The Galaxy Note 8 has its work cut out for it, righting the wrongs of the maligned Note 7 that came to a fiery end. But with a massive screen, tiny bezels, battery life to go the distance and an excellent stylus, is the Note 8 finally what phablet fans have been asking for?

The Samsung Note series created the phablet category in 2011, defined as a smartphone with a 5in or larger screen. As smartphone screens grew in size to the monsters we have today, a big screen wasn’t enough to differentiate the Note against the competition.

But while large screens are now common, a stylus is certainly not. So it is the unique blend of large screen, a stylus, the as-small-as-possible form factor and large collection of productivity tools that have made the Note so popular. The Note 8 doesn’t break with that tradition.

The glass back of the device is monolithic, with a simple Samsung logo about two-thirds of the way up and the cluster of cameras, flash, heart rate sensor and fingerprint sensor near the top that all sit flush marked out by a small raised bezel.

The Note 8 is water resistant to depths of 1.5 metres for 30 minutes with an IP68 rating, and Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5, which should hopefully make both front and back more scratch and shatter resistant than other glass-backed devices, although most will probably want a case to protect the large device.

Specifications

• Screen: 6.3in quad HD+ AMOLED (521ppi)
• Processor: octa-core Samsung Exynos 8895 or octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
• RAM: 6GB of RAM
• Storage: 64GB + microSD card
• Operating system: Android 7.0 with TouchWiz
• Camera: dual 12MP rear cameras with OIS, 8MP front-facing camera
• Connectivity: LTE, Wi-Fi, NFC, wireless charging, Bluetooth 5, GPS and Iris sensor
• Dimensions: 162.5 x 74.8 x 8.6 mm
• Weight: 195g

The Note 8 has the same processor, graphics and storage as the Galaxy S8 line of devices, but has more memory with 6GB of RAM. It performs similarly to the S8 and better in multitasking.

The Note 8 isn’t quite the fastest-feeling Android device – that would be the OnePlus 5 – but its snappy performance is maintained even with two complex apps on screen at the same time. Gaming performance is also excellent, while the Note 8 ran cool with relatively good battery longevity even when playing games or watching movies with the screen brightness cranked up and video enhancing options turned on.

Used as my primary device the Note 8 lasted well over 31 hours between charges, meaning that it will last around a day and a half of heavy use, primarily on mobile data, before you’ll need to reach for a plug socket. That was with hundreds of emails, notifications, five hours of Spotify over Bluetooth headphones, 2 hours of watching downloaded Netflix TV shows, the odd photo and lots of web browsing.

Most people will probably see two days of use between charges.

The Note 8 also supports Bluetooth 5, the latest in 4G and wifi connectivity, plus NFC, wireless charging, USB-C and a headphone jack, meaning it supports standards new and old, making it one of the most future-proofed devices available.

Android 7.0 with touch wiz 

Samsung devices run a modified version of Android called TouchWiz. The Note 8 runs Android 7.0 Nougat, not the latest version 8 Oreo, and with a series of customisations to both the look and operation of Android, supporting the S-Pen stylus among other features.

S-pen

Other software additions are associated with the S-Pen, which now has a noticeably thinner tip and supports up to 4,098 levels of pressure. You can still write on the screen when it’s off, which is incredibly handy for making shopping lists. The best feature of the Note 7, instant gif-making from a video, returns, as does Samsung’s other sketching, screen-writing, selection and other productivity tools that use the S-Pen.

Biometrics

The Note 8 comes with a variety of options for unlocking the phone. On the front you have an IR-based iris scanner, which works well if the phone is in the right orientation. It has face recognition, which has been a mainstay of Android for years and isn’t fantastic, plus the usual pin, pattern and smart lock features for keeping it unlocked when at home, connected to a car or other 

device.

Dual cameras 

The Note 8 has Samsung’s first dual camera setup on the back. Both cameras have 12-megapixel sensors and optical image stabilisation but with different focal lengths and apertures. One is a traditional smartphone camera with a f/1.7 lens, the other is a “telephoto” lens with a f/2.4 aperture, which together allow a 1x and 2x optical zoom.

• The fingerprint scanner on the back is marked out more clearly on the Note 8 than the Galaxy S8 making it easier to find with your finger
• Samsung’s virtual assistant Bixby is pre-loaded on the Note 8 with a dedicated button
• Bixby voice commands now work in the UK, and have deep ties into Samsung’s apps on the Note 8, but I found it less useful for questions and information gathering than Google Assistant (which is also on the phone)
• The stylus clicks into place quite satisfyingly and quickly became a object to fiddle with
• The stylus doesn’t fit in the slot the wrong way up and doesn’t get stuck
• You need big pockets

• Price

  The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 costs £869 and comes in black or gold in the UK, with different colours available in different regions.

• Verdict

  The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 feels like a greatest hits for the Note series. It has every feature that made previous Notes worth buying and slams them into the new Samsung smartphone design ushered in by the Galaxy S8, but as a consequence doesn’t feel particularly new or innovative compared to Samsung’s other smartphones.
• That doesn’t diminish the Note 8’s capabilities. It has a massive, beautiful screen with tiny bezels, an excellent stylus, it’s waterproof and lasts a good day and a half between charges. The dual camera system on the back is pretty good and the phone is powerful enough to do pretty much anything I can think of to do with a pocket computer.
• It isn’t perfect though. The biggest irritations for the Note 8 is the placement of the fingerprint scanner, which is awkward at best, and that the phone is really big and really expensive. The Note 8’s biggest rival is the Galaxy S8+, which is 80% the same device with a very similar screen size. But if you’re after a master of productivity, with that excellent stylus, the Note 8 is the very best you’re going to get for this generation. Providing it doesn’t explode, of course, the Note 8 should confine the troubled Note 7 to the past.