Latest Galaxy Note 8 news
Introduction
Many had rung the death knell for Samsung's Galaxy Note series after the Galaxy Note 7 debacle. Samsung proved them all wrong with the Galaxy Note 8. It modernized the series and brought great new features which ensured that the Note series will continue to live on for many more years. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Galaxy Note 8 was one of the important devices from Samsung. Had it not been able to get it right, Samsung wouldn't have been able to remove the mark left on it by the Galaxy Note 7.
Design
The Galaxy Note 8's design essentially makes it look like a stretched Galaxy S8. That's because the significant design changes that were introduced with the Galaxy S8 trickled down to the Galaxy Note 8 as well. This included the Infinity Display which removed the physical home button for more screen real estate. Samsung balanced it off with a square-shaped chassis which made the device feel really good and solid in the hand.
The Galaxy Note 8 comes in at 162.5 x 74.8 x 8.6mm and weighs 195g. It has Samsung's signature build quality complete with an aluminum frame and glass back. The bottom has a USB Type-C connector with a 3.5mm headphone jack and the S Pen stylus.
Display
It features a 6.3-inch Quad HD+ Infinity Display with 1440×2960 pixel resolution and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. Gorilla Glass 5 protects the dual-edge curved panel which also brought 3D Touch for the home button and HDR10 support.
As is the case with displays on most recent Samsung flagships, the Galaxy Note 8 display was praised for its color accuracy and brightness. It was a big improvement compared to the displays found on its predecessors.
Specifications
![[Poll] How's the battery life on your Galaxy Note 8?](https://www.sammobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/galaxy-note-8-review-battery.jpg)
Since the Galaxy Note series has always been aimed at professionals, it was evident that the Galaxy Note 8 wasn't going to be a slouch. It came with an Exynos 8895 processor in almost all markets. The United States, China and Japan got the Snapdragon 835-powered variant.
It could only be purchased with 6GB of RAM. However, this was a distinction for the Galaxy Note 8. It was Samsung's first flagship smartphone to ship with 6GB of RAM globally. The company had previously limited this RAM capacity to variants of its flagship handsets for select markets. Customers could choose from 64GB, 128GB and 256GB internal storage options with microSD card support.
S Pen
Samsung always makes improvements to the S Pen with each new iteration of the Galaxy Note series and the Galaxy Note 8 was no different. It got a new S Pen which could be used on any part of the edge-to-edge Infinity Display even when it was soaking wet. It had a maximum pressure sensitivity of 4,096.
An updated suite of productivity-related apps was also launched. This included PENUP, Live Message and Translate. The Screen Off Memo functionality was improved with support for up to one hundred pages of memos and the ability to pin them on the Always On Display.
Camera
Another reason why the Galaxy Note 8 has a special place in Samsung's history is that it was the company's first smartphone with a dual camera system at the back. It features a primary 12-megapixel f/1.7 aperture wide-angle camera coupled with a 12-megapixel f/2.4 aperture 2x telephoto camera. It even has Dual Optical Image Stabilization and can offer 10x digital zoom. Samsung also put an 8-megapixel camera on the front with f/1.9 aperture, autofocus, and QHD video recording support.
Software
Samsung shipped the Galaxy Note 8 with Android 7.1.1 Nougat. The company did say that it would be one of the first devices to receive Android 8.0 Oreo when it arrives. The Galaxy Note 8 has received the two major Android OS updates that it was eligible for. It won't be updated beyond Android 9.0 Pie.
The DeX platform that Samsung launched with the Galaxy S8/S8+ was supported by the Galaxy Note 8 as well. The handset could be used with a DeX dock to power a PC-like experience on an external monitor.
Availability
At $929, the Galaxy Note 8 had a higher price tag than any other Samsung smartphone before it. Samsung started taking pre-orders for it not long after the handset was unveiled on August 23, 2017. It was available in Deepsea Blue, Maple Gold, Midnight Black and Orchid Grey colors.
