Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Midnight Black 64GB

The Galaxy Note 8 has a killer feature set and top-tier build quality, but performance is stuck in the past at the 26th percentile. The S Pen and headphone jack are nice, but the battery and camera are just average. At USD 140 it's a fun secondary phone, at USD 250 it's a pass.

The Snapdragon 8-core chip and 6GB of RAM were impressive in 2017, but time has not been kind. Our benchmarks put this phone in the 26th percentile for performance, which is a polite way of saying it struggles with anything beyond basic tasks. The 3300mAh battery lands at the 39th percentile, so you'll be reaching for a charger by mid-afternoon if you actually use the thing. Wireless charging and Quick Charge 2.0 help, but Quick Charge 2.0 is ancient by today's standards. The 12MP main camera with OIS and 2x optical zoom is solid for photos in good light, but the camera system overall sits at the 43rd percentile. It's fine, not great. The display is the one bright spot, a 1440 x 2960 Super AMOLED panel that still looks sharp, even if the 60Hz refresh rate feels sluggish next to any modern phone.

Stacked against the Google Pixel 9a, the Note 8 gets embarrassed on performance, camera, and battery. The Pixel 9a is a modern mid-ranger that runs circles around it in every category except maybe the S Pen and expandable storage. The Motorola Moto G PB6V0014US is another budget option that trades the stylus for a much newer processor and better battery life. The iPhone 16e is in a completely different league on performance and software support, though you'll pay a lot more for it. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G offers a bigger battery and faster charging for not much more money. And if you want to see how far flagships have come, the current top five in our database are the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, Motorola Razr Ultra 2025, Google Pixel 10 Pro, Apple iPhone 17, and OnePlus 15. The Note 8 doesn't belong in that conversation. It only wins if you specifically want the S Pen or you're nostalgic for the old Samsung design language.

Pricing is all over the place for this thing. Refurbished units range from USD 140 to USD 250 across five Newegg listings, which is a USD 110 spread for essentially the same phone. The best deal we're seeing is at the low end of that range, around USD 140 for a GSM unlocked model. At that price, it's a decent buy if you want a cheap phone with a stylus and a headphone jack. At USD 250, you're getting into territory where a used Pixel or Moto G makes way more sense. The feature set is impressive for the money, but the performance ceiling is low, and you'll feel it every day.

The Galaxy Note 8 is a weird one in 2025. It's got a 6.3-inch Super AMOLED display, 6GB of RAM, and that S Pen tucked inside, which still feels like a party trick most phones can't pull off. But it's also running on hardware that's nearly a decade old, and the benchmarks don't let you forget it. Our database puts its feature set at the absolute top of the charts, which makes sense when you remember this was Samsung's kitchen-sink flagship. The build quality holds up too, landing in the top 10 percent of everything we've tested.

But here's the thing. Performance sits at the 26th percentile, which means it's slower than roughly three out of four phones in our database. The battery is mediocre, the camera is about average, and the display refresh rate is stuck at 60Hz. If you're buying this as a nostalgia piece or a cheap secondary phone, fine. If you're expecting it to keep up with anything modern, you're going to be disappointed.

Skip this if you need a phone that lasts all day on a charge or can handle gaming. The 3300mAh battery and 26th percentile performance make it a poor fit for heavy users. Also skip it if you want 5G or a high refresh rate display, because you're getting neither here. If you're spending more than USD 150, you're better off with a used Pixel or Moto G.

Buy this if you want a cheap phone with a stylus and you don't care about speed. The S Pen is still the killer feature here, and the build quality is genuinely impressive for a refurb. But if you need a daily driver that can handle multitasking, gaming, or all-day battery life, look elsewhere. This is a nostalgia purchase or a secondary device, not a primary phone in 2025.