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Introduction
How time has passed - we're at nine now. Seven years after the original, the Samsung Galaxy Note9 stands before us. The numbers don't add up, no, because Samsung chose to skip the 6, and it didn't really quite work out splendidly with the Note7. But that's all in the past and we're looking ahead.
What we see here are spec bumps, some more impressive than others. For one, it was about time a big-name top-end phone shipped with 128GB of base storage, and isn't the optional 512GB just plain overkill? With a card slot ready to offer an extra 512GB (a card that Samsung is yet to announce, and you're unlikely to be thrilled about the price, but still) you're looking at a potential 1TB of storage on your Note9.
Battery capacity is a generous 4,000mAh flat, some 20% more than the outgoing model and 500mAh than the Galaxy S9+ - you can say we're liking where the added 0.2mm of thickness went.
The 6.4-inch display is now a whopping 0.2 inches larger than the current plus-size S-series model, as opposed to just 0.1 inches last year making for some slightly more meaningful segmentation in the lineup.
But in all fairness, all the segmentation you need comes with the S Pen, and it's a conceptually upgraded unit even if it does look just like the old one. This one is active and can interact with the phone from a distance via Bluetooth - think remote shutter release or a presentation remote, you get the drift. Of course, once you hover it over the display, it's still the good old stylus that makes the Note a unique proposition.
The rest is, more or less, a Galaxy S9+, indeed. No real surprises in the camera section where we see the familiar dual aperture main module, accompanied by a telephoto shooter (a seemingly different 1/3.4" vs. 1/3.6" sensor, what's that about?), and an 8MP selfie cam. All the connectivity you could ask for is also present, headphone jack included, and it's the first Galaxy Note smartphone with stereo speakers.
Samsung Galaxy Note9 specs
- Body: Aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass 5 front and back; IP68 certified for water and dust resistance. 161.9 x 76.4 x 8.8 mm, 201g. Midnight Black, Ocean Blue, Metallic Copper, Lavender Purple color schemes.
- Display: 6.4" Super AMOLED 'Infinity Display', 2,960x1440px resolution, 18.5:9 (2.06:1) aspect ratio, 516ppi; HDR10 compliant (no Dolby Vision).
- Rear camera: Primary 12MP, Type 1/2.55" sensor, f/1.5-2.4 aperture, 26mm equiv. focal length, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Secondary 12MP, Type 1/3.4" sensor, f/2.4 aperture, 52mm equiv. focal length, autofocus, OIS; 2x zoom. 2160p/60fps, 1080p/240fps slow motion, 720p/960fps super slow-motion video recording.
- Front camera: 8MP, f/1.7 aperture, autofocus; 1440p/30fps video recording.
- OS/Software: Android 8.1 Oreo; Samsung Experience 9.0; Bixby virtual assistant; Smart Connect, Smart Connect Home.
- Chipsets: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: octa-core CPU (4x2.7GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4x1.7GHz Kryo 385 Silver), Adreno 630 GPU. Exynos 9810: octa-core CPU (4x3rd-gen Mongoose 2.7GHz + 4xCortex-A55 1.8GHz), Mali-G72 MP18 GPU.
- Memory: 6/8GB of RAM; 128/512GB of storage; microSD slot for cards up to 512GB.
- Battery: 4,000mAh Li-Po (sealed); Adaptive Fast Charging (same as S7/S8/S9); QuickCharge 2.0 support; WPC(Qi)&PMA wireless charging.
- Connectivity: Single-SIM, Dual-SIM available in certain markets (hybrid slot); LTE-A, 4-Band/5-Band carrier aggregation, Cat.18 (1.2Gbps/150Mbps); USB Type-C (v3.1); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac MU-MIMO; GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo; NFC; Bluetooth 5.0.
- Misc: Bluetooth-enabled S Pen stylus with 4096 pressure levels and multimedia controls; fingerprint/iris/face recognition; stereo speakers tuned by AKG; 3.5mm jack; bundled AKG headphones; DeX dock compatibility.
If you're going to be upgrading from a Pixel 2 XL to a Note9, you'd be downgrading the Android version - the Note9 comes with 8.1 Oreo, though a Pie is surely in the making. As Qualcomm QuickCharges go, the Note9's 2.0 is pretty dated too - another non-dealbreaker, but a point worth mentioning. And... that seems to be all we can think of to complain about before ripping that box open.
Samsung Galaxy Note9 unboxing
Surprise, surprise - no surprises in here. You'd be getting the same Adaptive Fast Charging AC adapter, that's been around since S5 days (9V/1.67A and 5V/2A) and a USB cable to go with it. There's a couple of USB-C adapters (Type A and micro-B on the far ends), too.
An AKG-branded headset with some nice braided cables is included to get you started. This being a Note, there are also replacement tips for the S Pen and a tool to get the job done.
Design and 360-degree spin
It's not universally pretty, the Galaxy Note9. There's simply too much stuff that needs to fit on the back and there's hardly a good-looking way to do it.
The Note8 looked half-reasonable, but certainly didn't get it remotely right in terms of usability with its off-axis fingerprint reader - a pain point Samsung addressed on the Galaxy S9+, with a vertical camera arrangement and a fingerprint reader below it.
It's a different layout on the Note9 - the side-by-side cameras are back, flash LED and heart-rate sensor to their right, fingerprint sensor along the central axis under the cameras. Why not the same as on the S9+? The S Pen silo takes up space on the side, the battery can't be as wide and needs to be taller than in the S9+, hence it pushes the sensor higher. Or at least that's how we reason it.
There's two things we find wrong here, to varying degrees. Okay, maybe not wrong, but less than ideal. Number one, the main camera is ever so slightly offset from the central axis - by about a millimeter, but it's visible and will irk a particular type of person (a bunch of them here at GSMArena HQ). We get that Samsung aimed to center the camera/flash/sensor window, and placing the elements within it came secondary, but still.
Then there's the fingerprint reader position once again. This could be us overanalyzing it (it's happened before), but it still feels a bit too high. As in, not Note8 high and uncomfortable, but still inconvenient. You do get used to it, and the fact that you're stretching up and approaching it from below, means you're likely to feel it and unlock the phone before actually touching and smudging the camera.
But since we have to (collectively) be that guy - it's also the primary camera that's in immediate proximity to the sensor instead of the supposedly less frequently used telephoto one, like it's on the S9+. It's always a good idea to wipe your lenses clean before a critical shot, is what we're saying.
Over on the front, the 6.4-inch Super AMOLED takes center stage, now even more than before. The chin is noticeably slimmer, the forehead is perhaps identical to the Note8's and in effect the phone is physically shorter despite the minor increase in display diagonal.
The top bezel still houses the entire array of sensors and lights and more pedestrian stuff - and like the S9+ does it in a somewhat more concealed manner than the S8/Note8. There's no hiding the earpiece - it's dead center and also doubles as a speaker. To its right is the selfie camera, the actual one for taking photos, and next to it - the iris scanner.
To the left of the earpiece are the proximity and ambient light sensors, followed by the IR illuminator, and an RGB status LED. So no, AlwaysOn displays don't render status LEDs redundant, and we're happy Samsung's with us on this one. One LED that's missing is a flash - there are mid-range Galaxies with front-facing flashes, but no flagships. Or is that a 6.4-inch AMOLED flash in disguise?
6.4-inch Super AMOLED in the hand • ...and on the table • An array of sensors above it
The sides of that... um... flash are a hair thicker, and with the panel being marginally wider too, the Note9 is slightly wider than the old model. We're talking 1.6mm wider.
The aluminum frame has a sturdier and more technical look and feel than both the Note8 and the S9+'s, accented by chamfers front and back. The Note8's polished finish was already gone on the S9, and the Note9's frame is matte as well, with the chamfers slightly shinier. Out went the calipers, and we read 3.5mm on the side of the Note9 and 3.0mm on the Note8, so the increase in thickness is not just subjective.
The Power button is on the right side of the frame, directly opposite the gap between the Bixby button (below) and the volume rocker on the left.
The first few attempts at taking a screenshot (power+volume down key combo) will likely result in summoning Bixby unless you're coming from another recent high-end Galaxy. You will eventually learn that lesson. For what it's worth, all the buttons click precisely and have good travel.
Samsung's insistence to force Bixby's presence upon you by fitting a hardware key that can't be set to do anything else still perplexes us. That seems to be the general consensus, yet we're not sure it really matters - will you not buy a Galaxy specifically because of the Bixby button?
Anyway, the card slot is located on the top of the phone, and our dual SIM variant takes two nano SIMs, or a nano SIM and a microSD card. Towards the other end of the top plate there's a pin hole for a secondary mic.
The primary mic is on the bottom, to the right of the USB-C port. Further to the right is the loudspeaker, while the 3.5mm jack is on the left.
Volume rocker and Bixby on the right • Dual SIM slot with hybrid action • S Pen in the bottom right
The S Pen. It's got the clicky mechanism on its tail end that Samsung introduced with the Note5, and, aside from a slightly smaller button on the side, looks and feels very much the same as the one on the Note8. And the Note7 before it. And the Note5.
It's quite a bit more useful, though. Packing a supercapacitor inside, it can power a Bluetooth module to connect to the phone, which lets it perform as a remote.
The most obvious use case is taking photos and videos with the phone across the room, but it could also come in handy, for example, if you're doing a presentation straight out of your phone. Or scroll through the gallery, or play/pause/skip media, or whatever app devs come up with later on.
Three actions are recognized - long press, single press, and double press, and they can be configured to do different things. So far, the long press can only be used to launch a particular app (camera is the default), while the other two actions are available inside apps.
The capacitor charges in a matter of 40 seconds inside the phone, and should be good for about 30mins or 200 clicks - sounds plenty. When the power does run out, there's nothing stopping the active S Pen from being just a passive S Pen, though with that recharge time you'd be up and running in... well... seconds.
The S Pen, as the one on the Note8, is IP68 certified, just as the entire phone itself for that matter. You could say we're already taking that for granted.
Let's get all the numbers in one place - the Note9 measures 161.9x76.4x8.8mm and weighs 201g. Compare that to the Note8's 162.5x74.8x8.6mm and its 195g and you'll see that the minor bump in display diagonal and the much more significant battery capacity increase hasn't impacted the phone's physical size. The S9+ isn't meaningfully more compact either with its 158.1x73.8x8.5mm and 189g.
6.4 inches of Super AMOLED goodness
Back in the day, if you wanted a large-screened Galaxy you went for the Note. It got more complex with the introduction of the S-series edge/plus and whatnot versions - display sizes have been converging between the two lineups in a process that peaked last year with the 6.2-inch S8+ and 6.3-inch Note8.
In a minor departure from that trend, this year Samsung's fitted a 6.4-inch display in the Note - 0.2>0.1, after all. It's a Super AMOLED panel, naturally, with QuadHD+ resolution in the company-specific 18.5:9 aspect ratio - so, 1,440x2,960px and 516ppi.
We measured a peak brightness of 658nits on the Galaxy Note9 in auto mode - incidentally, the exact same number as on the Galaxy S9. It is marginally better than the Note8's 647nits and slightly higher than the S9+'s 631nits. All of this year's Samsungs hover around 370nits in manual mode, while the Note8 could be pumped up a little higher to 412nits.
The iPhone can achieve slightly higher peak brightness (679nits in our testing) than the Note9 and the LG G7 ThinQ's outdoor mode sends it way up into the 900s. The rest of the competition is behind the new Note, though the LG V30 and the Xperia XZ2 are keeping up - unlike the Pixel 2 XL, Oppo Find X, and OnePlus 6 for that matter.
The number we recorded for minimum brightness was 1.9nits - excellent for keeping your eyes strain-free at night.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0 | 367 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 658 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 412 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 647 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 376 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 631 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 370 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 658 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 679 | ∞ | |
| 0.2 | 366 | 1830 | |
| 0.214 | 389 | 1818 | |
| 0 | 458 | ∞ | |
| 0.002 | 624 | 312000 | |
| 0.002 | 414 | 207000 | |
| 0.032 | 616 | 19250 | |
| 0.225 | 460 | 2044 | |
| 0.499 | 920 | 1844 | |
| 0 | 420 | ∞ | |
| 0.431 | 618 | 1434 | |
| 0 | 412 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 582 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 400 | ∞ | |
| 0.002 | 600 | 300000 | |
| 0 | 456 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 426 | ∞ | |
When comes to sunlight legibility, in this market segment they are all good, but some are better. The Note9 belongs to the latter bunch posting a contrast reading virtually the same as the S9+'s, the two of them marginally behind the smaller S9. The iPhone is still uncontested at the top of the chart.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Apple iPhone X
5.013 - OnePlus 5T
4.789 - Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S9
4.63 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
4.537 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
4.531 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
4.459 - Oppo R11
4.454 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - OnePlus 6
4.321 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Oppo R15 Pro
4.251 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Nokia 8
4.239 - Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update)
4.234 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
4.148 - Meizu Pro 7 Plus
4.147 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
4.096 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Huawei P20 Pro
4.087 - Xiaomi Mi 8
4.086 - Meizu 15
4.082 - Nokia 6 (2018)
4.052 - Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
4.023 - LG V30
4.022 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - vivo NEX S
4.012 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.998 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - LG G7 ThinQ (outdoor)
3.978 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
3.957 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Oppo Find X
3.954 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo Moto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - OnePlus 5
3.914 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
3.901 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Motorola Moto G6 Plus
3.865 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
3.842 - Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)
3.834 - Sony Xperia XZs
3.818 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.812 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767 - Sony Xperia XZ1
3.765 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Nokia 8 Sirocco
3.745 - Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
3.729 - Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
3.725 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Huawei P20
3.683 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
3.675 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - Sony Xperia XZ2
3.58 - LG G6
3.556 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - Nokia 7 plus
3.479 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Motorola Moto G6
3.448 - Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
3.445 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Motorola Moto G6 Play
3.419 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
3.397 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
3.393 - LG G7 ThinQ
3.39 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo F7
3.333 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Archos Diamond Omega
3.305 - Honor 9
3.289 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 5
3.261 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Xiaomi Mi 5
3.24 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
3.238 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Oppo F3 Plus
3.218 - BlackBerry KEY2
3.212 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
3.19 - ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159 - Oppo R11s
3.153 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - HTC U11 Life
3.108 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - HTC U11
3.089 - Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite
3.087 - HTC U12+
3.085 - Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
3.077 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023 - Asus Zenfone 4 ZE554KL
3.019 - Motorola Moto X4
3.012 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - LG Q6
2.987 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Huawei P20 Lite
2.952 - Xiaomi Redmi 5
2.951 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Sony Xperia XA2
2.938 - Oppo Realme 1
2.932 - Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
2.913 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - Huawei Honor View 10
2.896 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Nokia 3
2.871 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Nokia 3.1
2.837 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Honor 10 (Vivid)
2.757 - Nokia 2
2.752 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
2.742 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
2.737 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Huawei Honor 7X
2.734 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Xiaomi Mi A2
2.696 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Xiaomi Mi A1
2.689 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - vivo V7+
2.671 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
2.654 - Oppo F5
2.653 - Doogee Mix
2.642 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
2.616 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Huawei P Smart
2.563 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561 - HTC U11+
2.556 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
2.556 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - BlackBerry Motion
2.494 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Meizu m3 max
2.447 - Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
2.417 - HTC 10 evo
2.407 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Vivo V7
2.404 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Oppo F3
2.376 - vivo V5 Plus
2.371 - Meizu m1 note
2.362 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - Razer Phone
2.328 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Sony Xperia L2
2.266 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - HTC U11+ (EU)
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - LG Nexus 5
2.228 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Meizu M5 Note
2.189 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166
We've gotten used to getting super accurate colors from Samsung's AMOLEDs over the last few generations - so long as we stay out of the Adaptive display mode. In this default state, you get the signature vivid AMOLED colors and a still-not-bad average DeltaE of 4.9 when compared against the sRGB target space. If you want accurate sRGB reproduction, Basic is the display mode for you (average DeltaE of 1.7), AdobeRGB is represented truthfully in AMOLED Photo (average DeltaE of 1.5), while AMOLED Cinema stays true to the P3 color space to the tune of an average DeltaE of 1.2.
Samsung Galaxy Note9 battery life
One of the major steps up from the Note8 to the Note9 is battery capacity - the new model packs 4,000mAh worth of juice compared to the 3,300mAh of last year's Note. It's a significant upgrade over the S9+'s 3,500mAh too, and one of the largest batteries in the class - it's the Note9 and the Huawei's, and that's it.
The Note puts it to good use too, clocking just under 17 hours in our video playback test - incidentally the exact same result as the S9+, and some two-and-a-half hours more than the Note8. In the web browsing test, the Note9 lasted twelve-and-a-half hours, two more than the Note8 and 1:20h longer than the S9+. If you're one to do voice calls, the Note9 should last you more than 28 hours on a 3G network.
Taking all of the above into account, plus the pretty good standby efficiency, we calculated an overall Endurance rating of 97 hours for the Note9.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Samsung Galaxy Note9 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
Regardless of battery capacity Samsungs seem to get to 37% in 30 minutes of charging from flat - that's what we measured on the S9+ and S9 (ok, 38% there, but the same ballpark), and that's what we got on the Note9. A full charge took 1:46h, so not half bad for a 4,000mAh cell, though we would've preferred a steeper climb in the first half hour.
Loudspeaker
With the Galaxy S9 and S9+ Samsung finally fitted stereo speakers, and now that is finally making it to the Note lineup as well. It's the type of implementation where the bottom-firing driver covers the low end of the spectrum and one of the channels in the stereo pair, while the earpiece is responsible for the other channel's mids and highs.
While in landscape, the speakers switch according to orientation, so the earpiece acts as left channel while the earpiece is on the left, and right channel if you hold the phone the other way around. When in portrait, the earpiece gets the channel it had last time the phone was in landscape.
The Note9 falls in the 'Very Good' bracket in our loudspeaker loudness test, a little short of Excellent, but still a few decibels louder than the S9 and S9+. As such, it's also a substantial improvement over last year's Note8.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 67.8 | 69.5 | 71.5 | Good | |
| 66.2 | 70.4 | 78.2 | Good | |
| 70.2 | 74.7 | 70.0 | Good | |
| 66.1 | 71.8 | 78.1 | Good | |
| 68.9 | 74.0 | 76.2 | Very Good | |
| 68.1 | 70.1 | 81.5 | Very Good | |
| 68.4 | 74.0 | 80.1 | Very Good | |
| 68.1 | 72.3 | 82.2 | Very Good | |
| 68.5 | 74.3 | 81.1 | Very Good | |
| 71.2 | 74.9 | 80.2 | Very Good | |
| 71.8 | 69.2 | 91.0 | Excellent | |
| 69.3 | 75.0 | 90.5 | Excellent | |
| 78.3 | 76.4 | 82.3 | Excellent | |
| 76.0 | 73.6 | 88.5 | Excellent | |
| 83.6 | 76.4 | 80.7 | Excellent | |
| 77.0 | 73.8 | 91.1 | Excellent |
Audio quality
The Samsung Galaxy Note9 got straight A’s on its audio quality report card. The phablet delivered perfect scores and loud output with an external amplifier, but as it turned out, that wasn’t anywhere near the most impressive part of its performance.
When we hooked up a pair of headphones the output was virtually unaffected - no stereo crosstalk spike, no intermodulation distortion nor any drop in loudness. It’s undoubtedly the best result we’ve seen this year and one that should put the Note9 on top of any audiophile’s list.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -93.7 | 93.7 | 0.0017 | 0.0074 | -94.1 | |
| +0.03, -0.02 | -93.6 | 93.5 | 0.0033 | 0.046 | -93.2 | |
| +0.01, -0.03 | -92.6 | 92.5 | 0.0012 | 0.0076 | -93.4 | |
| +0.03, -0.03 | -92.2 | 92.2 | 0.0017 | 0.042 | -76.3 | |
| +0.03, -0.07 | -93.4 | 93.9 | 0.0012 | 0.0063 | -89.3 | |
| +0.01, -0.58 | -92.2 | 93.5 | 0.0088 | 0.330 | -55.7 | |
| +0.02, -0.15 | -94.3 | 94.3 | 0.0021 | 0.0069 | -94.3 | |
| +0.18, -0.13 | -93.7 | 93.6 | 0.0024 | 0.104 | -52.7 | |
| +0.02, -0.01 | -93.2 | 93.1 | 0.0008 | 0.0069 | -94.2 | |
| +0.03, -0.02 | -92.9 | 92.9 | 0.0057 | 0.051 | -68.1 |
Samsung Galaxy Note9 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Samsung Experience 9.5 on top of Android 8.1 Oreo
The Galaxy Note9 runs Samsung Experience 9.5 over Android 8.1 Oreo. You'd then be getting 0.5 units newer experience than on the S9 and S9+ which are at 9.0, and a marginally newer version of the OS too (8.0 on the S9s). While it would undoubtedly have been great for the Note9 to launch on Android Pie, seeing as how the new OS version is already out, only the most naive would have expected that to happen. We like to think we aren't.
Since this a Note, let's go ahead and start with the S Pen. With the stylus now active, there's a bunch of new stuff you can do with it. The menu option is called S Pen remote, and that's where you can go to assign the long press action to launch an app, and to specify what the single and the double press will do inside that app and other apps. As it is, the long press can only be set to launch an app and not control anything inside one.
The default is long press to launch camera, single press to take a photo, and double press to switch between cameras. Within the Gallery a single press advances to the next item, the double press goes back, and the same logic applies in Powerpoint. In the music player, a press is play/pause, double press skips a song. It does work in Google Play Music and Spotify, even though they don't show up in the S Pen remote menu.
S Pen remote
As before, if you just pull out the S Pen from its housing (without waking up the phone from standby), you can go right ahead and write a note, which you can then pin to the always on display or just save. There's an option in setting to 'Use S Pen signature color' - meaning you'd be writing in yellow on the Ocean Blue Note9, purple-ish on the Lavender Purple, and copper? on the Metallic Copper version.
Screen off memo
Samsung Notes is your go-to place for scribbling stuff. Your notes are listed chronologically, but you can also categorize them (by default there's a category for the screen-off memos), and you can see an expanded preview if you hover over a note with the S Pen (that's part of Air view, which needs to be enabled in settings). Each note can contain typed text, written text, doodles, images and voice recordings.
It's one of many ways to use the S Pen, though. When you pull out the stylus with the phone unlocked, the Air command menu appears (though that's a setting that can be turned off, or set to create a note straight away). You can have up to 10 shortcuts there, and those can be either S-Pen features or shortcuts to apps. You can't just put a contact there, that's for the Edge panels, though it's hardly practical to pull out the S Pen to call someone.
Samsung Notes • Air command
Advanced screenshot capture is one of the areas where the S Pen shines. Smart select allows you to take differently shaped screenshots, extract text from them, or pin them on the screen. Alternatively, you can create short GIF animations. Then there's Screen write that takes a fullscreen snap that you can write on with the full set of different pens and brushes (and then crop, if you will).
Screenshots are the S Pen's forte
Live message was introduced on the Note8 and is here on the Note9 as well. You can record a GIF animation of your act of drawing, so that the other party can feel extra special by watching the message unravel before their eyes. Penup was pre-installed on the Note8, but it's missing in our build of the Note9's software. It offers a coloring book with a ton of drawing outlines for you to fill in and share (or not). If you're a better artist than that, you can go ahead and draw your artwork and share it on the Penup network. The app is still available in the Play Store.
Live message
There's a magnifier tool with a number of different magnification ratios. Meanwhile, Glance lets you have a tiny thumb of an app on the bottom of the screen, which you hover to evoke the full-size app. Translate does just what it says on the tin - it uses Google translate to give you quick translations when you point at a word. There's a toggle that switches between single-word translations and translating a block of text.
Magnify • Glance • Translate single word • Expand to Google Translate • Translate selection
There's also Bixby vision for the S Pen. You point at an object on the screen, and Bixby does its magic of selecting what it thinks you're trying to select and then gives you the option to either look for similar images or do actions with the text if there is any.
Bixby vision
There are numerous other smaller use cases for the S-Pen. For, example, you can hover over an image in the gallery for an enlarged preview, or over a calendar entry for more details. You can also scroll up and down by hovering the S-Pen over the edge of the screen.
Also, if you prefer writing input for form filling, you can set up a tooltip to appear when you hover above a field. Tap on that, and you'll go into writing mode.
Preview on hover • Same in the calendar • Hover scroll • Direct pen input
Set the S Pen aside, and the Note9's software is almost entirely identical to what you can find on the S9+, complete with the reworked menu structure we weren't strictly fond of (still aren't, just gotten used to it).
The AOD and its clock styles are in separate places, mainly because you can have clock styles for the lockscreen as well as the AOD itself. All the new designs from the S9+ are here too.
AOD settings • Lockscreen settings • Clocks styles are here
The lockscreen has the normal camera and dialler shortcuts (which you can reassign to any app), but in our experience, the lockscreen gets ignored altogether. The biometric unlock options (fingerprint unlock, or face, or iris, or the new Intelligent combination of all of those) are just too quick to get you to the homescreen.
Enrolling a fingerprint can be done in a single swipe, though you can tap if that's your thing. Unlocking is pretty fast, but, as usual, Samsungs aren't record-holders for speed. Iris unlock is better than both face and Intelligent for the more privacy-conscious as Intelligent will work with your eyes closed - when it can't find irises it looks for a whole mug.
You can, of course, have fingerprints enabled too, with either face, iris, or Intelligent Scan on at the same time. PIN, password, and pattern are also options, and you'll need one of them as a backup for the biometrics anyway. A simple swipe is there for those that just don't care.
Swipe to enroll • All types of locks • Intelligent scan
Experience v.9 builds on v.8's iconography with a new color for the Messages app, and a gradient for the Gallery icon, and that's about it on the surface. Folders still open fullscreen sending the apps up and away from immediate reach - some wouldn't even notice, but if you're coming from a Pixel, it's a bit of an annoyance.
Homescreen • App drawer • ...or no app drawer • Landscape view
The notification shade hasn't changed either and the task switcher has the list view option, potentially saving yourself some scrolling if you like to keep a ton of apps open.
Notifications • Toggles • Toggle grid options • Task switcher: Thumbnail view • List view
Samsung's multi-window implementation has long been the best on the market (we remember the times it was the only one on the market). You can resize the windows to just about any ratio, you can swap them, and you can even have pop-up apps on top of the two ones that are in multi-window. Snap window is also available - you crop a small strip of an app, cutting away unneeded interface elements, and have it docked to the top or bottom of the display so you can have it always visible.
App pairs are here too in case you often use two specific apps together in a split screen view.
Split-screen multi-window • Pop-up view • Snap window • Multi-window in landscape
Edge panels, of course, are too as well - a set of panes slides in from the side with shortcuts to contacts, apps, tasks, tools or whatnot. Perhaps someone somewhere uses them. For that person, there's now even a task switcher of sorts - for the edge panels.
Edge lighting has gotten a redesigned interface for customizations - color, width, transparency, plus a couple of effects have been added. You could do most of it on the S8 too, but it was a little more obscure.
Edge panels • Edge lighting
A bunch of familiar gestures and the likes are available just as on the S9 and S9+. To name a few, you can swipe the fingerprint reader to access the notification shade (was there on the S8, but with that fingerprint placement - no thanks), you can go into a shrunken-down one-handed more (either triple press home, or swipe in from a bottom corner), and you can launch the camera with a double press of the power button. Meanwhile, Smart Stay will use the front camera to determine whether you're looking at the phone so it won't go to standby if you're staring blankly at the screen for a long time. All of these can be switched off.
Notification access from the back • One-handed mode • Smart stay
The set of standard Samsung features present on the Note9 includes Secure Folder. It's where you can keep files, memos, and apps away from prying eyes. It's locked independently from the lockscreen - one can use a fingerprint, the other an iris. You can also install two copies of an app - one in plain sight and another one in the Secure folder. And you can hide the folder too, so people can snoop all they want and will not find anything suspicious.
Secure folder: Intro • Creating in process • Inside it • Icon can be customized
Assorted software
Game Launcher is available on the Note9 as well - it groups all your games in one place, so they stay handy instead of being scattered in the app drawer, and then makes sure your gaming sessions remain as uninterrupted as possible. The in-play Game tools can disable notifications during a game and disable touch sensitivity around the edges, as well as the pressure sensitive Home area. You can grab screenshots, and record gameplay too, up to 1080p resolution.
Game launcher
Samsung still insists on using its own Gallery app, and it's quite full-featured. Stories are still here, though we're yet to hear of someone using them. The Albums pane gives you a sorted view of your images by origin - camera, screenshots, downloaded images by default, but you can also create your own. The Pictures pane is effectively a timeline - it aggregates all of your images and arranges them chronologically.
Several image editing tools are available - from basic cropping, to collage making, to a more capable editor (which supports image correction, effects, and drawing).
Gallery: Pictures (Timeline) • Albums • Stories • Single image • Editor
Unlike the in-house Gallery, music playback is left in the hands of Google's own Play Music. The player and service is ubiquitous, and it can play your local files, as well as stream music from the cloud.
Samsung's extensive sound enhancements do come as standard, and they include the SoundAlive tool - essentially an equalizer with either two simple dials for more general use or a manual 9-band equalizer for more advanced tweaking. UHQ sound resolution enhancer is available as well - this one upscales compressed audio. There are also features such as Surround sound emulation and Tube Amp Pro simulator. Adapt Sound tunes the EQ to your hearing and your particular pair of ears and headphones by playing multiple frequencies and asking how well you hear them.
Dolby Atmos is the new bit here, with sound optimizations for movie, music, and voices, plus an Auto mode that does the selection for you.
Sound settings
Bixby
One thing that's still here, which no one wanted from day one, (and likely still doesn't) is Bixby - Samsung's personal assistant. On the version, we have running on our review unit you can't even turn off the button - an option that was eventually made available on previous models. You can always pull the button cap off entirely, but we imagine that won't be ideal.
If you keep an open mind and choose to give Bixby a chance, it'll do stuff around the phone for you with a decent level of proficiency. Bixby Home is one of the assistant's alter-egos - a homescreen pane similar to the older Google Now experience. It's the leftmost homescreen pane (though you can disable that), but you can also evoke it with a triple press on the Bixby button, and it delivers a feed of contextually relevant information.
Cards can be hidden, pinned to the top or turned off. There is no apparent rearrangement option beyond that. As for the cards themselves, they actually come courtesy of various apps which are installed on the phone.
Bixby Home interface
Bixby Vision is there for you to recognize stuff you point your camera at and help you out accordingly. The food recognition feature seems to have been dropped and we miss that. No, not really. Wine recognition, on the other hand, is still here.
Image recognition hasn't gotten much better - our fire extinguisher still gets recognized as a bottle of shampoo.
The Google Translate-powered translation is very hit and miss too often failing to recognize the text and being generally bad at superimposing the translation on top of reality.
Bixby Vision: Wine • Image recognition • Translation
Bixby Voice is the third major use of the assistant and it's perhaps the one that makes the most sense. It can access all the in-house apps and execute commands within them so, for example, you don't need to fumble through settings to find the settings of the current Wi-Fi network. We can see that making sense when you're driving, for example.
Bixby Voice: Settings • Services • Quick commands • Commands examples
Synthetic benchmarks
As is customary for Samsung flagships, the Galaxy Note9 exists in two distinct versions as far as the chipset is concerned - in this case, it's either the Snapdragon 845 or the Exynos 9810. It's a regional thing, however, so you won't be able to pick and choose.
Both chips have been around for a while and we're all familiar with the performance that can be expected. For a quick summary of the architectures, you can check out our Galaxy S9+ review. Here, we'll just mention we're reviewing the Exynos Note9 in 6GB/128GB trim.
And it's performing pretty much as expected. In single-core GeekBench, it's a step behind the S9+, but the two are miles ahead of anything else that's available in the Android world - the big custom Mongoose cores are closer to Apple's Monsoons with neither Kryos (S845) nor generic Cortex-A73s (Kirin 970) being any real competition.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone X
4256 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
3771 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
3642 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
2468 - vivo NEX S
2466 - HTC U12+
2456 - OnePlus 6
2450 - Xiaomi Mi 8
2431 - LG G7 ThinQ
2395 - Oppo Find X
2322 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
2199 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
1987 - Huawei P20 Pro
1907 - LG V30
1901 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
1862 - Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
1807
The top Snapdragon 845 crowd catches up in the multi-core test with the vivo NEX S and the Mi MIX 2X actually inching ahead of the Note9. Oddly enough, Samsung's own implementation of the S845 in the Galaxy S9+ is further down the chart. The Huawei P20 Pro (Kirin 970) is posting scores along the lines of last year's Snapdragon 835 devices.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone X
10215 - vivo NEX S
9160 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
9158 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
9026 - OnePlus 6
9011 - HTC U12+
9001 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
8883 - LG G7 ThinQ
8865 - Xiaomi Mi 8
8494 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
8349 - Oppo Find X
8018 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
6784 - Huawei P20 Pro
6679 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
6590 - LG V30
6365 - Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
6055
When it comes to graphics performance, the Adreno 630 in the Snapdragon 845 has proven superior to Samsung's current Mali-G72MP18 solution, and the Note9 can't escape this limitation. In offscreen 1080p tests in GFXBench it consistently posts lower fps numbers than the Snapdragon 845 competition. It is very much in line with the S9+'s results, so there are no weird discrepancies between Samsungs, at least.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
83 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
83 - vivo NEX S
83 - Oppo Find X
82 - Apple iPhone X
81 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
75 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
74 - OnePlus 6
71 - LG G7 ThinQ
66 - Huawei P20 Pro
66 - HTC U12+
64 - Xiaomi Mi 8
64 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
63 - LG V30
60 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
51 - Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
46
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
61 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
61 - HTC U12+
60 - Oppo Find X
60 - vivo NEX S
60 - OnePlus 6
58 - LG G7 ThinQ
57 - Xiaomi Mi 8
53 - Apple iPhone X
51 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
47 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
45 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
43 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
42 - LG V30
41 - Huawei P20 Pro
40 - Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
30
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 6
35 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
35 - Oppo Find X
35 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
35 - HTC U12+
35 - vivo NEX S
35 - LG G7 ThinQ
35 - Xiaomi Mi 8
33 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
28 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
28 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
25 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
25 - LG V30
24 - Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
24 - Huawei P20 Pro
23
Onscreen tests don't make it look much better, in no small part due to the fact that a lot of the competition is stuck at 1080p resolution for its display panels and the Note9 needs to render about twice as many pixels. The Note can consistently achieve an extra frame per second than the S9+ - that improved heat management design must be the reason.
Samsung advertises (and early teardowns proved that to be the case) that there's a much bigger heat dissipation element - 'water-carbon cooling system', they call it - inside the Note9 than on previous Galaxy phones. Our experience during strenuous benchmarking sessions is that the phone does heat up on the outside, but doesn't throttle after repeated test runs. That would mean that the heat is successfully dissipated.
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone X
59 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
59 - vivo NEX S
59 - OnePlus 6
59 - Oppo Find X
58 - Xiaomi Mi 8
57 - Huawei P20 Pro
55 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
51 - HTC U12+
50 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
46 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
45 - LG G7 ThinQ
43 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
42 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
37 - LG V30
35 - Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
27
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
55 - vivo NEX S
55 - OnePlus 6
55 - Oppo Find X
50 - Xiaomi Mi 8
50 - Apple iPhone X
44 - Huawei P20 Pro
37 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
34 - HTC U12+
33 - LG G7 ThinQ
30 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
25 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
24 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
23 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
20 - LG V30
19 - Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
15
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- vivo NEX S
34 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
34 - Xiaomi Mi 8
33 - OnePlus 6
33 - Oppo Find X
28 - Huawei P20 Pro
21 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
20 - HTC U12+
20 - LG G7 ThinQ
18 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
15 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
14 - LG V30
13 - Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
13 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
13 - Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
13
The Antutu score race is a top priority for some manufacturers, with the numbers pushing 300,000. The Exynos Galaxy Note9 is around the 250K mark, together with the Exynos S9+. Most of the Snapdragon 845 devices are a notch up, with the Oppo FindX and the vivo NEX S leading the way at around 290K.
AnTuTu 7
Higher is better
- Oppo Find X
291218 - vivo NEX S
287081 - Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
270814 - OnePlus 6
264200 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
264044 - HTC U12+
263696 - LG G7 ThinQ
259393 - Samsung Galaxy Note9
248823 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
246660 - Xiaomi Mi 8
217298 - Huawei P20 Pro
209884 - Google Pixel 2 XL (Android 9)
206711 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
201065 - LG V30
182374
It feels a bit pointless saying it, but we'll say it anyway - the Galaxy Note9 is a top-grade performer. It's unrivaled among droids in single-core CPU performance, and it's got class-leading multi-core results. When it comes to graphics, the Snapdragon 845-powered devices have the upper hand, putting out on average about 20% better numbers.
Side-by-side 2x12MP camera; dual aperture, of course
The Samsung Galaxy Note9 reuses the dual camera configuration from the S9+, which in turn was a tweaked Note8 setup.
A millimeter off-axis there's the primary camera - the already familiar 12MP unit with a dual aperture lens. We'd rather not call it 'variable' and risk going into semantics - it's either one of two apertures (f/1.5-f/2.4) and nothing in between. For a quick brush-up on the theory behind the dual aperture lens, check out the camera section of our Galaxy S9+ review.
The lens is stabilized and offers an equivalent field of view of a 26mm lens (in 35mm camera terms). The individual pixels of the 1/2.55" sensor are 1.4µm in size, and each is a phase detection agent too - so that's dual-pixel autofocus for you.
The telephoto cam is another 12MP unit, and Samsung's spec pages lead us to believe it's a different module than the one in the S9+. A slightly larger 1/3.4" sensor has supposedly replaced the 1/3.6" one from before but pixel size is still stated at 1.0µm so what gives? The lens has a 52mm equivalent focal length, an f/2.4 aperture, and is stabilized too.
In extreme darkness or for fill flash applications, a single LED flash is there to help. Yet another generation has passed with nothing changing in this matter since the Galaxy S2 - no dual-tone quadruple-LEDs from Samsung.
The camera app UI is mostly the same the as the one on the S9+, with one notable change - Scene optimizer. In a world of 'AI cameras' left and right, we're not sure how to feel about this - on the one hand, Samsung's given in and implemented scene recognition and image enhancement and whatnot like the rest of them; on the other hand, at least they're not calling it 'AI'.
Anyway, Scene optimizer is a toggle in the camera settings, and when enabled, it would pop up an icon in the viewfinder telling you which scene mode it's picked - how novel is that (not very). There are 20 types of scenes it recognizes.
Other than that, it's very much the same camera app as on the S9+. You swipe left and right to pick the shooting mode, and you can add, remove and rearrange the modes in settings. The HDR (Rich tone) setting's been buried in the menu for a few generations now, as Samsung wants you to leave it set to Auto and forget about it (we'd be inclined to follow that path).
There's a Pro mode too, and it's one of the pro-est around. You can select ISO (50-800), push shutter speed around (1/24000s-10s), manually select the aperture of the main cam (f/1.5 or f/2.4), focus manually (with peaking to aid you), and select the white balance (by presets or light temperature). Metering mode and AF area options are available too.
Camera UI
Image quality
In daylight, the Galaxy Note9 captures really pleasing photos with an abundance of detail - as much as a 12MP sensor would allow, of course. Samsung's noise-reduction algorithms never cease to amaze and the Note9's shots are practically noise free.
Oddly enough, the Note9's photos appear softer towards the extreme corners than the ones we got out of the S9+ - nowhere near being an issue, but visible if pixel peeping.
Auto HDR brings a nicely wide dynamic range, though Scene optimizer could take away a fraction of that if it picks one of the more contrasty tone curves depending on the scenario. We like the color rendition of the Note9, and generally the direction Samsung's going with its more natural processing.
Camera samples, daylight, normal camera
The telephoto camera is quite competent too, and aside from a minor loss of contrast compared to the main one, there's really nothing to point out here - it's all good.
Camera samples, daylight, telephoto camera
We've praised Samsung's HDR algorithms in the past and also enjoyed the live preview of the effect while with other makers you had to wait for the final image. Well, Samsung's HDR is now generally quite conservative and changing the setting between auto, on and off doesn't result in dramatically different shots - often not different at all. That said, on occasion depending on the scene, Auto might actually lead to a more dramatic result than manually switching to On.
Camera samples, HDR: Auto • Off • On
We're observing a somewhat different approach to low-light shots on the Note9 to what we saw on the S9+. There's a certain Pixel-2-ization in that bright sources of light are distinctly less overexposed - dynamic range's been improved. There's a bit more noise too and edges aren't as well defined as they were on the S9+, but detail levels are comparably good. Colors are very well preserved and there's no desaturation.
Camera samples, low light, normal camera
There are no surprises from the telephoto camera in low-light - it still doesn't really work. Instead, the Note9, in fact, zooms in digitally with the normal one. The end results are therefore soft when looked at 1:1 magnification, but still usable at a fit-to-screen level.
Camera samples, low light, telephoto camera
With no 'AI' in the name, 'Scene optimizer' isn't as bad (as extreme?) as some other scene-based processing implementations we've seen. It does recognize certain scenes and will give colors or contrast a minor boost, but not to the point of making the shot out-of-this-world. That said, Samsung's regular processing isn't lacking in pop, so it's neat that the optimizer is a toggle you can easily switch off.
Camera samples, scene optimizer: On • Off
Once you're done examining the real-life samples you can have a look at our Photo compare tool for some studio shots. We've pre-selected the iPhone X and the Huawei P20 Pro. You can, by all means, pick any other set of phones to compare once you're there.
Normal camera: Samsung Galaxy Note9 against the iPhone X and the Huawei P20 Pro in our Photo compare tool
Telephoto camera: Samsung Galaxy Note9 against the iPhone X and the Huawei P20 Pro in our Photo compare tool
Live focus
Portrait mode on Samsungs goes by Live focus and the Note9 can do it too. Its edge detection is mostly good, though inevitably pointy bits of hair end up looking unnatural. As usual, your mileage will vary depending on the subject, background and relation between the two. In this respect, it's not in any way better than the S9+ or the Note8.
One caveat is that you're better off having plenty of light because the portrait mode uses the telephoto camera, which doesn't fare too well in dim conditions. This downside is not isolated to the Note9, of course, all telephoto-based portrait modes suffer in low light.
Camera samples, Live focus mode, humans
The Note 9 does a good job with non-human subjects too, letting you melt the background into oblivion so you can draw the attention to that plant or whatnot.
Camera samples, Live focus mode, non-humans (obviously)
8MP selfies with autofocus
Samsung got the selfie camera right with the S8 and had been reusing it since - it's an 8MP f/1.7 unit with autofocus. It produces nice-looking images in good light, and it's got a portrait mode of its own - quite a usable one at that.
Selfie samples
Selfie samples, Selfie focus mode
It's missing a dedicated front-facing flash, but the display can shine plenty bright if you insist on being that guy and shining a 6.4-inch AMOLED at your face in the club. Here's an Off/On comparison.
Selfie samples, screen flash: Off • On
The video camera has everything
Much like the Galaxy S9+, the Note9 supports 4K and 1080p video recording at 60fps or 30 fps, and it can be captured in the widespread H.264 or in the new H.265 (HEVC) format. OIS is available all the time, and you can use digital video stabilization in all but the 4K/60 fps mode and 1440p 1:1, which remains a thing on recent Samsungs.
With the H.264 codec, the 4K@60fps videos are captured at 72Mbps bitrate (42Mbps in H.265), the 4K@30fps - 48Mbps (28Mbps in H.265), the 1080p@60fps - 28Mbps (16Mbps in H.265), and the 1080p@30fps - 14Mbps (8Mbps in H.265). The audio is always recorded in stereo at 256Kbps bitrate.
The videos captured in H.265 are virtually identical in quality to the ones recorded in H.264.
The 4K videos captured both at 60, and 30 fps are virtually identical in quality. They are very detailed and free of noise. The colors are great, and so is the contrast and white balance. There are no focus issues or compression artifacts. We continue to be impressed by the dynamic range.
The 1080p videos at both 30 and 60 fps also exhibit practically the same qualities. They are quite sharp, with plenty of detail, but other than that - they have the same essentials - great dynamic range, accurate colors and white balance, and high contrast.
The output from the telephoto camera is that little bit less sharp. Color saturation is a notch down too, and so is contrast. Additionally, here the 60fps modes come with distinct quality disadvantage. Overall, however, the zoomed-in videos are very pleasing, particularly the 30fps varieties.
Electronic stabilization works miracles on the Note9 in the modes where it's available (so not in 4K@60fps). It smooths out camera shake from walking and from handshake alike. If we have to complain about something, maybe the panning action is a bit artificial, but it could be us panning too fast. It's similarly capable on the telephoto camera, where its absence in 4K@60fps is less of an issue because you don't want to be shooting at 60fps on the telephoto cam anyway due to the lower quality.
Slow-mo videos
Samsung's improved its super slow-mo video recording further, and the Note9 can now capture twice as long clips - 0.4s vs. the 0.2, with the former only available in single-take mode. Auto and manual triggering are available, and in our experience Auto works excellently and takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. After capturing the videos you can edit them too - trimming's available and you can export and send slow-mo gifs too.
Super slow-mo videos are captured at 720p resolution at 960fps and a 0.4s slow-mo clip ends up being 12s when played back at 30fps. Here are a couple of slow-mo video samples.
Aside from the Super slo-mo at 720p/960fps, there's also regular non-Super slo-mo at 1080p/240fps. Only it's not available by default, you need to enable it in settings - clearly Samsung doesn't want it to distract from the headline feature.
The last stop is, of course, our Video compare tool where you can compare the Galaxy Note9's output against other phones we've tested. We've pre-selected the iPhone X and the Huawei P20 Pro, but a different set of devices is only a few clicks away.
Samsung Galaxy Note9 against the iPhone X and the Huawei P20 Pro
Competition
The Galaxy Note9 is predictably great, that's an easy takeaway from this review. You wouldn't expect Samsung to fit anything less than its best display, the cameras have been refined over several generations, more battery is always better, and the S Pen now has a few extra applications to entice even the eternal 'I never use the stylus' crowd.
There are no styluses in the competition, but there sure is competition. And a Note9 without an S Pen is more or less an S9+ - there is an obvious rivalry within Samsung's own ranks. Less battery, slightly smaller display, less base storage (no crazy half-terabyte option) - that just about sums it up. The S9+ is significantly cheaper since it's been around for a few months now and the Note9's only now coming out, but carrier subsidies or pre-order deals on the Note could help close that gap so it pays shopping around. At full retail, however, you need to seriously consider whether the S Pen and spec bumps are worth the price difference to you.
Samsung Galaxy S9+ • Apple iPhone X • Huawei P20 Pro • Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium • Oppo Find X
There are a few important new releases that are just around the corner, and it might be wise to wait a couple of weeks to see what the next iPhone will offer, and maybe a couple of months later - the Pixel 3 and Mate 20.
If you're itching to get a new phone today, the iPhone X is a rather obvious alternative. The two phones may be tied at $1000 in the US, but the iPhone X is more expensive than the Note9 virtually everywhere and that's for the 64GB version - so the Note isn't really all that expensive after all (it really is, though - it's just that the iPhone is even pricier). Anyway, headphone jack, expandable storage (more of it to boot), longer battery life - the Note is more versatile if that's even a consideration. The iPhone is a lot more compact. Has a notch too, if you're into that stuff.
In the absence of the next Mate, we'll put a Huawei P20 Pro as a placeholder, not that it's not an awesome phone itself. With its amazing triple camera and battery life to spare, the P20 Pro stands tall against the Note9, but the Galaxy's display is bigger and better. The P20 doesn't have niceties like a microSD slot and 3.5mm jack, but is one of select few to pack an IR blaster - you need to go back to 2014 to find one on a Galaxy Note, the legendary Note 4.
Yet to be released, but very much official already, the Xperia XZ2 Premium marks Sony's (rather late) entry into the dual camera field. It's a true behemoth, the latest Premium, at 236g, and that could be a dealbreaker for some before they get to the super sharp 4K display. Sony's been impressing us in the camera department lately and the XZ2P brings a few new tricks of its own, but you may find the Note9's telephoto second camera more useful than the Premium's monochrome shooter, promising as it may be for video capture in the dark.
If you're feeling adventurous, why not the Oppo Find X? Everyone's got them iPhones and Galaxies, but how many of your friends can boast a motorized camera assembly? Oppo says the Find X's moving bits are good for 300,000 actuations, so you're looking at a few years of up and down unlocks and we doubt it would ever get old. The thing is, the Find X is a stunner even when it's not sliding in and out - its display is as bezelless as they come, even if it isn't as sharp as the Note's (1080p+ vs. 1440p+). Battery life, on the other hand, is very much comparable. This X too is missing a microSD slot - another one in favor of the Note9. Same with the IP68 rating - the Find X has none. So in the end, when it comes to practicality, the motorized Oppo only matches the Note in battery life. It is motorized, though.
Verdict
We've heard people saying 'it's an incremental upgrade', 'it doesn't bring anything on top of the Note8', 'it's the same phone as the S9+ only more expensive'. Erm... Those people could have been us too, and those people maybe have a point. The new Note doesn't really feel that new. Then again, the new Note is the most smartphone packed in a single device you can buy now. If that's what you're after, the Galaxy Note9 is an easy recommendation despite the high price.
Pros
- High-end build
- One of the best displays in a smartphone
- Excellent battery life
- Universally great camera performance (video included)
- Feature-rich custom software
- The S Pen stylus is now also a remote
- One of few current big-name flagships with 3.5mm jack, stereo speakers, and microSD slot (the S9s too, the Mate 10, and... that's pretty much it)
Cons
- Expensive
- Not particularly original design and particularly unattractive back
- Heavy - beyond the 200g mark
- You can have too many software features
- Where them Alcantara cases this year, Samsung?!
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