Overall, this is a truly pathetic "me too" announcement by Samsung almost all the way around. I'll give them kudos for significantly improving the aesthetics of the watch, though--however, that carries its own problem in that it's completely indistinct not only from smartwatch competitors but also most other watches at large.
On the whole, there's nothing interesting here (as far as an industry-wide effect; I'm sure Samsung aficionados have some interest) and most of it is a direct photocopy of what Apple's already done. Laughable.
Did you even watch the announcement? The central feature of the flagship Note product is the SPen, and they made a lot of improvements to it. How exactly is that a "me too" announcement. Likewise, their watch runs their on OS and looks nothing like anything Apple has made... how is that "me too"?
The next version of the OS is already out. So its being released with out of date software, and they've had the beta for a while now, and could have released it with the Android Pie. While apple has lots of minor point releases, they can release them instantly to all of the devices. When a bug is found in android it could take up to a year for the hardware companies to patch it. Apple can and has released patches the next day when a bug is found, because they completely control the whole experience.
What's "out" is an early beta of the next OS that is no where near being ready to be on a production device. I'd rather not have "instant" releases that don't work. I'm sure there are Android devices that take a year to get an update, but the Note is not one of them. I've had a Note 8 for a year and not had any bugs that required immediate fixes. I've gotten security updates, and the major release update in a timely manner. That's the point... by not going "instant", its unlikely to need that emergency bug fix. Besides, most of what Apple has added in the last releases of iOS when I used it, were things I didn't really want. You are stuck with Apple of having to take all the upgrades to get the security updates, even if you don't want it.
Amazing HW running on Android.
This is where it fails everything.
I used Android for several years in parallel with iOS.
Nice new features but somehow not a fluent experience.
Feels awkward many times - But it’s my feeling.
Nice HW though.
PS - who in Heavens uses pen on a large phone except baristas when they take your order??...???
Never had that experience on the Note 8... fluid and fast. And I use the pen all the time. Its a perfect companion to my Surface Pro. I can take pen based notes on both.
But why would anyone want as large a device as fits in a pocket to be able to take accurate notes or sketch out ideas?
The point of a mobile device is *CONSUME DIGITAL MEDIA PLEASE* not enabling creativity or productivity, doesn't Samsung get it?
Seriously... you want your mobile device to not have anything to make you more productive? Good luck with that. I work for a living, and my smartphone is a huge part of my work life. ANYTHING that will make me more productive, so I get my work done more efficiently, I'm wanting. The Note is a great workhorse.
Those Galaxy watches are hideous. Apple makes the only decent looking smart watch. I really don’t blame the designers since it is impossible to make digital watches look as good as real, mechanical classics. No matter what they do, they will always look like cheap toys.
As for the Note 9, I expect it to see alright until the iPhone X Plus arrives. Samsung has trapped themselves in a corner with their bezel less design but Apple will soon have the same problem. How do you keep making new designs when the only thing you can change is the back? Not having a bezel leaves little room for creativity.
The design of the Galaxy is nearly identical to the Gear S3. When I wear mine, most people don't even know its a smartwatch because it looks so similar to other popular watches. So not exactly sure what you think is hideous about it... having worn an Apple Watch for 2 years before moving to a Gear S3, I never cared for the goofy look of the AW. Its a "so ugly its cool" kind of thing. I get that it fits the Apple style, but the AW UI is not intuitive and the looks are not its strongest point.
Wow, that speaker looks fugly. And the announcement just gave us a replica of the features shown on the Apple HomePod announcement. They don't even try to hide it? Seems like a dead-on-arrival product to me. The design seems like a miss and who exactly wants to have and use Bixby?
This is Samsung in a nutshell. They always try to cram their own in-house solution instead of supporting the Android ecosystem. It was the same back when Google Chromecast/Google Cast started to become big and became a part of Android. What did Samsung decide to do? Block the native support for Google Cast within Android in order to push their own Samsung Allshare that no-one uses...
This is the same thing.. Instead of going with and supporting Google Home/Assistant they are trying to push their own solution in Bixby which in return makes the entire product that much less appealing... It's just crazy to me how they keep doing this over and over again even though it tends to never work out...
Wait, I though Samsung was just "me too" and copied everyone. Now you are saying they want to use their own "in house" tech? Which is it? The beauty of the non-Apple world is you have choice. Pretty much anything that Samsung adds to the equation, you can swap out for other vendors because things work together. Bixby is actually not a bad experience, and they appear to be melding it more into things like SmartThings.
The keynote started with something that was definitely a shot at Apple... that being that Samsung wants to give you choice. They are willing to make partnerships and such to create a seamless experience that competes with Apple. I think its great that we have all of this competition in this space. And I am going to stay on the side of the fence that is more open vs. getting locked in or trapped in one brand.
