In early August, Samsung introduced its most expensive and powerful smartphone - Galaxy Note 9 for 90 thousand rubles. Of course, everything was known about it in advance: either the company itself would “accidentally” publish a teaser, or all the characteristics with prices would be merged into the network. At the same time, they say that this will be the last representative of the Note line, which, in fact, is not such bad news. About the future of Samsung smartphones and Note9 features - in the review.

From the very beginning years of samsung trying to fight falling smartphone sales. In Korea - the company's home market - in the first two months since the announcement of the Galaxy S9, the company managed to sell only 700,000 devices (versus a million Galaxy S8 last year). In the company's latest report, things are also not so smooth, and even the company admits that sales are slow. According to analysts, 2018 will be the worst year for the Galaxy S line since the release of the Galaxy S3.

For the Note line, which has never made it to the top, this could be its last year at all - partly due to a lack of customer interest, partly because it has looked too much like the Galaxy S in recent years. According to people familiar with the plans Samsung, the company will completely change its approach to the release of phones, and Note can become part of the S line as the most pumped smartphone (it will do something similar with new iPhones, where there will be two flagships and one simpler device). For now, we're content with another Samsung flagship, which is indistinguishable from the rest of the company's smartphones of the past two years.

new old

If you put the Galaxy S8 +, S9 +, Note 8 and Note 9 in a row, then finding out which is which is almost impossible. The only more or less obvious change is the relocation of the fingerprint scanner. Now it is located under the camera module and it has become much more convenient to reach it (if at all applicable to a smartphone with a 6.4-inch screen).

Then you can go into the wilds and start looking for very small changes. The edges of the case were made angular, the camera module was painted in the color of the back panel, the bottom frame became a little smaller. But at the same time, the screen diagonal increased from 6.3 to 6.4 inches. Thickness has changed from 8.6 to 8.8 millimeters, width - from 74.8 to 76.4, height - from 162.5 to 161.9, weight - from 195 to 201 grams. Do you feel the magnitude of the changes? You can go further by talking about how the SIM tray has changed, but we will do without it.

The screen, according to sensations, remained the same as in S9 - aspect ratio of 18.5 to 9, resolution of 2K (1440x2960 ​​pixels), occupies 84 percent of the front panel. However, nothing better has happened since then, so there are no problems with this. It has amazing minimum and maximum brightness values, although in direct sunlight there are slight difficulties with the readability of the text. The Always On Display features and the Edge panel have not changed in any way.

For protection, a fingerprint sensor, a face scanner and an iris scanner are available. Everything is clear on the first this moment this is one of the best sensors that responds quickly and accurately. With smart scanning, which is a combination of a face and iris scanner, things are a little more complicated. The phone determines the unlocking method depending on external conditions: in normal light, the face scanner works, in bad light, the iris scanner. In the first case, it happens instantly, and in the second it takes one or two seconds. This is all in theory, but in reality, the unlock time usually reaches several seconds, because the phone constantly requires you to take off your glasses, then move closer to the camera, then move away from it. It's much easier to put your finger on the fingerprint scanner.

On the case, there is still a separate button for voice assistant Bixby, but it still does not work in Russian. In addition, since the release of the S8, there have been a lot of opportunities to reassign it to anything, for example, to launch Alice.

1 /10

The cameras haven't changed either. The main one consists of two modules of 12 megapixels, one of which has a variable aperture with f / 1.5 and f / 2.4 and optical stabilization, like in the Galaxy S9. The software has been slightly changed, thanks to which the frames have become more contrasting, but without acid colors, as in other Samsung smartphones. Thanks to this, the portrait mode has also improved significantly. But when shooting in the dark, everything remained at the same level.

the only new feature- intelligent definition of the scene. That is, the smartphone itself tries to determine what the user is trying to shoot and slightly changes the camera presets. So far this works with a bunch of complaints and is rather slow, so it's easier to disable the feature.

The super-slow-mo recording, like the Selfimoji, is present and is also a one-time feature. When super slowed down, the smartphone can record a short clip at 960 frames per second, but only in 720p. In daylight, you can still try to shoot good video, but at the slightest deterioration in light, the final result becomes scary to look at.

What's new?

There is not so much new in Note 9. First, he received new hardware: an eight-core Exynos 9810 and as many as 8 gigabytes random access memory in the top version (only 6 in the minimum version). Everything works smoothly and much faster than on the S9. Also in the top version, 512 gigabytes of internal memory is installed and there is support for memory cards up to 512 gigabytes. Thus, the total space can be increased to a terabyte. This is enough for almost 30 thousand photos, which is obviously redundant.

Another source of pride for Samsung is the 4,000 milliamp-hour battery. Given the complaints about the autonomy of the company's past smartphones, the decision is correct. Moreover, the thickness and weight have not changed much. With such a reserve, the phone is enough for a full day of busy work, or two days of more moderate use. It remains to be believed that the history of the Galaxy Note 7 will not repeat itself, where they also experimented with battery capacity and announced an unprecedented smartphone operating time.

Principle Samsung works DeX has been changed, and a simple USB Type-C to HDMI adapter is enough to turn a smartphone into a PC. Now you do not need special stands with a fan, as the smartphone received new system cooling and does not overheat.

And finally, the “most important thing”: the new S Pen stylus. Only by the eighth version of the smartphone, he received Bluetooth and can now work as a remote control. By default, it can control the camera (take pictures and change the front one with the main one), play music, launch various applications, flip through photos in the gallery and during presentations.

At first it sounds interesting, but in everyday life it is inconvenient to use the stylus as a remote control (and this is strange). The S Pen only lasts 30 minutes on a charge, so you can't keep it in your pocket all the time. It is very difficult to imagine a situation in which such a stylus remote control may be needed at all. There is nothing to say about using the stylus for its intended purpose - writing short notes and adding captions to photos, because everything works as before.

***

From the text above, it may seem that the Galaxy Note 9 turned out to be bad, but it is not. Note 9 is a great smartphone with the best performance, perfect assembly, good camera and so on. But now there is no reason to take it, especially for 70-90 thousand rubles. Bluetooth stylus remote, seriously? Good location for the fingerprint scanner? An excellent move by Samsung is to first put it in the most inappropriate place, and then fix everything, supposedly "listening to the audience." Ability to put up to a terabyte of memory? Even on a computer, this space is difficult to fill.

And all these claims are not against Samsung - the company is doing everything it can in a world where the frameless screen and the rejection of the mini-jack have become the most "significant" breakthroughs. The rest of the manufacturers are also just trying to fill the information field with noise, passing off retractable cameras and “monobrow” as innovations.

Over the past two years, a huge number of good devices have come out that overshadow the Note 9 without any problems. First of all, the price, of course. For Samsung fans there is Note 8 for 35 thousand and S9 for 40-45 thousand, for fans of pure Android - Pixel 2 for 45 thousand, for photography lovers - Huawei P20 Pro for the same 45 thousand and many other worthy devices. In general, for the price of Note 9, you can buy at least two current smartphones, which will be inferior to it only in the absence of a Bluetooth stylus. Samsung also understands this, because it’s not just that the company stopped production and removed Note 8 from sale.

A couple of months ago I bought samsung galaxy S7 Edge new for 30 thousand rubles. Although this is not the latest, but still quite relevant flagship. And for the price, this is a really great deal. Since then, 2 months have passed, I sold my "gnusmas" and breathed a sigh of relief. And that's why.

Year updated, no more

Once again, I was convinced that OS updates can be installed while you have the most up-to-date gadget of the company in your hands. As soon as he left new flagship and you flew another update We start partisanship. This firmware will not bring anything good.

My S7 Edge is mercilessly slow. Applications, menu sections, switching between tasks - a smartphone is ALWAYS thinking! The feeling that I use some kind of Redmi 3S, and not a top-end device from the global electronics giant. A shame!

I mean, while the gadget was relevant, that is, the whole of 2016, it did not slow down, everything worked as expected. A with latest updates all scored on optimization. And I'm sure no one does it on purpose (it's not Apple). It’s just that optimizing software for last year’s devices is a “how it goes” business. If we succeed, it's good, if we don't, it's even better. The user swears, suffers and goes to the salon to buy the current flagship. He's "so used to the Samsung." No need to step on the same rake, turn on the brain.

Brief summary from my experience:

• If you have the current flagship from Samsung in your hands, then we stop updating immediately after the release of the new generation.
• If you have iPhone hands latest generation, then you can update +1 year after the release of the new generation. You can't go further.

Thus, the period of normal operation of devices from Samsung is 1 year, from Apple - 2 years. The same is true for depreciation.

Bought for one price, sold for another

The golden rule of the aftermarket gadgets. I bought the device new, left the store with it, sell it as used, subtracting 25% from the price of a new one.

It works great with iPhone and even Samsung. It’s just that an “apple” smartphone holds the price for the first six months, and a top-end device from South Korea lasts a maximum of a couple of months.

For example, adequate offers for sale on the secondary market began to appear only in February after the September release. With an official price of 53 thousand rubles, on some Avito, a seven could be taken for 35 thousand.

After the release on March 29, with a price tag of 55 thousand rubles, already in early July it was possible to take for the same 35 thousand rubles. Offers in bulk and they are not in demand. The thing is that the price tag for gray versions starts at 38 thousand rubles apiece. For the new flagship. Does it make sense to buy it used?

Is it a shame for the owners of devices who bought them at full price? And how!

What's wrong with my S7 Edge? But nothing. I can't sell it for 25 thousand. Nobody needs it at all, and this is against the background of the fact that the iPhone 6S easily goes for the same money.

Brakes. Anytime and anywhere!

I thought the device was slowing down in power saving mode. Well, this is when you reduce the native resolution to Full HD, background processes are limited, Always On Display does not work, and so on. Turned on full power, but left a low resolution: fewer pixels - more agility. It's logical indeed. No matter how!

The smartphone is still slow. And nothing can be done about it. Although no, after all, you can do a hard reset every month, constantly transfer files to your computer, and then, maybe, if you're lucky, the smartphone will start working as expected.

But wait! Why did I spend 30 kilo rubles on all this pandemonium? I could buy Xiaomi Redmi 4 Pro for 8 thousand rubles and, most interestingly, not to have such problems. And this is despite the voracity of their proprietary MIUI shell.

Infrequent, but stable glitches

For example, the following happened just a couple of days ago. I went to Google Play Market to update all applications on the smartphone (auto-update is disabled), but I could not do it. Why? The Refresh All button just didn't work.

Of course, I thought it was some kind of store glitch, went out to main screen and killed all processes. Did it help? Yes, never!

Now the icon is no longer clickable. Play Store on the desktop. But this is not the end.

I rebooted my smartphone, reopened the store, I wanted to click on the "Update All" button and guess what happened. Nothing! She didn't press again. Proof in the video below.

Terrible signal quality

S7 Edge lives in my house only near the windows. So the signal, at least a little bit, but passes through the walls.

Yes, the walls are not the thinnest, but wait. I still have the same question. Why does a gadget for 500 bucks work the same as some Cubot for 80 from China and without normal support for LTE frequencies?

One could attribute all this to the fact that I have a gray device designed for the UAE market. However, I went to the official Samsung website in the Emirates and there is full support for all the frequencies I need. Even more than necessary. However, the smartphone still catches the network out of the ordinary.

Further more. He left the house, Wi-Fi turned off, in theory, the smartphone should switch to the cellular essence, and, of course, it does. True, only EDGE is on the screen. In order for the seven to switch to 4G in the city center, where the coverage is perfect, you need to move away from all the buildings and stand on the street for 3-4 minutes. Then the system realizes that the coverage cellular network confident and you can safely switch to at least H +.

And then I go to Pyaterochka, go to the cereal department, which is located deep in the building, and the situation repeats itself. Rebooting or turning on / off the flight mode helps. I do this at least twice a day. Every day! For my 500 dollars.

Second SIM card for the view

Not only does the device hold a weak cellular network signal, but there is practically no cellular network on the second SIM card. As soon as you enter the room, the smartphone falls into a deaf vacuum. And he does not accept calls, and it turns out to call from him every other time.

Thank you that at least the first "sim card" is based on EDGE. But we must pay tribute, the system honestly shows the complete absence of sticks in the notification line.

Oleophobic coating - none

Once I read another article by Eldar Murtazin, where he said that the oleophobic coating is erased after a month, they say there is no need to have illusions about this. I thought that this was complete stupidity, because I had never encountered such a thing. On any, even if budget smartphone oleophobic lasts at least six months. So I thought until I started using a Samsung smartphone.

Really! The protective coating on the glass of my S7 Edge peeled off after three weeks. In three! weeks! Carl!!!1

And it's your way flagship smartphone, which last year was sold at 50 thousand rubles apiece?

But there are also advantages...

Where the S7 Edge is good is the cameras. He still shoots great! Very cool!

Many manufacturers only in 2017 caught up with the quality of photography and video, which Samsung had already had for a year. I remember this primarily about Huawei and them. Good, by the way, the device for such a price. Unless, of course, the design bothers.

Moreover! Many competitors from the Chinese market still cannot match our seven in photo quality. Including Xiaomi with their Mi6, and oh my God, even . Yes, now I will cause righteous anger among the fans of the brand, but this is true.

And it is not just words. Look at the photos that I managed to get from samsung cameras Galaxy S7 Edge.

The only ones that outdid my smartphone are Google Pixel and . In the latter case, again, it was not without the intervention of Google. This is not advertised anywhere, but I am sure that without Google, the Taiwanese would not have been able to make such a camera, or rather, write such advanced software for it.

I also really like Samsung Pay. The contactless payment system works even with old terminals, which no competitor can boast of. Well, maybe. True, there is one BUT - the service works only in South Korea, and then, far from everywhere.

All! This is where the advantages of the smartphone end.

Brief squeeze

Let's summarize what did not suit me in the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge:

• he slows down
• buggy almost the same as the "Chinese" for 150 bucks
• poor cell signal reception
• has a very poor oleophobic coating (washes off after 3 weeks)
• quickly loses in price - then you can’t sell it

All these shortcomings greatly outweigh one single advantage - the chic quality of shooting photos and videos. That's why I sold my S7 Edge. Now again "in active search".

Last year, Samsung launched the unsuccessful Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, which, due to very serious problems with battery eventually had to be withdrawn from sale. This led to the fact that released at the end of 2015 Samsung smartphone Galaxy Note 5 remained the flagship of its line for another year. Only this year, he lost his role to the Galaxy Note 8 model, which is indecently expensive in Russia - 69,990 rubles.

Nevertheless, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 smartphone even now, two years after its release on the market, shows itself from the best side, which all its owners will unambiguously confirm. He is able to take amazing photos, give out excellent quality sound, as well as delight with a beautiful AMOLED screen, an impressive time battery life and other equally interesting features, one of which is the NFC module. Due latest phone can be used to pay for purchases through payment system Samsung Pay, which has been operating in Russia for more than a year now.

Most recently, Samsung retired the Galaxy Note 5, focusing on the newer model, so Russian shops they are trying to sell out all the stock of this mobile device as soon as possible, and for this they have reduced the cost of the phone. Due to this, over the past few weeks, the flagship of 2015 has fallen dramatically in price in Russia, thanks to which it can already be more than twice cheaper than the Galaxy Note 8 model.

The Galaxy Note 5 smartphone is now being sold in Russia at a price of 25,890 rubles, and several colors are available at once - gold, black and a couple more, which are exclusive. For this amount of money, the buyer receives in his hands mobile device, equipped with a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels (QHD), 2.1 GHz Exynos 7420 octa-core processor, Mali-T760MP8 graphics accelerator, 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of permanent flash memory, 16 MP main and 5 MP front cameras, as well as a 3000 mAh battery with support for fast charging.

Otherwise, this device boasts a microUSB connector, the usual 3.5 mm audio jack for connecting headphones, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2 LE and NFC modules, as well as a stylish glass case, a fingerprint scanner in the Home button and a branded stylus S Pen. Cheaper than Samsung Galaxy Note 5 in Russia will never be, because now all Russian stores sell it almost at cost. Then, at the beginning of 2018, it will simply disappear from sale, since all buyers will buy it.

One of the main events of the week was the stoppage of production of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, as the manufacturer failed to solve the problem of spontaneous combustion and explosions of the device. According to analysts, this will help increase the supply of one of the main competitors - Apple. Next week we are waiting for several announcements from Nubia, Oppo and Honor at once, other expected new items will be released in early November.

Samsung

The company has made the difficult decision to shut down production. Smartphone Note 7 who received powerful stuffing And innovative technologies. According to experts, this was the reason for the device to go out of control. In addition, thanks to data published by the International Trade Union Confederation, it became known that the company's employees have to work in unacceptable conditions. This also could not but affect the build quality of the smartphone.

The company's specialists failed to find out the cause of the problems and reproduce the explosion of Note 7 in the laboratory. There were rumors that the manufacturer would have to close the Note-series, as it has forever lost the trust of most users. In order not to upset the fans who liked the new coral blue colorway, the company will release the Galaxy S7 Edge in this color scheme. A photo from the production of a smartphone has appeared on the network, on the back of which there is a Verizon logo.

Although the start of sales of Note 7 did not take place in Russia, the company launched an exchange program for those who purchased the gadget on pre-order or from abroad. Russian users are offered the flagship Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge with an additional payment and a bonus certificate for 3,000 rubles for purchases in company stores or a full refund.

To restore the reputation, Samsung will have to make a lot of efforts. It became known that the presentation of the Galaxy S8 will take place on the eve of the MWC 2017 conference, namely on February 26, 2017 - invitations to the upcoming Samsung Unpacked event have been published online. The smartphone will be released in two versions with a 5.1-inch 2K screen and a 5.5-inch 4K display - both will receive a curved screen panel with a Super AMOLED matrix. Another innovation will be the improved Viv voice assistant, developed in collaboration with Viv Labs (its employees participated in the creation of Siri for Apple) based on artificial intelligence technologies.

The company is also gearing up to unveil the next big thing, the Galaxy C9, soon. According to rumors, the smartphone will be equipped with a 6-inch display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, a Snapdragon 652 chipset, 6 GB of RAM, 64 GB of permanent memory, a 4000 mAh battery, 16-megapixel rear and front cameras. Android 6.0 Marshmallow will be used as a software platform.

Apple

Thanks to the failure of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the Apple company will be able to increase sales of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus by 8 million units. So far, research firm Fiksu DSP has published comparative analysis, according to which, the supply of the latest flagships is much inferior to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S. Both novelties are deprived of support for the fast charging function, but received increased battery capacity compared to last year's smartphones. This has resulted in the devices scoring lower than competitors and predecessors in testing for charging speeds.

There was a message from China about the explosion of the iPhone 7 during video shooting right in the hands of the user. While the company has not figured out the cause, however, the battery was not damaged during the explosion (unlike in the cases with Note 7). The owner of the faulty smartphone said that he used only the original device for charging, but did not say where the gadget was purchased.

Google

The company's engineers have confirmed that the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are capable of recording 4K video using electronic stabilization. The manufacturer also dispelled concerns about the impossibility of obtaining root-rights on new products - users will be able to root devices, but only if they are purchased from the Google store.

The search giant announced that the Android 7.1 Nougat software platform will appear in the developer version this month, and in finished version- in the beginning of December. The system will be tested on Pixel C, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, and the final version will be available for more devices.

The company released a major update to Google Photos this week that makes it possible to create animations from videos, automatically align photos in the catalog, and offer a preview of older photos based on the ones you've just uploaded.

There are also new details about the "smart" hours of Google's own design, which will hit the market in the first quarter of next year. Gadgets will work under the control of the software platform Android Wear 2.0, and will also get support voice assistant Google Assistant. The advanced version of the Angelfish will be equipped with a large display, heart rate monitor, LTE and GPS chips, while the Swordfish will get simpler specifications and a smaller display.

LeEco

A picture of an unknown smartphone from a Chinese manufacturer has appeared on the network. Most likely, the upcoming 10-core MediaTek Helio X27 processor with an operating frequency of up to 2.59 GHz, manufactured on the basis of a 14-nm process technology, will act as a hardware basis.

One Plus

It has been reported that the company plans to stop production of the flagship OnePlus 3 due to problems caused by the use of an Optic AMOLED display. However, the manufacturer has officially denied the rumors about the release of OnePlus 3 Plus this year. According to the co-founder of the company, it will continue to apply Optic AMOLED technology in future smartphones, and the research department is now working on improving it.

In addition, Carl Pei revealed that the company's engineers are working on small improvements to the OnePlus 3's display.

OPPO

On October 19, the manufacturer will present new smartphone, which has already been featured in TV commercials, AnTuTu service and advertising image. Thanks to this, it became known that the gadget will be equipped with a 5.5-inch Full HD screen, Snapdragon 625 octa-core chipset, 3010 mAh battery with support for proprietary Super VOOC fast charging, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB physical memory. A feature of the device will be 16-megapixel main and front camera With Sony sensor IMX398 and f/1.7 aperture.

The unusual design of the antenna inserts was also revealed - instead of one wide strip, three narrow strips lie under the camera, due to which the smartphone looks more sophisticated and attractive.

Xiaomi

The Chinese manufacturer has announced an improved version of the Mi Max phablet - Mi Max Prime with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory. The novelty is sold at a price of $300. According to experts, the upcoming flagship Mi Note 2 will cost much more than its predecessors. Its price can be around $600.

The company began working on a flexible display - one of the latest trends in the world mobile technologies. The network has photos of the screen, which can be bent in any direction. However, it is unlikely flexible smartphone will appear in the assortment of the manufacturer in the near future.

Huawei

Smartphone Mate 9 will be presented in several versions, differing not only in color and volume internal memory but also by design. Images have been released for China's Long Island variant with Quad HD curved screen supporting Daydream VR and international Manhattan variant with Full HD flat display.

As in the previous flagship, on the back of the device is a Leica-certified dual camera, but this time it consists of 20-megapixel and 12-megapixel sensors. On the front panel is an 8-megapixel front camera. In addition, the device will be able to charge up to 50% in just 5 minutes thanks to advanced fast charging technology.

A subsidiary of Honor will introduce the Honor S1 smart watch on October 18, which can receive operating system Tizen and waterproofing of the case, judging by the splashes on the dial in the promotional image. The company is also preparing a budget tablet aimed at young users.

ZTE

Sales of smartphones Axon 7 and Axon 7 mini started in Russia at a price of 39,990 rubles and 23,990 rubles, respectively.

A subsidiary of Nubia will present on October 17 a new smartphone with a 23-megapixel main and 13-megapixel front camera.

Wileyfox

Russian users will be able to purchase the new Wileyfox Swift 2 Plus for 13,990 rubles. The gadget is in a metal case of dark gray or golden color. As a software platform - Cyanogen 13.1.2 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.

Other features include a 5" HD screen, protective glass Gorilla Glass 3, Snapdragon 430 chipset, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of expandable physical memory, 2700 mAh battery, 16 MP rear and 8 MP front cameras. Connector provided USB Type-C, LTE modules, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, A-GPS, NFC and a fingerprint sensor on the back of the case.