REVIEW: Samsung’s premium Galaxy Note 9 phablet packs a punch, but doesn’t quite excite

[能田]

                                     (Singapore Today Thursday 30 August 2018)

 Samsung’s premium Galaxy Note 9 phablet packs a punch,

                           but doesn’t quite excite  

By Low Youjin

Samsung's latest flagship phone the Galaxy Note 9. Ooi Boon Keong/TODAY

Updated 30 August, 2018

SINGAPORE – Is the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 a good phone? It is predictably so, as you would expect from the South Korean electronics company.

But, after using the device over five days, I still didn't feel truly excited about the company's latest flagship phone.

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First, let's get through the good stuff. For one, the visual quality on this device is phenomenal. The 6.4-inch AMOLED infinity display is bright and colours are vivid, as are photographs taken with its camera.

The 12-megapixel rear camera is arguably the Note 9's stand out feature. With its dual aperture technology, it had little difficulty making a humble bowl of dessert look a lot more appetizing than my own Google Pixel 2 XL's camera – which was touted as the best phone camera in 2017 – at the hawker centre's relatively dim lighting.

^{The Galaxy Note 9 had little trouble producing beautiful results (L) with indoor lighting, compared to the Pixel 2 XL. Both photos are unedited.}  

The Note 9 also has an awesome battery life: At 4,000 mAh, I still had 30 per cent a day-and-a-half after it was fully charged. I used the phone as I usually would – listening to Spotify, texting on chat apps, killing time with Instagram and taking a few photos of the everyday.

The S Pen returns with all of its traditional features, and more. You can now, if you dare, place your phone up to 10m away from you and use the bluetooth stylus as a remote control to take a selfie.

It's a powerful phone no doubt, and packed with these great features. But you would also expect nothing less from one of Samsung's flagship phones.

Still, it doesn't redefine the wheel in any meaningful way to get you truly excited.

^{What you can expect to find in the box.}

One let down was the stock earpiece - tuned by AKG - which came with the set. While I'm glad Samsung kept the headphone jack for the phone, I was expecting superior sound quality for the premium device that the Note 9 is, not to mention for its premium price tag as well.

Even though I may not be much of an audiophile, I have experienced far richer sounds from budget brand earphones.

So should you get this phone? If you are in the market for an all-in-one multimedia workhorse, and you're willing to pay a premium price, go for it.

If not, it might be worth sitting this one out and waiting to see what the Note 10 has to offer.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 currently retails at S$1,398 for 128GB, and S$1,728 for 512GB.

Pros:

• Long battery life
• Big on storage: 128GB or 512GB, plus expanded SD card slot
• Excellent camera
• Bluetooth S Pen
• Samsung DeX allows you to connect to a monitor for a desktop experience
• Supports wireless charging

Cons:

• Expensive 
• Processor is the same as the Note 8 (10nm 64 bit-octa processor)
• A little heavy at 201g
• Mediocre sound quality on stock earpiece
• Feels large in hand (161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8mm)