A little under a year ago, I'd have said that there might not be a Galaxy Note8 at all. Of course, I'd have been wrong. But after the Note7's disastrous recall episode, it seemed perfectly fair to ask whether the Galaxy Note would continue be a thing. After all, battery fires aside, the Note really didn't seem to be the focus of Samsung's smartphone development the way it once was. The Note7 wasn't much more than a stretched, squared-off Galaxy S7 edge. And even before that, the Note5 wasn't much different from the pen-less Galaxy S6 Edge+ it debuted alongside. If there were a perfect time to call it quits on the Note series, a major recall followed by a total product cancellation would have been it.
Samsung, obviously, thought otherwise.
And so we have the Note8, a phone I think could just as easily have launched along with the S8 and S8+ earlier this year. I understand why that wasn't possible - product development cycles can't completely change overnight - but there's nothing about the Note8 that makes it feel like much of a progression over the phones Samsung introduced to us nearly six months ago. It might be a bit cynical, but I think the truth is that the Galaxy Note now exists as a reason unto itself - there is a Note8 because there are people who will buy a Note8, and they will buy it because it is a Note. And where demand exists, the market [typically] supplies.
Is the Note8 any good? Of course it is. I liked the Galaxy S8 and S8+ six months ago, and I like them now. The Note8 is so damn similar that it would be impossible for me not to like it. The major differences - the pen and dual cameras - certainly make for nice additions. But as you may know, Samsung is asking well north of $900 for this phone, a number that is quite difficult to justify given the aforementioned similarities to the older, now much cheaper S8 and S8+. There is simply not $250 more phone in a Note8 than an S8+, and I'm not about to reveal any big surprises here that are suddenly going to tip the scales. But the Note is still a big deal, and it deserves a review in its own right.
Design and materials
The Note8 hews closely to the Galaxy S8 and S8+'s design language, and uses essentially identical materials. While the corners of the phone are more squared-off - in keeping with Note tradition - most people would have a rather difficult time identifying a Note8 next to an S8+. While slightly larger, the Note really only differs in very minor ways visually from that phone, and feels basically the same.
That means you have a fairly slippery, long glass and metal brick with extremely refined seams and edges. The Note8 is one of the nicest smartphones I've ever used from a perspective of sheer quality of materials and manufacturing, and the same could be said of the S8. While I hardly find the $930 price point palatable, I would argue there's not a smartphone out there you can buy that is going to look and feel nicer than a Note8 - Samsung is at the top of its game right now, and very few phones even come close to exhibiting this level of polish and fit and finish.
The Note is, however, quite a large phone. It's longer, wider, thicker, and heavier than the Galaxy S8+, which I already found precarious to manage in-hand. While some of that is down to the slightly-enlarged display, the Note8's also had to make room for that stylus and dual camera module, adding half a millimeter of thickness and a full 22g of mass to the phone over its slightly-smaller sibling. It's also 1.4mm wider than the S8+, making it a bit more difficult to use one-handed.
The ergonomic complaints don't end there. Samsung has kept the fingerprint scanner on the Note8 next to the camera module, which continues to be roughly as practical as a car with door handles on the roof. I understand there are S8 owners out there who don't find the placement especially bothersome - particularly when using a case - but I just cannot abide it. It's a bad place for a fingerprint scanner, easily the worst of any high-end smartphone on sale right now, and it makes for a needlessly difficult phone unlocking experience. And no, iris scan and face unlock aren't just as fast - I have to turn on the screen first to use those, and that will never be as quick as just using my finger to do both at the same time. And because the scanner is right next to the camera module, you'll still end up accidentally smudging your lens at least once a day.
On the bottom of the phone you'll find the S Pen, speaker, USB-C port, and headphone jack. The stylus pops up with a quick press, revealing a design essentially identical to that of the S Pen on the Note7. There are some fresh software features for the pen this year, but physically, there's really nothing new about it. It's the same lightweight plastic passive stylus as it's always been, with a single button and super fine tip.
As far as other buttons are concerned, the power key is on the right side of the phone, with the volume rocker and Bixby key on the left. The Bixby key is at an exactly convenient height to constantly accidentally press every time you pick up the phone to unlock it, and so one of the first things I did to "personalize" my Note8 experience was download a package disabler app so I could render the button inoperative. Bixby itself doesn't bother me, but unintentionally activating it several times a day does. The buttons themselves are nice, offering good feedback with minimal mush.
Because of its large size and glass-heavy construction, it would be difficult for me to recommend using the Note8 without a case.
