That's it, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was officially unveiled by the South Korean manufacturer. But what does this new phablette bring to the Galaxy Note 7, which, before the setbacks it knew, was already close to perfection?
After the fiasco of the Galaxy Note 7, and despite a smartphone that seemed to be closer to perfection, Samsung must convince that its phablet 2017 is both a premium flagship from all angles, but also completely under control and safe.
When the beautiful becomes sublime
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 offered a beautiful phablet, all in length and elegance, very inspired by the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, except that the edges are curved on both sides. With a glass surface at the front and back and a slice of metal which, thanks to its rounded shape allows a pleasant grip.
Note 8, like the S8 and S8 +, offers some renewal thanks to its borderless side even more advanced and the placement of its fingerprint sensor this time on the back next to the photo sensor. It was placed on the front under the screen on the Note 7. The new phablette still stands out of the S8 thanks to the arrival, for the first time in the history of the Galaxy, double photo sensor.
The stylus drawer, located for both models on the lower edge of the device, can be opened with the touch of a finger. Finally, as was the case with Note 7, Note 8 is waterproof and IP68 certified. With its Infinity Display, the almost total absence of screen contours and its screen ratio, Note 8 makes its small effect.
Towards an even bigger screen
Samsung has for many years now, the advantage of offering a screen close to perfection with its AMOLED technology. The Galaxy Note 7 was already very impressive, with a QHD and HDR definition, interesting for viewing compatible video content and a screen of 5.7 inches. The new Samsung phablette is no exception, its screen is composed with a diagonal of 6.3 inches, a QHD definition and a ratio of 18.5: 9. A very nice screen, but barely bigger than the S8 +.
A home interface that improves
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 proposed a new interface, Touchwiz, not so easy to access, but had the advantage, once mastered, to be very convenient and condensed. The software also allowed to manage at its convenience the definition of the screen or to unlock the smartphone with its iris. As for the Galaxy Note 8, some very practical new features are added, such as application pairs, which can launch, in click, duos applications and can be changed at any time.
The stylus, known as the "S Pen", offers optimized navigation on a large screen. On the Note 7, it already allowed a lot of things like the possibility to use it in the rain or to instantly translate a sentence. For the new model, creating and sharing GIFs has never been easier, it can even translate an entire paragraph and pin memos to the Always On Display screen.
The great novelty of Note 8 is of course the arrival of Samsung's intelligent assistant, Bixby. Patience all the same, most of its features are only available in Korean and English.
Finally, the Galaxy Note 8 will be available on its release with Android 7.1.1 Nougat, but will have the advantage of receiving security updates monthly and quickly switch to Android 8.0 Oreo.
Always more powerful
The 2016 phablet of Samsung included the Exynos 8890 Octa, a processor consisting of four Exynos M1 cores at 2.3 and 2.6 GHz, but also four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.6 GHz. Performance quite good at the exit of the device. Note 8 is of course more powerful, with an Exynos 8895 chip for its European version or a Snapdragon 835 for the rest of the world. And all the same, 6 GB of RAM against 4 GB for Note 7. The other novelty capable of demonstrating all its power is the experience on DeX, a dock that can turn this smartphone into a desktop.
The double photo sensor, finally!
The Galaxy Note 7 had a unique sensor brand Sony, namely the IMX260, 12 megapixels. This one was of excellent quality, with an ability to capture more light for impressive shots, even in low light. It also benefited from Dual-Pixel technology and an aperture at f / 1.7, a 26mm lens, an optical stabilization system and a dual LED flash.
Note 8 is the first to accommodate a dual photo sensor, the brand has so far refused to yield to this mode. Each lens has a definition of 12 megapixels with the first a wide-angle with an aperture of f / 1.7, and for the second, a telephoto lens open at f / 2.4. This should allow better management of the depth of field in particular.
How to forget the explosive Note 7
This is no longer a secret, the explosions of Galaxy Note 7 are due to its poorly integrated battery. Thus, instead of the 3500 mAh, Samsung has preferred to reduce its capacity to 3300 mAh. This is a step backwards, but we do not doubt that the SoC engraved at 10 nanometers will allow a good energy management of the device.
Price and availability
The phablets of Samsung are still available at a relatively high price. However, while the Galaxy Note 7 was already sold at its output at a price of 859 euros. Today reconditioned due to the problem of explosions, the models are sold only in South Korea for 700,000 won or about 570 euros. Keep up, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will be marketed at a public price of 1009 euros! A very high price, which, we hope, will be quickly reduced.
Our opinion
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is clearly a very nice evolution of Note 7. If the latter was already a beautiful model, the latest phablet Samsung is the epitome of elegance. Also more up to date on performance with a home chip for its European version, but also for its software part, the large format smartphone is also the inaugurator of the dual photo sensor that should sublimate even more clichés, already very satisfactory on the Note 7. Only worries a priori, even if the worries of battery seem to have been perfectly adjusted, Samsung is perhaps playing a little too much on its reputation by proposing a price exceeding the psychological bar of 1 000 euros.