Thankfully the small battery doesn't mean the battery life hit we thought it would. And, with the dual optical image stablisation the camera is pretty darn hot, too. There's so much to like about the Note 8 and while it's probably the best phone in Samsung's line up, you need to be sure you actually...

It's expensive; Fingerprint reader

It's expensive; Fingerprint reader

Forgive me for passing up the chance to beat the exploding battery joke into the ground. Let's get straight to the point: Samsung's once dominant flagship phablet is back after a two year hiatus.

I've said it many times: Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 remains one of my favourite smartphones of all time. The device embodied the perfect balance of price, style and substance, offering fans of large phones and styluses the pinnacle of what an Android device could be, both in terms of design and...

Stunning and beautiful looking; Powerful and technically impressive; Dual-camera system is great

Expensive; especially in Canada; Jump from Note 7 to Note 8 isn't significant; Fingerprint sensor is awkwardly positioned

The Galaxy Note 8 is an excellent handset that dominates today's large screen (6.3"+) smartphone landscape. If you are a digital pen lover, this is the best you can get. If you only care about the screen and battery size, the Xiaomi Mi Mix might be of interest, but keep an eye on the ergonomics and...

Excellent 6.3 inch Super-AMOLED display; World-class digital pen phone experience; Thin and comfortable but powerful design

Smaller battery than the Galaxy S8

Worth every penny most advanced phone to date. Great camera, great looks especially the maple gold. Plus the s pen is great too

Samsung's new Galaxy Note 8 (GN8) stands alone as the only flagship smartphone with ‘everything' including its trademark S Pen stylus, which offers a very convenient and useful handwriting interface. Ray Shaw [email protected] has a passion for IT ever since building his first computer in 1980.

A galactic overachiever! Great dual lens camera; S-Pen; gorgeous 6.2in display and more

Quite long; only a down-firing mono speaker; pricey

A year ago, I wrote that the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was the best big phone ever made. It had excellent performance, a great camera, and a refined design that was surprisingly manageable for a device with a large screen.

Lovely display; Fast performance; Reliable battery life; Excellent standard camera

It's enormous; It's expensive; Secondary camera is far inferior to main camera; Terrible fingerprint scanner placement

The Note8 is a very good smartphone for all of the same reasons the S8 and S8+ are very good smartphones. It has an amazing display, stunning design, is packed with features (some useful, some not), a powerful chipset, lasts a long time on a charge, and works on every carrier in the US.

Display Absolutely gorgeous; The best smartphone screen on the planet, now slightly bigger, Battery life If you had concerns about the downsized battery and the upsized display, put them to bed - the Note8 lasts plenty long on a charge, Camera The primary rear camera takes absolutely gorgeous shots.

Camera The secondary telephoto lens is a little disappointing, and the live photo bokeh effect is hardly a game-changer; I just don't think Samsung's made the case for a dual camera setup here, Cost The Note8 is ludicrously expensive, at $930 unlocked in the US.

This phone looks spectacular. The shape is the oblong with curved edges we expect from a mobile phone, with a sleek, slick back which is also composed...

Lovely design and build quality; Impressive dual camera; Excellent display; Good performance; Plenty of useful features

Location of fingerprint sensor; Very expensive

With its exceptional screen, solid performance and an improved S Pen, it's no surprise that Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 is its best big phone ever. It also doesn't hurt that it has one of the best dual camera setups we've ever seen.

Huge; beautiful display; Excellent; water-resistant build; Great dual camera; S Pen is now more useful and fun

Very expensive; Bixby can be flaky; Not a huge improvement over the S8 Plus; US version gets less storage than other regions