Samsung Galaxy Note 8: The Valuable Smartphone

With the high end phones, like Galaxy Note 10, available in the market, you may be in the hunt for a phone with great features and an attractive price tag. In this scenario, you can consider buying a slightly older phone which is going to be much cheaper comparing to its launch price. You may have to compromise over your willingness to get the strong features of the current year but you are still going to get something with strong specs. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is one of the brightest examples to talk about in this regard. At the time of its launch, it was available at a whooping price of $930. But now you can get it under $300.

Design

If you look at the Galaxy Note 8, you are going to find it resembling with the Galaxy S8, or S8 Plus. The body of this phone is smooth, solid and rounded. It comes with pretty narrow bezels; which makes the phone display quite attractive. The color variants that you can get in US are black and gray.

This phone has both a USB-C port and a headphone jack. This phone is compatible with Samsung’s Dex desktop sock which can turn the phone into a desktop PC.

Galaxy Note 8 comes with 6.3-inch screen with a resolution of 2,960 x 1,440 pixels. While this size is certainly the bigger one, the phone doesn’t feel huge because of its tall and narrow build. This phone has dimensions of 6.38 x 2.95 x 0.34 inches (HWD), and its weight is 6.88 ounces.

The peak brightness that you can achieve with the screen of this phone is 1,200 nits. A large color gamut allows you to adjust the screen colors right according to your preferences. It is going to be a bit tricky though.

Battery

It seems like Samsung has been quite conservative while developing the battery of Note 8. It is understandable after due to the infamous ability of Note 7 to explode.

With display setting maxed up and streaming a video over LTE, this phone managed to survive six hours over single charge. It is not as bad as you might perceive. You can make it last longer if you set the resolution and brightness at comfortable settings.

S Pen

If S Pen is the main feature that attracted you towards the Galaxy Note series, you won’t be disappointed with the Galaxy Note 8. You can get the pen popped out of the lower right slot of the phone. The new slimmer 0.7mm tip of the phone ensures accuracy.

This pen is supported by several mainstream drawing apps, such as Autodesk Sketchbook. You can draw or write on the screen whatever you want.

Processor

First we will talk about the internal storage. This phone comes with the storage of 64GB. You can enhance the storage by adding a 256GB MicroSD whose slot is located next to the SIM card slot. This phone has a RAM of 6GB.

The processor used in the Galaxy Note 8 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip, which may be not as good as 845 or 855 Snapdragon; but it performs reasonably well.

A Bit about Samsung Galaxy Fold

The launch of Galaxy Fold earlier this year was a rough one. But now we have this phone in the market. The initial launch was a disaster due to durability issues. After making some major tweaks, Samsung launched a Galaxy Fold which is more durable.

But even with the tweaks, it is not a phone that can be recommended for everyone. It has a bulky build and tiny display as a phone. And as a tablet, the device is fragile. While fold of this phone certainly looks futuristic, it is not something for which you need to break your bank. Right now, you may be better off with a separate phone and a separate tablet if you want the features of the both.

Design and display

This phone comes with a heavy and chunky build. The weight of this phone is 9.7 ounces and it comes with the dimensions of 6.3 x 2.5 x 0.7 inches (HWD) when closed. The color variants of this phone include black and silver. The outer construction of this phone majorly consists of glass and aluminum frame.

When the phone is folded, the front of the phone shows a 4.6-inch screen which has a display of 1,680 x 720 pixels. The screen is based on AMOLED, and the aspect ratio of display is 21:9. The brightness can be maxed out at 345 nits. This display is just fine for a quick checking of messages or having a glance at the social media timeline. However, this display size is not enough for a keyboard activity.

After unfolding the phone, you are going to find a SIM card slot on the left edge. Volume rocker is on the right side along with the power button and fingerprint scanner. With small fingers, you are going to find it difficult reaching the volume rocker. The USB-C port is at the bottom right.

The feature for which this phone has been in the discussion is its screen which you are able to see when you unfold this phone. It is a 7.3-inch screen which has 2,152-by-1,680 pixels of AMOLED based display. The aspect ratio of this display is 4.2:3. The DPI of this display is 399. The brightness can be maxed out at 341 nits. In the middle of the screen there is a crease which is quite visible when there is a reflection of light. In normal circumstances, it is not quite a distraction.

With this bigger display, interaction with the apps is going to be amazing. If you want to check the map or read the books, the large size of screen is going to make your experience quite good.

Durability

While Samsung has paid huge attention to the durability, it still remains to be the number one concern. When the review units were distributed, the units started showing signs of wears and damages on the screen and other areas. Due to this poor performance, Samsung delayed the release of Galaxy Fold for a few months in order to work on the issues. A number of changes in the design were made. Protective caps in the top and bottom of the phone were added. A metal protective shield was placed behind the screen. And the hinge was updated.

This phone doesn’t come with an IP rating which is the official protection against dust and water. It means that it may be a fragile phone for which you are going to have to pay $2000.

Hardware and benchmark

The performance of this phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset and 12GB of RAM. It is the same performance that you can get from a Galaxy Note 10 or Note 10 Plus. The phone comes with 512 GB of internet storage. However, there is no slot available for Micro SD. Other hardware features include dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC for mobile payments, and Bluetooth 5.0.

In the benchmark tests, the phone performed well. The PCMark, after running some normal tasks on the phone, gave the phone a rating of 9,714. Galaxy S10 remains a bit ahead with a rating of 9843. And OnePlus 7 Pro has been given a rating of 9,828. These scores are so close that you are not going to feel the difference.

This phone comes with an amazing battery life. That is due to the 4,380mAh dual battery which powers the device. And the best thing is that this phone can be charged with fast Qi charger.

Camera and Audio

This phone comes with a 6-camera system. On the front side of the phone, there is a 10MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. After unfolding, you are going to find two camera sensors which include the same 10MP lens as on the front and an 8MP depth camera with an aperture of f/1.9. On the back of this phone, there are three cameras which include a 16MP ultra-wide lens with an aperture of f/2.2, a 12MP wide-angle lens with a variable aperture of f/1.5-2.4, and a 12MP telephoto lens with an aperture of f/2.4.

The audio quality of this phone is amazing. It has dual speakers that sound great when the volume is high. The peak volume of this phone was registered as 87dB, which is loud enough for a room.