In keeping with Samsung's yearly tradition, the latest entry in the Note series has been formally revealed. The new Note9, like the S9 before it, is an incremental advancement over its predecessor rather than an outright revolution in design. Packing the latest Snapdragon 845 and a sizeably increased 4,000mAh battery, Samsung's new Note phone includes all the best features we have come to expect from a 2018 flagship, with none of the notch. In keeping with the swelling specifications, the price has also increased to a round $1,000.

SPECS

SoC

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845

Display

6.4" Quad HD+ (2960-x1440) Super AMOLED, 516ppi

Storage

128GB or 512GB

RAM

6GB (128 SKU) or 8GB (512GB SKU)

Rear Cameras

Wide-angle 12MP f/1.5-f/2.4 w/OIS, Telephoto 12MP f/2.4 w/OIS

Front Camera

8MP f/1.7

Battery

4,000mAh

Dimensions

161.9mm x 76.4mm x 8.8mm, 201g

Water resistance

IP68

Software

Android 8.1 Oreo

Connectivity

Bluetooth v5.0, NFC, 2.5/5GHz Wi-Fi up to 802.11ac

As you can probably tell from a glance at the spec table above, the new Note9 integrates most of the new features and improvements from the smaller S9—like the dual aperture camera, chipset, and relocated fingerprint sensor—and applies them all into the larger Note-series body, giving you a bigger 4,000mAh battery and Samsung's S Pen.

That active phone stylus is also improved in the Note9. It's now powered by the magic of supercapacitors, wireless charging, and Bluetooth. It all sounds pretty fancy, but in reality, that just means that button on the stylus now does more stuff. You can use it as a remote shutter for photos, to control music, scroll up or down in Chrome, or advance slides in presentations, among other configurable options.

A handful of (probably machine learning-powered) camera software improvements are also debuting with the Note9, including a "Scene Optimizer" that identifies the content of a frame to tweak camera settings. There's also a new "Flaw Detection" that tells you if something might be wrong in a photo—for example, if someone were to blink or if the glass covering the sensor was a bit fingerprinty.

Other than that, the Note9 is pretty much the same experience you've come to expect from Samsung's recent Galaxy flagships. It has the familiar stereo speaker configuration via the earpiece with AKG tuned speakers, Samsung's productivity-focused DeX experience, fast wireless charging, IP68 water resistance, MST and NFC payments, iris scanning/facial recognition, and even a heart rate monitor.

Storage has been increased from last year's 64GB to 128GB, but a new, larger model is also now available for those willing to spare no expense. For a mere $1,250 you can get a slightly ridiculous 512GB of storage.

The Note9 is also on the very short list of devices that can play Fortnite (for the time being). Although the game will be available long before the Note9 is released, Samsung has an offer for Fortnite fans that could make it worth the wait, if they preorder.

Starting on August 10th, interested parties can lay claim and cash for a Note9 early, and to sweeten the deal, Samsung is giving those risk-takers a bonus: they can choose between a pair of AKG noise-canceling headphones ($299 value), the Fortnite Galaxy skin plus 15,000 V-bucks ($150 value), or get both for an extra $100.

The Note9 will be available at launch in the US in two colors: Ocean Blue and Lavender Purple. Two other colors, black and copper, will be available internationally. Carriers including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, U.S. Cellular, and Xfinity will have the 128GB version up for purchase in stores and online starting August 24th. That version will also be available at retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, Sam's Club, Straight Talk Wireless, Target, and Walmart, as well as Samsung's site. The bigger 512GB model can only be nabbed at "select retail locations" and online from AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, U.S Cellular, and Samsung.

If you'd like to read more in the meantime, Samsung's full announcement press release is just below.

PRESS RELEASE