Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Ultra Review: A Premium Phone for Power Users
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Ultra offers the same sleek design, beautiful display, fast performance, and impressive camera as the standard Note 8, along with some added features to power users and fans of the Galaxy line of phones. If you’re looking for an amazing phone that won’t compromise your productivity or overall experience, look no further than the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Ultra! Here’s our complete review on this great device.
The Biggest Screen on the Market
There’s no denying that, when it comes to smartphones, bigger is better. The sheer size of a device doesn’t always matter—the taller and wider phones are also thicker and heavier—but there’s something nice about being able to see more information on your screen at a glance or watch full-length movies without getting eye strain. And while some people have complained that most phones are already too big, one of our favorite features on the Note 8 is its massive 6.3-inch display. You probably won’t be carrying it around in your pocket (for better or worse), but you’ll definitely appreciate having all that real estate to work with when watching movies or playing games.
S Pen Features That Improve Everyday Life
Samsung’s stylus, or S Pen, has been a unique feature of its top-tier phones for years now. At first, it was an optional extra that most users ignored in favor of more features and storage. But over time Samsung has slowly but surely made S Pen a legitimate alternative to using your fingers alone. Thanks to some new applications and significant improvements from past devices, it’s more than just a fun toy—it can genuinely improve your life every day. Ink to Text: The biggest advancement in S Pen technology is also one of its simplest—the ability to quickly convert handwriting into text. Instead of scribbling away with your finger on a keyboard, you can write notes directly onto any screen using your pen. And when you’re ready to turn those thoughts into text, just tap on the highlighted words and they’ll be automatically converted into editable text within seconds. It doesn’t always work perfectly (especially if you have bad handwriting) but it’s still much faster than typing out each word individually. If you’re not sure whether or not you’ll like Ink-to-Text, try writing down a list of things around your house so you can buy them later without having to type anything at all!
Camera Features for the Pro Photographer Inside You
One of our favorite tricks when reviewing a phone is to see how it takes pictures. The camera makes or breaks any smartphone, and we’re hoping that with each passing generation of phones, smartphone cameras are getting better. And in some cases (like with Samsung’s last few models), they have been improving at a tremendous pace. I took some time to shoot a variety of different scenes around New York City to see just what kind of quality you can get out of Samsung’s latest and greatest. I found Samsung had added two features to their camera that make it not only appealing to everyday consumers but also appealing to photographers as well! Read on to find out what those features are!
Software Designed to Boost Productivity
For all its strengths, there are a few things I wish Samsung had done differently with its newest phablet. First of all, while it’s certainly powerful enough to run demanding apps and games without skipping a beat, there isn’t a USB-C port in sight. The Note 8 has a microUSB connector (like last year’s model), which means you need to buy an adapter if you want to use one of the newer, reversible cables. Also consider that USB-C ports aren’t just faster—they also allow for both input and output simultaneously (so you could power your laptop from your phone), whereas microUSB can only do one or another at a time.
The Best of Android in a Compact Body
This year’s Samsung Galaxy Note phone keeps everything that made last year’s device a success, but adds new features and a smaller body. The result is one of Android’s best-ever phones—and one you can easily fit in your pocket. The latest addition to Samsung’s flagship Note line of smartphones is an extremely capable device in both power and size. It combines exceptional battery life, large storage capacity, ultra high-resolution Super AMOLED display and high-end specs with a compact design that weighs just 5.5 ounces—down from 6.3 ounces on its predecessor, 2015’s Galaxy Note 5.
Who Should Get This Phone?
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has a big, 6.3-inch screen and comes with a pen that works as both a stylus and an S Pen. It has all of the latest hardware you would expect from 2017’s top phone, such as wireless charging and water resistance, plus an extra-long battery life for those who want to watch videos on a long plane trip or do work on their phone all day. Plus, it offers up some features not found in other phones, like multiple cameras and four colors (black, blue/orchid gray/deep sea blue). If you want a super powerful device that can help you get things done—and don’t mind paying more than $900—the Note 8 is worth it.
The Not-So-Good
The 128GB storage model doesn’t have a microSD card slot. The base S Pen doesn’t have some of its functionality and there aren’t any alternatives for sale yet. At $900, it’s a bit pricey compared to other top smartphones on the market, like Apple’s $700 iPhone XS Max and Google’s $750 Pixel 3 XL. If you want more than just a phone, but don’t necessarily need all that extra power, then you might consider an Android-powered smartphone like Samsung’s own Galaxy S9+. It only costs $720 and is smaller in size. You could also opt for a cheaper alternative from Huawei or OnePlus.
