full Specs:
| Galaxy Note9 | |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.4-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED, 2960×1440 (516ppi) *Screen measured diagonally as a full rectangle without accounting for the rounded corners *Default resolution is Full HD+ and can be changed to Quad HD+ (WQHD+) in Settings |
| Camera | Rear: Dual Camera with Dual OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) – Wide-angle: Super Speed Dual Pixel 12MP AF, F1.5/F2.4, OIS – Telephoto: 12MP AF, F2.4, OIS – 2X optical zoom, up to 10X digital zoom Front: 8MP AF, F1.7 |
| Body | 161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8mm, 201g, IP68 (BLE S Pen: 5.7 x 4.35 x 106.37mm, 3.1g, IP68) *Carrying an IP68 dust and water resistance rating. Based on test conditions of submersion in up to 1.5 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes |
| Application Processor |
10nm 64-bit Octa-core processor (Max. 2.7 GHz + 1.7 GHz) 10nm 64-bit Octa-core processor (Max. 2.8 GHz + 1.7 GHz) *May differ by market and mobile operator |
| Memory | 6GB RAM (LPDDR4), 128GB + MicroSD slot (up to 512GB) 8GB RAM (LPDDR4), 512GB + MicroSD slot (up to 512GB) *May differ by market and mobile operator *User memory is less than the total memory due to storage of the operating system and software used to operate the device features. Actual user memory will vary depending on the operator and may change after software upgrades are performed. |
| SIM Card | Single: one Nano SIM and one MicroSD slot (up to 512GB) Hybrid: one Nano SIM and one Nano SIM or one MicroSD slot (up to 512GB) *May differ by market and mobile operator |
| Battery | 4,000mAh Fast Charging compatible on wired and wireless Wired charging compatible with QC2.0 and AFC Wireless charging compatible with WPC and PMA *May differ by market and mobile operator |
| OS | Android 8.1 (Oreo) |
| Network | Enhanced 4×4 MIMO, 5CA, LAA, LTE Cat.18 *May differ by market and mobile operator |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), VHT80 MU-MIMO, 1024QAM, Bluetooth® v 5.0 (LE up to 2Mbps), ANT+, USB Type-C, NFC, Location (GPS, Galileo*, Glonass, BeiDou*) *Galileo and BeiDou coverage may be limited. |
| Payment | NFC, MST,*May differ by market and mobile operator |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Barometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, Heart Rate Sensor, Proximity Sensor, RGB Light Sensor, Iris Sensor, Pressure Sensor |
| Authentication | Lock Type: Pattern, Pin, Password Biometric Lock Types: Iris Scanner, Fingerprint Scanner, Facial Recognition Intelligent scan: Combines iris scan and face recognition for convenient unlocking and in some cases provides enhanced security for certain authentication services |
| Audio | MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF,,MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA, DSF, DFF, APE |
| Video | MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM |
S Pen
The much vaunted S Pen has been the secret sauce for Samsung’s Note series, and with the launch of the Note9 the S Pen is getting even better. As rumoured, the S Pen will now connect to the phone via Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) offering new usage options for the S Pen. Samsung says the S Pen can now be used to use the S Pen to ‘take selfies and group pictures, present slides, pause and play
video, and more’.
Samsung has also added a little flair of colour to the Note9 ability to take notes with the screen off. On the Note9, the text on-screen will match the colour of your S Pen.
Samsung will be extending an offer to developers later this year, offering them access to the new capabilities of the improved S Pen. Samsung says they’ll be giving them access to the new and improved BLE functions in the S Pen and let them integrate the functions into their apps.
Software
Samsung says the Note9 will arrive with Android 8.1 (Oreo) on the phone, this will obviously see the Samsung custom software overlayed over the top. The Samsung software layer allows them to offer their PC-like experience, Samsung DeX, by simply connecting the phone to a display using one of Samsung’s HDMI adapters rather than a full dock. With DeX Samsung says users can work on presentations, edit photos, and watch their favourite show on a larger display. Samsung is also letting you use the S Pen while you’re in DeX mode to take notes, as well as using the Note9 as a ‘trackpad, to right-click, drag and drop, and use multiple windows on a monitor’
Samsung is also including their successful security platform: Knox on the Note 9, along with a variety of biometric security options including fingerprint scanning, iris scanning and facial recognition capabilities.
Australian Availability
The good news for Australians is that we’ll be seeing the Galaxy Note9 launching on August 24th in Australia, the same day as most other countries around the world. The phone will be available in three stunning colours: Midnight Black, Ocean Blue with a Yellow S Pen and Metallic Copper – though the Metallic Copper model will only be available from selected retailers.
Samsung is bringing both the 6GB/128GB and 8GB/512GB models of the Galaxy Note9 to Australia with the 128GB model priced at RRP $1,499, while the 512GB model will sell for RRP $1,799. Samsung will open pre-orders for the phone today offering customers the chance to get the 512GB model of the Note9 for the price of the 128GB if ordered from a selected retailer – T&Cs here.
The Samsung Galaxy Note series has consistently offered a premium smartphone experience for customers, ranking highly in the yearly round-up of phones. Garry McGregor, Vice President, Mobile Division, Samsung Electronics Australia, acknowledged this saying
The Galaxy Note9 sets a new benchmark for what Australians should expect from a premium smartphone. It is built on years of innovation, refinement, and listening to our customers to deliver the features they need so they can achieve more in their day. Our Galaxy Note customers are among our most loyal and enthusiastic supporters. Each year this smartphone showcases our latest innovations, which is why Note fans continue to stay dedicated to this device. Mobile technology powers our lives and today’s power user needs a device that can keep up with their demands, including a long-lasting battery to get you through the day, ample storage and of course speed. The Galaxy Note9 delivers all this and more. We know Australians are going to love this device and we’re excited to support it with a great pre-sale offer.
Will the Samsung Galaxy Note9 live up to expectations? We’re keen to find out when we go hands on with the phone at their Australian launch event.
Great specs ‘as usual’ from the big S, but the price?
Will Telstra and others be offering the higher end model as well and at what cost?
Data is getting cheaper but flagship smartphones just get dearer each season.
The Note 9 though, has to be the ultimate. all purpose productivity tool.
Can’t wait to get my hands on one.
$1499 for the 6GB RAM/128GB storage, and $1799 for the 8GB RAM/512GB storage.
But if you pre-order you get the 8GB RAM/512GB storage version for only $1499. That’s a really good price for all that tech