Samsung Galaxy Note 8 – It’s big, it’s strong and it’s armed with a pen
23.8.2017
Translation: Eva Francis
Video: Dominik Bärlocher, Stephanie Tresch
When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 8 in London, it was clear this was a smartphone that meant business. The Galaxy Note 8 wanted to be able to do more, and do more it most certainly can. The presentation of this highly speculated smartphone showed Samsung had no intentions of backing down.
The Note 8 makes it clear Samsung is still taking the aggressive approach it announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last February. The Note 8 is not just a device for a bit of phoning and texting. It’s also 5G-ready and prepared to take on the business sector. For once, its opponent isn’t one of the usual suspects such as Apple or Microsoft.
The Note 8 comes in a number of colours, including black and goldThe pen I miss even though I’ve never had one before
Fans of the Note series have been panic-stricken for months. The question on everyone’s lips is, will the Note 8, with its confirmed 6.3-inch screen diagonal still have a pen, otherwise known as a stylus? Samsung said this was a given. After all, a Note without a pen isn’t a Note.
The stylus has thousands of pressure levelsWhat the stylus lacks in writing ability, it makes up for in functionality. As someone who sends a lot of links and extracts of text on a daily basis, I find the copy-paste function one of the most important. On Android devices, this is a bit onerous. Marking and selecting text is a real pain. But with this pen it is a lot easier, as the only thing coming in contact with the screen is the tip of a pen rather than a broad finger.
For the Samsung Galaxy Book, the manufacturer has tried to make the pen imitate the feel of a pencil by replacing the lead with a digital equivalent. I hope other pen manufacturers follow suit. I wouldn’t say no to a Caran d’Ache stylus. Or better still, a standard ballpoint refill I can put into my pen – assuming the pen can be used as a stylus.
The trick with AMOLED
When the screen is off and the phone is locked, you just need to whip out the pen and scribble on the display. You’ll be writing white on black. Once you’re done, you can save your doodles as a note. Basically, your screen acts as a notepad.
The Note 8 is fast. Very fast, even. So when it’s a question of speed, it doesn’t make much difference if I grab a notepad out my bag or scribble my ideas on the Note. That is something that appeals to me a lot. On the Note 8, the virtual notepad lets you save up to 100 pages per note – one page is one screen. In most cases, that is plenty of space.
Samsung embraces split-screen
Some smartphones now come with split-screen mode. This means you can run two apps side by side. This is perfect for large displays. Or rather, it would be perfect.
Which apps you open on a split screen is entirely up to you. As is the layout of the display. The app you select first will appear at the top or on the left-hand side of the screen and the second, to the right or underneath depending on the position of the phone.
Dual Apps is just a few taps awayHard edges, wide sides
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 doesn’t just excel at software, it also stands out for its aesthetics and the ease with which it sits in your palm. The manufacturer intentionally designed the Note 8 to be less rounded than the S8 series in order to maximise screen space. After all, this is where users are supposed to be able to write, draw and work.
The larger screen size has a huge impact on how you handle the device. Instead of nice rounded sides, you feel sharp edges in your hand. Not that it is uncomfortable. On the contrary. I like it when a phone doesn’t, in the loosest sense of the word, feel slippery. The edge makes the phone seem powerful and gives it weight without it being physically heavier. I like that.
The camera I couldn’t put to the test
You’ve probably noticed I haven’t said a word about the dual camera on the back of the Note 8. Hardware-wise, this is one of Samsung’s most significant innovations. The Note 8 is the first Samsung phone to feature this kind of technology. So why am I not waxing lyrical about it? I never got to test out the dual camera in London. So while it sounds great in theory, I can’t back up any claims from my own experience.
Samsung showed off the camera at a demo station in the Cheesegrater. It was fixed into a black box that they had given a foreground and background. This let the camera glint and glitter. It was also a great environment for bokeh, in other words depth of field. Even after the photo had been taken, they were able to edit it until it was flawless and beautiful. Lovely as it sounds, it has nothing to do with the average customer’s requirements or use case.
I admittedly had the opportunity to hold the phone in my sweaty palm and test out the main functions as well as some of the extra ones. However, I only had 75 minutes with the Note 8 and in that time I had to single-handedly film a video, do plenty of fact checking and take photos. That’s why the the camera remained untested. But I’ll make up for it, I promise.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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