The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Is Amazing, But Has Outlived Its Niche

Aug. 23, 2018

Samsunglaunchedthe new Galaxy Note 9 smartphone in India yesterday with a price tag of Rs. 67,900. And honestly, everyone, I mean everyone, is raving about this phone and all its awesome features, with good reason. So, when the phone showed up at Beebom office for review, I decided to take it for a spin and see if see it’s worth the hype.

In my opinion, the Note 9 takes everything that its predecessor is good at and made it better, but it still doesn’t make sense if you already have a Note 8 or an S9+. Take thenew and improved S Pen, for instance. The S Pen is what used to distinguish the Note line-up from the Galaxy S flagships. And in the Note 9’s case, the new S Pen is what sets it apart from theNote 8itself. But is that enough to attract people to the new Note 9?

Is The S Pen Really For You?

When Samsung announced the Galaxy Note 9 on stage, I was honestly very happy to see some new features for the S Pen. Now you can use it as a remote control and click a photo with its button, scroll down on a webpage in Chrome, or change slides while doing a presentation.

That being said, if you’re someone who’ve never used an S Pen before, then you won’t find it very productive this time either. I am not saying it’s bad by any means. It has improved with each iteration, but you’ll still find yourself jotting down notes or doodling around the interface at best. The way I see it, the new S Pen is only for Samsung geeks – those trying to show off their shiny new Note phone.

Even Beebom designer and illustratorDurgesh Kukreticouldn’t figure out a productive use for the S Pen. He doodled on the fantastic display to create a few illustrations and sketches, but designers and artists would be better off with something like the iPad Pro with a bigger display, and the Apple Pencil. Or even the new Surface notebooks and the Surface pen.

The S Pen was great in the first few Note phones when other premium phones didn’t opt for ‘phablet’ form factor. Phones these days have an equally large display – some even larger than the Note 9.

The Galaxy Note 9 looks and feels like a slightly bigger, squarer version of the S9+. It’s not just looks, but even in terms of performance, software, user experience and usability, the Galaxy Note 9 feels just like the Galaxy S9+ minus the S Pen.

Look, I know DisplayMate says the Note 9 has the best smartphone display, but they saidthe exact same thing for the Galaxy S9+ as well. And we challenge anyone to find flaws in the S9+ panel. Heck, I use a Galaxy S8 from last year and it still turns heads when I am using it in the public.

And for the camera? The Note 9 and the Galaxy S9+ share the same sensors. There are some software improvements on the Note 9, but that could come to the S9+ too, given the nearly identical hardware. Even when it comes to media consumption, the S9+ has a great Infinity display and stereo speakers, which are still considered to be one of the best on the market. It also has similarin-box accessories to the Note 9.

The Galaxy Note 9 is, without a doubt, a beast of a smartphone. In fact, it is powerful enough to hold its own against devices that are yet to be announced this year, be it Apple’supcoming iPhone lineuporGoogle’s new Pixel phones. Just like any of the previous Galaxy Note device, the Note 9 is packed with features which you’ll probably never use, but are there anyway, in case you want to.

I think that the Note 9 is a product that’s outlived its niche, and is no longer relevant. Samsung may feel the same too, as it’s launchingthree Galaxy S10 variantsnext year, and may not have room for another premium Note device. Only time will tell whether the Note series will live on to see a 10th iteration.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on the Note 9 and do you think it’s better to buy the cheaper and almost identical Galaxy S9+ instead of the latest Samsung premium phone? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Karthik is a Contributing Author for Beebom. Be it mobile devices, laptops, etc. he brings his passion for technology wherever he goes. When he’s not dwelling on the latest tech, you can usually find Karthik wasting time on Instagram or feeding his incessant obsession for video games.