- Now that the Samsung Galaxy Note Eight has launched,
a lot of you have been asking me which is better.
Which should I choose?
Should I go with the Note Eight,
or should I go with the Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus instead?
In this video, I aim to answer that very question
on which device should you buy.
What's going on, tech squad?
Andru Edwards here, Editor-In-Chief at GearLife.com.
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Now like I said, we're talking about the differences,
Samsung Galaxy Note Eight versus Samsung Galaxy S8
and S8 Plus.
So let's cut straight to the chase.
From the front, both S8 and Note Eight
look very, very similar.
You get the same Infinity AMOLED display,
the same quad HD-plus resolution
and the 18 and a half by nine aspect ratio.
The S8's a bit more curved compared to the Note Eight
which has a grippier rectangular design.
And the screen on the Note Eight is a bit larger too,
at 6.3 inches, but that's about all
there is to differentiate these two phones,
at least from a visual perspective.
As far as design language goes, again,
you're looking at very similar devices.
They've got the volume rocker on the left-hand side
of the phone, which is right above that dedicated
Bixby button, USB-C port on the bottom
for charging, along with the headphone jack
and mono speaker, and the S Pen.
And over on the right you've got the power button.
Construction is the same, with the same metal
and Gorilla Glass Five hybrid design,
but the Note Eight is a little bit heavier,
22 grams heavier than the Galaxy S8.
And by the way, speaking of those displays,
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Major differences though are when you take a look
behind the curtain and see what's on the inside
of these devices, that is powering them.
Unfortunately, the fingerprint sensor stays
in the awkward position, at least awkward for me
and quite a few other people.
It may not be awkward for you,
but you do get a dual-camera sensor on the back.
That's one of the major changes,
actually my favorite change, my favorite upgrade.
My favorite spec of the Galaxy Note Eight
is that dual-camera system.
Both are 12 megapixels like on the S8's camera,
but having two sensors on the Note Eight
gives you much more flexibility.
The wide-angle lens and telephoto lens work together
for some really nice pictures, as you can see here.
The pictures allow you to do something called live focus,
which lets you blur out the background
of your image, and separate it from your subject,
and you can actually control the amount of blur
in the background, even after the photo's been taken.
This is something that the Galaxy S8 just can't do.
It's not capable of doing this
because it only has one camera.
And aside from that live focus mode,
it also just can't do telephoto photography
because it doesn't have a telephoto lens.
More importantly, both sensors come with optical
image stabilization, or OIS on the Note Eight,
as opposed to a single sensor on the S8,
which also does have optimal image stabilization,
but the Note Eight definitely takes the advantage
in video and low-light photography
thanks to those two cameras.
I think the camera's actually one of the biggest reasons
someone would consider picking up the Galaxy Note Eight
over the S8 or S8 Plus.
But if you need another reason, look no further
than the S Pen.
The S Pen is useful for a lot of things
like live messaging, where you can write out messages
to people, or even write on top of photography
or screenshots, and send those.
But it also does things like live currency exchange rates,
where you can just highlight a price in another language,
and it'll automatically convert that
into your preferred currency.
It also does that for language if you just highlight
let's just say a paragraph of text in another language,
and it'll automatically translate that for you
right on the screen.
When you use the S Pen on the Note Eight's screen,
it's a treat thanks to that larger screen real estate.
At the end of the day though, both the S8 and the Note Eight
run the Samsung Experience Launcher,
and pack almost the same internals,
that being the Snapdragon 835 on both,
although the Note Eight does include two gigabytes
of extra RAM above what you'll see on the S8 and S8 Plus.
S8 and S8 Plus have 4 gigabytes,
the Note Eight has six gigabytes.
However, that actually would not be a reason
for me to consider the Note Eight over the S8 and S8 Plus,
because that six gigabytes of RAM is really only gonna help
you in some very specific circumstances.
Just day-to-day stuff, swiping around
home menus and all that, you're not gonna see
an improvement there.
The Note Eight does come with a new app pairing feature
to simultaneously open two apps in multi-window mode,
and a richer Bixby experience, but both of those features
I think could eventually make it to the S8 and S8 Plus
through a software update.
The app pairing simply allows you to pair two apps
into one icon, so you tap that one icon
and both apps open in multi-tasking mode.
So for example, you may be driving to work,
and you like having your music app open
but also like having your maps app open,
you can create an icon that when you tap it, both music
and maps open at the same time, ready to go.
But I don't see much of a reason
why the S8 Plus or S8 couldn't do that.
Maybe the S8 couldn't because it would be too cramped,
but certainly the S8 Plus would have no problem
with that feature.
And the rest of the phones stay the same.
IP68 certification for both devices,
you've got the face and iris unlock on the front,
eight-megapixel camera.
As far as storage options are concerned, the S8 was
available in 64 gigabytes and 128 variants,
while the Note Eight adds a larger 256-gigabyte option
into the mix.
With that being said, here in the United States of America
we only have the 64 gigabyte option
on all three devices anyway,
but you're not limited there, because all three devices
do offer the micro-SD card expansion.
But there you have it, guys.
Ultimately the choice boils down to personal preference,
and quite literally, if you can afford it.
The S8 in the U.S. is selling for around $600 unlocked,
whereas the Note Eight is selling
for close to $950.
You can find it in some places for around 925,
maybe 900, but still that's an over $300 difference.
For some people it'll make sense,
but for others it'll be $300 just for a camera
and an S Pen, and that could be a pretty steep difference,
especially for the average user.
But if you're someone who wants the latest and greatest,
and just can't live without it,
there's nothing on Android that can beat
what the Galaxy Note Eight has to offer today.
So there you have it guys, that was your look
at the Galaxy Note Eight versus the Samsung Galaxy S8.
Let me know what you think.
Which phone are you choosing,
which phone are you picking?
Or are you not going with an S8 or a Note Eight?
Are you going somewhere else on the Android platform?
Are you waiting to see what Google does next month
with the Pixel Two?
Are you on iOS?
Let me know in the comments below.
I'll meet you down there for further discussion.
You can't really go wrong,
both of these pones are fantastic devices.
It just comes down, like I said, to personal preference
and what you can afford, or what you wanna pay.
If you wanna see a comparison
between the Samsung Galaxy Note Eight
and the new iPhone 10,
go ahead and drop a like on this video
and a comment below, letting me know.
And if enough people show interest,
I'll make that happen as well.
If you enjoyed this one, please do drop a like
on this video, hit the like button as hard as you can.
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Until next time, as always, guys, I appreciate your support.
Thank you so much for watching.
I'm Andru Edwards and I'll catch you in the next video.
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