Note 9: Size does matter

Not much has changed from the previous year’s Note 8 design, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The phone is sleek, following the typical Samsung design; a glass and metal body. The subtle curves along the edges of the device make for an excellent feel in the hands and feels premium as expected. Although the device has a familiar design, it is a refreshing look in comparison to the typical ‘notch design’ of other devices. Chamfered edges and the 83.4% screen to body ratio gives an immersive user experience and an illusion that the display is floating, claimed by Samsung as the ‘Infinity Display’.

The raw power of the Mali-G72 GPU and Samsung’s very own latest Exynos 9810 CPU packs quite the punch, with it executing every task thrown at it smoothly. Graphically intense apps specially seems to have a large performance boost with inclusion of Samsung’s ‘Game Boost’ feature. Paired with 6/8GB RAM and 128/512GB ROM, the phone is a beast of a device, perfect for heavy users who tend to multitask, outperforming it’s competitors with ease. The phone includes ‘liquid cooling’, a feature excluded by most flagships, to ensure the device stays cool during intense usage and to prevent the phone from thermal throttling. To power the device is a massive 4000 mAh battery (20% more than the S9) which will definitely get even the most power hungry users through the day. If the device does run out of battery, the included fast charger, which uses Quick Charge 2.0 technology, charges the device fully in under 1 hour 40 minutes. 

Samsung Experience 9.5, the companies retake on Google’s Android 8.1 Oreo is perfect for the modern consumer.  Incorporating various features including ones which you never thought you needed it indeed make the experience wonderful. Samsung’s optimized UI is clean yet functional, providing just the right amount of features without making it seem bloated unlike most other companies.

Samsung has always included the best displays for its devices and has done so with it’s latest flagship. Sporting a crisp 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Infinity display with a resolution of 2960x1440 pixels and a 516 ppi pixel density, the display seems by far the best in the market with excellent sunlight visibility and good viewing angles. The screen itself is a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 which seems promising to prevent scratches. A case however is strongly recommended to protect the device from drops and every day wear and tear.

As far as the camera is concerned, Samsung has included a dual-camera setup at the back. Sporting a 12MP wide-angle sensor with f/1.5 and f/2.4 dual aperture and a 12MP telephoto sensor with f/2.4 aperture, with both lenses featuring optical image stabilization. At the front, there is an 8MP camera with f/1.7 aperture perfect for video calling and selfie-lovers. The camera takes greats photographs in all lighting conditions with accurate colors and is without a doubt one of the best phone cameras in the market. The camera supports videos up to a resolution of 3840 x 2160 UHD format in 60 FPS, hyperlapse recording mode and can take incredible slow-motion video at up to 960 FPS. AI features such as object and scene recognition make photo based translations, along with flaw detection incorporated with the Scene Optimizer mode makes sure you can take the best possible photo at any event.

Although it is fun to play around with the S Pen,it is not just a toy. It boosts productivity enabling you to do tasks ranging from making professional presentations on the fly to making detailed sketches as you would with pen and paper. The new Bluetooth capable stylus has been well utilized allowing people to use it for various purposes such as taking group photos from afar and changing slides during presentations. An additional out of the box purchase of a Samsung DeX cable will enable you to use the Note 9 as a full-fledged computer. Supporting inputs through a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse or the device’s screen itself as a touch pad, with output through any HDMI capable display, the device can become a traveling replacement for your computer. This feature is perfect for someone on the go allowing them an unrestricted access all their personal files and laptop grade utility at any place and time. 

This phone is currently one of the best in the market and checks all the boxes a modern consumer might need. The phone not only outweighs other devices in performance, but in price as well. The Note 9 will cost you about Rs 1,15,000 for the base model and Rs 1,40,000 for the top model of your hard earned money.