“Samsung Unveils its Latest 6.4” Galaxy Note 9 Flagship Smartphone

The Note 9 launches with Android 8.1, which would have been fine a few weeks ago. But while earth-shattering new features are in short supply, it will carry an earth-shattering price tag: $1,000.

So the conditions to get the new skin are pretty extraordinary. “Everything is a little bit better, but nothing’s revolutionary”.

We are still waiting to hear whether the cellular versions will work with non Samsung phones.

Of course, not everything about Samsung phones is appealing. It’s also tying its Watch more closely to its Galaxy line, contrasting with the Gear line. “This is the right innovation at the right time”.

Samsung officially revealed its latest wearable, the Galaxy Watch, today at its Unpacked event. Another thing the larger size allows is a larger battery: 4000mAh on the Note 9 compared to 3500mAh on the S9+. This is compatible with all Android phones that are running Android 5.0 and later, and it will also work with any iPhone running iOS 9.

The new phones will come out August 24.

Then again, 2019 could be the year that things really change in terms of the brand’s smartphone design, so reading anything into this year’s models for the future could well be moot – if that does happen, then the Note 9 was nearly certainly a smaller upgrade on objective. Pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 9 will begin on August 10th, with the device slated to start shipping and become available at major retailers on August 24th. It’ll also go up against the new iPhones, typically unveiled in September.

Note 9 with Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display houses 4000mAh battery – 21 per cent bigger that Note 8 – that is paired with fast-charging technology compatible with both wired and wireless charging.

And that redesign really is key, arguably, to the success of the Galaxy Watch, as despite this new smartwatch packing some neat new features, the fact that it looks more like a regular watch will no-doubt be the foremost decider in whether potential adopters pull the trigger.

Additionally, we also got two important performance upgrades in the form of a variant with 8GB of RAM and increased battery capacity for the Galaxy Note 9. Purists can turn the feature off to get images that reflect what the eye sees – an option unavailable with Pixel.

There’s also been an upgrade in the camera department. This will let people control music or snap selfies just by clicking the stylus. The Note 8 sported dual rear cameras and the biggest screen to date on a Samsung smartphone. It also has eight far-field microphones for use with the assistant. It promises quality sound, in a potential challenge to Apple’s Siri-based HomePod speaker.

But when I sat through that press conference, listening to Samsung’s spiel for the third year in a row about how much Note fans love their phones – and they quite specifically cite the word “love” – it dawned on me. After a robust decade of growth, demand is cooling as consumers wait longer to replace devices, even as cheaper Chinese brands flood the market and chip away at Samsung and Apple’s long-standing dominance.

The announcement was made at the Samsung Unpacked event in NY, where fans of the popular battle royale game were expecting Fortnite related Android news.