If you’ve held out until now to purchase a Galaxy Note 9, you’re arguably better off than the rest of us, at least as far as color choices go. Sure, the Lavender Purple and Ocean Blue variants were pretty stunning at launch, but this new retail-store-only special edition puts those initial outer shells to shame.
Hitting Best Buy stores exclusively today, Friday October 5, is Samsung’s brand new Cloud Silver Note 9. It’s barely been a month since the flagship infinity display phone released to the general public on August 24, and yet we’re already receiving a fresh, re-skinned version. A cool color that, mind you, can only be purchased from the aforementioned big box electronics store or Samsung’s own official website. I’m not a huge fan of retailer exclusivity, whether it be for mobile devices, video games or toys-to-life figures (I’m looking at you, Walmart-exclusive gold Mario amiibo). Neither am I a huge proponent of delaying color choices beyond a phone’s launch window, as it tends to come across as a bit anti-consumer. However, I can understand and appreciate why these types of business moves are made, and I commend Samsung for even bothering to bring Cloud Silver to the US at all. Midnight Black is supposedly close behind—it should be coming to our shores in the weeks following. I’ll be waiting on that recently revealed Burgundy Red, if that ever releases here, however unlikely that may be.
Regardless, the awesome folks over at Samsung were kind enough to send along a 128 GB Cloud Silver sample to unbox just prior to the phone’s official release today. And let me tell you, this thing is stunning. First of all, I know a lot of users give the Lavender Purple a bit of grief, but I actually prefer that shade to the traditional boring black, even over the unique Ocean Blue, too. Though to be honest, I do enjoy the latter device’s bright yellow S Pen. The hue on this silver release is nice and shiny, and while it remains ever the fingerprint magnet, it boasts a premium, almost industrial metal/medical equipment sheen that completely trumps anything the Lavender Purple has going on. The trim around the outside of the device takes on a more bluish silver tone and accents the screen nicely, which also translates over to the S Pen’s blue/silver digital ink. The S Pen itself more matches the straight-forward silver body of the phone, though I am a little disappointed it didn’t take a more contrasted approach like the Ocean Blue model. I think a striking S Pen, like maybe green or red, would have complimented the package well.
Other than that, the Cloud Silver is the exact same Note 9 that understandably made waves back in August: Gorgeous infinity display, stereo speakers, Bluetooth-enabled S Pen, high-end gaming specs, excellent all-day battery life and a seriously capable camera setup. Plus, as far as I know, this purchase will still qualify you for that Legendary Galaxy Fortnite skin, so there’s that, even though a digital skin should never be the sole reason to fork over $1,000 for a mobile gadget. Do it for all the other top-notch features, and if you play Fortnite, consider the skin a nice little bonus. What also hasn’t changed is the Note 9′s luxury price of entry, though after spending a good deal of time with it, I can really vouch for this phone. Yes, a grand isn’t chump change by any means, but I think you’re getting what you pay for. Just make sure to also invest in some insurance and a solid case.
Enjoy all the unboxing photos, and when you’re done, go ahead and check out some of my other Note 9 coverage, all of which I’ll link at the bottom of the page.
More Note 9 coverage:
5 Must-Have Galaxy Note 9 Accessories
I Took My Note 9 To Las Vegas–Here’s What Happened
Upgrading To Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9: ‘Fornite’, Super AMOLED and S Pen Madness
5 Android Games That Look Downright Incredible On Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9
‘Fornite’ On Samsung’s $1,000 Galaxy Note 9: Is It Any Good?
Note: All photos in this article were taken with a Galaxy Note 9, minus the shots of both Note 9 devices side-by-side, which were taken with a Galaxy Note 5.
Disclosure: Samsung provided review product for coverage purposes.
