Samsung Galaxy Note 8 vs Galaxy S8+: Key differences

    1.Design - Identical Twins

                      

Put the Galaxy Note 8 beside the Galaxy S8 Plus and it is hard to tell them apart. Both share the same come aesthetic with glass backs, Infinity Displays and an aluminium chassis. Though look closer and the Galaxy Note 8 is noticeably bigger:

The  6.2-inch Super AMOLED displays on the Galaxy S8+ are truly stunning. But if you want an even bigger canvas, the Note 8 has you covered. The Note 8's 6.3 inch screen is the biggest in Samsung's current lineup, making it ideal for getting lost in movies or getting serious work done with the included S Pen.       

S8 Note

Despite the extra size, Note 8 impressively easy to hold with one hand thanks to its curved edges.

    Samsung  Note 8 looks almost similar to Samsung Galaxy S8+ only with the exception

 of its S Pen stylus and dual rear cameras.

                                      2.Displays - Big Meet Bigger

There’s only one place to start with the Galaxy Note 8 and that is the display.

                                          

NOTE 8 and S8+ (L to R)

• Galaxy Note 8 - 6.3-inch, 18.5:9 aspect ratio, Super AMOLED, 1440 x 2960 pixels (521 ppi pixel density), 83.2% screen-to-body ratio, HDR10 compliant, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
• Galaxy S8 Plus - 6.2-inch, 18.5:9 aspect ratio,  Super AMOLED, 1440 x 2960 pixels (529 ppi pixel density), 84% screen-to-body ratio, HDR10 compliant, Corning Gorilla Glass 5

Furthermore the Galaxy Note 8 manages to outdo what was the best smartphone display on the market with an even higher peak brightness. That said both these displays currently blow Samsung’s rivals away.

          3.Cameras - Samsung Doubles Up( in S8 Note)

Let’s start with what hasn’t changed. Both the front facing camera (complete with hit and miss iris scanner) and primary rear camera are identical to the Galaxy S8 Plus:

                                      

• Front - 8MP, f/1.7, autofocus, 1/3.6" sensor size, 1.22 µm pixel size, 1440p@30fps, dual video call, Auto HDR
• Rear - 12 MP, f/1.7, autofocus, 1/2.5" sensor size, 1.4 µm pixel size, 4K video recording, OIS, Auto HDR, LED flash

But there is a second camera on the back (12MP, f/2.4, OIS) which provides the Galaxy Note 8 with a 2x optical zoom and a bunch of party tricks.

The Note 8's deal 12-megapixel cameras boast a 2x optical zoom, which matches the iPhone 7 Plus, as well as a 10x digial zoom. Both of the Note 8's cameras sport optical image stablization, and are capable of the same background-blurring "bokeh" effect that the 7 Plus offers for portraits. 

                                     3.Performance - RAMs 

          

The Galaxy Note 8 sports the same Snapdragon 835 processor( except Europe & Asia where Samsung's own processor Exynos 8895 (4x 2.3 GHz & 4x 1.7 GHz CPUs), ARM Mali-G71 MP20 GPU has been used) .Even S8  and S8+ have same  Snapdragon 835 processor  but benefits from a beefier 6GB of RAM compared to the S8 and S8+ with 4GB and 4GB.. That could lead to a slight performance bump for folks who plan on using Samsung's phablet for multitasking between apps and jotting down lots of notes.

              

• :Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8 Plus (US) - Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core chipset (4x 2.35GHz and 4x 1.9GHz Kryo CPUs), Adreno 540 GPU

            

• :Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S8 Plus (Europe and Asia) - Exynos 8895 (4x 2.3 GHz & 4x 1.7 GHz CPUs), ARM Mali-G71 MP20 GPU

                          

                       4.Software - Note’s Professional Bloat

Although both phones comes with extensive Android customisation,but what makes

the S8 NOTE special is  its S Pen specific software.

              

   Both phones have Bluetooth 5.0 (2x speed and 4x range of Bluetooth 4.2) 

                        

                         The S Pen offers professional grade responsiveness with unnerving precision and pressure recognition allowing you to easily scribble messages, leave annotations and even capture screenshots and create custom gifs. If you’re a fan of the S Pen experience the Galaxy Note 8 delivers (it’s the best on any smartphone) and it will be a key reason to choose this phone over the Galaxy S8 Plus.

                               5.Battery Life - A Backwards Step

Understandably Samsung does not want its phones to explode in 2017, which is why it has been more conservative with its battery capacities this year. That continues  the Galaxy Note 8.

                        

Note 8 Battery

So while the Galaxy Note 7 had an incendiary 3500 mAh battery, the Galaxy Note 8 has downgraded this to 3300 mAh, despite being a bigger phone and despite sporting a much larger display (screens are still the number one consumer of battery life). Furthermore the Galaxy S8 Plus has a 3500 mAh battery.

                                                 

s8+ battery

  More positively, both phones feature quick charging, wireless charging (which is faster than the wired charging of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus) and the duo have passed Samsung’s new ‘8 Point Quality Check’. This improves cycle longevity (losing only 5% of their capacity in a year versus 20% in previous models) and - once again - it means they shouldn’t explode!

                                          6.Price And Storage 

The Galaxy Note 8 will cost between $930 and $960 (depending on your carrier) when it launches on Sept. 15, retaining the Note line's reputation as the priciest member of Samsung's lineup. 

             The Galaxy Note 8 will cost between $930 and $960 (depending on your carrier) when it launches on Sept. 15, retaining the Note line's reputation as the priciest member of Samsung's lineup. 

          

Both phones comes with 64GB which are expandable upto 256GB.Crucially the 64GB Galaxy Note 8 is also only $40 less than Apple’s top of the range 256GB iPhone 7 Plus, though the iPhone 8 will raise its price significantly.

Limited edition Galaxy Note 8 models will be available with up to 256GB (including an ‘Emperor Edition’) but they are not expected to come to the US.

                                             FINAL VERDICT

SAD: Samsung’s weak spot shows with the Galaxy Note 8: its sluggish adoption of Android updates. Despite Android 8.0 Oreo launching earlier this week, Samsung will ship the Galaxy Note 8 in September with Android 7.1.2 Nougat which will be five months old by then.

The Infinity Displays across the range look superb and there’s no question the addition of the S Pen makes the Galaxy Note 8 the most productive of the three. Meanwhile its dual camera should deliver more flexibility, even if there’s unlikely to be much difference in standard shots given the phone has the same primary front and back cameras as its predecessors.

Battery life is something of a disappointment given the Galaxy Note ranges’ history as a stamina king, though it should still deliver a full day’s power and Samsung’s caution is understandable and responsible.

                My personal feeling is the Galaxy Note 8 is mostly a Galaxy S8 Plus with a stylus, 2x optical zoom lens and smaller battery for a lot more money (based on discounts now available on the latter) so be sure you really want/need these features. And if you get it,you have one of the best phone in your hands.