The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 might not be the best phone I’ve used but it is undoubtedly one of the largest. And even though I did enjoy using the handset — I’d never buy it.
The good stuff | The Galaxy Note 8 has an excellent camera, it’s quick and has a crisp edge-to-edge screen. Stylus fans will also enjoy the phone’s S Pen and it’s improved features. Also, there’s a headphone jack.
The bad stuff | The phone’s fingerprint reader is poorly placed and the handset is uncomfortable to hold as a result of its extra height.
The Galaxy Note 8 is an improvement over last year’s Note 7, especially considering this handset doesn’t catch fire. It has a lot of great features, and stylus nerds will love the S Pen, but it’s not perfect.
Samsung also appears to have taken the saying “go big or go home” to heart because this phone is truly massive.
Note: The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 used for this review was loaned to me by AT&T.
Design
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8, which runs Android 7.1 (Nougat), has a beautiful 6.3-inch Super AMOLED edge-to-edge screen. The phone’s Infinity Display runs at an aspect ratio of 18.5:9 — basically, it’s a bit more than twice as long as it is wide. The tall phone has a thin body made of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and metal. It’s also IP68 certified, meaning it’s dust and water resistant (and can withstand being submerged in up to 1.5 meters of water for about 30 minutes).
The phone’s face has no physical buttons, only virtual ones on the screen. The USB-C connector, 3.5mm headphone jack and S Pen are located along the base of the phone. Along the left side, you’ll find the volume keys and a shortcut button for Bixby (I hit this on accident often). The Note 8’s power button is on the right side. Finally, the phone’s SIM card/microSD card slot is on top of the phone.
The phone’s front-facing 8MP camera and iris scanner are located in the Note 8’s top bezel — along with the earpiece and an LED notification light. The main camera is actually a dual camera setup — two 12MP cameras that can take wide-angle or zoomed-in photos — and lives on the back. The fingerprint sensor is just to the right of the camera, along with an optical heart-rate monitor and an LED flash.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 comes with 64GB of storage and is expandable up to 256GB (via MicroSD). The phone’s 3300mAh battery seemed to supply enough power to get me through most days.
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is powered by the same chipset as the Galaxy S8, an octa-core Snapdragon 835 processor. The Note 8 also comes with 6GB of RAM.
Based on those stats, you’d think the Note 8 would easily edge out the Galaxy S8 in speed and performance tests. It doesn’t. Here’s the Galaxy Note 8’s benchmark compared to other flagship handsets I’ve reviewed and tested with AnTuTu Benchmark.
Camera
Even though the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 rarely felt comfortable to hold, I loved taking photos with the handset. It was a quick, sharp shooter that even performed well in lower light situations.
Check out these photos.
Macro
Panorama
Low-light
Selfie
Problems
My number one issue with the Galaxy Note 8 was just the sheer size of the handset. It wasn’t comfortable to hold and I even felt like I might drop the handset as a result. I asked a few people with larger hands than myself if the Note 8 was “the right size” for their hands. They also found the phone to be too large. Though, people who’ve used the plus-sized iPhones or other massive Android phones might experience less discomfort.
I mentioned before that I also bumped into the Note 8’s Bixby button often — oddly more often than I did on the Galaxy S8. Luckily, Samsung released an update so that the Bixby button can be turned off entirely (not reconfigured).
Recommend to a friend?
If you already own a massive phone and you like it, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 might be a good option but I wouldn’t recommend it. While I did love using the S Pen and taking beautiful photos, the price tag’s just too high (about $950). For those who must own a Samsung device, you’re better off spending your money on the Samsung Galaxy S8.
