Hi guys, it's MTG here, and today I'm going to take another look at the Samsung Galaxy
Note 8.
Since I reviewed it, a lot of other smartphones have gained a lot of attention like the iPhone
X, OnePlus 5T and Pixel 2 XL among others.
Although those are terrific phones that I use a lot on a daily basis, I still keep finding
myself missing features that are available on the Note 8.
In this video, I'm going to go into detail as to why the Note 8 is still the phone I
would recommend most for people looking for a new smartphone.
Let's get right into it.
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I'll briefly run over the design and specifications again just to remind you of the fact that
the Note 8 is no doubt a premium phone externally and internally.
The Note 8 has Corning's Gorilla Glass 5 on its front and back, whereas the frame of the
phone is aluminum.
Samsung has really stepped up their design game in recent years, and the Note 8 is no
exception.
Internally, the Note 8 has an impressive 6 GB of RAM.
The phone is powered by an octa-core mobile processor that is either the Qualcomm Snapdragon
835 or Samsung's Exynos 8895, depending on where you purchase the phone.
It has dual 12 Megapixel cameras that can record video at up to 4K at up to 30 fps and
has dual optical image stabilization.
In terms of security, it has a fingerprint sensor and an iris scanner.
But to be honest, the specifications aren't anything crazy.
All recent flagship phones have very comparable specs.
On top of that, we have seen other manufacturers make premium smartphones with glass sandwiching
metal, so that isn't new either.
What makes a phone stand out is how you interact with it on a daily basis and the bang for
your buck that you get.
So specifications aside, I wanted to start off by telling you some of the many features
Samsung brings to the table with the Note 8 that have made it stand out from the crowd
to me.
The first thing you notice when you pick up the Note 8, is the massive, high resolution
display that it has.
You have to see this QHD+ display in person to truly understand just how high-quality
the display is.
Text looks crisp, and colors pop.
Everything looks terrific on this phone, whether it be normal web pages, social media, or YouTube
videos.
Smartphones are being used more and more for media consumption, and the Note 8's screen
remains the best for media consumption.
The Super AMOLED display is also plenty bright enough to see outside even on the brightest
of days.
Especially because I mainly use the Pixel 2 XL, I do really miss how terrific the screen
on the Note 8 is in low and bright light.
As base storage capacities increase, so do the amount of space files take on your phones.
4K videos are very large files, and since apps and games are becoming higher quality,
those are becoming very large as well.
Expandable storage is a feature that content creators love because you can just swap the
micro sd card in and out and instantly have more storage.
But also for the average consumer, expandable storage could prove to be very useful when
over time, your phone's storage begins to fill up.
Another thing expandable storage allows you to do is upgrade your phone after the fact.
You can see if you need the extra storage, and if you do, you could buy a micro sd card
up to 256 gigs for a relatively inexpensive storage upgrade.
This feature is a tricky one, especially now that we're into 2018.
It is actually possible that here on out, we will not see a headphone jack on new phones.
It is understandable because we do need to improve wireless technology, but having a
headphone jack is very useful.
I own wireless headphones and wireless earphones.
And just about all newer speakers and cars have Bluetooth, so usually not having a headphone
jack is not an issue.
However, in those instances where your wireless headphones run out of battery, or your Uber
passes you the aux, you'll actually still be able to listen to music because the Note
8 has that 3.5 mm headphone jack.
A feature that I took for granted on the Note 8 is its ability to output audio to multiple
speakers or headphones at once.
Bluetooth 5.0 isn't that new, so I am kind of confused as to why more phone manufacturers
don't utilize dual audio.
More people do have wireless headphones and speakers, and its cool being able to connect
to two different audio output devices even if they are different brands.
Another feature that I took for granted was Samsung Pay.
On my Note 8, I setup Samsung Pay with my debit and credit cards, and it is always securely
there whenever I need them.
There have been instances where I forgot my wallet, but because of Samsung Pay and the
technology behind it, I could still pay with my phone at just about any normal credit card
terminal.
Many people don't realize the fact that Samsung Pay can work at even the oldest of credit
card terminals because it sends a signal that tricks the terminal into thinking an actual
card was swiped.
Unique to the Note lineup, the s-pen is a productivity tool that could actually help
even the average consumer.
With the s-pen, I'm able to edit and sign pdfs, write notes, and draw on screenshots.
But also with the s-pen, I'm able to highlight and translate text, click little menu buttons
in webpages, hover over items to see more information, and draw pictures in Snapchat.
The s-pen is a very cool tool to have, and it just tucks away unnoticed whenever you
don't need it
The Note 8 has a lot of the features you could hope for in a smartphone.
I actually didn't even talk about its fast wireless and cable charging capabilities or
its IP68 water and dust resistant ratings.
But a phone could have all of the features in the world, and it still won't garner a
lot of attention if the overall user experience lacked.
Until recently, Samsung flagships were known to have lots of cool new features, but also
have an annoyingly clunky and stuttery Touchwiz skin.
With the 2017 flagships, this changed drastically.
With its latest Android skin, Samsung elected to make the interface more simple.
Icons are noticeably minimalistic, and menus are cleaner.
We still get redundant Samsung apps, but overall the user experience has become very pleasant.
The interface is very clean, and the processor coupled with the 6 GB of RAM allow the phone
to remain snappy and multitask effortlessly.
Even without Android Oreo, the Note 8 has features like split screen, a blue light filter,
and an always on display thanks to Samsung always keeping their phones feature packed.
Little features like being able to utilize scroll capture to automatically stitch together
a longer screenshot make me appreciate Samsung's forward thinking with their flagships.
In terms of its camera system, the Note 8 doesn't blow you away like the Pixel 2 XL's
can, but it does do a great job.
The Note 8 has a really solid camera setup that takes impressive pictures regardless
of whether there is good lighting or low-lighting.
I have in-depth comparisons of the Note 8 with the S8, Pixel 2, iPhone X, and OnePlus
5T, so check those out for more test shots and video tests.
Something else I wanted to touch on is the fact that Samsung devices do last a long time.
My dad has a Note 4 still, and has been reluctant to upgrade because frankly, there have been
no critical issues.
Samsung makes a lot of phones, whether they are flagship or midrange or budget phones.
With that background, they have done a pretty good job with keeping all of their phones
to a certain standard in terms of longevity, and that is something that I know is important
to a lot of consumers when investing in such an expensive device.
Also, Samsung phones are very inexpensive to repair because of how they are built and
how common they are becoming.
In terms of price, it does retail for a steep $930.
But as I've said in previous videos, Samsung does give you a lot of bang for your buck.
You get just about every feature you could ask for in a smartphone along with included
$100 earphones and fast charging accessories.
Also, there are deals circulating right now, so you won't necessarily have to pay that
retail price for the phone.
With everything I've said about this phone, there must be a catch right?
A phone can't be this complete of a package, right?
Well, frankly, it is pretty close to a complete package, but there are some drawbacks that
I will mention.
The phone has a single, poor quality, down-firing speaker that gets easily covered even if I
hold the phone in a natural position.
I wish Samsung would have at least utilized the phone calling speaker for stereo sound.
Also, the battery life isn't that great.
I understand that Samsung was playing it safe with the battery and it usually does make
it through a day's usage.
But there have been days where I do feel inclined to charge it in the evening because it dips
below 10 or 15%.
Lastly, the fingerprint sensor placement is bad.
I have big hands, and don't have a problem unlocking it on a daily basis, but I could
easily see someone with smaller hands having issues unlocking their phone.
Other phones simply have better rear fingerprint scanner placements.
For a phone that costs as much as the Note 8 does, people expect a near perfect, well-rounded
phone.
And that is what the Note 8 is.
It's a phone that has a clean and snappy user interface, with lots of software features
that could prove to be very useful.
It's a phone that has just about every feature you could want in a flagship, packaged into
a phone that also happens to have the best display.
It's a phone that has top-notch specifications and a solid camera.
The Note 8 is such an easy phone to recommend because of how well-rounded it is.
Through this video, I've shown you why many people view it as the best phone made to date.
That's all I had to talk about today, thanks for watching, and I will see you in the next
video.