Samsung Galaxy Note 9

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is a little bigger, a little more colorful, and a little more powerful than all prior Note phones, but be warned: it’s a little more expensive, too.

It’s the biggest Android phone that will grab your attention in 2018, with a sizeable 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, a huge 4,000mAh battery for all-day performance, and up to 512GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM.  

Slot in a 512GB microSD card (which Samsung will gladly sell you), and you can have the first mainstream 1TB phone in your hands.

Good news – the Note 9 doesn’t actually feel any bigger than last year’s 6.3-inch Note 8, and it inherits a bunch of this year’s 5.8-inch Galaxy S9 and 6.2-inch Galaxy S9 Plus features, including camera specs. 

The camera is better than the Note 8, with a dual 12MP rear setup that has dual-aperture technology, and can record Super Slow Mo videos. There are stereo speakers and AR Emoji is back with some finer avatar customizations, but rest assured, it'll still look nothing like you.

Update: Want to know how good the Galaxy Note 9 camera is? We've added new photo samples on a dedicated page (with comparison shots using a total of six top phone cameras).

Exclusive to the Note 9 camera are automatic scene optimizer and flaw detection features that enhance photos (though, Samsung has a habit of rolling these features out to older phones later on). 

The S Pen now has Bluetooth for remote-controlled shortcuts that, unlike the Bixby button, are customizable. Want to pose for a photo 30 feet away? This S Pen can help you do that and more. It works great, but you may have trouble finding a spot to rest your precious Note 9 for full-body snapshots.

Bad news – the price feels much bigger. Get ready to pay iPhone X-level prices for the entry-level 128GB and 6GB model. Ouch. It's meant for power users, according to Samsung – the physical size, storage size, price, and battery capacity all tell us that. It sees Note 9 buyers as people who spend a lot of time on their phone and want the best of the best – they buy the best AV receiver, the best TV, and so forth.

The Note 9 is our top smartphone recommendation – that is, if you want to own a giant, feature-filled phone with a stylus and hate saving money. Ongoing Samsung Galaxy Note 8 deals are the biggest threat to this upgrade that, ironically, is all about going big in a variety of small ways.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 release date and price

• Release date is August 24, with an iPhone X-like starting price
• $1,000 (£899 / AU$1,499 / AED 3,699) for 128GB/6GB
• $1,250 (£1,099 / AU$1,799 / AED 4,599) for 512GB/8GB

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 release date is Friday, August 24, sooner than anyone expected a year ago. The Note 8 came out on September 15 in the US and UK last year (September 22 in Australia and Middle East). 

Why the early Note 9 release date? The theory is that Samsung wanted to rush it out to beat the iPhone 11 and iPhone 9 announcement expected in early September.