I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 since last Friday and what started out the type of infatuation that you feel when you meet a new love interest that shares your same interests, has cooled down to the type of friendship that you have with someone you’ve known for years. You really like that person, but they can be annoying at times. That’s the way I’m feeling about the Note8 because today is Bixby testing day. 

Check out my earlier posts in this series:
Samsung Galaxy Note8 review (day 1)
Samsung Galaxy Note8 review (day 2 & 3)

Day4

I’ve been playing with Bixby off and on since I received the Note8, but today I really wanted to focus on it to see if it could be a viable “voice assistant”. Not to let the cat out of the bag right away, but the answer is no, no it isn’t viable. Not even close…

All newer Android devices can use Google’s Ok Google voice assistant, but Samsung had to create their own version because that’s what Samsung likes to do. They even created a dedicated button on the left side of the phone to launch / talk to Bixby. The button kind of reminds me of a walkie-talkie. You hold down the button and speak. When you let go of the button Bixby is supposed to respond to your question or command.

Problem is that the button is easy to press by accident when you pick up the phone. Until just the last day or so, Samsung did not allow you to disable the button, but apparently, there’s an update that will now allow that.

You can also launch Bixby by saying “hey Bixby”.

Other than the fact that it doesn’t work very well, what I find most annoying about Bixby is the way it’s been game-ified. Every time you do something you get points that will display on the screen like +15 for opening an app by saying “hey Bixby, open my email”. And after you’ve earned so many points, it will say that you’ve leveled up. For some reason that really annoys me. I don’t want to level up. I don’t want to play a game with Bixby, I just want it to do what I ask.

Bixby is “supposed” to be smarter than Siri and Ok Google, and is supposed to allow for more conversational style requests. In most respects that’s true, it does allow you to give multiple commands based on what you’re doing. For example, you can say “hey Bixby, open my email and read my last message”. That usually works. But then you can’t say something like “archive message”. You have to say “archive conversation”. So it’s important to know the right commands to say to do what you want to do. I found that I would get tongue-tied trying to say exactly want I wanted.

I think Bixby could be really useful if you have problems using your hands to hold the phone and interact with it. But for a person without that issue, I found it to be really cumbersome and frustrating.

I saw a lot of messages like the one above. It’s also important to realize that Bixby does NOT work with all apps. For example, it will open Spotify by saying “Open Spotify”, but that’s all it seems to be able to do with that app. If I follow up with “play my driving playlist”, it will open Google Play Music and tell me there’s no such playlist. Or if I just say “play music” while inside Spotify, it will also launch Google Play Music.

Other random bits from day 5 with the Note8:

• Face scan unlock is working better / faster today
• Had some Bluetooth issues last night with Flic button not responding to turn off my Lifx smart bulb. I’ve had this issue with other Android phones, while my iPhone 7 Plus works fine.

I’m going to wrap up this diary style review series tomorrow with Day 5, where I’ll talk more about battery life, overall performance, and the camera.

If you have any specific questions that you would like me to answer, be sure and leave them in the comments below.

Check out my earlier posts in this series:
Samsung Galaxy Note8 review (day 1)
Samsung Galaxy Note8 review (day 2 & 3)

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Verizon Wireless. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Android, Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Note8 review (day 4) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 18, 2017 at 5:23 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

On Friday I posted my first day impressions of the Samsung Galaxy Note8 and I’m back with a few more thoughts after spending the weekend with this phone. So go check out day 1 and then come back for more. 

Day 2

The alarm on the Note8 went off bright (actually, it was still dark) and early at 5:45 am on Saturday morning. Why so early? I had to take Max to the vet for a blood sugar check and we had to feed him well ahead of the vet appointment. When the alarm sounded, I reached over and grabbed the phone off the TYLT wireless charger on my nightstand and tried to unlock the phone with my face. It wouldn’t work because the room was too dark. That’s one area where Apple’s iPhone X Face ID will shine (see what I did there?) over Samsung’s face unlock feature because it uses infrared and will work in the dark.

While I was sitting on the couch eating breakfast, I set up Samsung Pay so I could leave my wallet in the car when I took Max to the vet. In theory, Samsung Pay works in more places than Apple Pay so I planned to try it there first.

At the vet, Jeanne wanted me to ask a few questions about Max. Instead of taking a piece of paper and a pen with me, I popped the S-Pen out of the Note8 and recorded the info. As soon as inserted the S-Pen back in the phone, it showed a message on the screen that the note had automatically been saved to the Samsung Notes app.

I love this feature because you don’t have to navigate to an app to start the note capture or do anything other than reinserting the pen to save the note. I also like that the interface is white on black. So it is nice if you wake up in the middle of the night and have an idea or a dream that you want to write down. The screen shouldn’t completely wreck your night vision although it would be even nicer if there was a way to make the text red on black for those middle of the night writing sessions.

As for using Samsung Pay, I’m happy to say that it worked pretty well with the vet’s small card swipe machine. It did take several seconds to figure out where the NFC tag was located on the machine. But I finally found it and the transaction finally went through. Was paying with Samsung Pay faster than using a traditional credit card? For this transaction, I would say no. I was lucky that I was the only person at the desk trying to check out. If there would have been a line, I would have felt pretty awkward rubbing the phone all over the card swipe machine.

One the way home from the vet, I made a call and am happy to report that the call audio was crisp, clear, and with good volume.

I didn’t do much more with the Note8 the rest of the day other than updating apps and checking email. Speaking of email, for some crazy reason, the stock Gmail app started working all by itself. If you read my Day 1 post, you’ll remember that I’ve always had issues with the stock app, so we’ll see how long it behaves.

Day 3

Right away today I started noticing that the face unlock wasn’t unlocking as quickly as it was the first two days after setting up the phone. Now there is a slight but noticeable delay. So I thought I’d try the iris scanner and the fingerprint reader. The iris scanner worked better than I remembered it from previous Galaxy devices even with my glasses on.

The fingerprint reader, on the other hand, is a lost cause for me. The location of the scanner is horrible and it rarely if ever successfully reads my fingerprint.

Of all three biometric phone unlocking methods, I definitely prefer the face scan most even if it is a little slow sometimes.

We went out for lunch today with friends and afterward, we stopped at Walmart to pick up a few groceries. I went through the self-checkout and tried using Samsung Pay again. The machine gave showed an error on the screen (I wish I would have taken a picture of it…), so I guessed that like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay won’t work at Walmart. I pulled out my credit card and paid like I normally do.

But then when I got home, I noticed that the Samsung Pay app showed that the transaction actually went through. So I logged into my Citibank account and sure enough…

Citibank shows that I have 2 pending identical charges. Grrrrrr… The Citibank website has a real-time chat feature so I was able to talk to a support person.

Although it was automatically fixed (I’ll have to make sure to verify that in a few days), it makes me nervous of trying using Samsung Pay at Walmart the next time I shop there.

That’s all for today. More tomorrow.

Also read: Samsung Galaxy Note8 review (day 1)

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Android, Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Note8 review (day 2 & 3) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 17, 2017 at 5:06 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Yesterday I posted a gadget diary entry where I professed my immediate love (lust?) for the Samsung Galaxy Note8. Today I turned off my iPhone 7 Plus, set up the Note8, and started using it as my primary device. Have my feelings changed already? Let’s find out with my multi-part diary style review. 

Day 1 – Random first impressions

Setting up the Samsung Galaxy Note8 is no different than setting up other Android smartphones. You basically enter your Google account info and the rest of the setup happens under the covers and within minutes your calendar and contacts are synced.

I also installed some of my favorite apps like Instagram, Words with Friends, Spotify, Accuweather, and the main app that’s my nemesis – the stock Google Gmail app.

I’m not sure what the problem is, but with EVERY Android device that I’ve used in the past couple of years, the stock Gmail app either works sporadically or not at all. So I crossed my fingers and installed it on the Note8…

Argh, the same old screen I have seen time and time again. What the heck? I have no idea why the Gmail app will not work on Android. I thought it had to do something with my billions of labels, but the Gmail app on the iPhone works flawlessly. Often, it will even show new messages before my MacBook browser does.

After wasting time trying to get the Gmail app to work on the Note8, I did what I usually do with Android devices. I disabled it and used Chrome to make a shortcut on the home screen to the mobile web version. That works fine, but it doesn’t show notifications.

I then ran into Android annoyance #2 which is incorrect icon badges. For some reason, the Words With Friends app will either never show that I have turns waiting, or it will show that I have too many turns waiting.

The icon is currently showing that I have 11 turns when I really only have 2. Grrrrr. It’s always the little things that get under my skin.

But on a more positive note, using the face unlock feature on the Note8 has worked perfectly. I can pick up the phone in my left hand with my thumb pressing on the virtual home button and when I bring it up to my face, it instantly unlocks to where I had left off. If I pick up the phone in my right hand, I press the power button with my thumb and the same is true. It unlocks almost instantly. It even works in some dimly lit rooms. But it won’t work at all if it’s too dark.

Today was a lot of typical phone usage for me. I sent several text messages, made and received several phone calls, listened to some music on Spotify through Winnergear HERO Bluetooth earbuds, played a couple turns in Words With Friends, read and replied to a few emails, installed apps, and took a few pictures.

Speaking of pictures, so far I’m really impressed with the Note8’s camera. Check out the images above. Click to see the full-sized version.

It’s only been one full day, but so far battery life is more than adequate enough to power the phone through a full day and beyond.

That’s it for today. Check back for more updates this weekend.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Verizon Wireless. Please visit their site for more info.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Android, Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Note8 review (day 1) originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 15, 2017 at 9:08 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.