Nearly 6 months on and with an S9 on pre-order, how has the Note8 held up?

[WeAreAllUnique]

I don't think the Note9 would be a compelling upgrade if it sticks to the same mantra.

Just IMO

I agree with this. Just one more motivating factor to keep my Note8 for another year and wait for the NoteX.

 

[johnmcc0710]

I am very happy with my Note 8. I will definitely keep it for 2 years.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

I am very happy with my Note 8. I will definitely keep it for 2 years.

That has been a goal for me with every smartphone I have had for the last decade and I have yet to do it.

 

[chyeo1979]

That has been a goal for me with every smartphone I have had for the last decade and I have yet to do it.

The only time I did not use a phone for two years was when I bought Note 7 after just one year with my LG G4.

It seems god forbid it though, making me go back to my G4 for another year with the exploding battery saga

 

[o4liberty]

No issues with the note keeping it till it dies.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

I'm impressed by this smartphone every day,

 

[jeetu4444]

love my Note 8....just using S pen to edit pics which I can't do with S series PHONES my wife is a blogger and I edit and click pics from my Note 8... love how S pen gives soo much options to do things

 

[Dooki]

I got mine in October, has to return the first after charging issues. it's been great, none of the usual Samsung slowdowns. I think I will keep this until it aged out, I have said that before with the S7 but that turned out to be a hot mess with Sammy lag.

the only issues I have with this are the mediocre battery life and the Samsung apps. Google just does then better. using the xda pixel dialer, Android messages, calendar and Google contacts. just works better

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

I got mine in October, has to return the first after charging issues. it's been great, none of the usual Samsung slowdowns. I think I will keep this until it aged out, I have said that before with the S7 but that turned out to be a hot mess with Sammy lag.

the only issues I have with this are the mediocre battery life and the Samsung apps. Google just does then better. using the xda pixel dialer, Android messages, calendar and Google contacts. just works better

I would have to disagree with you about the Google apps versus the Samsung apps. I really enjoy the Samsung apps and they work really well on the Note8.

 

[Ryano89]

Best phone I've ever had. I was rewatching some reviews the other day and a question occurred to me...Mr. Mobile, Phandroid, Android Authority all mentioned something in their reviews that I don't understand. They all mentioned the redundancy of "2 messaging apps, 2 email apps, 2 calendars, etc etc"...I'm on T-Mobile and my Note came with exactly ONE "duplicate" app.. it has Gmail and Samsung's stock email app. Now granted, I have downloaded some 3rd party apps that I like better, but it seems odd that none of them seem to realize that the only reason there are duplicate apps is because they downloaded them. I believe it was Mr. Mobile who really belabored the point as if it was a legitimate criticism of Samsung and TouchWiz. I completely understand someone liking a different phone or app better, but I just found it funny that the "duplicate" apps thing really seems to bug so many reviewers. I know Verizon sticks there own messaging app on phones, but that should be a criticism of the carrier, not the phone. Anyway I just thought it was interesting.

 

[Blues Fan]

love my Note 8....just using S pen to edit pics which I can't do with S series PHONES my wife is a blogger and I edit and click pics from my Note 8... love how S pen gives soo much options to do things

Do you think this still puts it at a tie with the s9 Plus which is the newer device?

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Best phone I've ever had. I was rewatching some reviews the other day and a question occurred to me...Mr. Mobile, Phandroid, Android Authority all mentioned something in their reviews that I don't understand. They all mentioned the redundancy of "2 messaging apps, 2 email apps, 2 calendars, etc etc"...I'm on T-Mobile and my Note came with exactly ONE "duplicate" app.. it has Gmail and Samsung's stock email app. Now granted, I have downloaded some 3rd party apps that I like better, but it seems odd that none of them seem to realize that the only reason there are duplicate apps is because they downloaded them. I believe it was Mr. Mobile who really belabored the point as if it was a legitimate criticism of Samsung and TouchWiz. I completely understand someone liking a different phone or app better, but I just found it funny that the "duplicate" apps thing really seems to bug so many reviewers. I know Verizon sticks there own messaging app on phones, but that should be a criticism of the carrier, not the phone. Anyway I just thought it was interesting.

Mine came with only one calendar app and while it did come with duplicates, they were uninstallable.

I'm not sure but I remember recalling that Samsung decided to axe preloading duplicates and instead asking users to get them from the Galaxy Apps store or Google Play to get them

 

[Dooki]

i have the unlocked and it came with chrome and gmail, also the basically useless samsung store, and if you also ad bixby. They have seriously cut back on the duplicates. The issue is not being able to uninstall them. As you mentioned, verizon is really bad about duplicates, they hate customers.

 

[Dooki]

I would have to disagree with you about the Google apps versus the Samsung apps. I really enjoy the Samsung apps and they work really well on the Note8.

I don't think they are necessarily bad, just not great. I do like the email app but it is a bit more clunky, i do love the once a day sync option. The message app is a bit better with theming but it is still ugly, It also has scheduled messages. Samsung internet blows chrome away and I use it. Samsung contacts and dialer just suck. I've started using google contacts and it is so much better thought out. The pixel dialer kills the sammy dialer. Easier to use, smarter laid out, and that it has duo baked in is an added bonus. And they all look better. I wouldn't have a problem using the samsung apps as they all work fine, but with better options for me i'll take them.

 

[Ryano89]

i have the unlocked and it came with chrome and gmail, also the basically useless samsung store, and if you also ad bixby. They have seriously cut back on the duplicates. The issue is not being able to uninstall them. As you mentioned, verizon is really bad about duplicates, they hate customers.

I forgot about Bixby lol. I disabled it, you got me there.

 

[Cladster]

My Note 8 arrives tomorrow, got a good buy off ebay to good to refuse, previous seller i have bought off. Havn't had a Samsung since S5 and a S7 edge i just bought to flip.

Not sure what to expect as a iPX/iPad pro and iMac owner. Will be a second phone.

 

[Dooki]

I forgot about Bixby lol. I disabled it, you got me there.

Bixby is so close to being useful.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Bixby is so close to being useful.

It's very useful to me. I use it all day everyday. And the Bixby button is awesome. Just pick up the phone, hit the button, and dictate away. Bixby does so much more than the regular assistant. Now, voice recognition could be better. But, I believe that will improve. And when it does, I will probably use it exclusively.

 

[srgonu]

I forgot about Bixby lol. I disabled it, you got me there.

Bixby is very useful and powerful. I configured commands and use them everyday. I hope there is a way to schedule or execute them based on location. That will make it super cool.

 

[Dooki]

It's very useful to me. I use it all day everyday. And the Bixby button is awesome. Just pick up the phone, hit the button, and dictate away. Bixby does so much more than the regular assistant. Now, voice recognition could be better. But, I believe that will improve. And when it does, I will probably use it exclusively.

Voice recognition is the number one reason I don't use it. It isn't any good. I don't think what Samsung/bixby is doing is bad but people want easy and having two different apps that do most of the same things when one is so far superior to the other is everyday usage is hindering it. It just seems Samsung would have been better if working with Google instead. The ability to control settings was nice but everything is set automatically when I get in the car already, and many times it was just faster to do it manually. Location based would be a game changer for me. But wifi or bluetooth would be just as important. I actually tried using bixby only until I tried sending a text, only Samsung messages will work, took less than an hour. Being able to dictate while holding the button down is a great feature.

My main wish for bixby is to be able to wipe the phone with voice control. Tell it to do a FDR and it does.