Samsung has released the Galaxy Note 9 today and needless to say its a spec powerhouse with a familiar design and feel. No other Samsung has ever sported such amount of features and memory footprint up to 1TB with the 512GB internal plus an optional 512GB Micro SD card. Of course, a fully specced out phone will not be cheap when the handset starts at $1,000 USD in the USA or €1,000 in Europe.
Our interest and focus are the video features and we are far from disappointed. You get improved AF with scene recognition and an increase in dynamic range compared to the Galaxy S9. You get 4k UHD up to 60p and the usual competitive frame rates of 240fps and 120fps Full HD plus the 960fps mode that made its debut in the S9 and S9 plus phones earlier in the year. The extra checkmark in this phone’s sheet is that the slow motion at 960fps is now double the rec time of the S9 at 0.4sec instead of the 0.2sec in the S9 at the full frame rate.
Galaxy Note 9 Back Camera Specs:
| Dual | 12 MP, f/1.5-2.4, 26mm, 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS 12 MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1/3.6″, 1µm, AF, OIS, 2x optical zoom |
|
| Features | LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama | |
| Video | 2160p@60fps, 1080p@240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR, dual-video rec |
| SELFIE Front CAMERA | Single | 8 MP, f/1.7, 25mm, 1/3.6″, 1.22µm, AF |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Dual video call, Auto-HDR | |
| Video | 1440p@30fps |
Full Main Specs For Note 9:
| Galaxy Note 9: | |
|---|---|
| Display Size | 6.4” QHD+ (2960×1440) Super AMOLED 18.5:9 |
| Glass Type | Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Display Color Palette | HDR 10 |
| System-on-chip | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845/Exynos 9810 |
| RAM Capacity | 6GB/8GB |
| Storage Capacity | 128GB/512GB + Micro SD Card slot (up to 512GB) |
| Speaker System | AKG Tuned stereo speakers |
| Headphone Jack | Yes, 3.5mm |
| Front Camera | 8MP front camera with autofocus |
| Rear Camera | 12 MP (f/1.5 and f/2.4 variable aperture) + 12 MP telephoto f/2.4 |
| Battery Capacity | 4,000 mAh battery |
| Wireless Charging | Yes, Samsung Fast Wireless Charging |
| Fast Charging | Yes, Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging |
| Biometrics | Iris, Facial, and fingerprint recognition |
| Water and Dust Resistance | IP68 |
| Software | Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.5 |
| S Pen | Samsung Smart Bluetooth S Pen |
So digging in the specs it is clear Samsung is able to harness the extended DDR memory to record an extra 0.2sec for a total of 0.4sec at 960fps 720p quality which is twice that of the Samsung king the Galaxy S9 and S9+.
Samsung Galaxy Note9: Official Introduction by Samsung:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjaL94yEJME
Many will point out that the S9 and S9 Plus are now able to also shoot 0.4sec with a firmware update but if you look closely that will only be at 480fps and not 960fps. It is unclear at this time if the Note 9 will be able to shoot up to 0.8sec at 480fps while doing 960fps for 0.4sec. This is now the Samsung king of slow motion. Looking at early samples which are really not ready for sharing due to quality concerns and also the fact that the web is inundated by fakes we will refrain from sharing any slow motion samples of the Note 9 until real reviews of the feature start to come out.
The Slow Motion Recording Time:
- 60fps UHD 4k continuous
- 120fps/240fps 1080p Continuous
- 960fps for 0.4 sec or 12.8 Seconds at 30p
- *Unconfirmed: (480fps for 0.8sec or 12.8 Seconds at 30p)
- *Unconfirmed Wish List?: (480fps for 1.6sec or 25.6 Seconds at 30p)
(*)While the 480fps modes have not been confirmed or are listed in the specs it could become a possible spec like it was shown in the Galaxy S9 and S9+ firmware update. Considering the Note 9 has double the capability at 960fps it should be entirely possible to offer 480fps at these longer rec times. No official spec exists listing these modes.
Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2018 Keynote Reveal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xBOkiSdo1I
So there you have it, it could be the best slow motion phone of the year regarding frame rates. The OnePlus 6 is still winning in that it can shoot an entire minute worth of 480p played back at 30p which is amazing. We still have to see what Apple has to show at the iPhone refresh reveal later this month. We will share Galaxy Note 9 slow motion samples as they become available.
Thanks for reading and your continued support-HSC