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Kellen

It’s not often that you get to merge personal passions into a professional life, but that’s what Kellen did when he launched Droid Life in 2009. After working years of unsatisfying jobs in the medical and property management fields, he took a risk to try and create an online community while playing with the coolest gadgets on the planet each day, a risk that has turned out to be incredibly rewarding. Outside of Droid Life, Kellen is your typical Portlander who drinks way too much good beer, complains often about the Trail Blazers, and can be found out on the streets for a run, rain or shine.

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63 Comments

    • So long as the phone isn’t 2″ wide. This narrow-phablet stuff has gotten out of hand.

  • I’m excited to see what improvements can be made to the S Pen – but I can control music with my Bluetooth headset. Camera can be controlled by voice. Really: how often do we walk away from our Notes with the S Pen? I hope there’s more to it than this!

  • Add some AR functionality (pen to screen–laptop or smartphone), and I could see the s-pen being something really great. I use it every now and then on the Note 8 for a few quick notes, but that’s really it.

  • This also means the S pen will cost over 100 bucks to replace if something happens to it.

    • Pile on to that any video type of features, like if I’m sitting / camera on a tripod / recording a video.

      Added idea – what about use with other devices, Galaxy’s or wearables.

  • Not to be a downer as I’ve always been a staunch proponent of the stylus on the Note series, and I really do hope the Note 9 ends up challenging the Blackberry KeyTwo for Phone of the Year.. but what’s the point of this if the stylus is already stored in the phone? Why not just use the phone to control music and timers?!

    Seems gimmicky.

    • no offense but I don’t think the Key2 will be top on any editors’ Phone of the Year list.

      • No. Quality is quality; sometimes it can’t be denied.

        Most readers on Droid Life agree with me: no other phone offers this kind of package for only $650.

        • Are you serious? The Oneplus 6 is far superior for that price. It dont have a physical keyboard, oh well.

          • Dude… Seriously compare the specs: it’s no contest, AND the KeyTwo is only about $100 more.

            Things the OnePlus lacks:

            Physical Keyboard
            Button mapping
            Two day battery life
            Yearly software updates
            Convenience key

            No comparison.

          • We get it you like the phone. It’s obviously not a bad phone. However you are correct no comparison not only will other phones blow it out of the water which it isn’t resistant too…….it will never be considered competition to apple or Samsung which at least in sales numbers are Kings of the smart phone world. That being said I used to be a massive blackberry fan, back when they had there own os and touch screens we’re trash. But after a couple weeks of usage the key 2 keyboard just didn’t feel right my words per minute dropped significantly as did my accuracy. As for the two day battery life it honestly is not that important when I can charger my phone from 0-100% in under an hour and if you can’t find a plug for a few days it’s typically and emergency or you would only use your phone for emergency reasons and ultra power saving mode on the note 8 has given me over 3 days of charge during a camping trip.

            We are all happy you like the phone but it’s just not good enough to be placed up there with the big dogs.

          • I understand your point of view. However, I believe I know what the issue is with you: you’re threatened by this phone.

            The Blackberry KeyTwo simply challenges the status quo, and that makes you nervous. You believed black slabs were the cream of the crop. But now this intuitive keyboard and its capacity to foster creativity and individualism shatters your pre-concieved notions.

            Do what hundreds of Droid-Lifers have done: don’t fight it, but embrace it.

            You’ll be thankful.

          • Unfortunately I’m not. But fortunately for the consumer, Blackberry and TCL have partnered to bring this powerhouse to the masses.

          • You’re entitled to your preferences. Just know that you aren’t going to convince anyone here to spend money on a blackberry. Regardless of how far they’ve come

        • For only $650? I think there are several top tier devices in this range. This mid tier should be $399 or less.

  • Never really had to ask this question before but does this mean S-Pens will be interchangeable with different Note 9’s (or has this been a feature already for Notes and Pens)?

    • All S-pens so far have been interoperable. The pen from my Note 5 works on my Note 8. I’ve even used it with the electronic signature pad at a hotel. They all use the same technology (WACOM) .

    • Josh, I totally agree, I’ve been waiting many moons for a 4000mamp battery in the note series. Whatever they do with the s-pen will just be an added bonus!

      • Yes! I do miss my Note 8 and s-pen! I sold it to get the S9+; big mistake. The S9+ is a great phone…. but the battery life sucks. It is worse than the S8+ and Note 8.

        • I was gonna upgrade my s8+ to the 9+ but decided not to. I was holding out for the note9, glad I did. I’ve heard about that with the 9+. I constantly get 6hrs SOT with the 8+ and it still competes with the new releases. But I will pull the trigger with the note! The battery will reel me in like a fish on a hook. Yikes!

        • Yeah, I got my mom a S9+ (she’s on my account) since they were half off (for military/vets at least) and battery life on it hasn’t been great compared to my Pixel 2 XL. Seems like the S9+ gets around 4 hours SoT with her usage (which includes 2-3 hours of talk time usually), while my 2 XL gets around 5-7 hours SoT depending on how much BT streaming I do at the gym and stuff. I disabled as much of the Samsung bloat as I could on it too.. so much for the SD845’s better power efficiency it seems. I wonder if it’s all software or if these brighter displays are using more power or something to make up for it. Doesn’t make sense that battery would be worse than the Note 8 regardless though, considering they use virtually the same software and the S9+ has a larger battery and more efficient SoC.

      • With the combination of having my S3 Frontier hooked up and the high performance mode, I need this. Good thing my phone sits on the wireless charge most of the day.

    • This will be nice, but I’d still rather go back to removable backs. I miss my old 6000-9000 mAh Zero Lemons. If they would just add a few millimeters of thickness for a 6000 mAh battery I’d be happy.

      • It’s not only the dimension, but also the weight. Going from 4k to 6k adds quite a bit of weight to the phone.

        • Not a whole lot. Going from 3000 mAh to 9000 mAh adds a significant amount of weight, but only 2000 mAh, not much at all.

      • I believe as much. It has all the earmarks of an 8-16 release with, I’d bet, Verizon getting their pre-ordered Note9s out the soonest. That’d be fine with me as it would allow me to take the Note9 on a late-summer vacation.

        • Great minds think alike. I’ve already gone on mine, though. Anniversary was 6/14. Note 8 took great pics of Downtown Disney, Universal/Islands of Adventure & Volcano Bay. Have fun wherever you go!

          • Thank you very much. The Note8 is an excellent phone to have with you on vacation. Years ago, really not so many, a camcorder would have been the requisite item to preserve the day’s memories for posterity. I have a Note8 which will be handed down to my youngest brother. I’ll take it with me of course when I head upstate to go camping and go trout fishing very shortly; last year the S8 Plus cataloged a lot of two-day mountain excursions and I view those memories often. Best wishes for the rest of your summer and happy 4th of July.

          • You’re welcome. Yea, back in the day, a camcorder was the thing to have to record family memories. Now it’s your phone, a back up battery pack & a Go Pro. Camping is the best. I took some decent pics at Yosemite with my OG DROID when we went in 2010. Hopefully the Note 9 will be out by the time of your next vacation.
            Best wishes to you & happy 4th as well.

          • Last September Samsung had a promotion coordinated with the release of the Note8 and I chose the Gear 360 Camera. Through the fall and (very) early winter of last year I would set-up the 360 Camera when I went to the New Jersey shore for the annual run of striped bass. I have, probably, thirty hours of 360° video which actually translated very well to my saved Google Photos and Video. Most of it is just me, my vehicle, two snowstorms and some footage of me actually catching a fish. I’d have loved to have had this over a decade ago when I recorded my family’s annual Christmas Day gathering. Back then I had set-up a JVC Everio camcorder on a tripod. After twenty minutes or so everyone forgot it was there and I essentially have, for posterity, my mother’s and maternal grandmother’s last Christmas preserved. I have since given copies to my younger brothers as a keepsake.

          • That’s nice, dude! That’s what I love about technology. You’re able to capture a lot of memories.
            I didn’t feel a need for the 360 camera at the time of the promo. My wife likes to record everything & have it on her phone so when I got the 8 I gave her the 256GB SD card. She has the whole 30 minute Universal Studios anniversary show on her phone. She records everything so I just gave that to her but whatever promos are available for the Note 9 are all mine. Lol.

          • I like having those types of keepsake videos riding right on my hip (when I use the shell holster) wherever I go. I can appreciate how you and your wife so effectively archive the happenings in your lives. I chose the 360 camera for the novelty but have come to admire how it can ‘get behind’ the scenes all at once. I last used it to record the bird activity around the feeders in our backyard at the end of May and it captured a sharp-shinned hawk scattering the doves and blackbirds as it, very suddenly, arrived. Okay, carry on with summer and I hope it’s a good one for you and your family. Can’t wait to see if/how Samsung might up the ante for pre-orders this time around.

          • Yea man phones are everything now. Camera, camcorder, photo album, wallet, journal/diary, love letters… they’re amazing.
            Have an amazing summer yourself. I think we’re done with travel for the summer but I’m trying to go back to Orlando in the fall or winter. Have fun with your family!

          • Yea man. Phones are everything now. Camera, camcorder, photo album, wallet, diary/journal, notepad, calendar, quicker love letters…
            We’re done traveling for the summer. Hopefully we’ll be going back to Orlando in the fall or winter. Have fun with your family later this summer!

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