The Next Big Thing Is Here!

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Yes, folks, I’m talking about the Samsung Note 8. If you subscribe to our newsletter, you’ll know that I have been waiting on this since LAST YEAR, and finally got mine on September 7th. Originally, my attitude about the phone before I received it was mixed; I was excited to have a new Note, but a little disappointed that Samsung had omitted some of the features that would REALLY have knocked the iPhone out of the park – namely, the under-screen fingerprint reader and folding display. After watching a few Youtube pre-release reviews, I was feeling a bit less stoked…

All the apprehension and underwhelming expectation died once I ACTUALLY had the phone. When viewing some of the reviews on Youtube, I found myself thinking, “Hmm, this guy has a point…” but in practice, I found those mediocre-to-negative reviews were nitpicky and very particular. For example, there are quite a few reviews complaining about the battery size in the Note 8 (3300mAh), especially compared to the S8 Plus. In theory, that sounds like a legitimate gripe. In practice, I have 40% longer battery life on my Note 8 than on my S7 Edge (which has a 3700mAh battery), and I use my Note 8 a LOT more than my S7 Edge (which I am keeping as my work phone).

I’ve heard that once you use the Note line’s stylus with their respective phones, you never look back; there is certainly a die-hard and nearly cult-like following for Note series phones, with many people refusing to give up their Note 7’s until they were “bricked” by Samsung.  Seeing that level of passion about a simple stylus always struck me as, well, dramatic.

But then I got one.

Now, let me be clear: getting my Note 8 did not turn me into some stylus-toting maniac, running around glossy-eyed, and tapping on every screen I could find while preaching about its wonders.  What did happen, however, was remarkable nonetheless. I never thought I would use the stylus, or thought that I would use it very rarely; after all, this is a touch screen smartphone. But the more I use it, the more I WANT to use it. I can’t describe it as anything other than addictive. *scratches neck*

Then there are the specs: 6gb RAM, dual 12MP rear cameras (both with optical image stabilization) and 8MP front facing camera, Iris scanner, voice and facial recognition (for password), USB-C port, and Bluetooth 5.0. Then you have the old stuff from last year’s phones like IP68 water resistance, built in wireless charging, and expandable storage via micro SD…

Oh, and it has a headphone jack. 🙂