Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Review: A More Powerful, Premium And Refined Flagship


Samsung Galaxy Note 8, A Second Chance At Greatness

The Galaxy Note 8 is an important product for Samsung. Not only because the Note 8 is the company’s newest, flagship, large-screen smartphone, but because it also carries the additional burden of righting all of the wrongs associated with the company's Note 7 snafu. For some people, there is a certain stigma attached to the Note series now that could be erased if the Note 8 is a success and resonates well with consumers. We can tell you this up front -- all of the right technology seems to be in place. And from a design standpoint, the Note 8 sure is a looker. But good looks and the right specs don’t automatically make for a killer product.
galaxy note8
Hopefully, by the time we're done testing and exploring the Note 8's features here, we can help you decide if the device is right for you. We have had one in hand for a while now, and put it through its paces not only during daily use, but with an array of benchmarks and battery tests as well. Take a quick look at the device in action in our hands on video below, then check out the specs underneath, and strap in for a tour of the Note 8. In the following pages, we hope to paint a complete picture of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 for you, and everything it has to offer...

Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Specifications & Features

note 8 breakout
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8’s specifications read like one of the most powerful smartphones currently on the market – because that’s exactly what it is. The U.S. version of the Note 8 is built around Qualcomm’s powerful octal-core Snapdragon 835 (clocked up to 2.45GHz) with Adreno 540 graphics, paired to 6GB of low-power DDR4 memory, and 64 – 256GB if internal storage (depending on the region). The Note 8's storage is also expandable as well with a micro-SD card.
note 8 style 5
Presenting the pixels is a gorgeous 6.3” Super AMOLED display with curved edges. The Note 8 also sports and array of cameras – two 12MP (one wide-angle) shooters on the back, with f/1.7 and f/2.4 apertures, optical image stabilization, and dual-pixel phase detection auto-focus, accompanied by an 8MP front camera, also with an f/1.7 aperture. The rear cameras can shoot 4K video at up to 30FPS, and the front camera can do 1440p at 30FPS.

Powering the device is a 3,300mAh battery and the Note 8 runs the gamut in terms of wireless connectivity, which includes 4G LTE, 802.11ac WiFI, Bluetooth, NFC, and the like.
note 8 bundle
The Galaxy Note 8’s accessory bundle is as beefy as its specifications. Included with the phone, you’ll find a basic lit-pack, quick-charger and associated charge /sync cable, two adapters to convert the built-in USB-C port into a micro-USB port or a Type-A port, a really a nice set of ear buds with two additional sets of pads (of differing sizes), a sim / micro-SD tray ejection tool, and -- of course – an S-Pen, with a tip extraction tool and 5 replacement tips. The S-Pen integration is what helps set the Note 8 apart from the Galaxy S-series, so it's obviously a big part of the Note 8's identity.

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