Should you buy the Galaxy Note 8 or wait for the Note 9?

No matter who you talk to, I don’t think anyone can argue against the fact that the Galaxy Note 8 is one of the most powerful phones you can buy right now. Samsung’s software may not be for everyone, but the sheer amount of features and horsepower found in the Note 8 is still something to behold.

One of our Android Central forum users currently has a Galaxy Note 4, and they’re thinking about upgrading to the Note 8. However, with the Note 9 just a few months down the road, they’re debating whether or not they should just wait and see what it has to offer.

Many of our forum’s other members were quick to reach out with their thoughts, and these are just a few of the responses.

mgbosshogg
03-23-2018 03:13 PM

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The Note 8 is, yes IMO, still the most complete Android device out there.

It’s always objective. But if that’s not for you then move along. Plenty devices out there with various other more singular strong points.

The screen curve is not as extreme as even the S8 or 9 in the hand. Yes, it’s a bit of a pain. But the screen is pretty.
The battery lasts as long as it lasts. Removable is…

Reply

evohicks
03-23-2018 03:39 PM

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I too went from the Note 4 to Note 8 after having the Note 4 over 30 months or so. I also had 2 batteries with charger so never short of power.
I debated which phone to go for, Note 5 not released in UK, Note 7 issues we all know about, so I pinned my hopes on the Note 8, kept up with all news before launch and then after watching the launch I knew it was for me.

Note 8 for me has been a…

Reply

j_hansen
03-23-2018 04:04 PM

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I’ll make this easy for you…. YES YOU SHOULD
I came from Note 4 and loved it and planned to keep it as a back up… after getting the Note 8 the Note 4 went up for sale in less than a week…. in comparison the Note 4 is as old as the pyramids

Reply

Blues Fan
03-23-2018 10:24 PM

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I would say try and hold off for the Note 9. It might be out in mid august instead of early sept.

If you want the newest phone then s9 plus. Using the spen all these years I would go with a Note over the s9.

Reply

Now, we want to pass the question on to you – Do you recommend getting the Note 8 or waiting for the Note 9?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

• Galaxy Note 8 review
• Galaxy Note 8 vs. Galaxy S8+
• Which Note 8 color is best?
• Complete Galaxy Note 8 specs
• Join our Galaxy Note 8 forums

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Hey NYC and SF — come hang out with us, eat, drink and win free stuff!

Next week, members of the Mobile Nations team will be in New York City and San Francisco, and we’d love for you to come say hello. Oh, and we have some free tech to give away as an extra incentive.

If you’re based in the New York City region or the Bay Area, and you’re free next Tuesday, April 3, between 6 pm and 8 pm, you’re going to want read this.

A bunch of us from the Mobile Nations team, including YouTube phenom Michael Fisher (a.k.a., MrMobile) and Mark Guim, Windows Central’s video maestro and in-house PC reviewer, will be in New York City, at the Arlo NoMad hotel right near Midtown between 6 pm and 8 pm EST.

That same night, in San Francisco, the man Rene Ritchie, and the inimitable Phil Nickinson (a.k.a. Modern Dad), will be near Union Square, above the AT&T Flagship Store at 1 Powell St. between 6 pm and 8 pm PT (there will be signage and/or friendly people to direct you to the location).

As if the opportunity to meet these fine folks wasn’t enough, there will be free food! And free drinks! And stuff to win! For free! All courtesy of the good folks at AT&T, who will also be promoting their admirable It Can Wait campaign against distracted driving via a cool new VR experience.

Back to that free stuff. You’ll have the opportunity to win a Galaxy S9+, an AT&T Primetime tablet, a Samsung Gear VR headset, a Mophie Charging Pack, a BlackBerry KEYone phone, and one of a bunch of DIRECTV NOW 90-day trial codes.

Sounds marvelous, yes? If you want in, hit this RSVP link for New York and this one for San Francisco. You’ll want to act fast, though. These are somewhat intimate affairs, and only the first 150 or so readers will be granted access to the shindigs.

All the details are as follows:

• When: Tuesday, April 3, 2018, between 6 pm and 8 pm EST (New York) and between 6 pm and 8 pm PT (San Francisco).
• Where:
  • New York City’s Arlo NoMad hotel at 11 East 31 St., New York, NY 10016.
  • San Francisco’s AT&T Flagship Store (in the space above the store, not the store itself), 1 Powell St., San Francisco, CA 94102.
• Who should attend? Readers of Android Central, iMore, Windows Central, and CrackBerry, and fans of MrMobile and Modern Dad.
• Why attend? To network with like-minded folks and raise awareness of the dangers associated with distracted driving. You’ll also get to schmooze with well-known Mobile Nations personalities such as Michael Fisher, Phil Nickinson, Rene Ritchie and Mark Guim. And, of course, the free food, drinks, and giveaways!
• How to RSVP: Visit the New York Eventbrite page or San Francisco page to RSVP. But you’ll want to act now before the space fills up.

We hope to see you Tuesday in the Big Apple or the City by the Bay!

These Panasonic Eneloop rechargeable batteries are down to their lowest price for one day

This deal will probably sell out before the day is over.

The Panasonic eneloop Super Power Pack, filled with a variety of rechargeable batteries and a charger, is down to $34.88 on Amazon. It normally sells for around $49. This deal is a match for the lowest we’ve seen, a price it has only dropped to one other time. It actually wouldn’t be a surprise if these sold out before the deal ends.

This deal is part of Amazon’s Gold Box deals of the day and features a couple of eneloop packs on sale. One of the other deals is this pack of 16 AA rechargeable eneloop batteries for $24.99. That is its lowest price ever and down from an average around $36. If you just need a lot of batteries and either already have a charger or plan to buy one later, that’s the way to go.

The last deal in this Gold Box is the Panasonic eneloop pro High Capacity Power Pack for $34.99. That’s a match for the lowest price ever and compares to a street price around $53. The eneloop pro batteries have a higher capacity but don’t last as long. This does come with a battery charger.

The Super Power Pack comes with 12 AA batteries, 4 AAA batteries, 2 D adapters, an individual battery charger, and a storage case. They are all 2000mAh type batteries that can be recharged up to 2,100 times. The charger can charge individual AA or AAA batteries from one to four in any combination. The D battery adapters are basically just a casing the size of a D battery. You stick one of the smaller batteries inside and use it to power anything requiring the larger size. Users give this pack 4.7 stars based on 293 reviews.

See on Amazon

Free-to-play RPG Marvel Strike Force is now available

Over 70 playable characters are available at launch.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon be faced with its most important entry yet with the release of Infinity War this April, and in preparation of it, fans can dive into the all-new mobile game Marvel Strike Force.

Marvel Strike Force is the first game to be developed by FoxNet Games, and it’ll allow players to engage in various battles using more than 70 of Marvel’s most iconic and inconspicuous characters. You’ll find notable heroes such as Captain America and Iron Man, but FoxNet also notes that the roster “reaches far beyond comics, movies and TV shows.”

Speaking of the game, Senior Vice President of Games & Innovation at Marvel Entertainment, Jay Ong, said –

MARVEL Strike Force perfectly demonstrates how we use games as a driver of the Marvel brand. Featuring a wholly original storyline that has gamers mixing and matching Super Heroes and Super Villains in never-before-seen alliances, this game is authentically Marvel and one of our most highly-anticipated projects this year.

Strike Force will see players going up against antagonist Ultimus, and while doing so, you’ll be able to upgrade your characters, collect more powerful gear, and build the strongest team of heroes possible.

Marvel Strike Force is available to download for free on the Play Store now.

Download: Marvel Strike Force (free)

I wish there was a Chrome phone

The next big thing needs to have learned from the mistakes of the past.

Now that Chrome is a full-on tablet operating system, there is only one more frontier — the smartphone.

It’s not that anything was changed in Chrome to run it on a tablet. Once Android apps started to run natively in Chrome I knew it was coming. It just took actual companies who make actual products a bit more time to catch up. Maybe that same dynamic is at work here and in a year or so the first Chrome phone will appear, but I’m probably just doing some of that wishful thinking.

Before you say I’m crazy, there are some really good reasons to want Chrome on a phone and in some ways, it’s actually better suited for your mobile than Android was when it launched. Maybe Google learned from the past.

Ideally, we should never have to worry about the software that’s on our phones and everything that we wanted them to do would just work and there would be no worries about exploits or bugs. That’s never going to happen on anything with a screen, but Chrome is closer to that dream than Android is right now. Part of the reason why is Google having more control.

Android was never supposed to be better for you; it was made to please smartphone makers.

When you buy a device that runs Chrome the first 6.5 years of its life it can have full support with monthly updates and patches direct from Google. It doesn’t matter who built it, Google takes care of the software and makes sure you are up to date every month. But only if you want them to.

All Chrome devices have another thing in common and that’s how you can “unlock” the bootloader by placing the device into developer mode. Once done you can choose to run alternative software that can be very close to the original but without Google’s hand inside by running Chromium, or you can go off the rails and install something else that supports the hardware configuration. There are some valid reasons why the people who made your phone and the people who made the parts inside it aren’t into this idea, but it’s really no different than the Nexus program was, even if nobody took advantage and tried to compile Sun SPARQ for their Nexus 6.

Most people aren’t going to want to yank the software off a phone and replace it with some hairy homegrown solution. I get that. But Chrome is a better way for those folks, too, because who doesn’t want their expensive new phone to work the way it was advertised to work for 6.5 years?

If Android had the same support as Chrome, the Pixel 2 would get Android 13 Teaberry.

Well, companies who make money when you buy a new phone probably aren’t thrilled with the idea. Especially since the past 10 years or so have been spent kowtowing to them with Android. That’s an experiment that has only proved that the Samsungs of the world can and will ruin everything for a handful of dollars and the AT&Ts of the world are lined up right behind them. It’s easy to blame them for all of Android’s problems, but you shouldn’t because this was all Google’s doing and what it took to get Android in 7 of every 10 smartphones ever made. I imagine to Google it was worth it.

Anyhoo, the idea that something different is coming isn’t just a pipe dream, and whatever Google’s Fuchsia is going to be will benefit from all the mistakes of the past. I’m just hoping that the end product is more like Chrome than Android and not just another round of fresh meat served up to smartphone makers.

Deal: BYOD to Boost Mobile and get a free month of unlimited data!

If you’re in the market for a new phone plan, Boost Mobile may have just the thing.

There’s a deal on a great BYOD plan at Boost Mobile! For just $50 a month, you’ll get unlimited talk, text & data along with streaming (in standard definition) and 8GB of mobile hotspots. Act now and you’ll get a full month of unlimited data free. Offer ends April 5, 2018

How this deal works:

New Boost Mobile customers who bring their own phones and sign up for the $50 Unlimited Gigs plan will get a one month credit of $50.

• Must be a new customer & requires an initial payment of $50 at time of activation.
• Customers can bring their compatible devices (select iPhone and Android models) and former Sprint devices are not eligible.

Boost Mobile: Unlimited Gigs plan

• Unlimited Data, Talk & Text, after you reach 23GB speeds may slow temporarily during times of high network traffic
• Coverage on Sprint’s nationwide network
• 8GB of mobile hotspots
• SD video streaming, up to 480p
• All taxes and fees included

See at Boost Mobile

Honor 7X vs. Huawei Mate SE: What’s the difference?

Two nearly identical phones set apart by a small price increase and an equally small spec bump.

Huawei hasn’t exactly been having the best year so far. Back in January, the company saw AT&T back out of a deal to sell its phones in the U.S., and more recently Best Buy pulled a similar move. But the company is nothing if not resilient, and has put out yet another phone directed at the U.S. market in the form of the Mate SE — a $250 aluminum phone with an 18:9 display and dual cameras.

If that sounds familiar, that’s because Huawei’s subsidiary brand Honor already released a nearly identical phone back in December, the Honor 7X. For $200, it’s one of the best bang-for-your-buck values around, but Huawei’s new Mate SE complicates things a bit. What’s the difference? And which one should you buy?

The reigning budget champ

Honor 7X

Even four months after its release, it’s hard to beat the value of the Honor 7X. For $200, you get an aluminum unibody chassis with dual cameras and a rear fingerprint sensor. There’s an 18:9 Full HD+ (2160×1080) display up front that brings a modern look and feel to the phone, and it’s even dual SIM-compatible.

Inside is a respectable Kirin 659 chipset — it’s a rough equivalent to Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 630, and while not blazingly fast it’s enough to power the Honor 7X through most tasks. Along with the processor, you get 3GB of RAM in the U.S. variant, and 32GB of onboard storage (expandable via microSD).

The budget champion is made even better with its recent Oreo beta.

Even at launch, the Honor 7X felt a bit long in the tooth on the software side. It shipped with Android 7.0 Nougat and EMUI 5.1, which left out a number of improvements from newer software iterations that already existed on Honor’s other products (namely, the Honor View 10). Thankfully, we’re already seeing Honor make efforts towards improving its software front, with a beta version of Android Oreo available for users in certain markets brining the Honor 7X up to date with EMUI 8.

With this update, the Honor 7X feels like an even better value than before, and the newly added support for Project Treble means that it should stay up to date for years to come.

See at Amazon

The new kid on the block

Huawei Mate SE

The most perplexing thing about the Huawei Mate SE is how indistinguishable it is from the Honor 7X. Aside from differing logos and a full enclosure around the dual camera module (as opposed to the Honor 7X, whose cameras individually protrude from the chassis), the Mate SE is completely identical to the Honor phone that came before it. The antenna lines are in the same spots, and the fingerprint sensor and display remain unchanged as well. Unfortunately, that also means the Mate SE retains the ever-aging microUSB standard.

Where you’ll finally start to notice some changes made is in the internal specs. Though the Mate SE comes at a $50 premium over the Honor 7X, that extra money buys you an additional gigabyte of RAM (up from 3 to 4GB) and twice the internal storage at 64GB.

The Honor 7X and Mate SE are almost indistinguishable, but the latter pulls ahead with improved specs.

The rest of the specs remain the same, including the Kirin 659 processor, 3340mAh battery, and 16MP + 2 MP rear camera combo. In most applications, you likely won’t notice the added RAM (and some models of the Honor 7X already feature 4GB), but this should help with multitasking features like PIP video once the Mate SE eventually gets updated to Oreo.

Unfortunately, at the moment the Mate SE is running the same dated software as most Honor 7X units — Android 7.0 Nougat and EMUI 5.1. Shipping with software from 2016 was bad enough back in December, but in late March of 2018 it’s just egregious. Hopefully Huawei will be quick to update its new budget phone — especially since Oreo is already in testing on the Honor 7X.

See at Amazon

Which one’s right for you?

This time around, this is a pretty easy question to answer. With both phones so similar, there are only a few things to consider when deciding between the Honor 7X and Huawei Mate SE. Is $50 worth an 1GB of RAM and double the storage to you? Rather, with the option to expand the storage capacity of either phone with a microSD card, you might only need to consider the extra RAM.

In the short term, you might also want to take into consideration the Honor 7X’s beta rollout of Android Oreo. Honor is clearly prepping for an official release, but meanwhile there’s no word on an update for the Mate SE. If you’re in a rush to get the latest software, the Honor 7X might be the better option for now — otherwise, the Mate SE’s slightly improved specs may be worth the extra cash.

Which phone would you buy? If you already have the Honor 7X, do you wish you could switch to the Mate SE or are you content with what you have? Let us know in the comments below!

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!

Here’s everything we know about the Galaxy Note 9!

Now more than ever, Samsung’s Galaxy S+ phones are becoming eerily similar to the Note series. The Note used to be Samsung’s way of touting all of the latest and greatest tech it had to offer, and while this is still the case, the same can be said for this year’s Galaxy S9+.

Samsung needs more than just the S Pen to make the Note 9 stand out from its own phones and the rest of the competition, and luckily, all signs are pointing to something exciting for this year’s release. Here’s what we know so far!

March 29, 2018: Samsung may launch the new Note as early as July

Samsung’s Galaxy Note series usually makes its debut in August, but according to a report from The Investor, the Note 9 could launch much sooner.

Samsung typically starts producing its OLED panels for Note devices in June, but it’s said that the company will be moving ahead of schedule this year and start production as soon as April. As such, we could see the Galaxy Note 9 released as early as July.

The reason for this change? Although not confirmed, it’s reported that this is a result of unimpressive sales of the Galaxy S9 and Apple’s own OLED production requirements for two of the iPhones it’s expected to release this September.

March 23, 2018: A new report suggests that the Note 9 will have an in-display fingerprint sensor

As bezels continue to shrink, the mobile industry is being forced to come up with new ways to implement biometric security systems. This means moving fingerprint sensors to the back of phones, and in some cases, replacing them entirely with face-unlock setups.

According to a report from The Korea Herald, Samsung will use the Galaxy Note 9 as its first phone to ship with an in-screen fingerprint sensor. Per a source that spoke with The Herald –

Samsung Display has prepared three or four solutions for Samsung Electronics to embed the fingerprint sensor inside of the main display, and both are seriously considering one of the solutions.

In addition to this, the anonymous source also noted that –

The delay in deciding on the final concept for the Note 9 is due to the work in adopting the in-display fingerprint sensor. A final decision on adoption of the technology will be made by this month.

Previous reports from earlier this month have indicated that Samsung would skip out on an in-display sensor for the Note 9, so it’s hard to say for sure what’ll come of this considering the back-and-forth we’ve heard. The Galaxy Note 9 would be a perfect showcase for this new technology, but if the sensors don’t meet Samsung’s criteria quite yet, we may not see this tech arrive on a Samsung phone until the S10.

February 27, 2018: Bixby 2.0 could make an appearance on the phone

During MWC 2018, Samsung’s chief of mobile, DJ Koh, spilled some beans regarding Bixby 2.0.

Bixby 2.0 is expected to be a big improvement compared to its current iteration, offering things like a more natural-sounding voice and availability on more devices. Speaking to ZDNet, Koh said –

At this speed, I think we will be able to unveil Bixby 2.0 when we launch the Galaxy Note 9.

When will the Galaxy Note 9 be released?

Samsung typically releases its Galaxy Note series in the second-half of the year, often in mid-to-late August.

It was reported on March 29 that Samsung had begun production of OLED panels for the Note 9 two months earlier than it usually does, suggesting that this year’s Note may be released as early as July.

How much will the Galaxy Note 9 cost?

Pricing for the Note series has steadily been going up each year, as has the majority of the smartphone industry.

The Galaxy Note 8 costs $950 unlocked, and I’d expect the Note 9 to cost either the same or slightly more. Apple proved with the iPhone X that people aren’t afraid to shell out $1000+ for a new smartphone, and I don’t consider it to be out of the question for Samsung to follow suit with the Note 9 – especially if it adopts newer technologies like an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+: Everything you need to know!

USA Today’s first AR app brings a rocket launch to your table

After a series of VR apps like The Wall and USS Eisenhower VR, USA Today Network is now exploring storytelling on another new (ish) platform: AR. 321 Launch is the network’s first AR app, and it’s designed to deliver what it says is the “industry’s first, multi-layered interactive experience for space news and content.” It’s a collaboration between USA Today and one of the company’s local news brands Florida Today, which makes sense since the Kennedy Space Center is in that state. The app releases today, and you can try it out if you’re using an iPhone 6S or later with at least iOS 11, or a handset running Android 7.0 or newer. If you’re a space buff or enthusiast, you’ll probably enjoy it.

The app is straightforward. Open it and select “Launch Simulation” or “Live Mission.” The former lets you build and launch a rocket from scratch, while the latter takes you to a faux launch pad with a live feed of a real launch (if one’s happening). Since there wasn’t an actual launch during my time with the app, it wasn’t streaming anything. The home page helpfully shows a countdown to the next launch, which will take place on April 2nd. You can get an alert about the event closer to the day, too.

Until then, you can still play with the simulator, which is educational and fun. Using your phone’s camera, you’ll scan for a flat surface in your vicinity on which to place the virtual launchpad. The app taps ARCore and ARKit for Android and iOS to do this, and my Pixel 2 struggled to find a suitable patch on my cluttered work desk.

During my recent demo at USA Today’s offices, though, we quickly found several surfaces to use, and the app marked them out with white boxes. I dragged a SpaceX assembly building to the lid of a MacBook in front of me, then followed instructions like “place the strongback” and “swipe to fill up the fuel gauge.” At each stage, the app showed interesting nuggets of information, like how structures around a launch pad are filled with water to dampen the sound energy from rocket engines.

I won’t spoil the experience for you — it’s more fun if you don’t already know this information when putting your rocket together. By the time I finished the simulation, which took about 15 minutes, I was impressed by the crisp quality of the digital graphics, even when I moved up close to inspect the spacecraft. Make sure you have audio turned on, too. The launch countdown sequence was made all the more realistic thanks to the sound effects that were reminiscent of all my favorite space movies (or just Apollo 13). All told, the simulation was engaging and educational, although I was slightly distracted by how hot my phone got.

Come April 2nd, you’ll be able to watch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9, with live video streaming from the app, alongside real-time commentary from Florida Today’s space reporters. You can also use your phone’s GPS to see where the Kennedy Space Center is relative to your location, as well as see the rocket’s flight path to see if it crosses where you are.

USA Today Network has won awards for its previous VR apps, and continues to explore new means of storytelling. Ray Sotos, director of emerging technologies at USA Today Network, told Engadget that his team plans to add more launches to 321 Launch, as well as create other AR apps in collaboration with the network’s other brands.

Given Google just released ARCore 1.0 to let any developer publish apps which use that toolkit, 321 Launch is a relatively early example of a fun, educational way to use AR. We’re sure to see loads more intriguing examples in the months to come, though, so get ready for your reality to get very augmented.

The Genesis Essentai Concept is the automotive future we were promised

The Essentia is what I expected all cars to look like after the year 2000. Alas, vehicles still pretty much look the same now as they did way back in the 80s. But that shouldn’t stop the luxury arm of Hyundai, Genesis from putting this car in showrooms as quick as possible to satisfy my childhood dreams.

Unveiled at the New York Auto Show, the pure electric Essentia coupe hits all the marks with its bubble roof, butterfly doors and body panels crafted from carbon fiber. To get those doors open the car uses biometric fingerprint and facial recognition scanners to make sure you’re the driver. Just walk up, get scanned and the car comes alive.

The interior of the car at te show is a bold red with blue dash accents. If Superman needed a car, he’d have this interior. The dash is a series of screens (as you would expect) and supports voice recognition. Genesis says you’ll be able to have two-way conversations with the car which I assume means it’s like talking to KITT from Knight Rider.

The car will also connect to your smart home not that you would ever want to go back to your house if you ever got behind the wheel of the the Essentia. But this is a concept car which means no matter how many emails I send to Genesis, it’s unlikely this car will ever appear in showrooms. But, as a design template for the luxury brand, there is the possibility that a tamer, more refined version of this car will go into production sometime in the future. Let’s just hope it keeps the bubble roof.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from the 2018 New York Auto Show.

Source: Genesis