The S Pen is making a comeback this year. Of course, the revival of the pen was planned last fall, but for obvious reasons with Galaxy Note 7 this did not happen. To prevent the sad situation from repeating itself, Samsung decided to play it safe. And this applies not only to the battery. The smartphone is too close to the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 + models, which could cause an identity crisis for the Galaxy Note 8. The similarities are noticeable not only in the specifications, but also in the test results.

Samsung doesn't make it hard for interested buyers to make choices. At least the first Galaxy time The Note 8 will only be available in two colors, Midnight Black and Maple Gold. There are no memory configuration options, the retail version of the Samsung smartphone will support two SIM cards. But be warned: some carriers may sell a single SIM option. For both models, Samsung asks for a decent 999 euros in Europe or 69,990 rubles in Russia. At the time of publication, we did not find prices cheaper than the recommended ones.

Samsung believes that high Galaxy price Note 8 justifies two arguments, and one of them is the S Pen

The concept of the Note family has been clear for a long time: take the current model of the Galaxy S generation, add a large display, a couple of technical innovations and an S Pen stylus. In that year Samsung did not change her approach.

Appearance

By external mind Galaxy The Note 8 differs little from the S8's design. We are once again getting the narrow bezels made possible by the move to Infinity Display. There is barely enough room above the display for the speaker, sensors and camera. However, the previously mandatory Home button the bottom could no longer fit. As a result, the front panel looks stylish and technical, also due to the significant share of the display space. Samsung does not give an exact figure, but we measured about 83%.

The biggest innovation is visible at the back - the first dual camera from Samsung. But the design itself hasn't changed from the Galaxy S8. Cameras are still at the top of the panel, they are complemented by an LED flash, a heart rate sensor and a fingerprint scanner are installed next to it. It seems that Samsung has never addressed one of the biggest flaws in the Galaxy S8: ergonomically, the fingerprint sensor is positioned very poorly. It would be much better if he was under the camera. Otherwise, there is nothing remarkable, except that the manufacturer's logo attracts attention.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is visually similar to a slightly smaller Galaxy size S8 +

The sidewalls are more interesting. Nothing new here, but the combination of a thin metal frame and a curved display with a curved back looks pretty. From this point of view, the design of the Galaxy Note 8 can be called harmonious.

But not all that glitters is gold. Samsung indicates the thickness of the Galaxy Note 8 is 8.6 mm, while the metal rim remains even less - only 3 mm. As a result, the contact surface with the hand is limited, coupled with a smooth heel counter and a decent size (width and length 162.5 x 74.8 mm), problems can arise. A smartphone is sometimes difficult to hold in your hand. If you have small hands, it is unlikely that you will be able to find a comfortable grip for a long time. And users with large hands should be careful not to let the Galaxy Note 8 slip out.

Up to four buttons (right for standby, left for volume and Bixby) are easy to reach. Working with a smartphone with one hand is unlikely to work, even if you have very long fingers. The reason lies not only in the 6.3 "diagonal, but also in the unusual 18.5: 9 format, that is, the body is narrower and longer than smartphones with a 16: 9 format.

Samsung re-opts for a mix of aluminum and glass for the Galaxy Note 8, the fingerprint sensor is again poorly positioned

The smartphone is not to be criticized for the quality of manufacture. Here Samsung has tried its best. All four buttons are felt well and without backlash, the card tray is neatly embedded from the top end. The transitions between glass and metal, as well as between metal and antenna insulators, are noticeable, but hardly felt. As for the frame, the choice of metal is welcome here, but the glass feels different. The fragile glass is unlikely to withstand a drop, so we recommend that you always use a case.

Noteworthy is the weight of 195 grams. Which is 26 grams more than the Galaxy Note 7, and the same Galaxy S8 + weighs 173 grams. On the plus side, we include IP68 moisture and dust protection.

Still a decent level of performance, now with extra memory

In April, we already said that the Galaxy S8 has more than a sufficient level of performance: “In our tests, none of the apps were able to push the Galaxy S8 to its limit. New smartphone provides more than sufficient performance for all applications, and for two to three years ahead. Unless memory becomes a bottleneck, of course. The smartphone is equipped with 4GB LPDDR4 memory. "

We got the same SoC from the Galaxy Note 8, but it's still worth taking a look at the performance level.

Samsung has again opted for two hardware versions. If in the US and in some Asian markets the smartphone is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, then in Europe and Russia - Exynos 8895, the same chip as in the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 + smartphones - there are no differences even in details. Thus, the SoC has four Cortex A53 cores and four Exynos M2s at frequencies up to 1.7 GHz and up to 2.3 GHz. Note the GPU Mali-G71 MP20 at 576 MHz. The SoC is manufactured by Samsung using the 10nm LPE process technology.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 delivers more than adequate performance that is overkill for everyday scenarios (3DMark Slingshot)

But Samsung decided to change the memory. Compared to the Galaxy S8, LPDDR4 RAM has grown from 4GB to 6GB, which could theoretically impact performance. In practice, in most cases, the increase is from 1 to 3%, so here we can talk about the measurement error, rather than about the increase. However, there are exceptions that are difficult to explain. The Galaxy Note 8 scores nearly 32,000 points in 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, beating the Galaxy S8 by 11%. However, in the case of Slingshot and Slingshot Extreme, it turned out to be 11% slower. Based on the results of Geekbench 4.1, the computing performance is about 12% less. But in the GFXBench Manhattan Offscreen and T-Rex Offscreen tests, we got 64 and 121 fps, which is about the level of the Galaxy S8.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 users will benefit from fast UFS storage in everyday scenarios (PCMark)

In any case, the Galaxy Note 8 is one of the most fast smartphones on the market. The performance of the Exynos 8895 is comparable to the Kirin 960 and Snapdragon 835, although there is hardly a leader out of the three SoCs, they all occupy the first places with varying success. So it is unlikely that the performance of a Samsung smartphone will be lacking anywhere in the near future. More memory also contributes.

Despite the large body, Samsung has not been able to solve another problem that will affect the practice. Exynos 8895 in the Galaxy Note 8 smartphone also includes throttling under high load... In the worst case, we get a drop of about 20%, especially when it comes to GPU performance. However, throttling is unlikely to show itself under everyday loads, which is also true for the Galaxy S8.

Almost every interface imaginable

The interfaces have been carried over from the Galaxy S8 with almost no changes. The LTE modem operates at a maximum speed of 1 Gbps for downloads and 150 Mbps for uploads, the wireless module in the MU-MIMO design (802.11ac) also promises a high level of bandwidth when working in WLAN. For short distances and communication with accessories Bluetooth 4.2 is provided - a new version 5 has not yet been activated due to the lack of drivers, although it is supported by hardware. Of course, it was not without NFC and MST. The latter is designed to work in tandem with Samsung Pay.

If you prefer cable connections, then there is USB port Type C with support USB standard 3.1 Gen 1. As a result, large amounts of data can be transferred quickly to or from the internal storage, especially since the high-speed internal storage UFS 2.1 is supported, as is the case with the Galaxy S8. In the Androbench test, the read speed was 403 MB / s, the write speed was 63 MB / s, in PCMark we got 636 and 117 MB / s.

If the built-in 64 GB is not enough, then you can use the microSD card slot. But expanding the memory will have to pay with support Dual SIM, the second SIM uses one microSD card slot.

Port USB Type C Galaxy smartphone Note 8 delivers high throughput with USB 3.1 Gen 1 support and high-speed internal memory UFS 2.1

The Galaxy Note 8 has all the usual sensors. Smartphone detects position in space and acceleration, external brightness and precise position thanks to satellite systems... A heart rate sensor and a fingerprint scanner are installed at the back. If you do not want to use a fingerprint to unlock your smartphone, then you can rely on face recognition technology. It can be quickly set up and worked well in our tests - there weren't many errors. However, it should be noted that this system protection, the craftsmen have already managed to deceive, therefore the best option there is still a fingerprint or good old PIN. There is an iris scanner that provides a high level of protection, but again it was unreliable.

In our tests, we did not encounter any telephony or data transmission problems. There were no unusual WLAN outages, no strange transitions from LTE to UMTS or GSM. Speakers and microphones provide good quality speech reproduction and recording, and the ambient noise suppression system performed satisfactorily in our tests. The second speaker on the bottom bezel of the Galaxy Note 8 should only be used for the function speakerphone... Due to the lack of most of the middle and low frequencies it is not suitable for listening to music.

From year to year, many smartphones appear on the market in which quality cameras... Flagships from Samsung are always among the first and allow you to receive high quality photos in various conditions, and this can be done both in automatic mode, which even a child can handle - pointed and removed, and by choosing manual settings... The second, at first glance, is more difficult, but in reality you can get photos that cannot be taken on other smartphones so easily and easily. I propose to understand in detail how to best photograph on the Galaxy Note 8, so that your pictures are different for the better and your friends are amazed at your talents. But first, a few explanations of how the main camera works on the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.

Galaxy Note 8 Dual Lenses - Optical Zoom and Wide Angle

Unlike previous Samsung models, the Note 8 introduces a dual-camera layout for the first time. On the left is the main lens, on the right is the wide-angle lens. Both matrices are 12-megapixel, but the angle from which they look at the world is different, as well as the aperture, the first camera has f / 1.7, the second has f / 2.4. Please note that both lenses are equipped with optical stabilization... To see what the field of the frame looks like in each of the cameras, you can use the "Live focus" option, then the phone will take two pictures at the same time, you can look at them below.

But most importantly, both during and after shooting, you can blur the background for a beautiful, artistic photo. See how it looks.

For the user, this means that you are not limited by the frames of one lens, as on most other smartphones, you can take several pictures at the same time and only then choose the one that you like best. Switching to the second lens also gives you 2x optical zoom. That is, you get a picture without loss in quality, there is no picture crumbling due to noise. Take a look at examples of such photos.

Of course, the main lens shoots better at night, since its aperture is higher (f / 1.7 versus f / 2.4). But if you remember that a few years ago all flagships had f / 2.4 lenses, it turns out that the quality of even a second wide-angle lens is excellent and also expands your creativity.

A huge number of people believe that the most important thing in a smartphone is not at all additional settings, which give flexibility and the ability to customize it for any person, and the characteristics originally set by the manufacturer. In the case of a camera, this is a scenario of use - point and shoot. With this in the Galaxy Note 8, everything is fine, since traditionally for Samsung, all user groups are taken care of here. You can double-tap the power button on the case and the camera will instantly start up, taking less than a second. What's next? And then you just take pictures at any time, since the matrix is ​​equipped with DualPixel technology, it instantly focuses on objects, and you can take pictures knowing that you will get a high-quality, sharp picture. There is no need to hold the apparatus and catch the scene, freeze, hold your breath. Everything works fine and so. However, take a look at a few pictures taken this way, on the go and without any preparation. I have the majority of such photographs, since in life scenes are not waiting for you, and you just need to see them.

Photography is not difficult, but some people think that if they bought a DSLR camera, it should take breathtaking pictures without their participation, agreeing only to press the shutter. It's a pity, but this is not happening yet, and in order for the pictures to be interesting, you need to understand what you are photographing, and most importantly, how. Let me give you an example. A friend of mine is a restaurant critic and she often photographs food, which was once considered bad form for many people, but is now ubiquitous. Photographs of dishes in professional photography are often processed in such a way as to highlight the central part, darken the plate a little. The shooting scenario is the same in 99% of cases. The Galaxy Note 8 has a special mode that lets you take such vibrant food shots.

And there is also a sports mode for capturing fast-moving objects, the ability to create animated GIFs from photos, and even use the main camera for selfies - the phone itself detects what you are looking into and takes a picture!

Select desired mode not difficult, of course, if you want to get the most out of it, and not just a photo in automatic mode. Another tip, very often when shooting outdoors, the sun bothers us. This is where the HDR mode comes to the rescue, when a final one is obtained from several shots, where the difference in lighting is compensated, and you see beautiful picture... HDR works automatically, but if you want, you can turn it on so that it always works. You can see how vibrant pictures for Instagram come out with this mode.

But if, when shooting on a bright sunny day, you see a difference with the previous Samsung flagships, but it will not be overwhelming, then it is quite another matter at night. Now the camera handles night scenes better, selects light sources and adjusts the picture depending on them. Here you need to understand the peculiarity of the camera, it tries to make the picture as bright as possible, which can lead to noise. Someone likes to see everything, someone, on the contrary, wants to achieve a beautiful twilight. For the second, I recommend adjusting the exposure to minus one or even minus two, this will achieve such an effect.

Please note that the Galaxy Note 8 produces evening and night shots with beautiful, rich colors, that is, they are not faded, like on many other devices. This is the merit not only of the matrix, but also of the objective lenses.

The Galaxy Note 8 camera is not only versatile, it allows you to take pictures in any conditions. Let me give you an example. About five years ago, I did not even take out my phone at night or in difficult shooting conditions, because I realized that the quality of the photos would upset me. Then I began to try to do it, but the number of good shots was not great - as luck would have it. But on the Galaxy Note 8, in difficult conditions, the camera produces most of the images in good quality, that is, you spend less effort to get everything as it should.

And for those who are not afraid to learn a little more, there is the Pro mode. In it, you can not only adjust each of the parameters yourself (focusing, choice of white balance, shutter speed and color gamut), but also achieve the maximum possible results. It is thanks to the Pro mode that the Galaxy Note 8 can be called a full-fledged camera that gives room to creativity.

Many manufacturers do not give their users such opportunities, since this is a lot of development time, and only a few use it. I admit honestly that in manual mode I take pictures only in difficult conditions and I do not do it every day. But when I need to do this, there is simply no alternative, I can only get such a shot here or on other flagships from Samsung equipped with the Pro mode.

I haven't said anything yet about another possibility, dynamic focus mode, where you can control the blur of the background and also get two shots (wide angle and normal). This mode is interesting for portraits, you make the person stand out. The shooting distance in this mode is from 1.2 meters.

It shouldn't be superfluous to say that the macro mode has historically been very well implemented in Samsung smartphones. Here is exactly the same, the minimum shooting distance is about 10 centimeters, the ability to use even a second camera and take pictures that are unlikely on other devices. For example, look at how a spider was photographed, I am sure that many people like such pictures.

I can also say that my kids love to take pictures with the Galaxy Note 8 camera, because there are various stickers and you can turn yourself into anyone.

They work with both main and front cameras. It's fun, but it's great for hanging out with friends, when you are not just getting regular photos from somewhere, but trying to convey emotion. Here, of course, the question is to what extent you are ready to use such effects. But if you do not need them, then you can leave them alone, no one forces you to do this.

Nothing is said at all about the front camera, although it is present here, has a resolution of 8 megapixels, supports a bunch of enhancements (complexion, eye size, skin tone and others), which girls really like. And, of course, the same effects and drawings over the face. Good front-camera, but in the Galaxy Note 8, you can and should use the main camera for this, since the manufacturer has done everything to ensure that you have such an opportunity.

The last thing worth mentioning is video recording. Of course, 4K is supported, the picture is clear and colorful, several microphones located on the body work very well. There is slow motion. Take a look at the video recording examples below.

Ten years ago, the camera in mobile phone had only one advantage over a full-fledged camera: she was always with you. Today, the camera in the Galaxy Note 8 sets the standard, a level of quality that allows you to do without an additional camera, and that's a very, very good level. For most people, this quality of pictures is not just enough, but enough for the eyes. Moreover, for the majority of users who did not have a flagship at their disposal, such a camera would be the best camera they have. My experience proves that shooting with a smartphone in various conditions is easy and simple, and the resulting pictures are liked by people. They constantly ask: "Are these photos taken with a smartphone?" It is interesting that this question has been heard over the past years, but the progress in cameras is such that it remains relevant today, people cannot believe that cameras have evolved this way. And if you choose a smartphone only by the camera, then the unambiguous recommendation from my side would be Samsung Galaxy Note 8. However, it has something to praise for in other areas, which we will talk about separately. And to round off the camera story, here are a few more shots that give you an idea of ​​what the Galaxy Note 8 can do.

Dual cameras in smartphones, especially when it comes to high-end models, are hugely popular today.

What do they give dual cameras in smartphones?

Long ago, in the days of LG Optimus 3D / 3D Max and HTC EVO 3D, dual cameras were used for stereoscopic (3D) volumetric photography, but in modern smartphones their purpose is different.

The second rear camera, as a rule, has a different focal length and, accordingly, provides a different angle of view for photography and video shooting.

It is noteworthy that in some devices the additional camera has a wider viewing angle (smaller equivalent focal length), such a solution can be seen, for example, in the LG G5, G6. In others, the secondary camera provides a narrower angle of view (greater equivalent focal length). This option is implemented in the iPhone 7 Plus / 8 Plus.

An example can be cited as an exception Huawei smartphones where the cameras have the same focal length.

In addition to the changed viewing angle, the presence of two cameras allows developers to implement on a very high level trendy background blur effect today. This is often used in portraits. The image with blur begins, in a certain way, to resemble the picture that can be obtained on serious cameras with large matrices (mirrorless and SLR cameras).

If we talk about the Samsung Galaxy Note8, then, as in the iPhone 7 Plus / 8 Plus, the additional camera has an increased focal length (2X zoom is provided).

Camera Samsung Galaxy Note8

When comparing the shooting capabilities of the Samsung Galaxy Note8 with others top smartphones Samsung that appeared this year (in this case, we are talking about the hit Galaxy S8 and S8 +), the difference between them mainly consists only in the functions related to additional cameras oh Galaxy Note8.

The Galaxy Note8's video modes (meaning a combination of resolution and shooting speed) are good, but today the model is inferior in these parameters to some competitors.

The main benefit of the additional camera, which, by the way, is used for the first time in Samsung smartphones, is a better implementation of the background blur function.

If earlier Samsung smartphones could be reproached for the far from perfect work of this function, then there are practically no complaints about the Galaxy Note8. Given the growing popularity of this "feature", the revision turned out to be relevant.

As for the 2x optical zoom, which is obtained due to the differences in the focal lengths of the lenses of the main and additional cameras, then you should not bet on this feature. The differences in viewing angles are not so significant.