Samsung Note 8

Nebell

Nebell

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 20, 2015
Messages
2,382
Well, ironically I posted a thread a while ago about high end phones being too expensive, and now I'm about to buy one of the most expensive phones (rumors say Note 8 will be ~€1000).
But, my sister need a new phone and I'm thinking about selling her my S7 Edge cheap and my old Note 3 was the best phone ever owned. I was actually going to get Note 7 but it got pulled becore I got mine.
In fact, I live in Sweden, and the last Note we got was Note 4. Note 5 was never released here, Samsung skipped Note 6 and Note 7 was pulled before release in Sweden.

Note 8 will be revealed on August 23th, so in less than a week.

I'm not going to list specs myself, I'm just going to link to rumored specs:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note8-8505.php

These are rumors, but I'm kinda disappointed that the battery is only 3300mAh. That ain't gonna last on a 6.4" screen.

On a side note (pun intended), the best phone software I used was on my Lumia 1520, which is a Windows 10 phone. I loved it, it is such a beautiful and fluid UI. But what really kills it for me is that there are no apps for it. There are literaly no apps (at least 2 years ago).
I also have an iPhone 6 as work phone which I'm forced into. Holy shit does that thing suck balls.
 
Looks like it will be good but the fingerprint scanner placement looks like it remains difficult to use.

I tried instore, reaching for the fingerprint scanner then the spot on the screen where the home button is was tolerable on the S8, but not on the S8+.

I do wonder if they could have made it easier to press by lowering its position without sacrificing too much of the aesthetics.

I'll probably be waiting with my note 4 for another year.
 
mda said:
Looks like it will be good but the fingerprint scanner placement looks like it remains difficult to use.

I tried instore, reaching for the fingerprint scanner then the spot on the screen where the home button is was tolerable on the S8, but not on the S8+.

I do wonder if they could have made it easier to press by lowering its position without sacrificing too much of the aesthetics.

I'll probably be waiting with my note 4 for another year.
Click to expand...

Do you think it might include iris scanner? I don't recall if S8 have it, but it could replace fingerprint scanner for me.

EDIT:
Seems there will be iris scanner:
https://www.sammobile.com/2017/08/17/leaked-galaxy-note-8-brochure-confirms-major-details/
 
Looks like it has an iris scanner but based on my friend's experience with the S8+, the whole process of unlocking isn't anywhere near as fast as what a real fingerprint reader could do.

I hate the fingerprint reader's sliding motion you need on the Note 4, and I'm perfectly good with the fingerprint speed of my folks' 6S.
 
Finally a phone bigger than my 6p. I never had the chance to check the overall footprint against a Note7, but even a pixel is slightly smaller when placed on top of each other.
 
I had a S8+ and returned it after one of the microphones died after 4 days. In my opinion, there are two major flaws with it:

1) The fingerprint scanner location is abysmal. I had to always re-position the phone in my hand to reach the sensor with my index finger (I don't have small hands either), and even then I almost always accidentally smudged the camera lens trying to blindly find the sensor. The Note 8's is going to be even slightly more out of reach, but luckily they separated the camera a bit from the fingerprint sensor by placing the flash and health sensors in between them. Still a very poor design choice - should've been placed more towards the middle of phone like the Pixel or LG G6, but it was likely a last minute addition due to the inability to add a fingerprint scanner under the screen. The iris scanner is an okay alternative, but outside in the sun it could never unlock my phone. Indoors it worked about 80% of the time on the first try. Regardless, its awkward holding the phone up directly eye level. Face scanning was good, but Samsung themselves said that isn't completely secure and that is why it isn't an option to authenticate payments via Samsung Pay.

2) The hardware Bixby button is also a waste. I accidentally pressed it multiple times when pressing the power button on the other side of the phone or when I was quickly looking to turn down the volume. No way to turn it off or remap it within the system either; you have to get an app that will instead immediately close Bixby when it opens and open up a different app you designated. Unfortunately its not always fast enough and you'll see the Bixby splash screen for a split second. And Samsung could block these apps from working in future firmware updates.

-----------------------------

Other than that the phone was pretty good. Gorgeous infinity display and battery life was really good. It is a shame that they're putting a smaller battery in the Note 8 despite having a larger screen. Hopefully it won't affect it too much. I've narrowed my search down to the LG V30 or Pixel XL 2 for me. The LG V30 is looking like it could be a very good competitor with the Note 8 this year.
 
I'm just hoping Samsung doesn't completely blow it with the Note 8, though this year, it's more of a begrudging compromise than anything else. I've all but given up on manufacturers offering removable batteries in the name of planned obsolescence and fashion now, as not even LG does it anymore, and nobody else bothers with the Wacom pen.

The main impetus to get one is that I'm the only one in the family who didn't get a new phone when dumping Sprint for T-Mobile back in January, instead opting for an unofficial unlock on my Note 4 that can't get 4G on non-Sprint carriers, and now won't even get 3G on T-Mo for some reason when that worked just fine before. It's hamstrung by the lack of band support. Still, I refused to downgrade to an S7 or any other phone without the pen functionality.

I'm still planning to keep the Note 4 as a sort of super-PDA, though, not to mention a programmable IR remote since the Note 5 dropped that. (And you thought the Note line never had less features than the S line - the S6 kept the IR blaster!)
 
Had the S7e, and the S7 flat, now have an S8. IMHO, the S7 flat was a near perfect phone. The S8 has been one of my LEAST favorite devices. The fingerprint placement blows. The scanner itself BLOWS. As good as the S7 scanner was, the S8's is godawful. The Iris scanner is fantastic... When it works.

I won't get another Samsung until they put the fingerprint scanner in a more comfortable place, plain & simple. My next work phone will most likely be a Pixel 2 or Moto Z Force 2.
 
LG V30 looks good, but no pen :/
Besides, LG did not sell V10/20 in Europe and I'm not sure if it will be any different with V30.
If LG included a pen then it would be my choice even if I had to order it from the US.
Besides Samsung pre-order freebies were leaked. Dex dock for us in Europe (256gbcard+wireless charger or 360 camera for the US).
That just sealed the deal for me. I don't have a daily computer anymore and I don't want to use one of my 2 mining rigs.
 
I'll be checking them out. I hate this piece of shit Motorola Z Force and will never buy another. I've only owned Notes and loved them but had to go for this Z when the 7's were exploding and all. 6.3" screen tho.... That just seems a little much and is now closer to a tablet than a smart phone. My Note 4 was borderline to big to haul around.
 
I've been hoping the Samsung Galaxy Note Fan Edition makes its way over to the US. It's basically the Note 7 with a different battery (very slightly smaller), updated to the latest software, and a version of Bixby that can be disabled. Then I'd wait for the Note 9 that will have the fingerprint scanner under the screen (yes I absolutely hate the position of the S8/Note 8 fingerprint sensor THAT much). Currently it only released in South Korea last month and they indicated there were/are plans to bring it to other countries. Fingers crossed.
 
MacLeod said:
I'll be checking them out. I hate this piece of shit Motorola Z Force and will never buy another. I've only owned Notes and loved them but had to go for this Z when the 7's were exploding and all. 6.3" screen tho.... That just seems a little much and is now closer to a tablet than a smart phone. My Note 4 was borderline to big to haul around.
Click to expand...

The super-thin bezels should make it smaller than it sounds. Remember, the S8+ has a 6.2-inch screen. If you can manage that, you can probably handle the Note 8.
 
Aurelius said:
The super-thin bezels should make it smaller than it sounds. Remember, the S8+ has a 6.2-inch screen. If you can manage that, you can probably handle the Note 8.
Click to expand...
That, and you have to remember the wider aspect ratio (18.5:9), too. You can't directly compare diagonal measurements of screen sizes when they're different aspect ratios, and people are still used to 16:9 screens on phones after so many years of that being the standard.

I'll at least give Samsung points for using the screen extension to give the nav bar a place to reside without cutting into the typical 16:9 screen space applications get, though they still need to stop cramming that curved screen fetish of theirs down our throats. It doesn't make sense on a Note.
 
Once they have some kind of good promotion, either a great price on a gear s3 with the phone, or a buy one, get one half off phone sale, I will be buying a couple of them. If anyone else came out with a big screen, stylus, water resistant phone I would probably jump ship, but right now Samsung is the only game in town if you need all those features.
 
bastage said:
Now that it's official.. I have absolutely zero interest in a 930 Dollar phone.. especially not one loaded with factory bloat and the stupid gimmicky curved screen edges
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a tough sell, especially when that $930 gets you the same 64GB of storage as an S8 or S8+ and a quarter of what you'd get from a comparable iPhone 7 Plus. You have to really like that pen to justify it. Otherwise, I'd rather get an S8+ and toss in a good-sized microSD card.
 
I'm not thrilled with the price or continued use of glass, but I'll wait to play with one in the store before I decide to either stick it out for the S9, Pixel 2 or Essential maybe? We'll see :|
 
Honestly if I had the money I'd just try and order one of the refurb Note7 models that's now back on the market. I know to get one here in the US I'd pay a princely sum for it but I think it's a better device compared to the Note8, as odd as that might seem. :)
 
I have one preordered in case the LG V30 turns out to be a complete dud...
 
exlink said:
I have one preordered in case the LG V30 turns out to be a complete dud...
Click to expand...

How can anyone buy any LG product this point? Im not even saying buy a Samsung either. LG has been nothing but failures and boot loop on the G4/G5/V10/V20 that I'd never risk it.
 
big_aug said:
How can anyone buy any LG product this point? Im not even saying buy a Samsung either. LG has been nothing but failures and boot loop on the G4/G5/V10/V20 that I'd never risk it.
Click to expand...

The V20 has bootlooped? LG extended the G6's warranty to 2 years, so I would hope they're confident in fixing the bootloop issues now. But otherwise I agree and wouldn't really consider LG for another year or so. But I don't really care for their UI or software support either.
 
T4rd said:
The V20 has bootlooped? LG extended the G6's warranty to 2 years, so I would hope they're confident in fixing the bootloop issues now. But otherwise I agree and wouldn't really consider LG for another year or so. But I don't really care for their UI or software support either.
Click to expand...

Not as much but the V20 does have bootloop issues.
 
bastage said:
Now that it's official.. I have absolutely zero interest in a 930 Dollar phone.. especially not one loaded with factory bloat and the stupid gimmicky curved screen edges
Click to expand...

Unlocked version doesn’t have the carrier bloat.

Either way, I ordered it, as it is the best phone of 2017 now. :p
 
$930. No option for 128/256 GB of internal UFS 2.0 storage in North America like you're gonna provide the rest of the world. Dammit, Samsung, this is a tough sell.

Yet I'll probably end up biting soon, only because of the aforementioned "Sprint phone on T-Mobile" issues.

I also just had another realization when looking at how carriers just go for financing instead of subsidization these days, and Samsung's willingness to sell unlocked units that work on any major carrier: what's the incentive to bother buying a locked version from the carrier when one can just buy an unlocked version for the same price? At the very least, I'd think the Gear 360 or 128 GB microSD + wireless charger promotions would carry over to unlocked model pre-orders as well.
 
I have a note 8... errr... s8 plus. Close enough. I've owned every note, literally. This will be the first skip.
 
Huh, I just realized something about the options on Samsung's site: you can trade in old phones.

Conspicuously enough, the Note 4 is not an option there, the oldest being the Note 5. However, the S5 is an option, and you get $200 off, almost certainly more than an S5 will sell for on the second-hand market.

As it just so happens, my parents have two leftover S5s from Sprint that we couldn't carry over to T-Mobile. Both work, and I've confirmed the ESN's clear on one of 'em. Maybe I could work something out, because while $930 is too damn much, $730 is a bit more reasonable for a flagship (albeit the ragged edge of reasonable), and an unlocked one at that.
 
NIZMOZ said:
Not as much but the V20 does have bootloop issues.
Click to expand...
The g5 and the v20 get boot loops no more then and iPhone or Samsung.. it's about the same as saying my car turns over but won't start.. happens to every brand..

The g4 had a design flaw.. the v10 is a g4 with a bigger screen so it inherited the same issue..

I have owned every lg since the g3 as well as most Samsung's and iPhones. The hardware on all 3 is quite reliable in the new phones.. software however..
 
big_aug said:
How can anyone buy any LG product this point? Im not even saying buy a Samsung either. LG has been nothing but failures and boot loop on the G4/G5/V10/V20 that I'd never risk it.
Click to expand...

I bought my father the LG G6 this past April after he desperately needed a new phone and loved the G6 when he played with it in the store. It has been absolutely stellar and I actually almost bought myself one earlier this month, but decided to wait on the upcoming phones coming in the next month (namely the V30). The 125 degree wide angle lens on the G6 is phenomenal and I wish all flagships used this dual camera set-up instead. I feel like any other dual camera set-up is a waste now.

One of my coworkers has had the V20 since December of last year and she adores the phone. Never has given her any trouble.

Not going to base my opinion on a few bad apples from a couple years ago; especially since bootlooping on the V20 appears to be rare and seems basically non-existant on the G6. I'm willing to take the "risk" on the V30 given what it is rumored to offer and especially if it comes at a competitive price.

Ironically though, the only two Samsung Galaxy phones that I've ever owned had issues. The S4 died randomly one night out of the blue after 8 months. The S8+ I recently bought had its microphone die after 4 days. Reliability is a crapshoot no matter what you get.
 
Anecdotal experience is a funny thing, but I had a Galaxy S3 (my first smartphone, actually) whose battery deteriorated to "barely useful" in terms of pathetic standby time (maybe 6 hours before it died, while barely having the screen on in that time) in its second year. By that point, it honestly wasn't worth just replacing the battery with a new one because of how badly the S3 was outclassed by newer flagships.

My succeeding Note 4 held up a lot better, though one or both of my batteries will suddenly not provide enough charge to keep the phone running near the 20% mark going into its third year like this. Still a hell of a lot better than the S3 fared, and fully functional... well, aside from the whole "let Sprint gimp the bands so I can't use it effectively on T-Mobile after an unofficial unlock" problem that's prompting me to upgrade in the first place.

My parents' S5s held up pretty well, too. One is a prime candidate for trade-in material. The other got lost, replaced with a used one, and has a screen crack, but works.

It's not all Samsung here, though; my older bro had an LG G3. Worked well enough 'til he went waist-deep into a river with the phone in his pocket and forgot to pull the battery (in the same outing one of the S5s was lost!), bought another one used, and that one still worked like a treat, especially with a custom AOSP ROM. Damn thing was lightning fast, I have to admit, and using a custom ROM got rid of that awful skin LG used back then. The only reason he stopped using his was - you guessed it - he's not on Sprint any more.

The outlier is my little bro; he got an iPhone 5S because that's what Sprint offered "for free" at the time (on a two-year contract, with which I would've proposed pitching in a bit extra for something more recent). It crapped out a while back, iTunes recovery screen, wouldn't stay powered if disconnected from USB; turns out it had corrosion on several spots on the motherboard, particularly the battery connector. Even before that, it had some software issues that wouldn't resolve without a hard reset, which makes me call into question the "it just works" aspect of iOS.

But that was replaced with an iPhone SE during the big switch to T-Mobile, and I haven't encountered any complaints with that one since. He seems to like it.

All in all, that makes for a lot of phones that work when they haven't been lost or physically abused somehow. I guess we're fairly lucky, that one outing that cost us an uninsured S5 and G3 aside (and I have a feeling I should've went with them if I could've prevented it from happening).

Given that first point about the S3 battery longevity, though, that's what worries me most about the Note 8. How is its battery going to hold up in its second and especially third year? It's not like it's going to be particularly easy to replace now that Samsung insists on securing those glass backs with strong adhesive.
 
bastage said:
The g5 and the v20 get boot loops no more then and iPhone or Samsung.. it's about the same as saying my car turns over but won't start.. happens to every brand..

The g4 had a design flaw.. the v10 is a g4 with a bigger screen so it inherited the same issue..

I have owned every lg since the g3 as well as most Samsung's and iPhones. The hardware on all 3 is quite reliable in the new phones.. software however..
Click to expand...

What? iPhones don't have the V20 boot loop issue where you have to send it in for repair when that happens. Never seen it and I am on the Apple forums. Also never seen a Samsung phone do it either.
 
big_aug said:
How can anyone buy any LG product this point? Im not even saying buy a Samsung either. LG has been nothing but failures and boot loop on the G4/G5/V10/V20 that I'd never risk it.
Click to expand...


How could anyone buy a Samsung at this point? I'm not even saying buy an LG either. Samsung has been nothing but failures and exploding phones that I'd never risk it. ;)
 
Climber said:
How could anyone buy a Samsung at this point? I'm not even saying buy an LG either. Samsung has been nothing but failures and exploding phones that I'd never risk it. ;)
Click to expand...

While I don't want to defend Samsung, the difference here is that LG had issues across FOUR models of phones through two full generations. Samsung had the Note 7.

Buy what you want, but objectively, LG is shit. I work in the cell phone industry and work with warranties. Those LGs were trash. I always tell people to avoid them like the plague. If you've seen as many boot loops as I have, you'd agree. We exchanged so many of those phones for that type of problem. It's crazy actually.

Your little wink would be more effective if this weren't the case. ;)
 
big_aug said:
While I don't want to defend Samsung, the difference here is that LG had issues across FOUR models of phones through two full generations. Samsung had the Note 7.

Buy what you want, but objectively, LG is shit. I work in the cell phone industry and work with warranties. Those LGs were trash. I always tell people to avoid them like the plague. If you've seen as many boot loops as I have, you'd agree. We exchanged so many of those phones for that type of problem. It's crazy actually.

Your little wink would be more effective if this weren't the case. ;)
Click to expand...
Four models over 2 generations out of how many total LG models over how many generations? The G6 has been out for 6 months and hasn't had any consistently reported bootloop issues outside of failed ROM flashes and a couple bad apples you'd expect from any electronic device. Hell even the V20 had substantially less bootloops compared to the previous generation. Can a company not fix their issues and make great products again? Or should we continue to bash their new products regardless?
 
NIZMOZ said:
What? iPhones don't have the V20 boot loop issue where you have to send it in for repair when that happens. Never seen it and I am on the Apple forums. Also never seen a Samsung phone do it either.
Click to expand...
The v20 does not have a boot loop issue.. some still do boot loop on occasion however.. just like some iPhones do and some Samsung's do.. I have issued replacements for all 3 brands for boot loop issues. Can toss the smaller brands in that as well.. the difference between these bit loops and the actual boot loop issues on the g4/v10 is quantity.. when you come across it on the newer phones it's a 1 off situation that happens on rare occasion only vs common happenings of the boot loops on the g4/v10..
 
Quick question:

I want to buy from best buy, it says it will cost me $12.75 a month if i trade in my note 5. It says to go to verizons web site and do the trade in, but verizon doesn't have anywhere that i can do this. I can give them my note5 for $100, instead of the $480 only from what I see.

Anyone know how to do it?

I wasn't going to upgrade, but for $300 final price it isn't bad, when im getting $480 for my used note5.
 
bastage said:
The g5 and the v20 get boot loops no more then and iPhone or Samsung.. it's about the same as saying my car turns over but won't start.. happens to every brand..

The g4 had a design flaw.. the v10 is a g4 with a bigger screen so it inherited the same issue..

I have owned every lg since the g3 as well as most Samsung's and iPhones. The hardware on all 3 is quite reliable in the new phones.. software however..
Click to expand...


I have used a an lg g2, lg g4, nexus 5x, and currently on a v20. I have never ran into any bootloop issues at all. *knock on wood*
I still have the g2 , n5x as well for back up devices.
 
Well I preordered it.

How can you guys complain about Samsung bloat? You're on a tech forum, are you saying that you don't root and install custom rom on your phone? ;)
Anyway, I heard that Samsung has significally cut down on bloat and that the new UI is almost as fast as stock Android. Not that I care, I always root + custom rom + Nova launcher.

While I did preorder Note 8, I'm still looking how LG V30 is going to turn out. But it has to be mighty impressive for me to cancel my preorder and get LG when I've never had it before. Then, Xioami Mi MIX 2 will be revealed on 12th September. Just in time. While this is most likely China-only phone, this is probably the phone I'm most interested in after Note 8. It's rumored to come with 8gb ram and 256gb storage and cost about $750. China phones don't have google maps, but they can easily be installed and this phone will most likely turn heads.
 
Nebell said:
How can you guys complain about Samsung bloat? You're on a tech forum, are you saying that you don't root and install custom rom on your phone? ;).
Click to expand...

This forum is predominantly US based. Can't root, no custom roms. Even with the Exynos version, Touchwiz/GraceUX is so tightly integrated you lose a ton of functionality going to AOSP or Pixel based roms. For example, have you ever used an AOSP rom on Samsung phones and compared camera results? It's complete shit. To *me*, it ruins 50% of the phone experience right there.

That being said, I never minded the S7's UI, especially with the Nougat update. The S8, however, has been a mess. If I didn't get the phone for free I would have been pissed I spent money on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top