honest answer. Is this phone smooth and fast?

Face id cameras are in there. Rather than just have the screen start with a straight edge and be below that hardware, they let screen extend on either side to create the notch. I think it looks ridiculous.

Still a mystery why they want to make it that way. Simply zero benefit in terms of both aesthetics and function
 
Yes.

With one caveat: Not all android apps can run smooth and fast. And that's a fault of specific app developers rather than any handset.

One example: I found chrome to perform perfectly fine and never used any other browser. Then by chance I tried Samsung's own browser "internet" and to my surprise scrolling was dramatically smoother. I return to chrome and now it's scrolling framerate feels choppy.

That's an example of two different apps performing a single task with different levels of smoothness. My buddy with an iPhone who notices chrome's choppy scrolling framerate won't say "Huh. Chrome doesn't scroll so smoothly. Nor will he make a small generalisation and say "Huh. Chrome is pretty slow" (It isnt, it excels at everything else) He'll simply say "Huh. Your new note 8 is already more laggy than my two year old iPhone... TouchWiz sucks".

TL;DR: Even with a super fast handset, perfect smoothness is often dependant on the specific app you're using.
Yes absolutely true. A causality of end users experience abstracted away from inner sw workings. They just see a device and all sins are caused by the device, not indvidual sw.
 
Yes absolutely true. A causality of end users experience abstracted away from inner sw workings. They just see a device and all sins are caused by the device, not indvidual sw.

so true! if you have any kind of hardware/software background then you get this. those who don't see it as a device issue even if it's a software issue and unrelated to the device.
 
I've been anti Samsung in the last few years because I had a s6 and that thing had bad ram management issues and major lag after 6 months. I know it's early but what is your experience with over all smoothness while scrolling and app opening without freezes? I went ahead and ordered one that will be here tomorrow. I guess I just need some moral support..lol

Mine is very smooth and fast and never freezes. Honest.
 
Extremely fast and smooth faster then the pixel and iPhone x you can't go wrong with the note 8.
 
I've been anti Samsung in the last few years because I had a s6 and that thing had bad ram management issues and major lag after 6 months. I know it's early but what is your experience with over all smoothness while scrolling and app opening without freezes? I went ahead and ordered one that will be here tomorrow. I guess I just need some moral support..lol
Buttery Smooth and Fast for me.

The 6GB RAM gives so much headroom that the phone just keeps chugging on even with heavy usage.

Some apps are not well optimised and will stutter here and there but all the mainstream stuff runs beautifully.

I cannot say how glad I am that Samsung finally put more RAM as I am a heavy user and I can't seem to get this thing to lag.
 
Yes.

With one caveat: Not all android apps can run smooth and fast. And that's a fault of specific app developers rather than any handset.

One example: I found chrome to perform perfectly fine and never used any other browser. Then by chance I tried Samsung's own browser "internet" and to my surprise scrolling was dramatically smoother. I return to chrome and now it's scrolling framerate feels choppy.

That's an example of two different apps performing a single task with different levels of smoothness. My buddy with an iPhone who notices chrome's choppy scrolling framerate won't say "Huh. Chrome doesn't scroll so smoothly. Nor will he make a small generalisation and say "Huh. Chrome is pretty slow" (It isnt, it excels at everything else) He'll simply say "Huh. Your new note 8 is already more laggy than my two year old iPhone... TouchWiz sucks".

TL;DR: Even with a super fast handset, perfect smoothness is often dependant on the specific app you're using.
Another example is GPS apps like Google Maps vs Waze. The first one "looks" laggy vs Waze, this one is outstandingly smooooooooth! ☺

The GN8 is realy the fastest and a smoothest experience in a phone ever
 
I upgraded from a Note 5 to the Note 8.... The difference is significant.

The RAM boost allows for several more open apps and web pages before there is any lag.

Improved battery performance is also very real, which I would guess can be attributed to the more powerful and efficient CPU.

I was surprised how much more I enjoy the 18.5:9 screen ratio of the Note 8, VS. 16:9 on my old Note 5. I jumped between both phones for a bit, and the Note 5 felt awkward, quickly, when I did... Something I did not expect, as I had no issue with the Note 5...

Having expandable micro USB storage with the Note 8 was also very important for me (I save my music collection /digital subscription directly to micro USB).

Anyways, I'll cut off my praise now, as I risk a rabid fan boy label. I don't need or use a laptop... My Note 8 is my exclusive access to the online world. Thus, in no way was it overkill or unjustifiable.

That said, every consumer is unique. If you don't make heavy or extreme use of a smartphone, then settle for something less expensive, or hold off until the normal price reductions of the Note series pick up momentum the closer the arrival of next years Note 9 comes.

I seriously believe I'll have no interest in upgrading until perhaps the advent of 5G networks. Sure, there will be some incremental improvements... So unless I break my Note 8, I might not be in the market for a new phone until 2022.... Or longer..... Seriously.