In the last few years, Samsung has created an amazing success story with their Galaxy S phones, and more recently the Galaxy Note range – the first Galaxy Note phone was popular, and the Galaxy Note II was nothing short of a genuine success.

Crisp display; Stylus adds a massive potential for functionality; Familiar interface and feeling to the device; Impressive overall performance of the tablet

Disappointing battery life; despite capacity; Limited storage space – just 16 GB; Front facing camera is poor quality

Forgive me for passing up the chance to beat the exploding battery joke into the ground. Let's get straight to the point: Samsung's once dominant flagship phablet is back after a two year hiatus.

Samsung introduced the Galaxy Note 8 to the world Wednesday , looking to put the recall of the Galaxy Note 7 behind it once and for all. I got to spend some time with the new phone. At first glance, the Galaxy Note 8 seems to put Samsung firmly on the road to redemption.

A year ago, I wrote that the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was the best big phone ever made. It had excellent performance, a great camera, and a refined design that was surprisingly manageable for a device with a large screen.

Lovely display; Fast performance; Reliable battery life; Excellent standard camera

It's enormous; It's expensive; Secondary camera is far inferior to main camera; Terrible fingerprint scanner placement

I've said it many times: Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 remains one of my favourite smartphones of all time. The device embodied the perfect balance of price, style and substance, offering fans of large phones and styluses the pinnacle of what an Android device could be, both in terms of design and...

Stunning and beautiful looking; Powerful and technically impressive; Dual-camera system is great

Expensive; especially in Canada; Jump from Note 7 to Note 8 isn't significant; Fingerprint sensor is awkwardly positioned

The Note8 is a very good smartphone for all of the same reasons the S8 and S8+ are very good smartphones. It has an amazing display, stunning design, is packed with features (some useful, some not), a powerful chipset, lasts a long time on a charge, and works on every carrier in the US.

Display Absolutely gorgeous; The best smartphone screen on the planet, now slightly bigger, Battery life If you had concerns about the downsized battery and the upsized display, put them to bed - the Note8 lasts plenty long on a charge, Camera The primary rear camera takes absolutely gorgeous shots.

Camera The secondary telephoto lens is a little disappointing, and the live photo bokeh effect is hardly a game-changer; I just don't think Samsung's made the case for a dual camera setup here, Cost The Note8 is ludicrously expensive, at $930 unlocked in the US.

This phone looks spectacular. The shape is the oblong with curved edges we expect from a mobile phone, with a sleek, slick back which is also composed...

Lovely design and build quality; Impressive dual camera; Excellent display; Good performance; Plenty of useful features

Location of fingerprint sensor; Very expensive

If you're a fan of the Note series, you won't be disappointed by the Note 8 features, S Pen, camera and more

So powerful; S Pen enhancements worth having; Camera image stabilisation tech; We like app pairs

It's expensive; Fingerprint reader

While it's large size means its audience is limited, those after a phablet-sized smartphone won't find a better device than this. The handset's 6.3in AMOLED Infinity display is stunning, its performance is unmatched and Samsung's improved S Pen - along with its nifty software tweaks and security...

Gorgeous design; striking display; incredibly powerful; S-Pen support; great camera(s); didn't explode

Bixby needs work; difficult to operate one-handed; the price

I bought this about 2 weeks ago at a discount as a new very customer. I've had note phones before so kind of knew what I was getting into. The phone has a 6.3" screen which is big even at today's standard but Samsung's new design language and infinity display makes it very slim and easy to hold.