Samsung Reveals Galaxy Note 8 With Dual Rear Cameras and 6.3-Inch AMOLED 'Infinity Display'

[lowendlinux]

My father-in-law is still running a Galaxy S5 I gave him last year, it's completely stock.
Still works the same as it did the day I gave it to him. Sammy is still pushing security updates for the S5, so I haven't pushed him to upgrade yet.
I think he's more representative of the average user. I ask him every once and a while if he's having any problems. So far none to report.
Trust me... I would get a phone call if it were having issues.

Anecdotal of course, but I think people toss perfectly good phones way too early.

And yeah... I'm a tech nerd.
Still have my first Sammy (S2 Skyrocket) that still works. (Stock software)
I also have a pile of assorted Windows phones and iPhones including my 1st gen iPhone.

A couple months back my wife finally replaced her S3 Mini with an iPhone.

 

[Geurt]

Correct I can't even remember when the last time the iPhone has beat the S series cameras..I think we had the lead since the S6.

"I think we had the lead".... have you any idea how pathetic this sounds? You are talking about a phone, a PHONE. You want to fight a war on it? Get a life.

 

[rjohnstone]

I can agree with you on this haha.

I base a little bit of my info on what my wife tells me. She manages a Best Buy and the most complaints they have are regarding Samsung phones. It’s the most frequently “traded up” device too. Granted, iPhones are up there too in the upgrade field haha. Makes sense right? Two most popular manufacturers out there, when it comes to smartphones.

Just a hunch, but I bet if there were no Apple Stores, she'd probably here complaints about iPhones a lot more as well.
I buy Apple stuff from Best Buy (Open Box FTW), but I take them to the Apple Store if I have issues.

 

[heretiq]

Not directed at me, but I can provide my perspective. I've had an iPhone since the 3GS came out in 2009. While I'm not looking at switching to Android, if I did none of the things you listed would be an issue for me. I pretty much try to use platform agnostic services as much as possible. I don't use iCloud, everything is in OneDrive and Dropbox. Keychain and wallet aren't used as my passwords and financial data are stored using 1Password which is also cross-platform. I don't use Apple Music or purchase from iTunes, I buy my music from Amazon and sync using iTunes Match and use Spotify and Groove for streaming. Most of my work is done in Microsoft Office which has comparable apps on Android and Windows. I've never used Apple Pay, it isn't any less convenient to pull a card out of my wallet than it is to pull out my cellphone.

About the only Apple specific things I use are Find Friends and iMessage. There are also some apps I really like, such as those by Readdle, that aren't on Android. I'm sure there are equivalent apps in the Play store but I don't want to have to relearn how I do things if I don't have to.

I guess I've gone out of my way to ensure I'm not locked into any ecosystem. I like having the freedom to switch at will with minimum fuss even though I've used Apple products for eight years.

That’s a very well stated reply. Thank you

I can understand why switching would not be an issue for you. I’ve gone in fully with Apple because I trust them, share their values, appreciate their business practices, like their design aesthetics and find their products and services well suited to my professional and personal requirements. Lock-in is not a concern for me because as you’ve stated, there are alternatives to most of what Apple offers and switching costs are not insurmountable.

For me the choice boils down to trust and the considerable synergies that accrue from being all-in. I respect that others make decisions based on their own considerations; but was curious to understand the alternative thought process. Thanks for sharing your perspective!

 

[jamesrick80]

"I think we had the lead".... have you any idea how pathetic this sounds? You are talking about a phone, a PHONE. You want to fight a war on it? Get a life.

If you are this angry......you must need a life....Wow

 

[heretiq]

But you're okay with Apple:

• making money the same way with targeted iAds?
• selling Google search first place on iOS in return for billions of dollars each year?
• making money by selling to your own banks, access to you and your purchase info?

Wow.

While we're on the topic, apparently you're quite okay with selling your digital maidenhead to sites like this in return for free usage. Why don't you contribute instead so they don't have to support themselves off ads. Or do you just like to freeload when you think you're anonymous?

And you're saying you never use Google Search, Maps, YouTube, GMail or any other Google service?

Wow. I don’t know where the vitriol is coming from dude; but it is certainly misplaced. I have no issue with targeted ads, my issue is with how the company acquires the information. Apple allows you to opt-in and out of ads and express your advertising preferences, and they respect your choice. Google uses any means possible to appropriate and exploit your personal information regardless of your preference. You don’t see a difference, but I do — so I make a different choice than you — which is ok. And guess what, I’m not going to personally attack you for your choice.

More power to Apple and Google for arriving at a commercial agreement about search place on iOS. Apple can honor this agreement without violating my privacy and digital sovereignty because Apple allows me to change the default search — and I did, to DuckDuckGo.

You will have to provide a citation and explanation for your claim about Apple selling purchase info to banks. This strikes me as specious and/or misleading.

And yes, I use DuckDuckGo for search, Apple Maps exclusively for navigation, iCloud and Microsoft Exchange for email, and Lynda.com and Udemy for video references which allows me to mostly avoid YouTube.

I also subscribe to and pay for my regular news and entertainment sources: NPR, The Guardian, Sirius XM, HBO, Netflix, Medium and MacStories. I would gladly pay for MacRumors if there was a subscription option so if you are a subscriber as you intimate, please let me know how you contribute.

Finally, I don’t know if you had a bad day or if you just routinely attack anyone who expresses an opinion that’s contrary to yours; but news-flash: someone expressing a different opinion to yours is not the same as someone attacking you, so just breathe and be your better self.

 

[mi7chy]

For the phone enthusiast this is fine. They’ll replace it in a year, not unlike what apple super fans do. If I was looking for a 2+ year old longevity, Samsung wouldn’t be it though.

Only Apple 2015 devices and newer with at least 2GB DRAM are still useful so that's two years longevity. Samsung 2012 devices and newer like Note 2 with 2GB DRAM are still useful so five years longevity. Worse than early obsolescence with 2014 iPhone 6 is if it dies from touch disease defect because Apple went with cheap bendable aluminum to maximize profit on its first phablet attempt.

 

[heretiq]

I don't know about him. But I can tell you my experience. I have owned iPhones from 3g onwards. I just switched to s8 couple of months back from iPhone 6 because I don't want to pay 800$ for new iPhone and I got the Samsung rebate deal. I also picked up the unlocked version so that I don't have to go through the pain of career unlocking.

From the day I had my phone, I never felt that I was restricted by apple ecosystem. I don't buy any apps. I use only free ones. I don't use iCloud. Because its utter stupid to get 5gb iCloud free for a 16gb iPhone and then the constant warning about no storage space in iCloud. I always turn iCloud sync off. I always wanted the headphone jack. One more reason to switch for me.

When I got the phone, I was worried how would I sync my apps and my contacts because everything is in iPhone. Guess what? All I had to do is connect the iPhone cable to s8 and open the Samsung sync app and left it overnight. When I woke app in the morning, all contacts were copied, all aorrepsonsing apps were download from Google store and installed into my a8. I was up and ready to go without a hitch.

Way too much hatred! It's just a phone for God's sake.

Thanks @neutralguy. I appreciate your explanation. That connect the cable and leave it overnight with the Sync app running sounds very slick and impressive. I went all in on the Apple ecosystem and I am happy with the decision; but I can see why you made the switch and why you’re happy with your choice.

 

[deckard666]

Only Apple 2015 devices and newer with at least 2GB DRAM are still useful so that's two years longevity. Samsung 2012 devices and newer like Note 2 with 2GB DRAM are still useful so five years longevity. Worse than early obsolescence with 2014 iPhone 6 is if it dies from touch disease defect because Apple went with cheap bendable aluminum to maximize profit on its first phablet attempt.

So my mums iPad 4 (5 years old) which she uses daily still isn't useful anymore ? She will be v upset.

 

[ValO]

Only Apple 2015 devices and newer with at least 2GB DRAM are still useful so that's two years longevity. Samsung 2012 devices and newer like Note 2 with 2GB DRAM are still useful so five years longevity. Worse than early obsolescence with 2014 iPhone 6 is if it dies from touch disease defect because Apple went with cheap bendable aluminum to maximize profit on its first phablet attempt.

Wow!
Great man! You are flying now.
You worship a company that released an exploding phone, which put customers in life threatening situations, they did a " recall" and a software update, only to release it again, and than they exploded all over the place again. Failed twice, endangered customers twice, and you dare to use these arguments. Wow.
[doublepost=1503617125][/doublepost]

So my mums iPad 4 (5 years old) which she uses daily still isn't useful anymore ? She will be v upset.

Me too, i still use an iphone 5. And now someone tells me that it doesn' t work anymore and that it is slow.
It ran great an hour ago.
Oh apple why!!!! Why now!
Why do i have to hear it from a samsung user, instead of apple itself. There goes the great customer service! The horror!

 

[heretiq]

So you use like Bing or something as a search engine then?

I use DuckDuckGo. It’s an excellent search engine. By the way, I’m not against advertising. I’m just not a fan of google’s invasive approach to acquiring personal information, so I try to avoid being in their ecosystem.

 

[mi7chy]

So my mums iPad 4 (5 years old) which she uses daily still isn't useful anymore ? She will be v upset.

Yes, iPad 4 with 1GB DRAM is useless just like my iPads with 1GB or less. She just doesn't realize that app and Safari reloads are what makes a bad user experience. Instead of apologizing consumers should be pushing Apple to spend that extra $5 or so to add another GB or two or to improve the user experience and future proof their device.

 

[jamesrick80]

So many features.....this is gonna be a early Christmas for me.

 

[ValO]

Yes, iPad 4 with 1GB DRAM is useless just like my iPads with 1GB or less. She just doesn't realize that app and Safari reloads are what makes a bad user experience. Instead of apologizing consumers should be pushing Apple to spend that extra $5 or so to add another GB or two or to improve the user experience and future proof their device.

You are doing it again. the last ipad with 1gb was released in 2013. Now it is 2017. That is 4 years later. What if your pc from 2013 doesn' t have enough ram, you sue that company too?
My ipad mini 2 from 2013 still runs good for an ipad from 2013. Not so well as ny ipad pro 12.9, but it has been great value for money.
Why do you keep refering to something that was , in this branch of the market, centuries ago.

 

[heretiq]

No, Google does NOT sell personal information, any more than Apple does with its iAds.

In both cases, they sell anonymous ad slots to advertisers.

E.g. an advertiser says, here's an ad, please show it to people between the ages of 21-25, with middle income and an interest in sports. Then Apple/Google, using the information they have collected to put us into prearranged slots, shows the ad to the correct users.

The advertiser does not know to whom their ad being shown, nor any personal information.

In fact, Apple/Google are not about to sell the info they have on us, because keeping it secret is exactly what makes it so valuable.

Not entirely true. Yes, Google and Apple sell ads and profit from advertising revenue. What you omitted is that google also derives revenue from selling information to data brokers. Data brokers don’t trade in anonymous, obfuscated data. They make money from selling profiles of individuals. So, regardless of whether google sells them “anonymous” information, that information ends up in your personal, named profile. That information can include anything that google knows about you. And google’s insatiable appetite for collecting and inferring everything about you means they’re selling a lot more to these data brokers than you have directly divulged to them.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/web/its-a-data-brokers-world-and-we-just-live-in-it/

Apple does not do this. So there is no real equivalency — only a superficial one based on less consequential and as you put it “anonymous” ad slot sales. The real differentiator is who sells your information to data brokers and who doesn’t.

 

[ErikGrim]

Bold marketing.

 

[jdiamond]

Really beautiful looking device, Gorgeous display. it's really a surprise that Samsung is still retaining the headphone jack on their latest device, the Note 8 is the Latest Phone that still retains the 3.5mm jack, now that other competitors are stepping in to get rid of headphone jack.

For anyone who loves high fidelity sound without bulky, ugly dongles, it's truly nice to see at least one platform to move to after the iPhone 6S gets old. I can only hope that before then, Apple upgrades their wireless audio standards to have decent fidelity. Ever since the iPhone 7 launch, every phone I see I just say, "they had me at 'it has a headphone jack'". . Wish you could "hackintosh" the Galaxy.

 

[cracksoup]

And Android runs fine on 2GB also

Not a Samsung phone, which is what we're talking about

 

[falainber]

Not entirely true. Yes, Google and Apple sell ads and profit from advertising revenue. What you omitted is that google also derives revenue from selling information to data brokers. Data brokers don’t trade in anonymous, obfuscated data. They make money from selling profiles of individuals. So, regardless of whether google sells them “anonymous” information, that information ends up in your personal, named profile. That information can include anything that google knows about you. And google’s insatiable appetite for collecting and inferring everything about you means they’re selling a lot more to these data brokers than you have directly divulged to them.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/web/its-a-data-brokers-world-and-we-just-live-in-it/

Apple does not do this. So there is no real equivalency — only a superficial one based on less consequential and as you put it “anonymous” ad slot sales. The real differentiator is who sells your information to data brokers and who doesn’t.

The only thing about Google in your linked article is the statement that Google is not a data broker (just like Apple).

 

[Delgibbons]

So my mums iPad 4 (5 years old) which she uses daily still isn't useful anymore ? She will be v upset.

Weirdly my iPad Mini 1 was bloody awful at browsing, slow, crappy experience with the newest iOS upgrade.

I sold it, got an iPad Mini 2 a couple years back and it's been night and day.

Kudos to Apple, the iPad Mini 2 is still fast, nippy and responsive even after all this time!
[doublepost=1503635908][/doublepost]

For anyone who loves high fidelity sound without bulky, ugly dongles, it's truly nice to see at least one platform to move to after the iPhone 6S gets old. I can only hope that before then, Apple upgrades their wireless audio standards to have decent fidelity. Ever since the iPhone 7 launch, every phone I see I just say, "they had me at 'it has a headphone jack'". . Wish you could "hackintosh" the Galaxy.

I have the UHQ headphones Level Pro from Samsung for my S7 edge.

While DSD quality over bluetooth probably ain't going to happen; I'm stoked they've added DSD support now too on the Note 8. Classical stuff sounds ludicrously good on SACD/DSD on my wired HD650's.

AptX and Samsung's 24bit 96khz audio over bluetooth - wav and flac sound sweet as already on the S7.

Even only using bluetooth AptX without turning on the UHD audio mode is actually gorgeous sounding, not sure why more devices don't support it....

Never had any nasty artifacting sounds.

I'm guessing because of Apple's spat with Qualcomm, the iPhone will never support AptX...

 

[Shanghaichica]

This my birthday present to myself.

 

[The Game 161]

this is a great phone but a little dissapointed it's basically not much different to the S8 plus. Yeah Duel cameras and more ram and of course the great S pen but smaller battery (expected after last year) and same processor and no real difference in screen size. That said for many this will be the phone of the year

 

[2128506]

The device also keeps the standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

Sold!

Wait, is it still running Android? Um... Thanks but no thanks.

Instead of playing the "my megaherz is longer" game, Samsung should've invested into OS and service integration. It's really a shame that such beautiful hardware is tainted by godawful Android piece of crap.

 

[Crispyboar]

this is a great phone but a little dissapointed it's basically not much different to the S8 plus. Yeah Duel cameras and more ram and of course the great S pen but smaller battery (expected after last year) and same processor and no real difference in screen size. That said for many this will be the phone of the year

I agree, though I have the original S8 (which is factory unlocked) & am thinking about upgrading to the Note 8 (again, factory unlocked).

Just gotta wait for the price tag to come down to the $600's or the $700's; Paying $930 w/tax for the phone itself is too steep.

 

[2128506]

Duel cameras

Wassat? Like cameras fighting each other?