Road Testing the Samsung Galaxy Note 9
What better place to test the functionality of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 than the exclusive, and highly Instagrammable functions at Miami's Art Basel?
Picture Perfect
Color and clarity really shine in Auto Mode on this device. It’s got rear dual cameras, including a wide angle with a super speed dual pixel 12MP (megapixels) AF (autofocus) sensor and a telephoto lens with a 12MP AF sensor. Translation: your images have greater depth of field, faster focus and better overall clarity, so there’s really no *need* to ever leave Auto Mode.
Get In the Zone
Samsung’s Live Focus Mode goes the extra mile by giving you the ultimate control over the background blur by allowing adjustments after a photo is taken. This is especially useful when there’s a ton happening, which was the case at the Louis Vuitton space showcasing new pieces from the popular Objets Nomades collection and their Exotics Collection. In the above photo, the phone zeroed in on the Louis Vuitton bag, giving the hands of artisan Natalia Reparaz an artistic blur. Later, we could go back and edit the photo to adjust the focus, should we have decided to make the hands the center of attention instead of the bag.
Lights, Camera, Action
Some of the best social content occurs in less than ideal photo circumstances such as low light at dinner, or at a live concert. Take one of the most anticipated events of this year’s Art Basel, MGM’s beach party that ended with a live performance by G-Eazy, for example. With all of the shifts in light and movement, the perfect snap might not have happened without the phone's Scene Optimizer found in camera settings, which analyzes the main elements of the scene and selects from one of twenty categories- like food, sunset and flowers- to optimize the unique characteristics of the image.
Fake It Till You Make It
Although it's easy to stick with the standard point-and-shoot method when it comes to using our phones' cameras, you might want to test out Pro Mode in 2019. This shot of Keith Haring's Untitled (Burning Skull) 1987 was tricky due to an overhead spotlight, which can mess with the light meter. To avoid camera shake and make the most out of the less-than-ideal lighting situation, we raised the ISO-which measures how sensitive a digital camera's sensor is to light-to 800 and captured a great scene as a result.
The Golden Hour
Many photographers would say the best time to take a photo is right before sunset, AKA "the golden hour.” But sunset itself? Tricky AF. Luckily, Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has given us a solution in Pro Mode. Adjusting the shutter speed to ¼ second allowed the shutter to remain open long enough to capture the lighting needed to get a great shot. The photo above, taken at 6PM, clearly captured the Faena Forum, home to commissions, installations and performances from Derrick Adams, Tavares Strachan, and Luna Paiva, among others.
Selfie Artist
By now, every major phone company out there got the memo: we need great selfie action. This device’s front facing camera takes selfies at 8MP and offers autofocus, giving more clarity than you might find on competing devices. In other words, it takes sharp selfies no matter the lighting situation and it is sure to focus in on what really matters: you.
Dontcha think every party needs a kissing booth💋? @samsungmobileusa #withGalaxy #artbasel #miami
A post shared by Jeannie Mai (@thejeanniemai) on Dec 7, 2018 at 7:48pm PST
Even with expert auto capabilities, we can all still use a few tips from the pros, like selfie queen, Jeannie Mai. Her favorite selfie trick? Using the new S Pen: "It's great for when you have a dope outfit on and you can't get that arm to extend enough. Just set the phone far away and then you step back and then you hit that button and bling. You look fly, like a friend just took that picture."
Work It
Speaking of the S Pen, it's Bluetooth equipped and can work remotely from up to 30 feet away, so it's also great for productivity. Issa Rae finds it to be useful when she's working on the go: “Even the other day, I needed to edit someone’s script and was able to use the pen to make corrections and tell people where to make changes. It’s just functional and organized.”
Video Star
Let’s not forget the importance of quality video. This phone records 4K video at 30fps (frames per second) and 60fps. It also has slow-mo and hyperlapse features, so you can play around with some fun styles. Here's a closer look at some of Louis Vuitton's personalizations by Natalia Reparaz. Thanks to variable aperture technology and recording that happens at 4K 60fps, getting clear, stable video is super easy.
It also works great with selfie mode. Here's artist Alec Monopoly demonstrating it for us at his Miami gallery. The place was buzzing with excitement as fans lined up to get a view of the artist himself, so the fact that the audio was this good and had minimal distortion is a true testament to the phone's High AOP (Acoustic Overload Point) Mic.
Happy snapping.
('You Might Also Like',)
