After Samsung announced a total recall of all Galaxy Note 7 devices due to a series of exploding batteries in 2016, many reports predicted that the reputation of the next generation of Samsung devices would be affected. But, with record-breaking pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 8, Samsung has proved many wrong.
The Galaxy Note 8 was announced in August of 2017 and was released in several markets by mid-September. The Note 8 is now considered to be one among the best flagships of 2017.
The best features
The Camera
Unlike the previous generation devices, the Note 8 has a dual camera setup.
A 12 mp normal camera with an aperture of f1.7 alongside an optically 2x zoomed camera with f2.4 aperture. Both cameras are fitted with OIS, which means low light photography with longer shutter speeds will be possible without blurring the picture.
The new telephoto lens also comes with several new features such as portrait mode, unlike other devices with bokeh effects, the extent of "blur" can be managed post or pre-taking the photo. Samsung's camera app also saves another normal version of the photo for any photo taken from its secondary camera.
The Display
Samsung has been releasing some of the best OLED displays in the market for a while now. It comes as no surprise that the Note 8's display has the best display on any phone in the market right now, according to reports by DisplayMate.
The Display also supports true HDR content, with apps such as youtube and Netflix supporting the new display feature.
Specification wise, the display in 6.3 inches with a resolution of 1440 x 2960 and an unconventional aspect ratio of 18:9.
The whole package
The Note 8 comes with the latest and greatest Snapdragon 835 with 6 gigs of ram.
With such powerful internals, it's no doubt the new offering will be blazing fast. The device also follows the same beautiful design language of the Galaxy S8. With the stunning performance and design, its no doubt that the new Note 8 has the complete package of a high-end flagship smartphone of 2017.
The worst features
The Software
Even with the release of Android 8.0 Oreo, Samsung still chose to ship the Note 8 with Android 7.1 Nougat which is not the best considering how long Samsung and US carriers take to release even the simplest update for a device.
The device also comes with Bixby which has not performed well with the current Note 8 owners.
The Price
After the disastrous Note 7, it was very surprised that the Note 8 would be costing a price tag of $1000. Although the high price tag can be compensated by the features offered, $1000 is still a high price for any flagship device.
Design Flaws
With the lack of a home key, Samsung moved the fingerprint sensor right next to the camera. Although a slightly bit receded for better recognizing the fingerprint sensor from the cameras, the huge body frame of the phone makes it very awkward to use the fingerprint scanner for anyone.
Samsung has also introduced other safety features such as iris scanner as a replacement, but a good fingerprint position is still a must for a flagship phone.
