SMARTPHONE - NOTE WORTHY
In 2011, Samsung announced its first Galaxy Note that
provided users with a stylus and homegrown apps to make notes and sketches on
its touchscreen. Since then, the company has continued to innovate with this
flagship device, adding new features, while refining its look.
This year, with the Galaxy Note 9, it has reimagined
the S Pen stylus—this time with Bluetooth connectivity—to remotely control
slideshows, trigger its camera to shoot photos, and even play and pause videos
in YouTube…
BUILD
Like all the Galaxy Notes before it, the ‘9’ boasts
of a build quality that keeps with the times and perhaps even defines what
“premium” should look like. It comprises a metal frame with toughened Gorilla
Glass 5 on the front and the back.
Like the Note 8, you get an almost edge-to-edge
“infinity” display that gently curves on either side and a virtual home screen
button at the lower end of the display to create an almost seamless slab of
glass. The handset and the S Pen carry an IP68 rating which means they are
resistant to dust and water (in depths of up to 1.5m for up to 30 minutes).
Overall, the Note 9 looks classy, feels sturdy and solid.
DISPLAY
The new Note 9 sports a 6.4-inch display. You get a
hi-res super AMOLED screen, which is capable of very high brightness levels and
is clearly visible even in direct sunlight. Text and images look sharp, the
blacks are deep, while colours appear punchy without looking unnatural. There
is a slight blue tinge, which is more visible in the whites and when viewed
from a certain angle. However, this is a minor niggle and can be adjusted with
the built-in colour profile tool in Screen Mode, found within the Note 9’s
display settings.
By default, the handset is set to Full HD+ resolution
to conserve battery. But this can be notched up to QHD+ from its display
settings. You also get a “Blue light filter” mode to cut screen glare while
working in the dark. The large display is also ideal for watching movies and
playing games. Supported apps like YouTube and its
native Video Player lets you enjoy your entertainment in
‘edge-to-edge’ full screen without the letterbox effect.
PERFORMANCE
In our tests, the Note 9’s flagship-grade hardware
ensured smooth performance in the most demanding of tasks that included 4K
video encoding, process-intensive AR apps and graphics-heavy games.
The heat generated by its processor is dissipated by
a copper heatsink. Samsung claims to also use “carbon water” cooling; we had no
way to check this claim but during our review we did not face overheating or
performance issues despite repetitive benchmark tests and gaming sessions.
Base storage in the Note 9 has now increased from
64GB to 128GB and you can avail of the 512GB variant. The handset also supports
512GB microSD cards, giving you up to 1TB storage on the handset.
The Note 9 also sees an increase in battery capacity:
You can now expect over a day’s worth of mixed use that includes some gaming,
music and movie playback, office productivity and web browsing.
You can further extend longevity with power
management profiles to limit network use and CPU speed, lower screen brightness
and display resolution. Also, its quick-charging battery can be replenished in
little more than an hour.
AUDIO
Voice calls on the Note 9 are clear and its stereo
speakers are loud. Output over the included tangle-free AKG earphones is clear
across the aural spectrum. This improves further with the Dolby Atmos
optimisation feature that automatically adjusts audio for music, videos and
voice calls.
USER INTERFACE
The Note 9 runs a proprietary interface over Android
Oreo that provides myriad customisable features. You can configure the ‘Edge’
panel to provide quick access to apps and contacts; reduce screen size for
single-handed use, and work in a multi-window mode.
Samsung’s S Health app works with
the device’s heart rate sensor to measure cardiac rhythm, SpO2, stress and
steps walked. The Note 9 also includes a Dual Messenger mode that allows you to
run two instances of WhatsAppand Facebook Messenger. Other
features that stand out include… Bixby: Samsung’s
voice-controlled assistant can be summoned with a “Hi Bixby” or with the press
of a dedicated button on the left edge of the device. It responds well to voice
commands to launch apps, increase screen brightness, disable mobile data, etc. You
can also configure it to run voice-activated routines. For instance, a “Good
night” could be configured to switch on the DND (do not disturb) mode, enable
an alarm, and read the next day’s schedule. You can even create your own custom
routines. Bixby is also designed to identify objects, locations, and translate
text from images. While object recognition works well, web searches are not
localised and language auto-detection is not altogether perfect.
Samsung DeX: This
tech lets you connect the handset to a monitor via Samsung’s HDMI adapter (sold
separately for ₹2,299). You
can also pair a Bluetoothenabled keyboard with the phone to use it like a PC.
Samsung did not make this cable available to us for review, so we were unable
test this feature. The company says that DeX will make it easier for users to
work with documents and watch movies on a big screen while running it all on
the handset itself.
Security: Samsung’s Knox encryption
service creates two separate secure environments for personal and work-related data.
Apart from the fingerprint scanner, the Note 9 comes with face unlock and an
iris scanner. These work as advertised but have a few downsides: Face
recognition is not consistent in the dark and the iris scanner fumbles against
a bright background or if you wear contact lens. The Note 9 also has a
fingerprint sensor on its back panel. This is now placed below the rear cameras
for more intuitive access (the Note 8 had its sensor alongside its cameras,
which made it inconvenient to reach and led to smudging of the camera lens).
Samsung Pay: You can
save encrypted debit/credit card details in this app and use it to make a
payment at any card swipe machine wirelessly. You only need to choose the card
you want to use, authorise with your fingerprint, and place the phone close to
the card machine to complete the transaction.
CAMERAS
The Note 9’s dual rear shooters capture rich colours,
contrasts, as well as details like texture and relief. Its dual aperture mode
detects light conditions to switch between two f-stops for optimum exposure.
Its 2x optical zoom lens are quick to focus and fare well even in low light.
However, there is a noticeable drop in details due to noise reduction and image
softening. Still, you can use its Pro mode to control exposure, ISO, shutter,
aperture and white balance. A Live Focus mode, which lets you take shots with
bokeh, works wonderfully against contrasting backgrounds. Though, it might not
detect edges of irregular objects like plants and hair perfectly. That said, it
also saves a copy of the photo without this effect.
You get live photo filters, scene modes to capture
panoramas, GIFs, hyper-lapse and slow-motion clips. You even get a live
Stickers mode, which lets you add text banners and superimpose comic masks on
the faces it detects.
The front camera captures a fair amount of detail and
it doesn’t disappoint in low light either. You also get a portrait mode for mug
shots with bokeh. You can even use this device to create custom emojis using
your face.
VERDICT
The S Pen’s remote functionality and revamped DeX
productivity feature will appeal to designers, artists and corporate execs who
want to improve productivity without sacrificing on form and function. Existing
Note 8 users might want to skip this handset and wait for next year’s iteration
that might leverage on 5G technology. That said, if you are looking for a
heavy-duty flagship smartphone that bakesin stylus support with a great suite
of related apps, then the Galaxy Note 9 is your only bet.
S PEN
The new Bluetooth-enabled S Pen comes with a built-in
“supercapacitor” that can hold a charge for up to 30 minutes after just 40
seconds in its slot on the phone. The Galaxy Note 9 can now also detect when
this stylus isn’t housed inside and sound an alarm to inform you if you move
too far away from it.
The S Pen can be used as a remote to perform several
actions: A long-press of its button activates the camera; a single press clicks
a picture and a double-press switches between the rear and front snappers. It
can also be used to browse pictures in the Gallery app; control playback of
videos and a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.
Like before, you can use the S Pen to scribble a
note, extract text from images, annotate screenshots, translate foreign
languages, and share animated messages.
The Note 9 comes with Penup, a pre-loaded art app
that lets you create your own works of art. The digital stylus can detect up to
4096 levels of pressure so you can even control the way ink spreads on the
canvas. It is thinner and smaller than a standard writing instrument, but it
responds just like one, with minimal lag. It feels natural to use and even
works with third-party design apps on the Play Store.
Ashutosh.Desai@timesgroup.com
No comments:
Post a Comment