The earliest reports about the Galaxy Note 9 camera freezing issue surfaced shortly after the handset was released in August. Some users complained on Samsung's official forums that the camera was freezing while taking pictures. They also reported a lot of lag while taking videos. That's obviously not the camera experience one would expect from a $1,000 smartphone.
The issue only affects the Snapdragon variant of the Galaxy Note 9. I have personally never experienced it on my Exynos variant and neither have my colleagues. Owners of both carrier and unlocked units in the United States have complained about this issue.
Galaxy Note 9 camera freezing issue fix being developed
Galaxy Note 9 owners in the United States who have been affected by this issue have had to put up with it for a very long time. Some reported that the camera also freezes up in apps that use the camera. It would just throw up a “camera failed” warning.
A short-term solution suggested by some forum members involves clearing the system partition cache. It was just that, though, a short-term solution because the problem resurfaced for many users. The subsequent firmware updates have not fixed it.
Users have had to put up with an issue on a premium device for the past few months. Their frustration is justified. It was no surprise reading on the forums that some owners simply got rid of their phones and bought a non-Samsung device.
There's finally some good news for those who are still holding on to their units. A moderator on Samsung's US forums has confirmed that an update is coming out to specifically fix the Galaxy Note 9 camera freezing issue. However, they're unable to provide a release date for this update. It's difficult to say at this point how long users will have to wait for this fix.
