The Samsung Galaxy Note 8, released in 2017, marked a turning point for the Note series. It embraced the near bezel-less design trend with its large 6.3-inch Infinity Display and continued the S Pen legacy. In 2024, let’s revisit the Note 8 and see if it still holds up.
Design
The Note 8 was a looker. The large, curved Super AMOLED display with minimal bezels made a bold statement. The glass back and metal frame screamed premium, but also made it slippery and prone to shattering. While the design feels dated compared to modern phones with even smaller bezels and punch-hole cameras, it remains attractive.
Display
The 6.3-inch Super AMOLED display with a QHD+ resolution (1440 x 2960) was stunning in 2017. It offered vibrant colors, deep blacks, and excellent viewing angles. Even in 2024, the display holds its own, providing a great viewing experience for watching videos, browsing the web, and using the S Pen.
S Pen Stylus
The S Pen continued to be a key feature in the Note 8. It offered improved pressure sensitivity and new features like Live Messages, which allowed users to record animated messages with the pen. The S Pen remains a compelling tool for note-taking, sketching, and interacting with the phone, making the Note series unique.
Performance
The Note 8 came equipped with a powerful Snapdragon 835 processor (or Exynos 8895 in some regions) and 6GB of RAM. This combination offered smooth performance for most tasks in 2017. However, by 2 standards, it struggles with the most demanding applications and multitasking compared to the latest flagships.
Camera
The Note 8 boasted a dual-camera system on the back: a 12-megapixel wide sensor and a 12-megapixel telephoto sensor with 2x optical zoom. It captured good quality photos in good lighting conditions and offered decent low-light performance for its time. By 2024 standards, the camera is outclassed by modern smartphones with multiple lenses, better low-light capabilities, and computational photography advancements.
Battery Life
The 3300mAh battery provided decent battery life for a phone with such a large display in 2017. Users could expect a full day of moderate use on a single charge. However, with more power-hungry apps and displays in 2024, the battery life wouldn’t be as impressive.
Software
The Note 8 launched with Android 7.1.1 Nougat and received updates up to Android 9 Pie. While not the latest version, it’s important to consider that most users wouldn’t get security updates in 2024, making the phone vulnerable.
Overall
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was a powerful and feature-packed phablet in 2017. It offered a gorgeous display, a refined S Pen experience, and capable hardware. However, in 2024, the outdated software, aging processor, and average camera make it a tough recommendation.
