Our Samsung Galaxy Note 8 review has been updated to reflect the fact that the best color of the phone, Deep Sea Blue, is coming to the US on November 16, just in time for Black Friday deals. Just don't expect that Android Oreo update until early 2018. We also added Note 8 vs Google Pixel XL comparison details.
The Galaxy Note 8 is the biggest reimagining of Samsung’s best smartphones for productivity, and more than enough to right the major wrongs of the recalled Note 7. This is a mega-sized mea culpa.
We tested the Note 8 for several weeks and it has has us convinced: this is a true redesign of not just the Note series, but of the average smartphone from top-to-bottom, edge-to-edge, and rear camera to, well, rear camera. There are now two cameras on the back, a first for a Samsung flagship smartphone. It takes brilliant portrait photos, and you can even edit the depth of field post-capture.
The S Pen stylus returns, and it has a larger 6.3-inch ‘Infinity Display’ to work with – but one that doesn’t increase the dimensions of the actual phone too much. The Note 8 acts like a big, borderless glass canvas for your important handwritten notes and masterpiece doodles.
Why buy this instead of the 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 Plus? The extra tenth of an inch is insignificant and doesn’t matter, but Note fans adore the S Pen functionality and its more square shape, power users are going to benefit from the 6GB of RAM, and we loved the superior dual-lens camera in our tests – you will too.
This is the most powerful Samsung phone yet. It does, however, cost you in three ways. It’s too big for some – it’s technically Samsung’s best, but not the best for everyone. You’re going to need a Note 8 case to confidently hold this unwieldy glass beast, and two hands to operate it.
The big screen also comes at the cost of the Note’s usual oval-shaped fingerprint sensor home button. It’s gone. The on-screen button that replaces it works fine, but the fingerprint sensor is now located on the back of the device and off-center – it’s a textbook flawed design, and the alternative iris scanner doesn’t always work when you want to unlock the phone.
Then there’s the Note 8 price. If you want top-of-the-line specs, the one of the most advanced cameras, a stunning display, and streamlined multitasking on a phone, you’re really going to pay for them. The Note 8 costs more than the S8 Plus, although if you’re going to sink a lot of money into a device that you use everyday, you may as well go all the way.
Can your wallet, and the extent of your grip, handle the Note 8? That’s pretty much all that you – if you have faith in Samsung again – need to ask yourself before buying this phone.
The new Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are the biggest Samsung Galaxy Note 8 rivals. They already run Android Oreo and Google's camera is slightly better but its screen colors are worse, in our opinion. The Google Pixel 2 XL is having a few screen burn-in problems, too. Apple has the all-new iPhone X launching on November 3 with a borderless display, facial recognition and an equally sizable price tag, but that requires switching over from Android to iOS 11.
The Note 8 rules supreme in the big-screen, big-power, big-price arena, as we'll demonstrate in our full review.
Price and release date
- At $929 (£869, AU$1,499), it's the most expensive phone you'll buy
- Deals have popped up before Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- Released on September 15 in US and UK, September 22 in Australia
The Galaxy Note 8 release date was Friday, September 15 in the US and UK, while Australia will got the new phone on September 22. It's readily available, unlike Apple's newest smartphone.
he fingerprint sensor has marginally improved
- No physical home button means a rear fingerprint sensor
- It's further away from the camera vs the S8 and S8 Plus sensor
- Iris scanner and face unlock are poor substitutes
We hate the fingerprint sensor on the Galaxy Note 8, just as we did on the S8 and S8 Plus. Maybe a tiny bit less, but we still don’t like its off-center rear location for the same reason: we keep blindly smudging the far-too-close dual-lens camera. It’s really difficult to unlock the phone.
Still awkward
What’s improved – slightly? The offset fingerprint sensor and center-aligned camera are a few milimeters further away from each other. Samsung wisely moved the flash and heart rate monitor in between the sensor (which requires your fingerprints) and the camera (which always gets fingerprint smudges all over it). That built-in heart rate monitor you forget still existed on Samsung phones now serves a purpose again.
Samsung’s unlocking alternatives don’t work as advertised. Face unlock has proven to be less secure, so much so that we don’t even suggest using it. And while you won’t fool the iris scanner, it won’t recognize you wearing sunglasses, or walking and holding the phone at the improper distance.
It’s ironic that we have a phone that looks like it comes from the future, yet it’s been designed with a fingerprint sensor that’s become a textbook design misfire on smartphones. Samsung could fix this issue with an in-glass front fingerprint sensor, but the technology isn’t ready yet. Expect this to be a grand announcement for the Galaxy S9 or Note 9 – please act surprised.
The S Pen is full of new and old tricks
- Easy to sign documents and write directly on screenshots
- Note-taking expands with convenient off-screen memos
- Live Messages, GIF Capture add fun to this productivity tool
There are two types of people in the world – those who will use the Note 8’s S Pen, and those who think they’re going to use it, but will stop taking it out of its holster after about a week. It’s like everyone’s desire to own a Fitbit – you had good intentions when you set out to buy it.
Anyone who sticks with the S Pen, however, will get their money’s worth from the Note 8. We signed a PDF contract last week without having to print or scan it – in fact, we didn’t even have to leave the email app. We also jotted down handwritten notes and took screenshots that we were instantly able to mark up.
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