Galaxy Note 9 - ALMOST Perfect...
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2019-05-06
·
1,313 words · ~6 min read
0:00
Phone reviews have honestly become kind of routine for me.
0:03
First, I switched to the device entirely.
0:05
Then I use it as my daily driver
0:07
for anywhere from two to six weeks,
0:09
maintaining a Google doc where I jot down anything about it
0:12
that pissed me off.
0:13
Finally, when it's time to actually write the review,
0:17
I sit down with my list of annoyances,
0:19
cross off all the ones that were resolved,
0:21
either through software updates or experience,
0:24
and then create the script
0:25
that I will eventually read to you like this.
0:29
Well, the Galaxy Note 9 is bunging up my formula here
0:34
because this is all I got.
0:38
So let's see if we can pad that out into seven minutes or so.
0:42
PUBG Mobile is a free-to-play battle royale game
0:45
for Android and iOS.
0:47
Join the over 100 million players
0:49
currently playing PUBG Mobile
0:51
by downloading at the link in the video description.
1:03
I covered most of the surface level stuff
1:05
about the Note 9 in my unpacked video.
1:07
But now that I've spent
1:08
some more time with it, I have some thoughts to add.
1:10
Ergonomically, the boxier shape of the Note 9
1:13
compared to the S9 Plus that I've been using
1:15
as my daily driver has been an adjustment,
1:18
as has the additional weight.
1:20
But one of the most meaningful tweaks
1:23
that Samsung made to the form factor
1:24
was widening the bezels.
1:27
This results in a slightly worse screen to bezel ratio,
1:30
which is a risky move at a time when competitors like Oppo
1:34
are going as far as to put in motorized camera mechanisms
1:37
so they can keep pushing the envelope.
1:40
But from a usability standpoint,
1:42
it's been a noticeable improvement,
1:44
especially when reaching across the screen.
1:47
The other ergonomic standout to me is the Bixby button.
1:51
Now I assumed that there would be first party support
1:54
for disabling it again, but for some reason,
1:57
Samsung, as of the time we're recording this,
2:00
has removed that option.
2:04
Overall though, I don't actually hate Bixby.
2:06
She runs locally on the device,
2:08
which means that on top of the additional functionality
2:11
that other assistants can't handle,
2:13
like executing voice macros,
2:15
she is noticeably faster for transactional things like,
2:19
turn on the flashlight.
2:21
But that's a double-edged sword
2:23
because compared to the Google Assistant,
2:25
which runs in the cloud,
2:27
Bixby is still, over a year later,
2:29
far less likely to understand me.
2:32
The fingerprint sensor has been moved into the center,
2:35
just like on the S9 series,
2:38
and I don't really need to sit that much
2:40
since I ended up using Intelligent Scan,
2:42
Samsung's unique combination of iris scanning
2:44
and facial recognition most of the time anyway.
2:46
So now we're at the part of the video
2:47
where usually I list out a bunch of specs,
2:51
but it's a little bit complicated this time.
2:53
Which processor you get under the hood of your Note 9
2:56
will actually depend on your region.
2:59
Now the good news is that it doesn't actually matter too much.
3:01
We only got one, so we couldn't do a head-to-head comparison,
3:05
but basically, the Snapdragon 845's,
3:08
Adreno GPU is stronger if you're a gamer,
3:11
while Samsung's internal tuning of the Exynos 9810 CPU
3:15
seems to give it the edge on that side of things.
3:18
Honestly, though, we're kind of splitting hairs
3:20
at this point and Samsung knows it.
3:22
They hardly even talked about performance in their keynote
3:25
because phones have basically succumbed
3:27
to the same failing of Moore's law
3:29
that we've been dealing with on the PC side
3:31
for the last five years now.
3:33
So whether you're running a Note 9 or a OnePlus 6
3:37
for literally half the price,
3:39
you can expect basically the same performance in your pocket,
3:43
at least from idle.
3:45
Now the water cooling marketing nonsense aside,
3:48
the big heat pipe that Samsung is using in the Note 9
3:52
does actually result in relatively little throttling,
3:55
even in CPU intensive tasks.
3:58
And that, I think right there,
4:00
is the most remarkable thing about the Note 9.
4:03
Not the heat pipe specifically,
4:05
but the fact that it's, you know, a little bit more powerful,
4:07
bigger than yours,
4:09
and they managed to squeeze that,
4:12
the S Pen,
4:14
the 4,000 milliamp hour battery that's big enough
4:17
that even with the weird battery drain bug
4:19
that I get sometimes,
4:20
I still managed to make it through the day.
4:22
They crammed basically everything into this phone.
4:26
Other notable inclusions,
4:28
up to eight gigs of LPDDR4 memory,
4:30
that's in the 512 gig storage version,
4:33
IP68 water resistance, NFC, high speed wireless charging,
4:37
and a 512 gig battery.
4:37
That's in the 512 gig storage version.
4:38
Micro SD expansion, a headphone jack, and stereo speakers.
4:43
Samsung, by the way,
4:44
with their spectacular HDR OLED displays
4:47
and flexible audio connectivity,
4:49
continues to deliver hands down
4:51
the best mobile movie watching experience.
4:54
So here's the thing.
4:56
Almost always when I'm working on a phone review,
4:59
because I actually switched to them as my only phone,
5:01
I wish that I, you know, had the form factor of phone X
5:05
with the features of phone Y,
5:06
and the camera of phone Z,
5:08
or something along those lines.
5:09
Most recently, I was actually working on my full review
5:12
of the Oppo Find X,
5:13
and I was crestfallen when I realized
5:15
that it doesn't have NFC.
5:17
I mean, that's apparently not a big deal in China,
5:20
but I use NFC for two factor authentication
5:23
on a very regular basis.
5:24
It was a real bummer for me.
5:26
And back to the Note 9,
5:28
the camera hasn't changed much since the S9 series,
5:31
but that's not really a terrible thing.
5:34
It's low light performance is still outstanding.
5:36
And everything from well lit indoor stills
5:39
to more challenging scenarios like poorly lit video
5:43
came out as well as I would expect
5:44
from any flagship smartphone today.
5:46
As for the new Bluetooth enabled S Pen,
5:49
as a not really a stylist guy,
5:53
it's mostly a handy little bonus.
5:55
And you know, you can write on the screen
5:56
even when it's off, I guess that's pretty cool.
5:58
But I mostly didn't find many occasions to use it,
6:01
even including the remote camera shutter functionality.
6:04
With that said, I expect some really cool things
6:07
to come out of the S Pen once the SDK lands.
6:09
Until then, assuming that you can afford one,
6:13
because it's not cheap,
6:14
the Note 9 is gonna have to settle
6:16
for being just the zero compromises smartphone,
6:20
a designation that I have never given
6:22
to any other handheld.
6:25
Thanks to PUBG Mobile for sponsoring today's video.
6:28
PUBG Mobile is the official mobile version
6:30
of the Player Unknown's Battlegrounds.
6:32
It's a free to play battle royale game
6:34
available for Android and iOS,
6:36
where a hundred players parachute onto a remote island
6:38
for a winner takes all showdown.
6:40
It's powered by the Unreal Engine.
6:42
It features intuitive and customizable controls.
6:45
It's got HD audio and more.
6:47
So try out other PUBG arcade modes,
6:49
like War Mode, Mini Zone, and Quick Matches
6:52
by downloading it today at the link in the video description.
6:56
So thanks for watching, guys.
6:57
If you disliked this video, you can hit that button.
6:59
But if you liked it, hit like, get subscribed,
7:02
or maybe consider checking out
7:03
where to buy the stuff we featured
7:04
at the link in the video description.
7:06
Assuming that you are a mad baller.
7:10
Also, down there is our merch store.
7:12
That's right, that's down there,
7:13
which has shirts like, I think, this one, yep.
7:16
And our community forum, and you should totally join that.