Specs comparison: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 vs Galaxy Note 5

The Galaxy Note 9 has been officially announced today. Samsung fans have long been looking forward to this new device as it was expected to bring some great new improvements. It has the largest battery ever for a Galaxy flagship, the first S Pen with Bluetooth support and even 512GB of onboard storage. Thus a Galaxy Note 9 vs Galaxy Note 5 specs comparison goes to show just how rapidly the technology has advanced in the past couple of years.

Galaxy Note 9 vs Galaxy Note 5

Many Galaxy Note faithful who stuck with their Galaxy Note 5 will now be particularly interested in this specs comparison and there certainly is a world of difference between the two devices. The Galaxy Note 9 has a noticeably larger and higher resolution display, a more capable S Pen, powerful internals, double the RAM (in the 512GB variant) and a significantly improved camera. The 4,000mAh battery is a particularly noteworthy addition.

It's unquestionably a viable update for Galaxy Note 5 owners who now want to upgrade their devices. Many will be ready to do that, particularly owners in the US, who may no longer have contract constraints restricting them from upgrading. Do check out the full Galaxy Note 9 vs Galaxy Note 5 specs comparison down below to get a better idea of how these two devices stack up against each other.

	Galaxy Note 9	Galaxy Note 5
Display	6.4-inch Quad HD+ (2960×1440) Infinity, Super AMOLED, 18.5:9, 516 ppi	5.7-inch Quad HD (2560×1440), Super AMOLED, 16:9, 518 ppi
S Pen	Yes, 4,096 pressure levels, Bluetooth control	Yes, 2,048 pressure levels
Processor	Exynos 9810/Snapdragon 845 Octa-core, 10nm, 64-bit	Exynos 7420, 64-bit, 14nm
RAM	6GB/8GB	4GB
Rear Camera	12-megapixel primary, Dual Aperture (F1.5-F2.4), Dual Pixel, OIS 12-megapixel telephoto secondary, F2.4, 2x optical zoom, OIS	16-megapixel, F1.9, OIS
Front camera	8-megapixel, autofocus, F1.7 aperture	5-megapixel, F1.9
Storage	128GB/512GB internal, microSD slot (up to 512GB)	32GB/64GB, no expansion
Software	Android 8.1 Oreo, upgradeable to Android 9.0 Pie	Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, upgradeable to Android 7.0 Nougat
Battery	4,000 mAh, fast wired and fast wireless charging	3,000 mAh, fast wired and fast wireless charging
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), MU-MIMO, LTE Cat18, Bluetooth® v 5.0, ANT+, USB Type-C, NFC, GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou)	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, MIMO, LTE Cat.6/Cat.9, Bluetooth® v 4.2 LE, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
Security	Fingerprint sensor (rear), iris scanner, facial recognition, Intelligent Scan (iris + face)	Fingerprint sensor (front)
Other features	Samsung Pay (NFC+MST), Bixby 2.0, IP68 water resistance, heart rate sensor, AKG earphones, stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, DeX mode, AR Emoji, Super slow-mo (960 fps)	Samsung Pay (NFC+MST), heart rate sensor
Dimensions	161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8mm, 201g	153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6 mm, 171g

Adnan Farooqui - Executive Editor

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First Samsung device: SGH-E900

Adnan Farooqui is a long-term writer at SamMobile. Based in Pakistan, his interests include technology, finance, Swiss watches and Formula 1. His tendency to write long posts betrays his inclination to being a man of few words.

Phone Galaxy Note 5 Samsung Galaxy Note 9