Galaxy Note has risen again from ashes. The new Samsung Note 8 is now bigger, better and costlier. It is featuring the top end hardware, glamorous design, amazing build quality. Also, this is one of the most expensive phones from Samsung in Nepali market till now. It is great but is it worth the 1 Lakh rupees plus price tag?
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 costs initially Rs 1,02,990 in Nepal. It is undoubtedly one of the most expensive phones in global market but we know, new iPhones cost more than this. Regardless of that fact, the global mobile community is surprised with this phone. We are also amazed to see how good this phone is selling in the global market. So, we did our review for 1 week and our simple answer is “fantastic”.
Design
Everyone have to admit, phone sizes are getting big and consumers are moving towards big display. Note 8 is featuring a 6.3” WQHD+ curved SuperAMOLED display. It is the biggest flagship and Note phone yet. Whole media industry is now focused on videos and content creation. This is leading the demand of bigger screens so manufacturers are catching this. The phone is slim but is quite tall and medium in weight.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 features an eye catching design with curves at both sides and seamlessly melting curved. The side metal rail is actually wider to have more gripping space. This is causing less curved screen than S8 giving more flag writing space. The new Gorilla Glass 5 and metal sandwich design is getting a lot of love but it picks micro-scratches easily. We suggest you to get tempered glass and back cover as soon as you buy it.
Power
As a high end flagship, it actually wins the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Pretty much, most of the main specs are same like processor, GPU and storage. Major upgrade is in RAM and camera which is visible vibrantly. Note 8 is now packing 6 GB RAM and a bigger brighter screen. The Exynos chipset with octacore processor is fast but the 6 GB RAM combination is taking multitasking to whole new level.
We played heavy Grand Theft Auto LCS and tried switching application after a good period of time and it surprised with RAM management. Many browsers tabs, application were as they were left. We enjoyed fantastic, fast, lag-less experience with out handset. Gaming, hardcore media consumption or work are just buttery smooth. You can check the benchmark results and picture samples from review video on 4K.
Camera
We are now seeing dual cameras on Samsung phones for first time. This new beast features dual 12 MP cameras at back and one 8 MP camera at front. Back cameras have aperture of f/1.7 and 2.4 while front one is same f/1.7 as S8. Both back cameras are having OIS which gives them great capabilities.
Main rear camera setup is capable to shoot at 4k 30 fps but mods have mae it work for 4K at 60 fps as well. New dual camera setup is bringing a new mode called Live Focus. This gives depth of field effect and in our view, the photos look amazing. We saw increase in quality, file size and details by a knot.
Low light performance is brilliant because we tested taking photos during Tihar at night around 8 PM and photos look great without flash. We have a some sample included in the review videos as well. Overall, we are satisfied with the camera but results from LG V30 looks promising.
Features and Experience
The Note 8 has all the features and sensors that we could demand. It has one extra feature known as S-Pen which makes it a Note. There are many new features like Live Message, Translation, Zoom etc. The functions are great and the stylus tip is finer responsive plus IP 68 rated.
Our best vote goes to taking notes without unlocking the phone. It can be great for many journalists, students etc. These things have many possibilities. Still there are many limitations like the colors available in Live Message, GIF timing, translation volume. S-Pen has come a long way and we love it but still there are lots of things to be discovered and brought up.
Next is speaker and sound. They sound decent and loud but the mono speaker is bummer for that gorgeous display while watching movies and videos. We still advice them to have stereo speaker next time. If possible addition of HiFi DAC like V30 would make it absolutely a gold package.
Battery life is pretty great because we got 1 day easily with our medium to high use with around 5 hours screen on time. New Galaxy Note 8 has less curved screen which gives it more space to write and view. We really enjoyed watching HDR videos at highest resolution as this Infinity Display is HDR10 ready.
With very heavy gaming and testing, the device gets little warm which is very normal. The heating is less than previous S7 or S6 according to our experience. Fast Charge works like charm with other chargers like Turbo charger of Motorola as well.
Some new notable features of Galaxy Note 8 are:
- 2X Optical Zoom
- Live Message
- Increased pressure sensitivity
- Thinner S Pen
- App Pairing and Split screen tasking
- Portrait mode with better background blur
- Dual Camera with OIS on both
Verdict
This is pretty much the best offering from Samsung with every top hardware crunched into a package. Bigger brighter screen, fastest processor, high density RAM, better camera and smoother experience make for a complete package. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is a large device and many people may like it and some may dislike it.
We were comfortable using it with one hand but it is hard actually. If you are searching for best Android phone with every feature than Note 8 is definitely the answer. Else if you are in smaller budget then we suggest buying S8+ as it also has all those features minus the camera and S-Pen. Wrapping it up we give this beauty a big thumbs up as recommended buy.
