Should I buy a Galaxy Note 9 with the Note 10 coming out?

The Galaxy Note 10 is less than a day away and if even a smidgeon of the rumours turn out to be right it could be a contender for phablet of the year.

But, with the price forecast to go all the way into the £1000s, you may justifiably be asking yourself one key, and in our mind sensible, question: would I be better off saving my pennies and going for the previous generation, cheaper Galaxy Note 9?

This is a key question that happens with every new phone generation. We had the same thing happen when the Galaxy S10 launched and people pondered if it was worth grabbing one of the sea of heavily discounted Galaxy S9’s instead. We’re also certain to have it re-occur at the end of the month with the arrival of Apple’s fabled iPhone 11.

Sadly, as always, the answer is largely dependent on your specific circumstance. Here to help we’ve created a handy guide to let you figure out the answer.

Related: Best phones 2019

If you’ve got a Galaxy Note 8 or older: Yes

If you’re a phablet fan that skipped the last two year’s worth of updates, or are simply one of many people that can’t afford to invest in the latest and greatest flagship every year, then now is the ideal time to jump to the Galaxy Note 9.

The Galaxy Note 9 may be last year’s model, but it’s still a fantastic phone that will meet 99% of users needs. It’s also certain to get a massive price drop the moment the Note 10 hits stores. Last year we saw over £200 drop of the retail price of Note 8 mere hours after the Note 9 was revealed. We’re expecting the same to happen to the Note 9.

Unless you’re a serious power user the Note 9’s hardware is more than powerful enough for gaming, photo editing (using the S Pen) and pretty much every process you can think of. The 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED+ display is also still a cut above what you’ll find on most £400-£600 handsets, being HDR-capable and one of the most vibrant we’ve ever tested.

Related: Best Samsung phones 2019

If you’ve got any of 2018’s flagships: No probably not

If you’ve got a newer phone the case for buying a Galaxy Note 9 is a little harder to make. Last year’s flagships were generally excellent and, unless you really want a bigger screen, there’s little reason to jump from a OnePlus 6T, Galaxy S9, LG G8 or Huawei P20 Pro to the Note 9.

All the phones are still more than good enough and unless you’ve cracked the screen or are suffering from serious battery/performance degradation we’d suggest holding off.

We’d even be reticent to suggest going for the shiny new Galaxy Note 10 if you’ve already got one of these phones as they “should” still be more than fit for purpose for at least another year.

Related: Best phablet 2019

If you’re on an old iPhone: Maybe

This is always the trickiest scenario. If you’re on an iPhone 7 or older and considering making the jump to Android there are a number of factors to consider.

First is the fact the OS has a completely different UI which is made even more complex through the addition of Samsung’s Touchwiz skin.

Out of the box you’ll have a lot of Samsung’s own apps pushed to the forefront over Android’s native Google versions. This means you can accidentally get locked into Samsung’s ecosystem when switching.

Then you have to consider the Note 9’s size. If you’re coming from an iPhone 7 or below the Note 9 is going to feel giant. We’d recommend actually trying the Note 9 out in store before making any purchase decision as a result.

If you’ve done that and are happy with the phone then yes, the Note 9 is a great choice and will definitely feel like a step up hardware-wise, featuring a larger sharper screen, faster CPU and larger storage capacity.