Samsung Galaxy Note 8 128GB

The numero uno manufacturer has been offering two separate flagship lineups annually – the Galaxy S series and the Note range. While the devices are targeted at different consumer segments, the latest Note8 is eerily similar to the S8 duo (more so with the bigger S8+). In fact, if you don’t need the S Pen – the hallmark of the Note series – then I’d suggest you to stick with the Samsung Galaxy S8+ (review), which by the way, recently received a price cut. However, there’s another key distinction that the new Note8 brings – dual cameras, which will be the key focus areas in the next section. But are these differences enough to warrant spending Rs 67,900 on? Especially when you consider the fact that Apple’s upcoming iPhone X is being regarded as “the future of the smartphone”? Many questions cloud the mind, and most of the answers lie in how good the Samsung Galaxy Note8 is in real life.

Samsung’s Galaxy S8 twins pushed the envelope for smartphone designs with their Infinity displays, metal frames and shiny glass backs. The Note8 carries that forward, albeit in a slightly larger form factor. It’s the largest smartphone in the Note series ever, with its display panel measuring 6.3-inches diagonally – 0.1-inch bigger than the S8+.

The Galaxy Note8’s window to the world is its large 6.3-inch display with a wide-screen aspect ratio of 18.5:9. Samsung’s display panels are always best-in-class, and the one on its latest flagship goes one step ahead. With a Super AMOLED tech and resolution of 2,960x 1,440 pixels (also referred to as 3K resolution), it delivers darker blacks, impressive contrast levels and sharp text. At 1,200 nits, the brightness levels are the highest ever in a smartphone, which means you can easily use the Note8 even under harsh sunlight. To top it off, the device is capable of playing HDR videos as it’s certified with Mobile HDR Premium standard. While watching such content is an immersive experience, the reality is that very few streaming services offer HDR videos. The limited list includes YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime on which you can find some HDR-compliant titles. There’s a Bluelight filter too to ensure that you can use the phone at night without straining your eyes.

Samsung has usually been the trendsetter in the world of smartphones, but when it comes to dual cameras, it’s taken its own sweet time to join the club. In fact, it has boarded the bandwagon almost an year after Apple, which started offering a pair of snappers with the iPhone 7 Plus for the first time. The Galaxy Note8 flaunts a pair of 12-megapixel shooters at the rear, with the primary 26mm f/1.7 sensor being the same as the one on the S8 twins and the secondary one being a telephoto f/2.4 sensor with 52mm size. What makes them special is the fact that both of them have OIS, which ensures that your handshakes are minimised to offer good pictures in low-light and smoother videos. The dual-camera array works exactly same as the iPhone’s, i.e. offering you the ability to get closer to the subject with 2X optical zoom and ensure that your subject with the rest of the background with what brand dubs as the Live Focus mode. You also get fast autofocusing thanks to the dual-pixel technology.

As much as the Note series is about its powerful hardware, software plays an equally important role in making it a workhorse and a productivity-centric offering. The Chaebol has ensured that the Galaxy Note8 takes things to the next level, with its latest Samsung Experience v8.5 running atop Android 7.1.1 Nougat.

The S Pen remains a key differentiator between the Note series and the Galaxy S range, and rightly so. It’s one thing that has ensured loyal followers for the Note series, and for them, the S Pen functionality with the Note8 is second to none. Not only it’s more accurate now thanks to 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, it’s also improved upon its much-loved features.

2017’s flagships have followed a set formula when it comes to their internals, and the Samsung Galaxy Note8 sticks to that. The Indian variant draws power from the brand’s in-house Exynos 8895 SoC, which is similar to the Snapdragon 835 chipset, and is built using a 10nm FinFET process. It has two quad-core clusters running at 2.3GHz and 1.7GHz. Unlike the S8 and S8+ however, the Note8 gets an additional 2 gigs of RAM as it comes with 6GB capacity. The additional RAM does help a lot in terms of multi-tasking or while using App Pair. Otherwise too, there are hardly any tasks that can tax the powerful hardware combination. Add to it the Mali-G71 MP20 GPU and the gaming experience is amazing. I lost track of time while playing Contest of Champions and Asphalt 8: Airborne, and the phablet delivered incredible graphics and didn’t show any traces of lag.

Well, this is the aspect where the Note7 faltered, and Samsung has already promised that all its batteries now follow a stringent 8-point check. So you shouldn’t worry about the Note8 meeting the same fate. That said, it seems that the company has still played it safe as even though its latest flagship is larger than the S8+, it packs in a 3,300mAh battery – 200mAh lesser than the one fuelling the latter.

In the end, everything boils down to this. Should you loosen up your purse strings for the Samsung Galaxy Note8 – which at Rs 67,999 is the most expensive Android smartphone you can buy currently? It all depends on what are you looking for from your smartphone. If you like cutting-edge technology and money is no bar for you, then you probably should wait for the Apple iPhone X. But if you want a smartphone that gets most of the things right, from the design to the internals, and from the display to the cameras, along with packing some extras, and are willing to pay a premium – then I have another question for you. Do you need the S Pen? If the answer is yes, then you can surely go for the Galaxy Note8.