Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Latest News: Pros and Cons — Battery Life, Gaming-Friendly Features, Bixby Button, Bigger Side Bezels

One of the biggest and expected announcements in the smartphone industry this month was definitely of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. A week after it was unveiled, observers have already come up with reviews of their favorite features and the ones they did not like.

In a report by TechRadar, the improved battery life was praised. The publication swore by the “much better” battery performance they have experienced so far with the newest flagship versus its predecessor, the Galaxy Note 8.

According to the same report, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is actually capable of staying up for the whole day even when they use it for power-demanding operations. TechRadar added that they did not experience scrambling for the charger on the first five days of their hands-on review of the device.

However, the same report is not a fan of the Bixby button and where it is placed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. It can be recalled that since Bixby was introduced on the Galaxy S8, a lot of users have complained about the button’s location in the design. Later, Samsung heeded the complaints and issued an OTA update that allows users to disable the button.

The said update was assumed to be a hint that the Bixby button would disappear or will be in a better position on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. But that was not the case, as in TechRadar’s experience.

Reviewers said that they accidentally pressed the Bixby button on several occasions while using the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. The only consolation is that the device comes with the software version that allows people to disable it. But, on the other hand, TechRadar found the Bixby software itself to be useful and better than Google Assistant in certain tasks.

The Galaxy Note series has been regarded as the smartphone choice for people who are big on productivity tasks. But with the gaming world creeping into the mobile industry, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9’s bumped-up specs make it an adequate mobile gaming device even for demanding titles such as “Fortnite.”

Popsci.com noted that with the tad bigger screen (6.4 inches) paired with the most powerful chip yet from Qualcomm (Snapdragon 845), gamers will find a friend in the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Even the best "Fortnite" player, Ninja, gave his seal of approval.

Speaking of the slightly bigger screen, known leaker Ice Universe on Twitter called out the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 design for a barely noticeable change at plain sight. In a tweet last week, Ice Universe showed a zoomed-in, side-by-side photo of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy Note 8 where the side bezels on the latest device are visibly thicker. While some might consider this as a minor letdown, Forbes commented that Samsung’s promotional images for the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 curiously do not show this design change.

People can now pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 for a whopping $1,000 (6GB RAM + 128GB storage). Its retail release will start on Aug. 24.