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Samsung Announces $1,000 Galaxy Note 9 Smartphone With Last-Gen Android Software Out-of-the-Box (engadget.com)

Posted by msmash on from the fwiw dept.

The Galaxy Note 9 touts a slightly larger 6.4-inch end-to-end screen, a 4,000mAh battery that promises "all-day" use, and a minimum 128GB of storage -- there's also a 512GB version that, with 512GB microSD cards, can give you a full terabyte of space. It runs Android 8.1 Oreo -- not Android Pie, which Google and Essential rolled out to some of their devices earlier this month. Engadget: Samsung is also bringing over welcome improvements from the Galaxy S9 family, including stereo speakers and the variable aperture f/1.5-2.4 primary camera (there's a second camera on the back, of course). This year, though, the most conspicuous change revolves around the S Pen. This is Samsung's first S Pen to incorporate Bluetooth, and that lets you do a whole lot more than doodle on the screen. You can use it as a remote control for selfies and presentations, and Samsung is providing a toolkit to let app developers use the pen for their own purposes. And no, you don't need to load it with batteries or plug it into a charger -- it'll top up just by staying in your phone. The base model of the Note 9, featuring 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM, is priced at $999. The other variant will set you back by $1,250. Preorders begin on August 10th, and the phone will be available on August 24th at all major carriers or direct (and unlocked) from Samsung. CNET writes about the camera sensors on the new handset: The Galaxy Note 9 keeps the same hardware setup as the Galaxy S9 Plus. That is, dual 12-megapixel cameras on the back, one of them that automatically changes aperture when it detects the need for a low-light shot. (Samsung calls this dual aperture, and it's also on both S9 phones.) There's also an 8-megapixel front-facing camera for your selfies. What's different is AI software that analyzes the scene and quickly detects if you're shooting a flower, food, a dog, a person. There are 20 options the Note 9's been trained on, including snowflakes, cityscapes, fire, you get it. Then, the camera optimizes white balance, saturation and contrast to make photos pop.

21 of 197 comments (clear)

  1. Which percentage is used by unwanted apps? by Teun · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Which percentage of space and CPU cycles is used by unwanted and unremoveable apps?

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    1. Re:Which percentage is used by unwanted apps? by bobbied · · Score: 2

      Depends on your carrier and what they chose to force into the image.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  2. ..or by kiviQr · · Score: 4, Informative

    or you can buy Kindle Filre 8.9" for $60 that does 90% of things Note does.

    1. Re:..or by magarity · · Score: 5, Insightful

      or you can buy Kindle Filre 8.9" for $60 that does 90% of things Note does.

      The most important thing the Note will do is not have Alexa.

    2. Re:..or by maroberts · · Score: 2

      or you can buy Kindle Fire 8.9" for $60 that does 90% of things Note does.

      ..except make phone calls.

      --

      Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
      Karma: Chameleon

    3. Re:..or by known_coward_69 · · Score: 2

      but it will have two spywares preinstalled instead of one. Google and bixby

    4. Re:..or by wizkid · · Score: 2

      or you can buy Kindle Filre 8.9" for $60 that does 90% of things Note does.

      The most important thing the Note will do is not have Alexa.

      It's still just hardwired spyware from Google, though.

      Actually, in this case it's spyware from Amazon....

      --
      I take no responsibility for what I say. Even though I'm never wrong :)
  3. Brand new phone, but OS isn't up to date by shilly · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I know this is normal in Android land, but I don't understand why people are OK with it.

    1. Re:Brand new phone, but OS isn't up to date by MightyYar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I wish Windows laptops still shipped with 7.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    2. Re:Brand new phone, but OS isn't up to date by bobbied · · Score: 2

      Samsung is likely working on an update for this very reason. My Note 5 got a couple of Android versions though the years I owned it.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    3. Re:Brand new phone, but OS isn't up to date by known_coward_69 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      because phones have a 2-3 development and testing time frame and by the time the Note 9 began field tests it was too late to have it ship with pie or wait for pie and delay the testing

    4. Re:Brand new phone, but OS isn't up to date by Kjella · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I wish Windows laptops still shipped with 7.

      I wish Microsoft would make an home edition of Win10 Enterprise LTSB and for that they'd pretty much just have to disable domain support. No Edge, no Microsoft Store, no Cortana, ability to turn off all telemetry, 5+5 years of normal/extended support and optional version upgrades every 2-3 years. Seriously, it's 2018 and operating systems are pretty mature technology that don't need upgrades every six months. They have actually improved things under the hood quite a bit since 2009, it's just the "extras" that are killing the appeal. With Chrome/VLC/Steam etc. I don't need Microsoft's tools, I just need something that runs Windows software.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    5. Re:Brand new phone, but OS isn't up to date by Powercntrl · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because the smartphone industry has become the fashion industry, and the masses only care about having the "latest style", not the best technology. Hence we've got phones with distorted edge displays, notches, locked bootloaders, etc... All because the masses only care about bragging on social media how they just dropped a grand on Samsung or Apple's latest polished turd.

      --

      ---
      DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
    6. Re:Brand new phone, but OS isn't up to date by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 2

      In fact the right thing would be to be able to install the operating system of your choice on your mobile phone, just as you can install Windows or Linux on a desktop. Of course, this would make you have to worry about things like drivers (or something like that), but in return you would not be at the mercy of the phone manufacturer.

      But thing is, manufacturers love to have full power over your cell phone hardware, especially the part of making it obsolete when they want and thus forcing you to buy a new model.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
    7. Re:Brand new phone, but OS isn't up to date by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      I know this is normal in Android land, but I don't understand why people are OK with it.

      People are okay with it because unlike Apple the hardware and software are on different release cycles. It is normal in every land that if you go buy a cutting edge PC or gadget that it won't have the OS that was literally just released to vendors a couple of weeks earlier.

      Also I do have to ask, what are you missing? What is your killer app? What about Android Pie do you think makes it even worthwhile downloading the update when available? Its biggest selling features have been part vendor ROMs as it is anyway and Samsung's variant of 8.1 is far more feature packed than Google's variant of 9.0.

      Take a chill pill, you'll get your coveted number increase soon. Personally I prefer my OS NOT rushed to market.

    8. Re:Brand new phone, but OS isn't up to date by Straif · · Score: 2

      Being a bit of tech echo chamber, I don't know if some people on here don't realize that the majority of Android phone owners couldn't tell you what version of the OS their phone is running and couldn't care less. If it makes calls and plays their favorite apps then they're all good.

      In fact I would hazard a guess that the majority wouldn't even want to be upgraded to the most recent version if it meant they'd have to adapt to changes to their interface except for those rare occasions where some killer feature is introduced. So a phone being introduced that doesn't have a version of the OS that was only released a couple of days ago is hardly a big deal.

      iPhone users are probably better able to tell you their OS version (well most will just say "I'm on the latest") since if you don't update immediately the phone will beat you into submission until you finally buckle and allow the update.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
  4. 1000 by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I won't even buy a desktop computer for $1000.

    1. Re:1000 by kiviQr · · Score: 3, Insightful

      $20k rollex shows time the same way $20 timex does. To some people it is disposable income to some it is a choice what to do with it (invest, travel, etc.).

    2. Re:1000 by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 2

      That $20 Timex is the better time keeper with its quartz movement over the mechanical movement of the Rollex. If going for mechanical movement watches there are plenty of better options than Rollex. People buy a Rollex to show off a Rollex.

      --
      Time to offend someone
  5. Re:Seems a bit early to complain about that, no? by Merk42 · · Score: 2

    I mean, Android Pie was just formally released a few days ago. Samsung customizes the OS quite a bit, so I wouldn't think it fair to expect it to show up on their phones for another 3 or 4 months.

    That's not good either. Not that the average Samsung customer knows or cares.

  6. .6 Inches by Zorro · · Score: 2

    Make it .6 Inches bigger and call it Nexus 7 Model 3.