Samsung Galaxy Note8 - a great return of the stylus

Watch with us - Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2017 video: Samsung via YouTube

Samsung Galaxy Note8, similarly to the flagship Galaxy S8, received a large, almost frameless Infinity Display with unconventional, stretched 18.5: 9 aspect ratios. The screen is made in SuperAMOLED technology, has QHD resolution, Mobile HDR Premium mode and diagonal of 6.3 inches - even greater than Galaxy S8+.

As a matter of fact, Note8 is slightly larger than S8+ (it measures 162.5x74.8x8.6mm at 195g), but because the housing is only slightly larger than the screen, it can be said that the device is well matched to hand - especially when we compare Note8 with competitors with similar screen diagonals.

The housing of this year's Note is elegantly rounded by a slim metal bezel and the back is covered with a smooth, slightly rounded glass pane. The front also has a fashionable curvature that is designed to provide a comfortable holding of the phone with your hand. What is important, despite the presence of the S-Pen stylus, which needs a fairly deep hole in the storage casing, it has been able to retain the watertightness of the device.

Note8 is IP68 certified, and the stylus slot has a special seal. There is also a convenient, snap-on release mechanism for the stylus, as well as protection against being pushed into the socket with the wrong side. The stylus supports 4096 degrees of compression, and its capabilities have been enhanced with several new features.

Screen-off memo notes can now not only be saved but merged with previously made. There was also improved the translation function, already known from previous models of Samsung. Now - with the stylus - you can translate not only single words but also whole sentences, phrases, paragraphs. Internet communication lovers will love the other interesting function of the stylus - the ability to sketch an animated GIF that can then be sent in a message or published on a social network. Its creating is simple enough - we just draw and the phone saves our picture step by step to create an animation.

Samsunga Galaxy Note8 may have two incarnations. The first is with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, the second is with the Exynos 8895. Both chips are eight-core, with the first being offered only on selected markets (including the US). The processor supports 6 GB of RAM, while the internal memory will be available in 64, 128 or 256 GB versions, depending on the region, but with the option of upgrading to 2 terabytes with a microSD card.

The smartphone is ready for use in LTE Cat. 16, it also has a modern Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C port and Wi-Fi with MiMo. A 3300 mAh battery can be charged traditionally (also in fast mode) or wirelessly. There are no security options - apart from Knox 2.0, we also have known from previous models, an advanced iris scanner and a traditional fingerprint reader, located on the back wall, next to the camera frame.

There is also the Bixby's assistant (which - incidentally - is now available in 20 more countries), as well as novelties - pairing applications in pairs. This is a very clever solution, using split screen mode. In the Apps Edge, we can create shortcuts that open two applications on a split screen with one click. This way we can open the gallery and an e-mail, and then attach the pictures to the message with one stroke of the stylus. There are obviously more possibilities, and the purpose of this feature is simply to speed up work on the phone.

Samsunga Galaxy Note8 has an 8 megapixel selfie camera and a brand new (for Samsung) dual camera on the back. The camera uses 12-megapixel dies, one with a telephoto lens and the other with a wide angle lens. The first has a brightness of f/2.4 and the second one is impressive with f/1.7. The camera has dual optical stabilization and also uses double lossless zoom.

By attaching digital zoom to it, you can zoom in 10x. The camera also has an interesting function - it can take two shots of the same plan, each with its own lens, so that with one press of the shutter we get two different frames - broader and narrower. It wasn’t forgotten about the sound system. Note8 has only one external speaker, but also has a minijack socket and an AKG sound system.

Samsung Galaxy Note8 also works with Samsung Dex stations, which have gained a bit more functionality. There is a wider range of applications, an improved desktop interface (with more icons on the desktop), and the ability to launch selected games in a larger window. It is worth mentioning that in the pre-sale Note8 will be sold with the Dex station in the set.