EE have asked me to review the Note 9. I have used this device for both pleasure and work over the last few weeks. I’m confident in saying it’s by far the most complete phone I have ever used. In fact, I was that impressed I went out and bought one to replace my S8+. I’m now a Samsung Note convert. Now let me tell you why.
Hardware
Unlike the Galaxy line the Note devices are more angular in their design. The phone has rounded off corners and slightly curved edges. I found it a comfortable phone to hold or carry. The Note 9 is fitted with a 4000Mah battery which adds weight, so It’s on the heaver side which just adds to the feel of quality as it feels evenly balanced. After a short time this didn't bother me anymore. I was able to comfortably hold the phone one handed.
The fingerprint scanner is just below the camera module which is better placed than my S8+. I could easily reach the sensor with my index finger. You can use the facial recognition which I tried but don’t use, or just a password if you want.
The bottom right corner houses the stylus which ever so slightly sticks out to allow you to click it out.
The body is all glass and unlike my S8+ I didn’t feel I would drop it or it would slip out of my hand. I would however still buy a skin case and if anyone is interested, I have this one.
The 6.4 inch Super Amoled screen is wonderful. Pictures and videos look crystal clear and I had no issues looking at the screen in direct sunlight. If you use a black background, then it looks like all the front screen is taken up. It’s a trick I use on all my phones.
If you get the hybrid sim version, you can use two sims, but you lose the memory card slot. This might not bother some people as even on the 128GB version you get 111GB of usable memory. I just used the one sim with a 128GB memory card.
There is a headphone jack.
There is still a Bixby button.
Camera
The camera hardware is the same spec as the S9+. If you have owned Samsung phones in the past then quality of the photos taken will certainly impress. There will always be critics but I think the image quality is wonderful. Below are some test images taken using auto in various scenarios. I would add that since taking these photos, Samsung has updated the camera firmware and improved the quality, especially in low light.
Software
I was using/own the 128GB version (hybrid sim) with a whopping 6GB of Ram. As expected, it’s fast and suffered no slow down or lag even with all the programs open.
The phone is running Android 8.1.0 Oreo.
If you are familiar with Samsung phones then you will know what you are getting on the software front, so duplicate apps from Google and Samsung. I didn’t find these impacted my speed or phone at any time. All the S Pen apps tended to be Samsung apps, so it would be nice to see Google adapt to use accessories such as the S Pen more with their own apps.
When you take the S Pen out it reverts to apps wheel to allow you access to apps you can use with the S Pen as below.
S Pen
Housed in the bottom corner it clicks in/out. I was never afraid I would lose it.
This was the first time I used the S Pen, but when I started using It I wondered how I manged before without one. It does take some time to get used to and my “notes” are just about readable!
The S Pen can be programmed for different functions and by default its set to the more popular such as the camera, however using it with Power point allows you to move back and forth between slides. If you are mirroring your display of presenting this can be quite useful. I’m looking forward to using this feature shortly to present so I will let you know how it goes.
When you use the S Pen to write you can hear a scribble sound which I thought was a great touch.
Battery life
As mentioned, the devices has a non-removable 4000Mah battery, which lasted me about 1.5/2 days on moderate to high usage. (Bluetooth & Wifi on all the time). Its quick charge so you are back up and running quickly if you low on power.
EE Network
The hybrid sim version works with EE VOLTE and VOWIFI services.
To sum up
I know I haven’t even scratched the surface when it comes to this phone’s features, but would I recommend it? Yes, so much so that I went out and bought one.
1 Comment
