S-Pen laying around that you like better
Despite being a tad wider, the bottom side of the Note8 looks and is arranged in pretty much the same way as on the Galaxy S8 pair. A USB 3.1, Type-C jack in the middle, flanked by a single speaker on one side and the 3.5mm audio jack on the other. Samsung still managed to find enough space to house the S-Pen - great job!
The pen detection and ejection mechanism work pretty much like on the Note7 and the Note5 before that. The S-Pen itself is familiar as well. You get an addictive clicky button on one end for grabbing and pulling in out, or...you know...annoying everyone at your next work meeting.
The other button on the S-Pen triggers actions and menus, just like always. The way it works hasn't changed since the original Note. It's still a passive control, which is convenient since you don't have to charge it or worry about getting wet.
If you happen to have an older S-Pen laying around that you like better, we did verify backward compatibility all the way back to the Note 4. The latest iteration does come with a few new software tricks, but more on that later.
Bundled Accessories
If accessorizing is your thing, the Note8 will hardly leave you disappointed. Its box is packed to the brim (literally) with all sorts of goodies. As for the packaging itself, it is traditional Samsung - a two-piece, all black, soft-touch cardboard box, complete with glossy blue lettering on the front.
Opening the inner lid reveals a plastic cradle for the Note8 itself. Everything else is neatly organized underneath. For starters, you get one of Samsung's Adaptive Fast chargers, rated at 5V at 2A or 9V at 1.67A. Interestingly enough, the same charger can also power the DeX dock, which is rated at 12V and doesn't work with other regular phone chargers. There is also a SIM ejector in the bundle.
BODY
Dimensions : 162.5 x 74.8 x 8.6 mm (6.40 x 2.94 x 0.34 in)
Weight : 195 g (6.88 oz)
Build : Front/back glass (Gorilla Glass 5), aluminum frame
SIM : Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
- Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified)
- IP68 dust/water proof (up to 1.5m for 30 mins)
- Stylus
DISPLAY
Type : Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size : 6.3 inches, 101.1 cm2 (~83.2% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution : 1440 x 2960 pixels, 18.5:9 ratio (~521 ppi density)
Multitouch : Yes
Protection : Corning Gorilla Glass 5
- HDR10 compliant
- 3D Touch (home button only)
- Always-on display
PLATFORM
OS : Android 7.1.1 (Nougat), upgradable to Android 8.0 (Oreo)
Chipset : Qualcomm MSM8998 Snapdragon 835 - USA & China
CPU : Octa-core (4x2.35 GHz Kryo & 4x1.9 GHz Kryo) - USA & China
GPU : Adreno 540 - USA & China
MEMORY
Card slot : microSD, up to 512 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) - dual SIM model only
Internal : 64/128/256 GB, 6 GB RAM
MAIN CAMERA
Dual : 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm, 1/2.5", 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS
12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1/3.6", 1µm, AF, OIS, 2x optical zoom
Features : LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama
Video : 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@240fps, HDR, dual-video rec.
SELFIE CAMERA
Single : 8 MP, f/1.7, 25mm, 1/3.6", 1.22µm, AF
Features : Dual video call, Auto-HDR
Video : 1440p@30fps
SOUND
Alert types : Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker : Yes
3.5mm jack : Yes
- 32-bit/384kHz audio
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
COMMS
WLAN : Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth : 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX
GPS : Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
NFC : Yes
Radio : No
USB : 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector
FEATURES
Sensors : Iris scanner, fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass,
barometer, heart rate, SpO2
Messaging : SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
Browser : HTML5
- Samsung DeX (desktop experience support)
- Fast battery charging (Quick Charge 2.0)
- Qi/PMA wireless charging (market dependent)
- ANT+ support
- Bixby natural language commands and dictation
- MP4/DivX/XviD/H.265 player
- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/FLAC player
- Photo/video editor
- Document editor
BATTERY
Non-removable : Li-Ion 3300 mAh battery
Talk time : Up to 22 h (3G)
Music play : Up to 74 h