Well I stopped by BB to fondle the Note 8 again as I wait for my order to ship, I spent a lot more time with it this time around. I still really dislike the tall/narrow form factor, but once the screen is on you forget about that a little bit because the screen is stunning. I ran my 7+ next to it and noticed whites looked a bit better and more true on the iPhone, but no contest regarding colors which popped so nicely on the N8. Interestingly I was afraid the form factor would cut off a lot of stuff, but running safari and chrome side by side I noticed that internet text was not cut off on the sides. Weirdly enough text was just a touch larger on the N8, even though it was more narrow. Probably something I have to experiment more with .
Another thing which I still hate is the curved edge(s). Someone on here said there was no glare, but I found the opposite. Under BB's fluorescent lights the glare was huge (trump accent). It was literally a line of bright white almost all the way up and down the phone on the curved edge, depending on how you held it. I'm afraid for how it will look outdoors, although to counter that it will probably look nicer with the extra nits than my 7+. Someone else said there was no sensitivity loss of the stylus towards the edges, that's true because the stylus doesn't work on the edges!! Well at least in Samsung Note, which is the only app I tried it in. There is an obvious gutter on both sides right where the curve begins where the stylus does not work at all, I'd guess maybe 4mm or so on each side. I noticed this gutter with some apps such as Chrome, where text and other content would not go past, so assume it is some kind of developer recommendation. On the one hand I suppose it's good to avoid distortion, but it's a loss of screen space. No gutter exists on the top/bottom curved edges in landscape mode though which was nice, and I did note very little distortion using it like that. False touches were minimal, and I was trying to curl my fat around the screen to make it happen. My fat fingers did set off the edge panel a LOT, but I see that it can be repositioned.
Also about the bezels, I've been hearing a lot on here complain about the iPhone X side bezels and how the N8 has "no" bezels. IMO that's patently false, the N8 definitely has side bezels, and they don't look much thinner than the X or even my 7+. They are just semi hidden because they are at the bottom of the curved edge, but they are still there and you can still see them even when directly looking down at the display.
Lag? The N8 had absolutely no lag whatsoever, in fact I was amazed at how smooth Chrome scrolled up and down and didn't realize my 7+ safari scrolling is pretty bad in comparison. Although I've never really noticed any lag on Samsung phones probably since the Note 4. I notice more lag on my 7+, and frequent freezes of the OS for a second or 3.
Anyhow, just some more extended thoughts on the N8 as I wait for my order. Which leads me to another caveat, Samsung customer services SUCKS. Yeah I meant the capital letters, and that's one factor which scares me if I have warranty issues. My order said "ships by September 15", but today it still doesn't say shipped, it doesn't even say processing. I tried to chat with Samsung but they said they only dealt with technical issues. I called and after 45 minutes on hold hung up, but on my next call I let them put me into their queue to call me back, estimated call back in 4 hours!! I really really don't know if I want to deal with Samsung customer service after being pampered with Apple answering my call almost immediately and having their physical stores available. If it doesn't ship by the end of the day I may just cancel it and grab a 8+ to tie me over until the X, or the pixel XL.
Another thing which I still hate is the curved edge(s). Someone on here said there was no glare, but I found the opposite. Under BB's fluorescent lights the glare was huge (trump accent). It was literally a line of bright white almost all the way up and down the phone on the curved edge, depending on how you held it. I'm afraid for how it will look outdoors, although to counter that it will probably look nicer with the extra nits than my 7+. Someone else said there was no sensitivity loss of the stylus towards the edges, that's true because the stylus doesn't work on the edges!! Well at least in Samsung Note, which is the only app I tried it in. There is an obvious gutter on both sides right where the curve begins where the stylus does not work at all, I'd guess maybe 4mm or so on each side. I noticed this gutter with some apps such as Chrome, where text and other content would not go past, so assume it is some kind of developer recommendation. On the one hand I suppose it's good to avoid distortion, but it's a loss of screen space. No gutter exists on the top/bottom curved edges in landscape mode though which was nice, and I did note very little distortion using it like that. False touches were minimal, and I was trying to curl my fat around the screen to make it happen. My fat fingers did set off the edge panel a LOT, but I see that it can be repositioned.
Also about the bezels, I've been hearing a lot on here complain about the iPhone X side bezels and how the N8 has "no" bezels. IMO that's patently false, the N8 definitely has side bezels, and they don't look much thinner than the X or even my 7+. They are just semi hidden because they are at the bottom of the curved edge, but they are still there and you can still see them even when directly looking down at the display.
Lag? The N8 had absolutely no lag whatsoever, in fact I was amazed at how smooth Chrome scrolled up and down and didn't realize my 7+ safari scrolling is pretty bad in comparison. Although I've never really noticed any lag on Samsung phones probably since the Note 4. I notice more lag on my 7+, and frequent freezes of the OS for a second or 3.
Anyhow, just some more extended thoughts on the N8 as I wait for my order. Which leads me to another caveat, Samsung customer services SUCKS. Yeah I meant the capital letters, and that's one factor which scares me if I have warranty issues. My order said "ships by September 15", but today it still doesn't say shipped, it doesn't even say processing. I tried to chat with Samsung but they said they only dealt with technical issues. I called and after 45 minutes on hold hung up, but on my next call I let them put me into their queue to call me back, estimated call back in 4 hours!! I really really don't know if I want to deal with Samsung customer service after being pampered with Apple answering my call almost immediately and having their physical stores available. If it doesn't ship by the end of the day I may just cancel it and grab a 8+ to tie me over until the X, or the pixel XL.
