1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,000 Phone reviews have honestly become kind of routine for me. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,800 First, I switched to the device entirely. 3 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:07,400 Then I use it as my daily driver 4 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,400 for anywhere from two to six weeks, 5 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,480 maintaining a Google doc where I jot down anything about it 6 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:13,960 that pissed me off. 7 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,320 Finally, when it's time to actually write the review, 8 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,800 I sit down with my list of annoyances, 9 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:21,800 cross off all the ones that were resolved, 10 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,400 either through software updates or experience, 11 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:25,960 and then create the script 12 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,230 that I will eventually read to you like this. 13 00:00:29,230 --> 00:00:34,330 Well, the Galaxy Note 9 is bunging up my formula here 14 00:00:34,510 --> 00:00:38,180 because this is all I got. 15 00:00:38,180 --> 00:00:42,560 So let's see if we can pad that out into seven minutes or so. 16 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,220 PUBG Mobile is a free-to-play battle royale game 17 00:00:45,220 --> 00:00:47,300 for Android and iOS. 18 00:00:47,300 --> 00:00:49,740 Join the over 100 million players 19 00:00:49,740 --> 00:00:51,320 currently playing PUBG Mobile 20 00:00:51,320 --> 00:01:03,380 by downloading at the link in the video description. 21 00:01:03,380 --> 00:01:05,180 I covered most of the surface level stuff 22 00:01:05,180 --> 00:01:07,580 about the Note 9 in my unpacked video. 23 00:01:07,580 --> 00:01:08,640 But now that I've spent 24 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,960 some more time with it, I have some thoughts to add. 25 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:13,720 Ergonomically, the boxier shape of the Note 9 26 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:15,820 compared to the S9 Plus that I've been using 27 00:01:15,820 --> 00:01:18,820 as my daily driver has been an adjustment, 28 00:01:18,820 --> 00:01:20,520 as has the additional weight. 29 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,000 But one of the most meaningful tweaks 30 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:24,940 that Samsung made to the form factor 31 00:01:24,940 --> 00:01:27,120 was widening the bezels. 32 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,820 This results in a slightly worse screen to bezel ratio, 33 00:01:30,820 --> 00:01:34,180 which is a risky move at a time when competitors like Oppo 34 00:01:34,180 --> 00:01:37,860 are going as far as to put in motorized camera mechanisms 35 00:01:37,860 --> 00:01:40,200 so they can keep pushing the envelope. 36 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,740 But from a usability standpoint, 37 00:01:42,740 --> 00:01:44,740 it's been a noticeable improvement, 38 00:01:44,740 --> 00:01:47,400 especially when reaching across the screen. 39 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,240 The other ergonomic standout to me is the Bixby button. 40 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,500 Now I assumed that there would be first party support 41 00:01:54,500 --> 00:01:57,900 for disabling it again, but for some reason, 42 00:01:57,900 --> 00:02:00,860 Samsung, as of the time we're recording this, 43 00:02:00,860 --> 00:02:04,000 has removed that option. 44 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,980 Overall though, I don't actually hate Bixby. 45 00:02:06,980 --> 00:02:08,840 She runs locally on the device, 46 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,620 which means that on top of the additional functionality 47 00:02:11,620 --> 00:02:13,520 that other assistants can't handle, 48 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,520 like executing voice macros, 49 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,200 she is noticeably faster for transactional things like, 50 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,900 turn on the flashlight. 51 00:02:21,900 --> 00:02:23,880 But that's a double-edged sword 52 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:25,680 because compared to the Google Assistant, 53 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:27,000 which runs in the cloud, 54 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,940 Bixby is still, over a year later, 55 00:02:29,940 --> 00:02:32,440 far less likely to understand me. 56 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,180 The fingerprint sensor has been moved into the center, 57 00:02:35,180 --> 00:02:36,840 just like on the S9 series, 58 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,000 and I don't really need to sit that much 59 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,000 since I ended up using Intelligent Scan, 60 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,000 Samsung's unique combination of iris scanning 61 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,500 and facial recognition most of the time anyway. 62 00:02:46,500 --> 00:02:47,760 So now we're at the part of the video 63 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,280 where usually I list out a bunch of specs, 64 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,520 but it's a little bit complicated this time. 65 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,800 Which processor you get under the hood of your Note 9 66 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,020 will actually depend on your region. 67 00:02:59,020 --> 00:03:01,960 Now the good news is that it doesn't actually matter too much. 68 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,000 We only got one, so we couldn't do a head-to-head comparison, 69 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,940 but basically, the Snapdragon 845's, 70 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,360 Adreno GPU is stronger if you're a gamer, 71 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,460 while Samsung's internal tuning of the Exynos 9810 CPU 72 00:03:15,460 --> 00:03:18,820 seems to give it the edge on that side of things. 73 00:03:18,820 --> 00:03:20,480 Honestly, though, we're kind of splitting hairs 74 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:22,660 at this point and Samsung knows it. 75 00:03:22,660 --> 00:03:25,820 They hardly even talked about performance in their keynote 76 00:03:25,820 --> 00:03:27,900 because phones have basically succumbed 77 00:03:27,900 --> 00:03:29,820 to the same failing of Moore's law 78 00:03:29,820 --> 00:03:31,880 that we've been dealing with on the PC side 79 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:33,440 for the last five years now. 80 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,340 So whether you're running a Note 9 or a OnePlus 6 81 00:03:37,340 --> 00:03:39,740 for literally half the price, 82 00:03:39,740 --> 00:03:43,520 you can expect basically the same performance in your pocket, 83 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,420 at least from idle. 84 00:03:45,420 --> 00:03:48,820 Now the water cooling marketing nonsense aside, 85 00:03:48,820 --> 00:03:52,020 the big heat pipe that Samsung is using in the Note 9 86 00:03:52,020 --> 00:03:55,060 does actually result in relatively little throttling, 87 00:03:55,060 --> 00:03:58,080 even in CPU intensive tasks. 88 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,620 And that, I think right there, 89 00:04:00,620 --> 00:04:03,760 is the most remarkable thing about the Note 9. 90 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:05,820 Not the heat pipe specifically, 91 00:04:05,820 --> 00:04:07,320 but the fact that it's, you know, a little bit more powerful, 92 00:04:07,340 --> 00:04:09,100 bigger than yours, 93 00:04:09,100 --> 00:04:12,510 and they managed to squeeze that, 94 00:04:12,510 --> 00:04:14,210 the S Pen, 95 00:04:14,210 --> 00:04:17,290 the 4,000 milliamp hour battery that's big enough 96 00:04:17,290 --> 00:04:19,570 that even with the weird battery drain bug 97 00:04:19,570 --> 00:04:20,690 that I get sometimes, 98 00:04:20,690 --> 00:04:22,270 I still managed to make it through the day. 99 00:04:22,270 --> 00:04:26,630 They crammed basically everything into this phone. 100 00:04:26,630 --> 00:04:28,170 Other notable inclusions, 101 00:04:28,170 --> 00:04:30,630 up to eight gigs of LPDDR4 memory, 102 00:04:30,630 --> 00:04:33,330 that's in the 512 gig storage version, 103 00:04:33,330 --> 00:04:37,010 IP68 water resistance, NFC, high speed wireless charging, 104 00:04:37,010 --> 00:04:37,570 and a 512 gig battery. 105 00:04:37,570 --> 00:04:38,410 That's in the 512 gig storage version. 106 00:04:38,410 --> 00:04:43,150 Micro SD expansion, a headphone jack, and stereo speakers. 107 00:04:43,150 --> 00:04:44,230 Samsung, by the way, 108 00:04:44,230 --> 00:04:47,130 with their spectacular HDR OLED displays 109 00:04:47,130 --> 00:04:49,310 and flexible audio connectivity, 110 00:04:49,310 --> 00:04:51,610 continues to deliver hands down 111 00:04:51,610 --> 00:04:54,630 the best mobile movie watching experience. 112 00:04:54,630 --> 00:04:56,570 So here's the thing. 113 00:04:56,570 --> 00:04:59,010 Almost always when I'm working on a phone review, 114 00:04:59,010 --> 00:05:01,970 because I actually switched to them as my only phone, 115 00:05:01,970 --> 00:05:05,270 I wish that I, you know, had the form factor of phone X 116 00:05:05,270 --> 00:05:06,930 with the features of phone Y, 117 00:05:06,930 --> 00:05:08,030 and the camera of phone Z, 118 00:05:08,030 --> 00:05:09,790 or something along those lines. 119 00:05:09,790 --> 00:05:12,310 Most recently, I was actually working on my full review 120 00:05:12,310 --> 00:05:13,990 of the Oppo Find X, 121 00:05:13,990 --> 00:05:15,950 and I was crestfallen when I realized 122 00:05:15,950 --> 00:05:17,430 that it doesn't have NFC. 123 00:05:17,430 --> 00:05:20,350 I mean, that's apparently not a big deal in China, 124 00:05:20,350 --> 00:05:23,030 but I use NFC for two factor authentication 125 00:05:23,030 --> 00:05:24,510 on a very regular basis. 126 00:05:24,510 --> 00:05:26,130 It was a real bummer for me. 127 00:05:26,130 --> 00:05:28,110 And back to the Note 9, 128 00:05:28,110 --> 00:05:31,330 the camera hasn't changed much since the S9 series, 129 00:05:31,330 --> 00:05:34,150 but that's not really a terrible thing. 130 00:05:34,150 --> 00:05:36,770 It's low light performance is still outstanding. 131 00:05:36,930 --> 00:05:39,610 And everything from well lit indoor stills 132 00:05:39,610 --> 00:05:43,110 to more challenging scenarios like poorly lit video 133 00:05:43,110 --> 00:05:44,790 came out as well as I would expect 134 00:05:44,790 --> 00:05:46,950 from any flagship smartphone today. 135 00:05:46,950 --> 00:05:49,290 As for the new Bluetooth enabled S Pen, 136 00:05:49,290 --> 00:05:53,100 as a not really a stylist guy, 137 00:05:53,100 --> 00:05:55,460 it's mostly a handy little bonus. 138 00:05:55,460 --> 00:05:56,700 And you know, you can write on the screen 139 00:05:56,700 --> 00:05:58,800 even when it's off, I guess that's pretty cool. 140 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,540 But I mostly didn't find many occasions to use it, 141 00:06:01,540 --> 00:06:04,940 even including the remote camera shutter functionality. 142 00:06:04,940 --> 00:06:07,060 With that said, I expect some really cool things 143 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,720 to come out of the S Pen once the SDK lands. 144 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,180 Until then, assuming that you can afford one, 145 00:06:13,180 --> 00:06:14,520 because it's not cheap, 146 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,220 the Note 9 is gonna have to settle 147 00:06:16,220 --> 00:06:20,670 for being just the zero compromises smartphone, 148 00:06:20,670 --> 00:06:22,910 a designation that I have never given 149 00:06:22,910 --> 00:06:25,310 to any other handheld. 150 00:06:25,310 --> 00:06:28,190 Thanks to PUBG Mobile for sponsoring today's video. 151 00:06:28,190 --> 00:06:30,390 PUBG Mobile is the official mobile version 152 00:06:30,390 --> 00:06:32,410 of the Player Unknown's Battlegrounds. 153 00:06:32,410 --> 00:06:34,190 It's a free to play battle royale game 154 00:06:34,190 --> 00:06:36,390 available for Android and iOS, 155 00:06:36,390 --> 00:06:38,810 where a hundred players parachute onto a remote island 156 00:06:38,810 --> 00:06:40,790 for a winner takes all showdown. 157 00:06:40,790 --> 00:06:42,630 It's powered by the Unreal Engine. 158 00:06:42,630 --> 00:06:45,470 It features intuitive and customizable controls. 159 00:06:45,470 --> 00:06:47,710 It's got HD audio and more. 160 00:06:47,710 --> 00:06:49,730 So try out other PUBG arcade modes, 161 00:06:49,730 --> 00:06:52,570 like War Mode, Mini Zone, and Quick Matches 162 00:06:52,570 --> 00:06:56,660 by downloading it today at the link in the video description. 163 00:06:56,660 --> 00:06:57,720 So thanks for watching, guys. 164 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,940 If you disliked this video, you can hit that button. 165 00:06:59,940 --> 00:07:02,340 But if you liked it, hit like, get subscribed, 166 00:07:02,340 --> 00:07:03,440 or maybe consider checking out 167 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:04,860 where to buy the stuff we featured 168 00:07:04,860 --> 00:07:06,340 at the link in the video description. 169 00:07:06,620 --> 00:07:10,300 Assuming that you are a mad baller. 170 00:07:10,300 --> 00:07:12,880 Also, down there is our merch store. 171 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:13,920 That's right, that's down there, 172 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,120 which has shirts like, I think, this one, yep. 173 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,020 And our community forum, and you should totally join that.