Samsung’s hotly-anticipated and hugely-discussed device, Galaxy Note 9, was unveiled yesterday at an event in New York. Though the rumours, leaks and renders had spilled quite a lot of information about the device, yet the Galaxy Note 9 launch packed a fair amount surprises for the fans. S-Pen on the Note 9 now offers its own battery that can be charged within a minute.
The bigger surprise though was the design of Samsung’s smart-watch. The look and the appeal are quite similar to a standard wrist watch which is a delight. It gets military grade durability, corning DX glass and is water resistant along with expected smart features. Galaxy watch can be charged using the new wireless charger and will last several days on a single charge, as per company claims.
Not only that but this flagship device also gets the upgraded Bixby, Samsung’s virtual assistant, which can learn from individual usage patterns, Samsung says. For the first time, Galaxy Watch also comes with Bixby, helping users perform tasks using the watch.
At the event, Samsung went ahead and surprised everyone by launching the first Bixby-powered smart speaker — Galaxy Home! It’s an elegant-looking speaker tuned by AKG. It comes with 6-meter high-range speaker and an integrated Harman SoundSteer technology to direct sound to the audience.
Samsung also announced their partnership with Spotify, which will be integrated into the Samsung Music app while being controlled by Bixby. Spotify will be available cross-platform on all Samsung devices. Another noteworthy tie-up, at least for the gamers out there, was Fortnite’s official launch on Android. The Galaxy Note 9 will get an exclusive skin for Fortnite as well.
As reported earlier, the fingerprint sensor has been categorically placed below the rear camera in order to enhance the accessibility. On the other hand, Samsung’s DeX is now built into the Galaxy Note 9, which means you can get a desktop-like experience with your smartphone by just plugging in a monitor via a Type-C to HDMI adapter.
The pricing of Galaxy Note 9
There are two variants of the Galaxy Note 9. One comes with 6GB RAM mated to 128GB storage space. The other one has 8GB RAM that comes with 512GB memory. Support for a microSD card is offered, and users will be able to add an extra 512GB. Samsung Galaxy Note 9 price starts at $999 in the US for the 6GB RAM variant, whereas the model with 8GB RAM has been priced at $1,250. The phone is slated to become available globally from August 24th with pre-orders having already begun. Galaxy note 9 is being offered in Ocean Blue, Lavender Purple, Metallic Copper, Midnight Black colour variants.
About Galaxy Note 9
The Note 9 has a 6.4-inch screen with QHD+ resolution. By default, the phone runs FullHD+ resolution, but users have the option of switching to QHD+. In the camera department, there’s dual camera setup at the rear with 12-megapixel main sensor and the secondary camera of 12-megapixel image snapper paired with a 2X zoom lens. The selfie camera though is just an 8-megapixel lens.
Interestingly, the Galaxy Note 9 uses two processors, depending on the region where it is retailed. In US and in many European countries, Samsung offer the Galaxy Note 9 powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. This is a chip with 8-cores with a top speed of up to 2.7GHz. But in India and South Korea, along with a few other Asian and European countries, Samsung will sell the Note 9 powered by its own Exynos 9810 processor. The smartphone runs on an Android 8 Oreo, modified by Samsung and gets a big 4000 mAh battery with fast charging.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!