At the time of the announcement, not many people were excited with the Galaxy Note 9 due to its incremental upgrades, but the narrative seems to have changed quite a bit once the reviews started pouring in. Most of the reviews, including our very own, presented the Galaxy Note 9 as an uncompromising device which excels in almost all the critical aspects of a smartphone.
Consumer Reports (CR) is also now joining the chorus with a glowing review for Samsung’s latest flagship. The Note 9 excelled in CR’s extensive tests to climb to the top of their smartphone ratings. CR attributes Galaxy Note 9’s score to its long-lasting battery, improved durability, great cameras, and innovative features like the S Pen.
Galaxy Note 9 is CR's highest-rated smartphone
Samsung’s phablet lasted an impressive 29 hours in CR’s battery test that simulates real-world use with a robotic finger programmed to make calls, browse the internet, snap pictures, and use GPS navigation on the test device. In the durability test which involves dropping the device from a height of 2.5 feet into a tumbling machine, the Note 9 reportedly survived all the 100 test drops without any damages to the glass.
CR also, unsurprisingly, praises the Galaxy Note 9 for its beautiful OLED display, cameras for taking sharp pictures, and S Pen features. The report points to few obvious shortcomings as well – size, weight, and price. With the new iPhones about to hit the market, we have to wait and see if the Note 9 will be able to hold on to the top rank for long.
