Database Develop

Would you still buy the note9?

Hello there!
Been a long time since I have taken a look on the forums, been a while away from samsung phones, but I still get attracted to the note 9
Read and heard some good and bad things about the note and coming from Oneplus (i have the 5) I was wondering if people would still buy the note with the knowledge you have now after using it for a couple of months..
Now with pie and the the new Samsung one ui i get even more tempted to make a switch back to Samsung..

Now with pie, yes in this context it is worth to buy. I have two, geez!!!

Note 9 is the best overall by far. So much functionality and features inside a premium device. I used 2 pixel 3, one normal and other XL, and despite the camera, I couldn't see nothing better than Note.
I'm a heavy camera user. Stock camera is great and now with Gcam working on it nothing beats this device.
In my opinion, Samsung software is the most complete at the moment.

Absolutely the Note 9 is worth it. Everything runs perfectly and pair it together with the Night Sight Gcam, there's almost no reason to look at other phones on the current market.

Cristiano Matos said:
Note 9 is the best overall by far. So much functionality and features inside a premium device. I used 2 pixel 3, one normal and other XL, and despite the camera, I couldn't see nothing better than Note.
I'm a heavy camera user. Stock camera is great and now with Gcam working on it nothing beats this device.
In my opinion, Samsung software is the most complete at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where can I find GCam for the Note 9?
Thanks in advance

diego9016 said:
Where can I find GCam for the Note 9?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In these forums under the apps, themes section.

And do you use exynos or the snapdragon version?

Best phone I've ever owned! LOVE the S Pen functionality and I have had no issues at all. Not rooted and easily get 7 hrs odd SoT, all round brilliant device. I have the exynos version.
Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Hands down a great Phone! EXynos!!

I'd buy it in a heartbeat today (Exynos). But that's coming form a traditional Note user. Been on this series since my Note 1 on AT&T.

Awesome Smartphone, Samsung truly has given us tons of features with this smartphone! i still got tons more to learn! Some people are saying the Huawei Mate 20 Pro is in some ways better!
i dont know if i could agree, there Amoled display are good. But not as Good as the Samsung AMOLED.. Also battery easily 7 hours on screen time and that's without root.. Huawei Mate 20 Pro they use really aggressive battery management tweaks witch leads to bugs!
The note 9 camera rocks. We had G-Cam working but the PIE ONE UI killed that. i'm sure some dev will find a way around to get it working again..
if you are after an really powerfull smartphone then NOTE9 is the way to go! if you wont gimmicks and stuff get the Huawei Mate 20 Pro!

At this point I'd save up for the Note 10. Pie should be better optimized with the hardware since its being built ground up with pie.
Rumor(hasnt been confirmed but based on "leaks"):
Bigger screen
Bigger Battery
Three cameras
Near bezel-less design.
faster charging solution

worldsoutro said:
At this point I'd save up for the Note 10. Pie should be better optimized with the hardware since its being built ground up with pie.
Rumor(hasnt been confirmed but based on "leaks"):
Bigger screen
Bigger Battery
Three cameras
Near bezel-less design.
faster charging solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...and probably $1800.00 based on the S10 Reports... ugh!

jimd1050 said:
...and probably $1800.00 based on the S10 Reports... ugh!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw that and I just don't believe it. Samsung know the markets had changed and sales haven't been as good. I expect around 1k with some decent trade ins to boot.
---------- Post added at 06:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:23 PM ----------
Not saying 1k+ is not too much because it is! Flagship prices are out of control.
Funny that where the O6T is priced is what flagships used to cost.

Now? I would wait for S10 to be shown to know direction of Note10 changes. Every year when S series is presented, you have glimpse about Note series design and functions, yes? So this year will be no different, and i would count on price drop of Note9, but yes - i would buy it again i think. Someone mentioned about prices - it`s getting pretty high, year after year so note9 was very expensive at start, and Note10? I can`t imagine price tag of this one. $1999 for best option (probably 10-12 gigs of ram and 1TB of space?) - nevertheless, note9 is enough for few years, maybe note 12 will be one i will look for, or note 13?

Would I buy it again? Probably yes, if the price is right. But the exynos version is imho still way behind the snapdragon version, sadly. This was thoroughly tested by anandtech for the S9+ and later confirmed for the Note 9. It's a pain in the ass to see that Samsung includes two different SOCs in their products which, this time around, provide a different user experience. The story apparently continues with the S10 and most likely the Note 10 respectively with the exynos version being the inferior version of the two, in terms of efficiency and LTE performance.
All that aside, the Note 9 is easily the best phone I've ever owned with a great and most complete set of features. If you can live with the SOC issue, the high cost and the huge dimensions of the device, you will be fine. It's a great device. Eventhough I personally don't like the PIE update apart from the gesture navigation.

here is johnny said:
Hello there!
Been a long time since I have taken a look on the forums, been a while away from samsung phones, but I still get attracted to the note 9
Read and heard some good and bad things about the note and coming from Oneplus (i have the 5) I was wondering if people would still buy the note with the knowledge you have now after using it for a couple of months..
Now with pie and the the new Samsung one ui i get even more tempted to make a switch back to Samsung..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only if you can get the snapdragon version. Not only it's superior for gaming, battery life, smoothness, multitasking, emulation and app loading/transitioning - but the one UI on the exynos note 9 is less smooth than even oreo, really disappointed on that one. Phone priced at 1000 euro with UI smoothness of midrange phone + they f up the multitasking on android 9 and made it like google's implementation... slow to use, not convenient to use, less features...
---------- Post added at 02:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:52 PM ----------
OberstGrausam said:
Would I buy it again? Probably yes, if the price is right. But the exynos version is imho still way behind the snapdragon version, sadly. This was thoroughly tested by anandtech for the S9+ and later confirmed for the Note 9. It's a pain in the ass to see that Samsung includes two different SOCs in their products which, this time around, provide a different user experience. The story apparently continues with the S10 and most likely the Note 10 respectively with the exynos version being the inferior version of the two, in terms of efficiency and LTE performance.
All that aside, the Note 9 is easily the best phone I've ever owned with a great and most complete set of features. If you can live with the SOC issue, the high cost and the huge dimensions of the device, you will be fine. It's a great device. Eventhough I personally don't like the PIE update apart from the gesture navigation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This with both hands, snapdragon 955 will make a joke of the exynos 9820 the same way sd845 makes a joke of the exynos 9810. Also I clearly see lags in the animations in android 9, more so vs the oreo (that is actually proven to be A LOT smoother with the snapdragon SOC!!!). I am so disappointed from that SOC and the funny part is that we in Europe PAID MORE, 1000 euro is 1140 us dollars currently. SOC is like buying the most expensive computer both me and you, but I receive the best possible cpu, gpu, ssd, etc while you receive midrange cpu, gpu, ssd, motherboard and so on. There is no excuse and really important for the longevity of the phone and the experience with it... wish we had the apple's A12 in the note 9 tbh, but that's another topic (sadly I dislike a lot about apple to buy an iphone just because of the great SOC). We already see a problem with longevity (and don't me even get started on the gaming part as there is absurd difference + yes, I game on my phone), I am sure the snapdragon will be a lot smoother on the new android and UI.

@high_voltage , I agree. It's a bit of a let down that everyone despite the american users only get the second best version of the Note 9. It wouldn't be a big issue for me if Samsung in europe also provides warranty for the snapdragon variant. Sadly thats not the case and thus you are either stuck with the exynos version or you risk to get snapdragon version which might, as every phone might, develop some issues over time. In addition, Samsung makes it harder to use different phones in different regions due to their region lock.
As of now, the new snapdragon seems to be superior again but I guess we have to wait and see how it'll turn out. It wasn't always the case though, the S8 exynos version was superior to the snapdragon one based on what've read. Sadly, the One UI really fells inferior to the "old" Samsung UX, but it might get more polished over time. I still think that Samsung is able to pull it off since it has done so with the S9s when they were introduced.
So yeah, I'd buy the Note 9 again because I love the features and the SPen, eventhough I hate to be forced to spend more money on only the second best option available.

OberstGrausam said:
@high_voltage , I agree. It's a bit of a let down that everyone despite the american users only get the second best version of the Note 9. It wouldn't be a big issue for me if Samsung in europe also provides warranty for the snapdragon variant. Sadly thats not the case and thus you are either stuck with the exynos version or you risk to get snapdragon version which might, as every phone might, develop some issues over time. In addition, Samsung makes it harder to use different phones in different regions due to their region lock.
As of now, the new snapdragon seems to be superior again but I guess we have to wait and see how it'll turn out. It wasn't always the case though, the S8 exynos version was superior to the snapdragon one based on what've read. Sadly, the One UI really fells inferior to the "old" Samsung UX, but it might get more polished over time. I still think that Samsung is able to pull it off since it has done so with the S9s when they were introduced.
So yeah, I'd buy the Note 9 again because I love the features and the SPen, eventhough I hate to be forced to spend more money on only the second best option available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some of the things in the one UI are great and polished, but not everything and that sad, as it's literally "samsung rushed the update" type of comment shaping while they had so much time for development and beta testing...
For the exynos vs snapdragon it was like that:
s6 exynos was vastly superior to the flawed snapdragon 810 nicknamed "the oven"
s7 exynos was superior in the CPU part to the snapdragon 820 - better battery life, better CPU, less heat, better DAC (i.e. better audio via headphones), but had weaker GPU (but by not that much!). Overall better SOC!
s8 exynos was same as speed in CPU as the snapdragon 835, but less heat and longer battery life. The DAC was also better. The GPU was noticeable slower tho even in that generation. It was no clear winner, for gaming - sd variant, otherwise the exynos.
s9 exynos is where all fall apart - CPU is a lot slower in real world (and all benches except geekbench too, mind you), the GPU is roflmao slower, the DAC in the new snapdragon 845 is vastly improved and similar to the wolfson/lucky in the exynos, battery life on the snapdragon is better WHILE being faster. The only part where the exynos is still better is that in heavy loads the phone is colder and... that's all. This year the difference was absurdly big to the point that every single review before launch was snapdragon variant as samsung send ONLY those to the popular reviewers.
Sadly, and I am talking as a "tech heavy" person that is really into electronics as a hobby and professionally - the new exynos 9820 will still lag behind even by samsungs own projections. Read a lot, it will be worse in every department vs the snapdragon 855 and both will be vastly behind the apple's A12, more competing with the iphone X A11. Sad story, really... this samsung practice should be more exposed so they can stop it. Every person on that forum that had both variants infront of him said the same thing: "I came prepared for a difference into this, but didn't expect it to be that big!" then returned the exynos while keeping the snapdragon 845 one.

Without hesitation I absolutely love my Note 9(Snapdragon). It's battery is nearly on the level of my V20 with an extended battery. With the Pie beta so far the device is on a level of its own. If you have the opportunity just buy it.

Custom Roms exynos vs snapdragon

Hi. I just observed that exynoss version n9 has currently better custom.rom support than the snapdragon one. Not sure if I am looking at the right forum as I always thought custom rom support is easy on snapdragon. Pls clarify

Should be because most snapdragon model out there can't unlock the bootloader, for Samsung

kirankowshik said:
Hi. I just observed that exynoss version n9 has currently better custom.rom support than the snapdragon one. Not sure if I am looking at the right forum as I always thought custom rom support is easy on snapdragon. Pls clarify
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look for yourself:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-9/development
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...on-roms-kernels-recoveries--other-development
Short answer:
Model SM-N960F & SM-N960F-D/S: (Exynos) Root & ROMs
Model SM-N9600: (Snapdragon International) Root & ROM (Yes,only one ROM ATM)
Model SM-N960U / SM-N960U1 / SM-N960W: (Snapdragon North America) Nothing,don't expect this to change anytime soon,if ever.
Model SM-N960N (Korean version,other Korean versions that are carrier specific may exist,or,as with the American & Canadian versions,share the same model number) You'll have to look for yourself,little to nothing exists here @ XDA.
If you want detailed what & why's,Google & XDA Search is your friend,the topic of ROM support has been discussed at great length on many sites/forums......................

Can i flash gsis on the n9600 version? I really don't want a exynos considering the low performance as many comparisions say

kirankowshik said:
Can i flash gsis on the n9600 version? I really don't want a exynos considering the low performance as many comparisions say
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FWIW,some are stating Android 9.0 brought some performance improvements to the Exynos version.
However,if you're set on the SM-N9600 Snapdragon version (& the limited development support),this thread goes off-topic discussing GSI ROMs,give it a look & ask around:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/ga...ries--other-development/rom-weta-0-1-t3847155
Give the 1st post in the link a good look for links to further discussions of the int'l SnapDragon model..............

Thank you for the info. If I have a n960 u1 version does it have bootloader unlocked? I saw somewhwre that u1 is the unlocked version. In that case will I be able to flash any gsi treble roms?

kirankowshik said:
Thank you for the info. If I have a n960 u1 version does it have bootloader unlocked? I saw somewhwre that u1 is the unlocked version. In that case will I be able to flash any gsi treble roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the SM-N960U/U1/W versions do not have an unlockable bootloader.
The unlock you're referring to is in regards to the carrier free version (SIM Unlocked).
https://youtu.be/lVIHuC6v39E

Oh okay got it. So only the n9600 and n960f f/ds have bootloader unlocks. Please confirm

kirankowshik said:
Oh okay got it. So only the n9600 and n960f f/ds have bootloader unlocks. Please confirm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, exactly, but, don't take my word for it.....
If you look around, the exact question you're posing has been asked & answered numerous times.

kirankowshik said:
Can i flash gsis on the n9600 version? I really don't want a exynos considering the low performance as many comparisions say
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even tho android 9 improved a little the exynos 9810 scheduler - it's still a far inferior chip to the snapdragon 945. If you can choose, don't - pick the snapdragon. The few more custom ROMs won't change the difference. For more vivid example - imagine a midrange phone with custom ROMs vs high end phone without custom ROMs support. Dunno about you, but for primary device, I would pick the high end phone (especially when they are priced the same). This is my personal opinion and yes, I have the exynos note 9 and yes - read a lot + know people and the snapdragon is not just a little bit better, it's vastly better to the point that it's super obvious almost instantly when you have both of the variants in-front of you.

high_voltage said:
Even tho android 9 improved a little the exynos 9810 scheduler - it's still a far inferior chip to the snapdragon 945. If you can choose, don't - pick the snapdragon. The few more custom ROMs won't change the difference. For more vivid example - imagine a midrange phone with custom ROMs vs high end phone without custom ROMs support. Dunno about you, but for primary device, I would pick the high end phone (especially when they are priced the same). This is my personal opinion and yes, I have the exynos note 9 and yes - read a lot + know people and the snapdragon is not just a little bit better, it's vastly better to the point that it's super obvious almost instantly when you have both of the variants in-front of you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the gap is very little now between exynos and snapdragon
I see multiple benchmark that stated these
I don't have either ones
But i order the exynos because it's the only version available in my country
But after seeing the difference I desid i will flip it
But now after the pie update and the improvement
I don't know what to do
Btw ( the price was good 650$)
Can you share a benchmark in pie since you have exynos

ahmedwhy said:
But the gap is very little now between exynos and snapdragon
I see multiple benchmark that stated these
I don't have either ones
But i order the exynos because it's the only version available in my country
But after seeing the difference I desid i will flip it
But now after the pie update and the improvement
I don't know what to do
Btw ( the price was good 650$)
Can you share a benchmark in pie since you have exynos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
25-35% slower GPU (depending on the workload/game), frame drops are a lot more with the exynos, battery life is lower, apps opens slower, heavy multitasking is worse/choppier. Yes, the scores improved, but I am yet to see note 9 sd android 9 scores, so maybe they improved too. Search for the Andrei's article in anandtech mobile section (second page currently), he compared the two note 9 variants. Yes, they are both on oreo, but you can see what is the overall situation. Not to mention that no matter how much samsung tweak the SOC control, they cannot change the hardware part of it. You decide for yourself, I also have the exynos and the phone is good, just wish that I had the better one...
For 650$ it's a good phone. Don't return it, I am sure you will love it.

high_voltage said:
Even tho android 9 improved a little the exynos 9810 scheduler - it's still a far inferior chip to the snapdragon 945. If you can choose, don't - pick the snapdragon. The few more custom ROMs won't change the difference. For more vivid example - imagine a midrange phone with custom ROMs vs high end phone without custom ROMs support. Dunno about you, but for primary device, I would pick the high end phone (especially when they are priced the same). This is my personal opinion and yes, I have the exynos note 9 and yes - read a lot + know people and the snapdragon is not just a little bit better, it's vastly better to the point that it's super obvious almost instantly when you have both of the variants in-front of you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I assume you have held both variants in your hands? Which models? (N960F & N9600?)
Just out of interest, can you say more specifically what was vastly superior on the Snapdragon variant?
I have only checked the Exynos variant (N960F running Oreo with October patch) at a local store and simply browsing around the interface, it was very fast and fluid.
Is the performance so different that side-by-side, the Snapdragon variant is visually faster and smoother/more fluid?
Keep in mind, there are other differences as well. For example, the HK variant of the N9600 does not have VoLTE.
For what its worth, I ordered the Snapdragon variant as well because I want the top internal specs and was willing to pay a slight premium to get it. Hopefully I can modify the the software to address the shortcomings over the Exynos 950FD.
I also hope that we see more ROMs for the N9600.

high_voltage said:
25-35% slower GPU (depending on the workload/game), frame drops are a lot more with the exynos, battery life is lower, apps opens slower, heavy multitasking is worse/choppier. Yes, the scores improved, but I am yet to see note 9 sd android 9 scores, so maybe they improved too. Search for the Andrei's article in anandtech mobile section (second page currently), he compared the two note 9 variants. Yes, they are both on oreo, but you can see what is the overall situation. Not to mention that no matter how much samsung tweak the SOC control, they cannot change the hardware part of it. You decide for yourself, I also have the Exynos and the phone is good, just wish that I had the better one...
For 650$ it's a good phone. Don't return it, I am sure you will love it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you very much for replying
yes i sow the post for anandtech
and that scare the s*it of me
but i in the other side there are benchmarks
withe exynos have 255000 in antutu and sd have 280000
so these number is good
and btw the highest sd 854 sd score was 280000 on the pocophone and oneplus 6t
so i think they can improve it more
and tweaking the kernel make wonder
especially if they weren't tweaked right from the start

Byte_76 said:
Can I assume you have held both variants in your hands? Which models? (N960F & N9600?)
Just out of interest, can you say more specifically what was vastly superior on the Snapdragon variant?
I have only checked the Exynos variant (N960F running Oreo with October patch) at a local store and simply browsing around the interface, it was very fast and fluid.
Is the performance so different that side-by-side, the Snapdragon variant is visually faster and smoother/more fluid?
Keep in mind, there are other differences as well. For example, the HK variant of the N9600 does not have VoLTE.
For what its worth, I ordered the Snapdragon variant as well because I want the top internal specs and was willing to pay a slight premium to get it. Hopefully I can modify the the software to address the shortcomings over the Exynos 950FD.
I also hope that we see more ROMs for the N9600.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What shortcomings? Few respected members @ XDA got both variants, Andrei from anandtech got them (he is also known as developer, if you didn't know), friend of mine who lives outside my country currently also got them. All of them returned the exynos and kept the snapdragon, all of them said they came prepare into that comparison but didn't expect the difference to be that big. There are also real tests that solidify this with facts + geekbench is THE ONLY bench that put the exynos CPU part ahead of the snapdragon, every other bench is the opposite. The exynos is not that bad, it's just not on the snapdragon level - there are more frame drops here and there, battery life is worse, the GPU is A LOT weaker leading to vastly worse gaming, app loading is slower (and this hurts a lot, simple example - app opening most will say w/e if it's 0.5s more, but when you open notification from messenger and in the one case it's like iphone smooth/instant opening the app and in the other slight delay and choppy animations when opening - then the user experience suffers), heavy multitasking is slower and choppier in the animations when transitions are happening, emulators are a lot worse on the exynos too. Just search for "how to improve exynos 9810" part 1 and 2 @ anandtech, then read the direct note 9 variants comparison and you will get the idea with facts. Subjectively everyone who tried the both variants said the same, this doesn't make the note 9 exynos super bad, but I payed more money (1140$ as euro > $) than someone in USA to get high tier midrange SOC. Don't forget that nowdays even a midrange SOC can run everything smooth, even games... but after a year, or two? What if you wan't to play demanding game and instead of fps drops to 20, to have 60 stable? What if you wan't smooth experience instead of frame drop here, frame drop there, choppy app opening, etc). Why should I pay more for less? Hell, even the DAC on the sd845 is really stepped up and the wolfson/lucky in the exynos are no more vastly better...
The exynos 9820 from what is officially revealed from samsung and leaked - will be no different, vastly behind the sd855, but let's see. (also both are roflstomped from the apple's A12 and even A11 pulls ahead, sadly they got other problems like price, locked OS, etc).
So to sum it up: is the exynos version that bad? No, it's not at all. The snapdragon version is just better at... everything this year and the difference is bigger than ever. When we combine that with the fact that in Europe we pay 1000 euro for the phone or 1140$ while in USA someone will pay 1000$ and receive a better GPU/CPU in the phone... well, yes, it's not fair and not like we have a choice either. Especially with this year week android manufacturers performance with copycat of apple iphone's worse aspects without taking the good ones.
---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:14 PM ----------
ahmedwhy said:
thank you very much for replying
yes i sow the post for anandtech
and that scare the s*it of me
but i in the other side there are benchmarks
withe exynos have 255000 in antutu and sd have 280000
so these number is good
and btw the highest sd 854 sd score was 280000 on the pocophone and oneplus 6t
so i think they can improve it more
and tweaking the kernel make wonder
especially if they weren't tweaked right from the start
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to be scared, the exynos variant is just fine. I am just a tech heavy person that has the knowledge to understand the deep architectural dives and into hardware, thus I can tell you that as a hardware the exynos 9810 even tweaked to it's best possible way will never match the sd845 both in CPU and GPU (or come close to it for an fact). The mali GPU just don't have the raw power to even be in the same class with the adreno, even the sd835 is faster in GPU. The CPU big cores has a lot going on, BUT they are really power hungry. Unleashing them to close the gap to the sd845 CPU, will lead to a bad battery life and a lot of heat - so it's not viable. Also there is something that should not be forgotten, galaxy s10 is just around the corner and tweaking the note 9/s9 will absolutely not be priority. The efforts from the competent engineers will go towards 9820 in the s10. What we have in android 9 will be most likely the last tweaking for performance for this device (atleast to a more measurable degree).
This should not scare you, as I said - the note 9 exynos is just fine and you will see that when you receive the device. I am talking about more of an power user perspective, but then again - you pay the same money as the person that got a better version of the phone = this is totally a scam from samsung, albeit a legal one.

high_voltage said:
What shortcomings? Few respected members @ XDA got both variants, Andrei from anandtech got them (he is also known as developer, if you didn't know), friend of mine who lives outside my country currently also got them. All of them returned the exynos and kept the snapdragon, all of them said they came prepare into that comparison but didn't expect the difference to be that big. There are also real tests that solidify this with facts + geekbench is THE ONLY bench that put the exynos CPU part ahead of the snapdragon, every other bench is the opposite. The exynos is not that bad, it's just not on the snapdragon level - there are more frame drops here and there, battery life is worse, the GPU is A LOT weaker leading to vastly worse gaming, app loading is slower (and this hurts a lot, simple example - app opening most will say w/e if it's 0.5s more, but when you open notification from messenger and in the one case it's like iphone smooth/instant opening the app and in the other slight delay and choppy animations when opening - then the user experience suffers), heavy multitasking is slower and choppier in the animations when transitions are happening, emulators are a lot worse on the exynos too. Just search for "how to improve exynos 9810" part 1 and 2 @ anandtech, then read the direct note 9 variants comparison and you will get the idea with facts. Subjectively everyone who tried the both variants said the same, this doesn't make the note 9 exynos super bad, but I payed more money (1140$ as euro > $) than someone in USA to get high tier midrange SOC. Don't forget that nowdays even a midrange SOC can run everything smooth, even games... but after a year, or two? What if you wan't to play demanding game and instead of fps drops to 20, to have 60 stable? What if you wan't smooth experience instead of frame drop here, frame drop there, choppy app opening, etc). Why should I pay more for less? Hell, even the DAC on the sd845 is really stepped up and the wolfson/lucky in the exynos are no more vastly better...
The exynos 9820 from what is officially revealed from samsung and leaked - will be no different, vastly behind the sd855, but let's see. (also both are roflstomped from the apple's A12 and even A11 pulls ahead, sadly they got other problems like price, locked OS, etc).
So to sum it up: is the exynos version that bad? No, it's not at all. The snapdragon version is just better at... everything this year and the difference is bigger than ever. When we combine that with the fact that in Europe we pay 1000 euro for the phone or 1140$ while in USA someone will pay 1000$ and receive a better GPU/CPU in the phone... well, yes, it's not fair and not like we have a choice either. Especially with this year week android manufacturers performance with copycat of apple iphone's worse aspects without taking the good ones.
---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:14 PM ----------
No need to be scared, the exynos variant is just fine. I am just a tech heavy person that has the knowledge to understand the deep architectural dives and into hardware, thus I can tell you that as a hardware the exynos 9810 even tweaked to it's best possible way will never match the sd845 both in CPU and GPU (or come close to it for an fact). The mali GPU just don't have the raw power to even be in the same class with the adreno, even the sd835 is faster in GPU. The CPU big cores has a lot going on, BUT they are really power hungry. Unleashing them to close the gap to the sd845 CPU, will lead to a bad battery life and a lot of heat - so it's not viable. Also there is something that should not be forgotten, galaxy s10 is just around the corner and tweaking the note 9/s9 will absolutely not be priority. The efforts from the competent engineers will go towards 9820 in the s10. What we have in android 9 will be most likely the last tweaking for performance for this device (atleast to a more measurable degree).
This should not scare you, as I said - the note 9 exynos is just fine and you will see that when you receive the device. I am talking about more of an power user perspective, but then again - you pay the same money as the person that got a better version of the phone = this is totally a scam from samsung, albeit a legal one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree with in every word you sayed
me too i consider my self a tech heavy person
and i know deep in mind i will never be in rest after this knowledge
but it's the only option i have or the oneplus 6t or the pocophone
and i didn't pay the full price just 650
so i think it's not a bad of deal
oneplus 6t have the same price with better soc by 10% and better support and oxygen os
or note with a better camera, display, fingerprint, design, mic, and vibration motor
and i trust in the build quality with Samsung more than i trust oneplus (maybe i am wrong )
but coming from note 4 for 5 years ...amazing phone
in the end, i chose Samsung and i hate my choice
agreed with you it's a scam and the worst ia a legal scam
i don't know these is possible every advertise and review unit to the reviewer is snapdragon
and if you bought the phone without knowing
in any country expect us
you will ge a different lowest phone .......whaaaat
how no one changing these
in my country (Egypt) there is no low to control that..... but in Europe
come on
if Samsung advertise there phone with Exynos SOC no one will pay it (at least every one know what is SOC)

I am also a tech savvy person with a long background in technology. I have a strong understanding of the architecture of the two SoC's in question.
Despite thinking that I had made up my mind to go with the Exynos variant in the copper color that I wanted, I too felt that I would not be happy knowing that I had paid top dollar for the Exynos variant. In the end, I chose the Snapdragon variant (at the last minute) despite having to go with a non-preferred color. I'll put a case on the phone and forget about the color but I'll have that mental satisfaction of knowing that I have the best SoC that was available in the Note 9.
That said, I was prepared to pay for the SD version and had the option to choose either way.
If my budget was fixed at $650 with the option to choose between OnePlus 6T, Poco Phone and a few other options, I would have chosen the Exynos Note 9 without a second thought. To me, the Note 9 is a lot better than the Poco Phone and compared to the 6T, you get a much better display, wirelss charging, a 4000mah battery and the stylus, to name just a few. (At near equal pricing, there really are a lot of advantages for the note 9 over the 6T that outweigh the benefits of the SD845 vs the Exynos 9810.)

Byte_76 said:
I am also a tech savvy person with a long background in technology. I have a strong understanding of the architecture of the two SoC's in question.
Despite thinking that I had made up my mind to go with the Exynos variant in the copper color that I wanted, I too felt that I would not be happy knowing that I had paid top dollar for the Exynos variant. In the end, I chose the Snapdragon variant (at the last minute) despite having to go with a non-preferred color. I'll put a case on the phone and forget about the color but I'll have that mental satisfaction of knowing that I have the best SoC that was available in the Note 9.
That said, I was prepared to pay for the SD version.and had the option to choose either way.
If my budget was fixed at $650 with the option to choose between OnePlus 6T, Poco Phone and a few other options, I would have chosen the Exynos Note 9 without a second thought. To me, the Note 9 is a lot better than the Poco Phone and compared to the 6T, you get a much better display, wirelss charging, a 4000mah battery and the stylus, to name just a few. (At near equal pricing, there really are a lot of advantages for the note 9 over the 6T that outweigh the benefits of the SD845 vs the Exynos 9810.)
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Click to collapse
Thank you very much
I will go with the exynos and hope for the best
Hope you well have great time with your note
And hope we can compare our score in benchmarks when we receive it

ahmedwhy said:
i agree with in every word you sayed
me too i consider my self a tech heavy person
and i know deep in mind i will never be in rest after this knowledge
but it's the only option i have or the oneplus 6t or the pocophone
and i didn't pay the full price just 650
so i think it's not a bad of deal
oneplus 6t have the same price with better soc by 10% and better support and oxygen os
or note with a better camera, display, fingerprint, design, mic, and vibration motor
and i trust in the build quality with Samsung more than i trust oneplus (maybe i am wrong )
but coming from note 4 for 5 years ...amazing phone
in the end, i chose Samsung and i hate my choice
agreed with you it's a scam and the worst ia a legal scam
i don't know these is possible every advertise and review unit to the reviewer is snapdragon
and if you bought the phone without knowing
in any country expect us
you will ge a different lowest phone .......whaaaat
how no one changing these
in my country (Egypt) there is no low to control that..... but in Europe
come on
if Samsung advertise there phone with Exynos SOC no one will pay it (at least every one know what is SOC)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I would pick the exynos note 9 over the oneplus 6t, especially when they are both priced the same. Overall the note 9 is a better phone in a lot of ways.

I am probably going for n9600 version with snapdragon 845. Was struggling to decide between op6t and this but I am a bit crazy abt the features of note 9 rather than the op6t which seem barebones. I come from a nokia 7 plus hence its almost same on op6t. Another question, can you show me a way to unlocm bootloader on n9600? Any site for that. I tried looking around but cdnt get any

SD855 is much better than the Exynos 9820 :(

check the below performance comparison ,
i really want this phone after so much time i was away from samsung , but as now i have iphone X i don't want a laggy or stuttery phone ,
when you see this video , the exynos is not only slower but even stuttry when switching between tests than the SD855 , it makes me want to got to the MI9 from xiaomi only for the cpu
https://youtu.be/MgRnbm9wrzg
i wish the exynos was at least on par with the 855 in performance

c'mon don't believe everything, wait for more elaborated cpu reviews... this Gary not seems to be a real expert

https://www.anandtech.com/show/14031/samsung-galaxy-s10-first-exynos-9820-vs-snapdragon-855-scores
Yes, snapdragon is way better, pity

Mohamad Gahed said:
check the below performance comparison ,
i really want this phone after so much time i was away from samsung , but as now i have iphone X i don't want a laggy or stuttery phone ,
when you see this video , the exynos is not only slower but even stuttry when switching between tests than the SD855 , it makes me want to got to the MI9 from xiaomi only for the cpu
https://youtu.be/MgRnbm9wrzg
i wish the exynos was at least on par with the 855 in performance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Besides having more Custom ROM options I don't know of any other advantages the Exynos Chipset has over the Spapdragon variant. As far as lagging, since the S9 it's not an issue and with UI/Android 9 Update it's as smooth and faster than than anything iPhone offers. The CPU in the S10 is the same as the Xiaomi so you'll get a lesser smartphone at a lower price.

varcor said:
Besides having more Custom ROM options I don't know of any other advantages the Exynos Chipset has over the Spapdragon variant. As far as lagging, since the S9 it's not an issue and with UI/Android 9 Update it's as smooth and faster than than anything iPhone offers. The CPU in the S10 is the same as the Xiaomi so you'll get a lesser smartphone at a lower price.
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Click to collapse
i mentioned xiaomi as it have the SD855 vs the Exynos in the s10 , as in my country we only have the exynos with samsung we don't get the SD ,
also i need to ask you about your statment about the s9 and the one UI update , are you talking about the exynos version or the SD 845 version?am interested to know if the 9810 also after the update is good in speed and not laggy or something as old samsungs specially after a while of use.

Mohamad Gahed said:
i mentioned xiaomi as it have the SD855 vs the Exynos in the s10 , as in my country we only have the exynos with samsung we don't get the SD ,
also i need to ask you about your statment about the s9 and the one UI update , are you talking about the exynos version or the SD 845 version?am interested to know if the 9810 also after the update is good in speed and not laggy or something as old samsungs specially after a while of use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's an SM-G9650, Snapdragon 845, Hong Kong, I won't consider a Exynos variant when I can get a Snapdragon variant, bootloader unlocked especially with the new SD 855 which is faster, no overheating, battery drain or carrier compatibility concerns. Not to mention the Snapdragon variant is much better optimized for AI and 5G.

Mmmmm, disappointing to say the least.
I have just cancelled my pre-order of the S10 from Sammy UK. I'm not happy spending £799.
Decided to order the U.S Version from Amazon. Not fussed with rooting this device, as I have other phones to play with.

johnny8910 said:
Mmmmm, disappointing to say the least.
I have just cancelled my pre-order of the S10 from Sammy UK. I'm not happy spending £799 on a phone with a chip set that is last year.
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Click to collapse
LOL, too funny, last year was 8 weeks ago! Almost all flagship android devices are using the SD 855. With the exceptions of iPhone A12, Exynos 9820 and Huawei's Kirin 980, all of which are older than the SD 855!

Slight overreaction but as someone who has the 10+ pre-ordered in the UK I do feel short-changed. If I could get the SD55 model in the UK I would.
If there is a significant difference between the two though this is not good for Samsung. Especially as we pay more in the UK for the privilege.

From what I have seen the Exynos single core is double that of the Snapdragon, and only falls a little short in mulyicore performance. But there are pros and cons to both chipsets.
However I do like the Snapdragon 855, and would be more uniform if Samsung just shipped all units with that chipset.

It's funny, you guys that aren't in North America want the SD 855 and a lot of us here in the USA want the Exynos 9820!
Personally, I ordered an Exynos variant and am receiving it March 4th. It seems as if there are a lot of issues with the Exynos version in terms of LTE bands as well, as the version I ordered is likely the SEA region that lacks specific bands that I want. But then again.. that prism green looks gorgeous and is a pretty big reason why I ordered it. I'm inclined to return it though, and trade in my old S8+ through Samsung since they're offering a decent amount for it. We'll see!

You guys are too picky. There is nothing wrong with Exynos 9820 version. It's amazingly fast with amazing battery life. Synthetic benchmarks mean almost nothing!
Real life speed test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uru9AnkgzHc
Real life battery test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgqinnFGqmQ

I ordered the Snapdragon version because its what Tmo US sells. I'm not a huge phone gamer, but I haven't found speed to be a factor on a modern flagship phone in years. I'm much more worried about battery life and overall features. Speed at this point is pretty much the least of my concerns. The only thing actually tying my to Samsung anymore is secure folder, another company REALLY needs to create a competitor. ( did order S10+)

I am interested in whichever one is better at battery life. If Samsung would put a midrange chipset with that camera in that shell, I would buy it I am inclined to believe that the 7nm Snapdragon will be better than the 8nm Exynos, but there were occasions (Galaxy S7/Edge) when the Exynos version was vastly superior in battery life. I would really want to see a battery life comparison between SD855 and Exynos 9820 in order to decide if importing from the US to Europe at a higher price is actually worth it.

Cst79 said:
I am interested in whichever one is better at battery life. If Samsung would put a midrange chipset with that camera in that shell, I would buy it I am inclined to believe that the 7nm Snapdragon will be better than the 8nm Exynos, but there were occasions (Galaxy S7/Edge) when the Exynos version was vastly superior in battery life. I would really want to see a battery life comparison between SD855 and Exynos 9820 in order to decide if importing from the US to Europe at a higher price is actually worth it.
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Click to collapse
Exactly what I would say. Waiting on a battery comparison as well.
Benchmarks are not that important. I tend to set all my phones on a battery friendly setting since years.
Preordered the exynos s10, but in the end its the only option really in Europe. If battery is better then I can miss out on the speed. But i agree on some of the opinions that charging the same money on so vastly different phones when there is such a big difference in the chipsets is wrong.
But I would say we have to wait for the release, as the demo and preproduction units are not with final software.
Sent from my LG H930 using Tapatalk

the snapdragon version when it comes out? on ebay I only saw the exynos version.

After 7 years of iPhone I'm planning to switch to android.
The problem is that the snapdragon version has the bootloader locked... and I don't know exactly in which way
I'm living in Mexico so we get the SD855 but we also have the exynos on Amazon.
SD855 is way better (battery, heating, speed) but can I at least root the device? Will be there few custom roms? I'm switching from iPhone cos I got tired and bored. But i dont want a device that locks me again...
On the other hand, the exynos comes with no warranty, heating issues, battery, etc. But it comes in dual SIM and green and flawless rooting/ custom roms
In the first year I don't plan to root/ change the ROM, but after a year I might want to do it and the most frustrating thing would be the impossibility due to locked bootloader.
Gosh just saw my signature )) I haven't been here for a loooong time haha

LEX404 said:
After 7 years of iPhone I'm planning to switch to android.
The problem is that the snapdragon version has the bootloader locked... and I don't know exactly in which way
I'm living in Mexico so we get the SD855 but we also have the exynos on Amazon.
SD855 is way better (battery, heating, speed) but can I at least root the device? Will be there few custom roms? I'm switching from iPhone cos I got tired and bored. But i dont want a device that locks me again...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SD models will come locked, and will stay that way unless a vulnerability is found, the same applies to root. No ETA on either of the two. But honestly don't expect the bootloader to become unlocked in the SD variant.

So the only chance is exynos from Amazon or if I can get SD from Hong Kong (probably not)
That's so unfair

LEX404 said:
So the only chance is exynos from Amazon or if I can get SD from Hong Kong (probably not)
That's so unfair
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, what's your preference?
Do you want bootloader unlocked, root or both?
If all you really want is root AND you were going to wait about a year anyway, then the SD model may be just fine.
If you want your bootloader unlocked then Exynos for sure.

Current state of Exnyos Vs snapdragon

I think most will have seen the early benchmarks showing the Snapdragon considerably outperforms the Exnyos version of the device in terms of speed and battery life.
My question is, is this still the case? Or have they managed to close the gap between them?
I don't really game very much so my main concerns to be honest are battery life, scrolling smoothness, overall performance more than high FPS in games.
many thanks ?

I think they will not differ much in normal usage and the exynos s10 is still very smooth with me till today specially while using FHD resolution
I also don't game at all frankly.

Mohamad Gahed said:
I think they will not differ much in normal usage and the exynos s10 is still very smooth with me till today specially while using FHD resolution
I also don't game at all frankly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good to hear. I don't want to upset anyone with the Exnyos variant, it's just frustrating that for basically the same price the USA gets the snap dragon and the rest of us get a solution which seems to be a little worse in every way. I wouldn't mind so much if it had better battery life or better performance in some other area.
Maybe I should stop thinking that way and just remember that it's still a strong performer.

retro83 said:
That's good to hear. I don't want to upset anyone with the Exnyos variant, it's just frustrating that for basically the same price the USA gets the snap dragon and the rest of us get a solution which seems to be a little worse in every way. I wouldn't mind so much if it had better battery life or better performance in some other area.
Maybe I should stop thinking that way and just remember that it's still a strong performer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
back in the note 4 days, the exnyos version was better in terms of battery life and cpu performance, but was worse in gpu.

No one is locked in to a certain device. You have the option to purchase the Snapdragon Hong Kong variant on Ebay which has a number of advantages over the US Snapdragon. The bootloader can be unlocked, dual SIM's, less bloatware and more telco frequency options. You lose the warranty, which I've never needed, since Samsung's quality issues are almost non existent. The Exynos variants may seem to have similar performance but it doesn't stack up to the Snapdragon SoC.

In my opinion I wouldn't worry too much. I came from a snapdragon 845 S9+ to an Exynos S10. With S9+ I could run every app and game fluently. No lag at all in android "Samsung experience". I ran Antutu benchmark on both phones and Exynos S10 have higher points than S9+ (CPU and GPU)
So, does it really matters that S855 is better than new Exynos when S845 could do anything and new Exynos is better than that?
We are at a point where numbers are getting higher but it really doesn't matter in real life. And Exynos have something that snapdragon doesn't and it is better developer's support (ROMS, mods, root, custom recovery, etc). So, Exynos is a win for me.
PD: S9+ is an excellent phone. I switched to S10 because my father wanted the S9+. Then I got S10 in a good sale wich is an excellent phone too: more ram, 64 vs 128 gb storage, little better CPU/GPU, little better more tunned camera, extra wide camera, more screen body relation, almost the same battery in a smaller phone, single SIM vs double SIM card (depends on your version) and it was cheaper for me because I got it in a good deal.
Enjoy you Exynos S10 and don't worry about the snapdragon version. It is an superb phone.

Exynos FTW!!

exynos speed takes a beating
I know I had the exynos s10+ sold it for the TGY version
tmobile speed has been steller
I missed the exynos roms and support but SD model is getting there too
plus we haave a fully working Gcam bam lol

Question S21 ultra exynos or s22 ultra snapdragon, which to buy?

Main priority is battery life. Budget is not the issue. Kinda inclined towards s21u design too. But confused about getting the newer thing.
Any thoughts?
(S pen matters little to none)

Snapdragon

Exynos has had a history of being worse than Snapdragon, especially battery life. Recently there has been news of some S22 Ultra Exynos devices having display issues. I would recommend getting the Snapdragon variant.

S22 Ultra Snapdragon

redpoint_ said:
Exynos has had a history of being worse than Snapdragon, especially battery life. Recently there has been news of some S22 Ultra Exynos devices having display issues. I would recommend getting the Snapdragon variant.
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Click to collapse
Yea. Read that about 2200 exynos. But i am asking about exynos 2100 with snapdragon 8gen 1. I guess s21u is more efficient. Aint it the case?

rob!n said:
Yea. Read that about 2200 exynos. But i am asking about exynos 2100 with snapdragon 8gen 1. I guess s21u is more efficient. Aint it the case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overoll i think Snapdragon is better but that new Snapdragon 8 gen 1 getting really hot in gaming or heavy camera use.
Here is one thread about it.
S22 Ultra gets VERY HOT (120°F during gaming)
Well been using my 22 Ultra for a few days now. Everything seems pretty solid, performance is good, cameras are fine. Mine does have 12gb of RAM and is the Snapdragon variant. But I noticed during gaming for even 10-15 minutes on stuff like Real...
forum.xda-developers.com

Battery life was something you listed as important. The S22U is getting panned for it's bad battery life.

Snapdragon S22U i would buy in a heartbeat if Samsung offered it in the UK
I get barely over 500k on Antutu ... S22U snapdragon is close to 900k-1m
Plus the ISP is better on SD
Battery life is better
There's literally NO benefit in any catagory for Samsung in which the Exynos wins
It's a terminally failed experiment

DS1000RR said:
Battery life was something you listed as important. The S22U is getting panned for it's bad battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. And s21 exynos has better battery life than s22u snapdragon. (Source. YouTube videos)

But Snapdragon models has better idle battery performance than Exynos.

Exynos if you want to root your phone. SnapDragon for better performance.

Dayuser said:
But Snapdragon models has better idle battery performance than Exynos.
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Click to collapse
Agreed. Its not just about exynos and snapdragon. Its also about s21u or s22u.
Its just s21u was came with exynos in my region and s22u with snapdragon.

Aaron78 said:
Exynos if you want to root your phone. SnapDragon for better performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you could shed some more light about what you said. (I am very much comfortable with rooting and custom roms)

highlightshadow said:
Snapdragon S22U i would buy in a heartbeat if Samsung offered it in the UK
I get barely over 500k on Antutu ... S22U snapdragon is close to 900k-1m
Plus the ISP is better on SD
Battery life is better
There's literally NO benefit in any catagory for Samsung in which the Exynos wins
It's a terminally failed experiment
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel for you. S22u exynos is worse even from s21u exynos. And obviously bad from its snapdragon counterpart. Gladly my region switched from exynos to snapdragon with 21 to 22 this year

It's just so disrespectful to customers.... 1 product, 2 variants, both same price but with year-on-year proving inferiority in ISP, GPU and battery for Exynos
I'm done with Samsung, gonna get Oppo i reckon.

I've been considering a fruit branded phone for a few months, going to wait and see what the fruit phone 14 looks like.

highlightshadow said:
It's just so disrespectful to customers.... 1 product, 2 variants, both same price but with year-on-year proving inferiority in ISP, GPU and battery for Exynos
I'm done with Samsung, gonna get Oppo i reckon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, is Oppo any better? As long as you have variety in Android, it will be difficult to settle down on a single brand/ model. Well, that's both the pro and con of Android. If you want consistent performance, battery life, look, and can live with a pre-historic design as well as with a 2-year-old tech, then Apple is the only way forward.

amirage said:
So, is Oppo any better? As long as you have variety in Android, it will be difficult to settle down on a single brand/ model. Well, that's both the pro and con of Android. If you want consistent performance, battery life, look, and can live with a pre-historic design as well as with a 2-year-old tech, then Apple is the only way forward.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really want an S22 ultra --- i like everything about it's positives but the negatives at the moment are just too overwhelming to justify spending almost £1300 on a device that's again worse than it's sibling.
My S21U has become really bad this past couple months since the Android 12 upgrade... even did a factory reset and setup the phone again clean (pain to have to do) but it's no better.
My antutu scores are far worse than even another Exynos 2100 phone (i get around 550000, others get anywhere from 600000-750000). Similar story on most benchmarks, i get significantly down scores in every aspect, i juyst have a bad bin chip but since it's not faulty Samsung wouldn't touch it.
Games stutter really bad, i have to turn down settings on most games that run flawlessly on my wife's OnePlus 9Pro
I agree that Android is what it is -- but I'm done with Exynos ... until they give us the choice of SOC in UK i'm not giving them more money.

I had an S21 Ultra Exynos when it came out and it lasted about 2/3 months before i got so frustrated with it.
I have now (as of last week) purchased a Snapdragon version from ebay and the difference is unreal !