To some of you, I may sound like a broken record when I say this, but if you're someone who cares about their smartphone's performance, you should be picking up Galaxy Note flagships in general over the Galaxy S models. And that makes the choice easy when it comes to deciding whether you should wait for the Galaxy Note 9 or just pick up a Galaxy S9+.
Of course, this advice is not for those who buy the Note flagships for the S Pen. But there are many out there who don't care about the S Pen and will be wondering if there is another reason to go for a Galaxy Note, which is always costlier than the Plus-sized Galaxy S flagship launched in the same year. This time around, the expected 4,000 mAh battery is already a big reason to wait for the Galaxy Note 9, but what if that doesn't pan out? What makes it worth waiting for the Galaxy Note 9 if you don't care about the S Pen and Samsung pops in a smaller battery in it?
Galaxy Note 9 vs Galaxy S9+: Performance is key
As I said in the first sentence of this post, it's performance. Or, to be more precise, consistent performance. Galaxy S flagships are pretty much as quick as Galaxy Note flagships when they're new, but even in 2018, the Galaxy S phones tend to develop noticeable stutter and lag a few months down the line. In fact, that's true for all Samsung devices, only mid-range and budget phones slow down considerably more than the flagships.
But, for some reason, it's not the same for Note flagships. The Galaxy Note 4 may have been a disaster on the performance front, but things have changed. Galaxy Note 8 owners will know how that phone continues to perform well, and I'm sure Galaxy S9+ owners will have a few complaints. I'm not saying the Galaxy S9+ is slow. But it sure isn't as consistently smooth and quick as it was when it was new. The Note 8 is, and even the Galaxy Note 5 fared better than the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge with long-term usage.
The Galaxy Note 9 will most likely be similarly consistent with its software performance even months after use, and it's one of the major reasons I think it's worth waiting for the Note 9, even if it might be costlier than the Galaxy S9+. Again, the Galaxy S9+ is a solid device and a good choice for those uninterested in what the S Pen brings to the table, especially if they are looking to save some money. But if you demand excellent performance from your phones, the Galaxy Note 9 would hands down be the better choice.
