When we first had the Galaxy Note back in 2011, it introduced a trend that we’re still enjoying up to this day, which is the large display. But, the Galaxy Note is not just about having a big screen; there’s more purpose in the S Pen.

Seven years later, Samsung officially unwrapped their latest smartphone under their Galaxy Note series — The Galaxy Note 9.

The Galaxy Note series has come a long way and it’s always a showcase of Samsung’s greatest mobile hardware and software. For the Galaxy Note 9, it’s more of a refinement of what’s already on the Galaxy S9+ and the Galaxy Note 8, with, of course, a better S Pen.

Display-wise, the Note 9 is hard to tell apart from its predecessor. The display size grew very slightly to 6.4 inches versus the Note 8’s 6.3 inches. It’s still an Infinity Display with a Super AMOLED panel and 1440 x 2960 resolution. The iris scanner, front sensors, and selfie camera are present in the slim, notch-less bezels.

The phone is powered by either an Exynos 9810 or Snapdragon 845 processor (depending on where you are) just like the Galaxy S9 phones. To make the Note 9 special, Samsung is bumping up the memory and storage configuration up to 8GB and 512GB, respectively.

The physical changes of the Note 9 are mostly on its back. Like with the Galaxy S9 phones, Samsung moved the fingerprint reader of the Note 9 below the dual cameras while keeping the horizontal position of the shooters.

Speaking of, we have the same dual 12-megapixel sensors with dual f/2.4 and f/1.5 apertures for the wide camera and a fixed f/2.4 for the zoom lens. As for selfies, there’s an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with a bright f/1.7 opening.

Best of all, the S Pen has been redesigned internally. It looks like the stylus from the Note 8, but the new stylus comes with Bluetooth connectivity. It’s practically more than just a pen now; it’s also a remote control. The button on the S Pen can trigger certain functions when taking a picture and during presentations — just like a Bluetooth clicker.

According to Samsung, the new S Pen can last up to 200 clicks per full charge. When it’s time to recharge, just slide it back in its slot for 40 seconds and you’re good to go.

Despite the marginal size increase, the Note 9 gets a massive 4000mAh battery. The bigger battery is a 21 percent increase from the Note 8’s 3300mAh.

Sadly, the Note 9 ships with Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box even though Android 9 Pie is already available. Samsung is yet to give a timeline when their phones will get the new Android version.

The Galaxy Note 9 will come in various colors: Midnight Black, Lavender Purple, Ocean Blue, and Metallic Copper. All come with matching S Pen colors aside from the Ocean Blue which will have a distinct yellow S Pen.

The 6GB/128GB variant is priced at US$ 999 while the special 8GB/512GB model will retail for US$ 1,249. Availability will vary per region.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 hands-on: All about the S Pen?