Samsung Galaxy Note 9
An improvement.
Samsung is at it again with the Galaxy Note9, right on schedule. Amid a brutal anti-Apple ad campaign, it’s hoping a cool new S Pen is enough to carry the day. Could there be more waiting for us under the hood? We’ll tear down to find out!
MAJOR TECH SPECS
Notchless edge-to-edge 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with 2960×1440 resolution (516 ppi) Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, with 6GB/8GB RAM 4,000mAh battery 12MP OIS dual rear camera, with dual-aperture f/1.5–f/2.4 wide-angle and f/2.4 telephoto modules, plus 8MP selfie cam 128GB/512GB storage, extra 512GB available via microSD S Pen stylus with Bluetooth connectivity IP68 dust and water resistance rating
KEY FINDINGS
The Note9 looks very similar to the Note8—and in principle, we’re fine with that. So, what is new? Well, it’s very slightly wider and shorter than the Note8, with an extra 0.1 inches of display, and it’s a hair thicker at 8.8mm versus 8.6mm. In an increasingly rare (but welcome) move, Samsung has kept the analog headphone jack. Another subtle (but good) change: The fingerprint sensor has packed its things and moved ≠ to a happier location, south of the rear camera. We’d like to hit the ground running, but the back panel adhesive is pretty OP. Our usual strategy of heat, suction, and careful slicing does the trick eventually. The new fingerprint sensor location is welcome—the flex cable is less vulnerable to accidental slicing and dicing. That said, it’s still too short. The battery’s still glued down in a miserable sticky well—but the Note8 didn’t blow up, so the design is justified, eh Samsung? The battery weighs in at a ludicrous 15.4Wh, eschewing the cautious 12.71Wh Note8 battery, and eclipsing the Note7 (13.48Wh) and iPhone X (a “mere” 10.35Wh). The motherboard has absorbed yesteryear’s daughterboard, leaving a modular USB-C port (with hangeron mic) ripe for the picking. Samsung continues to provide sanctuary for the now endangered headphone jack, while saddling it with a super-thin spring-contact-connected cable. The heat pipe has significantly more surface area than prior generations. We couldn’t find a non-destructive way to crack open the S Pen, so we swapped in the ultrasonic blaster cutter! We conjecture that the S Pen charges via the sensing coils near its tip. We found a gray pad near where the coils reside when the stylus is stowed—possibly an inductive charging pad. The Note9 isn’t a radical redesign, but it’s fresh enough to keep our teardown engineers happy. The Note line tends to evolve slowly—bigger motherboard, a different pen, nothing major—except for a battery that exploded in size. Repairability score: 4 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair). This Note’s components are more modular than ever, thanks to subtle changes to the USB-C hardware, headphone jack, and the S Pen dock’s flex cable. The only screws are standard Phillips ones. You can replace the battery if determined— two stubborn glue barriers make it difficult. To service any component you must painstakingly unglue (then reglue) the glass rear panel. Display repairs require replacing the entire chassis or tediously separating the gluey cracked glass.