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83-samsung-galaxy-note-9 — The Galaxy Note ix comes with new bells and whistles, but they may stake in comparing to side by side twelvemonth'south upgrade.
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It'due south a fine example of a first-earth problem: Spend $ane,000 on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 at present, or suffer the wait until next year and the potentially massive upgrades to come up.

That's a conclusion some of you lot will accept to make later Samsung unveiled its Annotation nine on Thursday.

To be fair, this is a question anybody could ask themselves. But it's a particular dilemma for Notation loyalists, who tend to be specially into the latest and greatest. In Samsung's own words, Note customers are "looking for the best of the best when it comes to technology," according to Suzanne De Silva, director of product marketing for its US business concern.

At present playing: Sentinel this: Milky way Note ix's S Pen stylus is a remote control

3:14

But what if the best correct now pales in comparison to mega upgrades we'll see next year? The long-predictable appearance of a fingerprint sensor embedded in the brandish is widely expected to show up in the Milky way S10, and presumably the Note 10 likewise. We may likewise finally come across Samsung's foldable phone.

The most important advancement, however, volition exist the ability to tap into the supersonic 5G networks that the carriers are busy building at present. That side by side-generation wireless technology is poised to spur a mobile revolution with enhanced speeds and responsiveness, and the carriers are falling all over themselves hyping up its potential.

Go along in mind that typical consumers -- fifty-fifty diehard Note fans -- volition own their phones for several years. So anyone investing the pregnant sum to purchase a Note 9, which is pricier than the previous version, volition practise so knowing they'll miss the 5G revolution for one or two generations. And for this crowd, 5G isn't just an ambiguous term. They're probably already salivating over the millimeter moving ridge-powered throughput (translation: a really, really fast connection).

"They definitely are super tech conscious," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst for Creative Strategies.

Making matters worse are the few upgrades Note 9 users will be getting this year. The highlights of the phone include a battery with 21 percentage more capacity and a photographic camera that recognizes and optimizes itself for different kinds of scenery. Many of the core internals are already plant in the less-expensive Samsung Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9 Plus.

Samsung doesn't consider this an effect for the most loyal Annotation fans.

"The most Note-y of the Note users are upgrading every twelvemonth," Drew Blackard, senior manager of marketing for Samsung, said at the sideline of Thursday'due south launch effect. He noted that the visitor introduced a trade-in programme final year to brand information technology easier to upgrade annually.

(Check outCNET's guide to trading in your phone.)

Just if you plan to keep your phone for a while, what do you lot do?

Let the 5G hype begin

Tech-savvy consumers -- and nearly Note users are -- will have inevitably heard virtually 5G. Non familiar with the term? Don't worry, the carriers will be diggings it come 2022 when many of the networks get online.

AT&T volitionlaunch its 5G network later this yr in three cities, with more than likely to come up adjacent year. Verizon will likewise accept 5G available in iv cities this year, but only equally areplacement for DSL or cable. A mobile service isexpected early next year.

T-Mobile plans to go large,launching in xxx cities, including big markets similar New York and Los Angeles, in 2022. Information technology expects nationwide coverage in the following year. Sprint isshooting for vi cities side by side year, although plans could alter if T-Mobile and Sprint seal their merger agreement.

How big of a leap are we talking about? Brian Higgins, vice president of device and product marketing at Verizon, said a 5G modem could become speeds of five gigabits a second. Verizon currently averages slightly more than 20 megabits -- yep megabits -- per 2d, co-ordinate to a July study past testing firm OpenSignal.

The beginning phones with 5G will debut side by side year in the second quarter, according to Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon.

"From a user standpoint, even when you are at the edge of the network, in very poor signal atmospheric condition, your movie download, your upload of high-definition photos is going to be seamless," Amon said on the sidelines of the Samsung outcome.

In other words, you're not going to want to miss this.

The case for upgrading now

Nonetheless, there'southward something to exist said about instant gratification.

"The Note nine serves primarily to continue the Annotation customer base of operations happy until the anticipated blueprint changes expected in 2022 along with new technologies like foldable displays," said IHS analyst Wayne Lam.

It's also unclear how much do good yous'll become from these advances in the nearly term. For instance, those 5G networks aren't going to be ubiquitous, and depending on your carrier, they may not fifty-fifty exist available in 2022.

That optimistic estimate by Verizon volition merely piece of work if you're actually in the 5G coverage area, which also isn't a guarantee given how sporadic the carrier rollouts volition exist.

Although it doesn't support 5G, the Milky way Note 9 will come with the same advanced modem that was in the Galaxy S9, meaning it is optimized for the carrier's LTE Advanced networks. For instance, both the GS9 and Galaxy Note ix are tuned to run on T-Mobile's 600 megahertz spectrum, a new swath of radio airwaves promising improved coverage across the nation.

Equally far as other upgrades become, embedding the fingerprint sensor under the brandish is a nice feature, only isn't a huge step up from the option of unlocking the telephone with a reader on the back. The foldable phone, meanwhile, could merely be a gimmick with little practical value in the virtually term. (Samsung insists it won't be.)

"Some are truly driven by the taste of cut edge technology, others will expect to come across if the tech is proven," Blackard said. "For those users, they can relish the Note 9."

CNET'southward Shara Tibken contributed to this report.

The story originally published at 5 a.m. PT.

Update, 10:25 a.g. PT: Includes analyst comment.

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