I decided to take the plunge and upgrade my LG G6 to the Samsung Note 9 during. I had been growing more disappointed with my LG G6 as time progressed for various reasons which has motivated me to make the change. As part of an extended black Friday deal, BestBuy was offering the Note 9 on sale for $699 with no contract and I could also do the 24 month payment plan to use their (AT&T's) money. I had been watching and reading numerous reviews on all the current top-tier phones and most of them have one or more things that detracted me from buying them (stupid notch, no headphone, no micro sd, shitty camera, etc). After many weeks of weighing the options between the various phones, I concluded that the Note 9 is the overall best phone on the market right with minimal compromise...and especially so at a price of $699 (BestBuy was offering $300 off). The Note 9 has been out for about 3 months now which is enough time to for people to report issues that I haven't found many worth stopping me from moving forward.
I've only had it a few days and so far I'm really enjoying it. I was concerned the size would be an issue but so far it has not bothered me but this phone isn't that much larger than my LG G6. The Note 9 feels quite a bit faster than my G6 in terms of app snappiness with loading times, rendering times, and menu transitions. I've spent a bit of time removing and reducing the Samsung clutter that comes with the phone. I've also remapped the bixby button to Google assistant to make it more functional. I've found guides that can allow me to remove most of the bloat if I desire using a USB cable attached to my PC with the Android ADB utility which is a nice option if I need it. The screen is really nice and the camera is much better than the one in my G6. I like that it has the S pen but I probably won't use it very much. I'm sure there will be a few times where it will be fun to take notes on it or use it as a remote control but otherwise this wasn't a decision factor in the phone. Battery life seems to be very good so far which I guess it should be given the 4000mAh battery. I need more time to get better screen on-time averages.
I picked up an inexpensive wireless fast charger (10w) to keep at work and some dbrand skins to cover the back. The wireless charing works fine and I haven't yet received the dbrand skin for it. Overall I'm really happy with the phone and hope it remains fast over the next couple years with minimal to no issues. Small complaint with the phone so far would be the amount of Samsung bloat and specialized Android changes but I knew Samsung does this so it wasn't a surprise. I also fine the haptic feedback motor feels a little cheap in that when notifications come in, the internal case or component has what sounds like a cheap feel to it. This may just have to do with how they coupled the vibration motor to the phone and it gives the impression of a rattle more than a solid and defined buzz. Another possible gripe is that the bluetooth audio has skipped a couple times while listening to music in my car. I don't know if this is the bluetooth or maybe Spotify so I'll need more time to understand if there is any issues going on there. I had very few to no issues with bluetooth on my G6 which was nice.
Has anyone else purchased a Note 9 and have you had any good/bad experiences so far?
I've only had it a few days and so far I'm really enjoying it. I was concerned the size would be an issue but so far it has not bothered me but this phone isn't that much larger than my LG G6. The Note 9 feels quite a bit faster than my G6 in terms of app snappiness with loading times, rendering times, and menu transitions. I've spent a bit of time removing and reducing the Samsung clutter that comes with the phone. I've also remapped the bixby button to Google assistant to make it more functional. I've found guides that can allow me to remove most of the bloat if I desire using a USB cable attached to my PC with the Android ADB utility which is a nice option if I need it. The screen is really nice and the camera is much better than the one in my G6. I like that it has the S pen but I probably won't use it very much. I'm sure there will be a few times where it will be fun to take notes on it or use it as a remote control but otherwise this wasn't a decision factor in the phone. Battery life seems to be very good so far which I guess it should be given the 4000mAh battery. I need more time to get better screen on-time averages.
I picked up an inexpensive wireless fast charger (10w) to keep at work and some dbrand skins to cover the back. The wireless charing works fine and I haven't yet received the dbrand skin for it. Overall I'm really happy with the phone and hope it remains fast over the next couple years with minimal to no issues. Small complaint with the phone so far would be the amount of Samsung bloat and specialized Android changes but I knew Samsung does this so it wasn't a surprise. I also fine the haptic feedback motor feels a little cheap in that when notifications come in, the internal case or component has what sounds like a cheap feel to it. This may just have to do with how they coupled the vibration motor to the phone and it gives the impression of a rattle more than a solid and defined buzz. Another possible gripe is that the bluetooth audio has skipped a couple times while listening to music in my car. I don't know if this is the bluetooth or maybe Spotify so I'll need more time to understand if there is any issues going on there. I had very few to no issues with bluetooth on my G6 which was nice.
Has anyone else purchased a Note 9 and have you had any good/bad experiences so far?
