Samsung's biggest phone review has arrived, and our full Galaxy Note 9 review is live. But what specs are you getting for your $999? Here's our overview, to answer all your Note 9 questions.
Galaxy Note 9 Specs
| Price | $999 (128GB), $1,249 (512GB) |
| Display | 6.4 inches Super AMOLED (2960 x 1440) |
| OS | Android 8.1 Oreo |
| CPU | Snapdragon 845 |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Storage | 128GB, 512GB |
| microSD | Up to 512GB |
| Rear Camera | Dual 12 MP Cameras (f/1.5 and f/2.4) |
| Front Camera | 8 MP (f/1.7) |
| Battery | 4,000 mAH |
| Battery Life | 11:26 |
| Size | 6.3 x 3 x 0.34 inches |
| Weight | 7.1 ounces |
| Colors | Lavender Purple, Ocean Blue |
What Does the Galaxy Note 9 Cost?
The Galaxy Note 9 starts at $999 for 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. If you’re willing to spend $1,249, you’ll get 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
Which carriers will offer the Note 9?
AT&T, Sprint, Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, Sam's Club, Straight Talk Wireless, Target, Walmart, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless and Xfinity will carry the 128GB Note 9 starting August 24th.
MORE: Galaxy Note 9 Hands-on - A $999 Water-Cooled, AI Camera Beast
AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and U.S. Cellular will carry the 512GB Note 9 at select retail locations and online on August 24th. Both models will be available at Samsung.com on the same aforementioned date.
Design and Displays
The Note 9 comes in two designs: Lavender Purple and Ocean Blue, the latter of which comes with a yellow S Pen. The Note 9 features a 6.4-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED 2960 x 1440-pixel resolution display. The bezels are quite thin.
At 6.3 x 3.0 x 0.34 inches and 7.1 ounces, the Note 9 is slightly shorter than the Note 8 but a bit heavier, presumably because of the bigger battery and perhaps the water cooling.
Cameras
The Note 9 has a 12-megapixel rear dual camera with dual OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures, as well as a front 8-MP camera with an f/1.7 aperture.
The Note 9's cameras pack a number of AI features, such as a Scene Optimizer, which adjusts camera settings depending on what’s in the frame. The camera does this by recognizing and categorizing shots into 20 different types of photos, including, but not limited to: indoors, portraits, landscapes, backlit, nighttime).
MORE: Galaxy Note 9 vs. iPhone X vs. Pixel 2 XL: Which Camera Wins?
There's also a flaw detector, which calls out bad shots (it points out if the photo is blurry, if someone's eyes are closed, etc.). Like the Galaxy S9 and S9+, the Note 9 includes cinematic super slow-mo video capturing function.
CPU, RAM and Storage
The Note 9 sports a Snapdragon 845 processor with better sustained performance, thanks to the Note 9's water carbon cooling system and a thermal spreader three times bigger than the Note 8's. The phone also benefits from an AI-based performance adjusting algorithm that works to balance stability with power.
MORE: Galaxy Note 9 vs. Galaxy Note 8 - What’s New?
The 128GB model of the Note 9 comes with with 6GB of RAM. The 512GB model sports 8GB of RAM. Both models allow for up to 512GB of additional storage via microSD.
Battery Life
The Note 9 has a 4,000mAh battery that Samsung claims will last all day. It's successfully gone through Samsung's 8-point battery safety check. By comparison, the Note 8 had a 3,300 mAh battery.
On our battery test, the Note 9 lasted a very good 11 hour and 26 minutes. That's not quite as long as the Pixel 2 XL (12:09), but this runtime still makes the Note 9 one of the longest-lasting phones.
Security
The Note 9 comes with a solid range of security features. These include three different lock types (pattern, PIN, password) and three different biometric measures (iris scanner, fingerprint scanner and facial recognition).
Outlook
Given the high price, the Galaxy Note 9 doesn't seem to sport all that much innovation. However, those in the market for a big-screen phone will be more than satisfied with this flagship. Check out our review and tell us what you think of the Note 9 in the comments below.
Credit: Tom's Guide
