We've got Samsung's Galaxy Note 9: Get your questions answered here (The 3:59, Ep. 440)

The 359 is sponsored by USB Technology. The USB implementors forum reminds consumers that USB-IF logos are displayed on certified USB products. So the next time you're shopping for a reliable USB charger, cable, or device, look for the logos. Get the whole story at enablingusb.org. [SOUND] Welcome to 3:59, I'm Roger Chang and with me are special guests Char [UNKNOWN] and Jessica [UNKNOWN]. There are here to talk about the Galaxy [UNKNOWN] and really all things Samsung because it wasn't really just about the [UNKNOWN] Note nine today, right? Correct. So first of all, we should get to the file. Let's break down the flagship product. This is the Note nine. What are some of the highlight features? Okay, so I've got the Note nine right here. The highlight in any Note is going to be the stylus. And with Samsung Samsung did, and this is really the standout future of the phone, is not only can you write and draw like you normally could, but there is a bluetooth antenna in here, so it is bluetooth enabled. Which means that if you long press or short press on this button, depending on what shop you're in, it will do something. So maybe launch the camera app, switch around the camera, take a pictures. So this basically extends the functionality. Beyond what we normally see. Other than that, we see a lot more storage options and a much larger battery. But essentially, some features are the same as the Galaxy S9, including the camera setup. Yeah, and well, I guess the other thing that stood out to me was the price. Right? $1,000. Starting. Starting. And there's 12- And that's for the 128GB version, and then there's a 512GB version that is $1,250. Yeah. They both sync with a 512 SD card. You can get a whole terrabyte of storage, but that's pretty big numbers. Right? Yeah. I mean it really is, especially when you consider that flash storage is so cheap right now. Like you could buy microSD cards-- like I was just looking, a 64GB one you can get for like $5.00 on Amazon. And you know that's one of the nice things about Samsung phones is you can expand the memory, but you can do it really cheaply. So the memory is a big selling point for why it's more expensive is a little shaky to me. And look the iPhone 10 is 1000 but it was a big design change over the previous generation. This phone. The iPhone 10 also includes cutting edge technology with a 3D front facing camera, we don't see this in here. We have an iris scanner and that's great, but that's been around in generations and the phones just get more expensive. So I think what we're really looking at is really a shift in what the appropriate price for a higher device should be and Samsung is trying to make the claim. Yeah, well that sucks for all of our wallets. But going through some of the other features. You talked about the battery which was the other kind of big point they were focusing on. It's 21% bigger capacity. Yeah, it's 4,000 milliampere. There you go, and so I mean, do you think that's enough to get people to, like is that a big enough feature that people will care about? I mean people complain about that all the time, right? I think that the major driving points for purchase, you've got the camera definately, you've got screen quality, But these days it's just don't be bad. Battery life is huge. So there are a lot of people, especially now that you can't remove batteries and swap them as you could 10, 15 years ago, there really is a demand for Phones with long lasting batteries. Of course, there's a lot of things you can do. This phone has fast charging, it's got wireless charging. You can top off your phone every day. It'll go from zero to completely full in probably around two, two and a half hours. So there are ways to extend battery life. I think people are just really worrying about running out because the phone is such an important part of our daily lives. I mean what would you do without your phone if it went dead, right? I'd go back home, charge my phone. The day is over. If you could look at the train schedule and like, you know. Exactly, well you're right actually I wouldn't be able to make it home. Yeah. I think a lot of people get very worried about this. Absolutely, and see another big feature, the improvement to the camera, the intelligent camera, right? Yeah okay, so [LAUGH] [LAUGH] It's pretty much the same camera setup. This is a little bit of AI software, this is software that we've seen on other phones, including some high end phones from Huawei. It's not new, this is something that a lot of phones are gonna be picking up. Basically, it sees a cookie and identifies it as food and changes the settings. So this is potentially useful. I wouldn't say it's a make or break in any way, shape, or form. I also thought when we were just playing with it, and I haven't used it since you had this, but when we were just playing with it earlier, it seemed that it was slow. It took a little, it's like you had to wait a beat before it figured out what it was instead of just being able to take the picture. I mean and you'll find out more when you do it more, but- Yeah and you can't swipe it away like you can on [INAUDIBLE] phones. It's either on or it's off. Okay, for all of our Samsung Galaxy Note 9 coverage, check out CNET. I'm Roger Chang. I'm Sarah Shipkin. And Jessica Alcart. Thanks for listening. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]