Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or Samsung Galaxy S8+: Which is a better buy?

Earlier today, Samsung launched its flagship Note phablet in India, the Galaxy Note 8. Priced at Rs 67,900, the smartphone comes with a host of new features that were missing from the Galaxy S8+. Both smartphones are highly powerful devices, with a few key differences, and if you are confused on which to buy, we will help you figure that out.

Let’s talk about the design, and the specifications first. Both smartphones feature a front and back glass design covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The buttons and port placement remains the same for both smartphones, with the only difference being that the Galaxy Note 8 has a S Pen slot on the bottom-right corner. Also, the fingerprint sensor placement at the back has been changed after user complaints with the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. And yes, another change with the Galaxy Note 8 is the dual-camera setup at the back.

In terms of specifications, both the Galaxy S8+ and Galaxy Note 8 are powered by a 64-bit Exynos 8895 octa-core SoC paired with 64GB of onboard storage, which is expandable using a microSD card (hybrid slot). The Galaxy Note 8 comes with 6GB of RAM, whereas the Galaxy S8+ is offered in two variants – one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage for Rs 64,900, and other with 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage priced at Rs 65,900. If we talk about the price difference, the new Galaxy Note 8 costs just Rs 2,000 more than the Galaxy S8+ (6GB variant).

Now, for the additional Rs 2,000 that you pay for the Galaxy Note 8, you get a dual-camera featuring twin 12-megapixel sensors with optical image stabilization (OIS) – one is a wide-angle lens with aperture f/1.7, whereas other is a telephoto lens with aperture f/2.4. The setup allows you to capture wide-angle photos, portrait mode with background defocused, and 2X optical zoom capabilities too. Dual camera is something people were missing from the Galaxy S8 duo, and you get the same with the Galaxy Note 8.

 

Secondly, the S Pen stylus gets a lot of new tricks in the form of glance, which lets you continue working while peeking (or glancing to a page or app open in background), there is magnify mode with 300 percent magnification, and S Translate feature which lets you translate a word or an entire paragraph from one language to the other.

Samsung has also introduced Live Messaging feature that lets you doodle whatever you want, and it can be converted into GIFs. The S Pen is water resistant, and can be used under water too.

Considering all the above pointers, the Galaxy Note 8 appears to be a noteworthy purchase considering the price, specifications and features. I am a Galaxy S8 user, and after using the Galaxy Note 8 with S Pen for a couple of days now, I feel with such a marginal price difference, the Galaxy Note 8 makes more sense compared to the Galaxy S8+ (6GB variant)