Samsung’s Galaxy Note flagship series came to life back in October 2011 when the Galaxy Note was announced. The Galaxy Note was quite large back in the day, and it started the company’s flagship series of smartphones which come with a stylus. The Galaxy Note was actually mocked back when it was released due to the sheer size of the device, and very few people expected it to become so popular.
The Galaxy Note series of smartphone managed to become amongst the most popular on the planet, as Samsung sold tons of Galaxy Note devices over the year, and some would even compare the Galaxy Note series popularity to that of the Galaxy S series, even though the Galaxy S smartphones are still the company’s bread and butter. Having said that, in this article, we’ll take a little trip down the memory lane and visit every single Galaxy Note flagship that the company announced since 2011.
NOTE: We’ll stick to international variants of the Galaxy Note series, that includes spec info.
Samsung Galaxy Note
The Samsung Galaxy Note was announced back in 2011, and it was extremely large compared to other phones on the market back then. With a 5.3-inch 1280 x 800 display, the phone is 83mm wide, which make it wider than pretty much every other flagship these days (2019), phones with display sizes of well over 6 inches. The Galaxy Note features a plastic back cover, and it includes a physical key below the display, along with two capacitive buttons on the side. Inside the phone, its stylus is located, and accessible at all times.
The Galaxy Note is fueled by Samsung’s dual-core Exynos processor, and it came with 1GB of RAM and 16GB / 32GB of storage expandable storage. The device includes a 2,500mAh removable battery, and it sports a single 8-megapixel camera on the back. A 2-megapixel unit is included on the phone’s front side, and the device ships with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread out of the box, while the last update it received is Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.
https://youtu.be/bfMmMrUwRnI
Samsung Galaxy Note II
The Galaxy Note II (also referred to as the Galaxy Note 2) was announced in August 2012, and released a month later. The device includes a thinner home key than its predecessor, while two capacitive keys are placed on each side of that home key, and a stylus is once again a part of the package, that is actually the case with every Galaxy Note smartphone. The Galaxy Note II is made out of plastic, like its predecessor.
The device features a 5.5-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED display, along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB / 32GB / 64GB of storage (expandable). The phone is fueled by the Exynos 4412 quad-core processor, and it features an 8-megapixel camera on the back. A 1.9-megapixel unit is included on the phone’s front side, while a 3,100mAh battery is also a part of the package. Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean came pre-installed on this phone, while Android 4.4.2 KitKat is the last update the phone received.
Samsung Galaxy Note III
The Samsung Galaxy Note III (also referred to as the Galaxy Note 3), was announced in September 2013, and made available that very same month. This phone is also made out of plastic, and it includes a removable battery. The Galaxy Note III is actually quite similar to the Galaxy Note II in terms of the design, while it arrived with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, and received Android 4.4.2 KitKat as its last official update.
The phone features a 5.7-inch fullHD Super AMOLED display, 3GB of RAM and 16GB / 32GB / 64GB of expandable storage. The phone is fueled by the Exynos 5420 octa-core processor from Samsung, and it sports a 3,200mAh removable battery. A 13-megapixel camera is included on the back of this phone, while Samsung opted to place a 2-megapixel unit on the device’s front side.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 was announced in September 2014, and it offers considerably thinner bezels than the Galaxy Note III. The device is also boxier than its predecessor, and it was the very first Galaxy Note device to offer a fingerprint scanner. Its fingerprint scanner is built into its home key, and on each side of that home key, a capacitive button is located, same as on its predecessors.
The Galaxy Note 4 features a 5.7-inch QHD Super AMOLED display, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. The phone is fueled by the Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor, and it includes a 16-megapixel camera on the back. A 3.7-megapixel unit is located on the phone’s front side, while the device comes with a 3,220mAh removable battery with fast charging support (Quick Charge 2.0). Android 4.4.4 KitKat came pre-installed on this phone, and Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow is the last official update that landed on the phone.
Along with the Galaxy Note 4, Samsung announced yet another Note-branded flagship, its very first smartphone with a curved display, the Galaxy Note Edge. This handset features a curved display on the right side, and it basically ushered in curved display designs for Samsung. The device is fueled by the Snapdragon 805, same as the Galaxy Note 4, and aside from the design difference, the phone is almost identical to the Galaxy Note 4, it even came with a stylus.
https://youtu.be/dLqvSODLs6s
Samsung Galaxy Note 5
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was announced back in August 2015, and it did not really bring all that much change in terms of the design compared to its predecessor. The phone features a physical home key / fingerprint scanner below the display, and that button is flanked by two capacitive keys, same as on the Galaxy Note 4. Android 5.1.1 Lollipop came pre-installed on the Galaxy Note 5, while the phone eventually got updated to Android 7.0 Nougat.
The Galaxy Note 5 is fueled by the Exynos 7420 octa-core processor, while the phone includes 4GB of RAM and 32GB / 64GB of storage (non-expandable). The device features a 5.7-inch QHD Super AMOLED display, and a 16-megapixel main camera. A 5-megapixel selfie unit is also a part of the Galaxy Note 5 package, and so is a 3,000mAh battery which is non-removable. The phone supports 15W fast charging (Quick Charge 2.0), and also wireless charging.
https://youtu.be/vQbNpfdUQNA
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was announced in August 2016, and it is made out of metal and glass. This phone still features a fingerprint scanner below the display, and two capacitive buttons, but it ushered in dual-sided curved displays to the Galaxy Note line. Unfortunately for Samsung, the Galaxy Note 7 had some serious issues with its battery, and the company was forced to stop selling it after a short period of time. The Galaxy Note 7 units were catching fire all over the globe, and the company eventually released the Galaxy Note FE (Fan Edition) variant of the Galaxy Note 7.
The Galaxy Note 7 is fueled by the Exynos 8890 64-bit octa-core processor (the Snapdragon 820 in the US & China), and it features 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage (expandable). The phone came with a 5.7-inch QHD Super AMOLED display, and that display is HDR10 compliant. A 12-megapixel camera is included on the back of the phone, while the device shipped with a 3,500mAh battery. Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow came pre-installed on the phone.
https://youtu.be/vjsxRdwJihU
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was the first Galaxy Note smartphone not to include capacitive keys, those keys were replaced by on-screen buttons, while the phone’s fingerprint scanner was moved to the back of the device. The device got announced in August 2017, while it features considerably thinner bezels than the Galaxy Note 8, and was the most significant change in terms of the design since the very first Galaxy Note smartphone back then. The device also features a curved display, and is made out of metal and glass.
The Galaxy Note 8 features a 6.3-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED, curved display, along with 6GB of RAM and 64GB / 128GB / 256GB of storage. The phone is fueled by the Exynos 8895 (the Snapdragon 835 in the US & China), while a 3,300mAh battery is included in the package, and it supports Quick Charge 2.0 fast charging, in addition to wireless charging. Android 7.1.1 Nougat comes pre-installed on the Galaxy Note 8, while the phone sports two 12-megapixel cameras on the back, which makes it the first Galaxy Note-branded device to include two cameras on the back.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9
The Galaxy Note 9 was announced in August 2018, and it is quite similar to the Galaxy Note 8 in terms of the design, even though it is a bit boxier, and it sports even thinner bezels. The phone is made out of metal and glass, just like its predecessor, and it includes a rear-facing fingerprint scanner, just like the Galaxy Note 8. The Galaxy Note 9 ships with two cameras on the back (two 12-megapixel units), and a single 8-megapixel camera on the front.
Android 8.1 Oreo came pre-installed on the device, while the phone features a 6.4-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED, curved display. The phone sports 6GB / 8GB of RAM and 128GB / 512GB of storage (expandable), while it is fueled by the Exynos 9810 64-bit octa-core processor (the Snapdragon 845 in the US & China). A 4,000mAh battery is a part of the package as well, while it supports Quick Charge 2.0 fast charging, and also wireless charging.
https://youtu.be/pZH9u1UtjWw
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 series
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 series was announced in August 2019. For the first time since 2014, Samsung had opted to announce two flagship Galaxy Note smartphones at the same time, the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+. Both phones are made out of metal and glass, they sport extremely thin bezels, and do look almost identical. The Galaxy Note 10+ does have an extra camera on the back, and is larger, but that’s pretty much all there is as far as design differences are concerned.
Both of these smartphones are fueled by the Exynos 9825 in Europe and India, while the Snapdragon 855 fuels them in the US and China. Both phones include curved displays, though the Galaxy Note 10+ features a QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED panel, while the Galaxy Note 10 includes a fullHD+ Dynamic AMOLED display. The Galaxy Note 10 comes with 8GB of RAM, while the Galaxy Note 10+ ups that to 12GB of RAM. Both devices offer fast charging, though charging is considerably faster on the Galaxy Note 10+.
https://youtu.be/CYA_XAMfRfo