While the Galaxy S9 is the phone on everyone’s mind due to the launch in just a few days, there are many fans of the Note line that are looking forward to the Galaxy Note 9. What exactly can we expect from the Galaxy Note 9, and will it deliver something more exceptional than the Galaxy S9?
The Galaxy S9 is the latest and greatest from Samsung, and there’s no denying that it’s an upgrade over the Galaxy S8. The question is, however, whether it’s enough of an upgrade to deserve all of the hype surrounding the launch of a brand new Samsung flagship. In truth, there were not a lot of upgrades with the Galaxy S9 that warrant buying a new phone if you’re already the owner of a Galaxy S8. Sure, there are power upgrades and some tweaks to the camera to produce even more beautiful pictures, but many people were disappointed with the lack of new features coming with the latest entry to such a popular lineup.
Many are looking forward to the Galaxy Note 9 as a release that will reinvigorate the Samsung line and bring something new to the table. With a release that is pretty far away at this point, it’s difficult to pin down what exactly we can expect from the launch of the Galaxy Note 9, but considering the extra time Samsung has for development, there’s certainly a possibility we could see something more revolutionary from the upcoming phone.
Samsung has played it safe the past few generations, offering iterative upgrades over the previous phones that are a clear improvement while failing to offer anything new or exciting. The Galaxy Note 8 was a clear upgrade over the Note 7 – a phone that Samsung had to completely write off as a loss due to the issue of an exploding battery. As such, the Note 8 sold incredibly well as it offered the same features that many people look for with the Note line – a large “phablet” of sorts with the signature stylus that offers a unique way to use the phone. Samsung has proven that they have a winning formula, with excellent sales with each generation. There’s always room for improvement, however, and they stand to make a massive profit with the launch of the Galaxy Note 9 if they can offer something we haven’t seen before.
The two major players in the smartphone scene are Apple and Samsung, with the two companies neck and neck as they compete for the attention of an increasingly fickle smartphone market. With the release of the iPhone X, Apple managed to dominate holiday sales – shipping the fastest selling iPhone in history. With a revolutionary FaceID technology that adapts to changes in appearance while maintaining important security features, we saw something brand new that kept people talking and buying – despite the $1000 price tag that made it one of the most expensive phones in history. While the iPhone X has failed to meet sales expectations by a slim margin, it was still a major force in the smartphone industry that brought something new to a table – proving that innovation and departing from a formulaic approach to smartphone design can pay off in a big way.
With the Galaxy S9, we got a phone that was pretty similar to the S8. With the Galaxy Note 9, there are a number of things that Samsung can do in order to make the phone stand out from its predecessor. With a fall release, it will be competing closely with the trio of iPhones expected around the same time. With close attention to the needs of the market, the company has a chance to introduce something novel and get people talking about the Galaxy Note 9 in the same way they were talking about the iPhone X.
As far as features we might be able to expect from the Galaxy Note 9, we’d first like to see some more refinements of their current design formula. As screen sizes get bigger and bezels continue to shrink, Samsung had to relocate their fingerprint scanner to the rear of the device. There are rumors that an under-display fingerprint scanner is in development, and that would be a way to further refine their formula while offering something new. Further improvements to Bixby might be able to bring it in line with Siri, giving a unique virtual assistant that can outclass the competition. Perhaps some sort of facial recognition advancement would make it harder to choose an Apple phone as well, with Samsung phones generally having more powerful specifications than the iPhone.
Samsung has proven that they are capable of innovation with the ongoing development of the world’s first foldable flagship – the Galaxy X. While adding something as drastic as a foldable screen to the Galaxy Note 9 may be a little extreme – at least for now – we hope to see at least some sort of departure from what the Korean tech giant has been doing for the past generations. At the end of the day, we have a bit of a wait until we know what exactly we can expect from the latest revamp of the Note line.
