Skip to main content

Samsung’s marvelous Olympic-edition Note 8 is worthy of a gold medal

If you like Samsung’s smartphones, you’ll wish you were an Olympian. The South Korean company last month unveiled a special edition Galaxy Note 8 for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics; it looks beautiful in renders, but we can tell you for certain it looks even better in real life.

Samsung supplied 4,000 of these special Note 8 phones to all Olympians, International Olympic Committee (IOC), and PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee (POCOG) staff. The company is hoping the massive 6.3-inch screen and included S Pen will allow everyone involved in the Olympic Games to “do bigger things,” and the incredible dual-sensor camera will help document this marvelous experience. Much to our dismay, you can’t buy this special edition model.

The new design celebrates the Winter Olympics with an all-new shiny white glass back overlaid with the Olympic logo: Five interconnected gold rings that symbolize the unity of the five continents, the world, and the Olympic Torch. A collection of PyeongChang 2018-themed wallpapers are also included, and each device comes with pre-installed Olympic apps that Samsung hopes will be useful to each of the recipients.

The user interface is also accented with Olympic colors. For example, the Android navigation buttons are color blue, green, and red; the system tray has blue accents, and so does the pattern unlock in the lock screen. This splash of color helps make the special edition Galaxy Note 8 feel all the more unique.

“We’re proud to provide the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games Limited Edition to all athletes in an effort to help them to stay connected, capture and share one of the most memorable moments of their lives,” Samsung Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Younghee Lee said in a statement.

The Paralympians taking part in the Winter Paralympic Games haven’t been left out, either, and Samsung will also be supplying all of them with the same special edition Note 8, with an additional Paralympics-themed case to commemorate the role smart devices have played in assisting those with disabilities.

This isn’t the first time that Samsung has gotten involved in the Olympic Games. The company began sponsoring the games way back in 1988, when it entered as a local sponsor during the Seoul Olympic Games. Since then, Samsung has become a Worldwide Olympic Partner. It handed out 12,000 special edition Galaxy S7 Edge devices to Olympians during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

With Samsung also involved in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, you can be sure it has something planned for those games as well — so if you want to get your hands on a limited-edition Samsung device, it’s best to hit the track.

Updated on February 13: We added our own photos and hands-on impressions of the Galaxy Note 8 Olympic Edition. 

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Jansen
Mark Jansen is an avid follower of everything that beeps, bloops, or makes pretty lights. He has a degree in Ancient &…
Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra is the king of Samsung’s tablet lineup
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 set up on a keyboard cover to work as a laptop.

Samsung finally launched its newest trio of Galaxy Tab S8 tablets during its Samsung Unpacked February event, and all of them turned out to be mostly in line with what we were expecting.

While many buyers will be happy with the Galaxy Tab S8 or S8 Plus, the S8 Ultra is the company's most premium option and is certain to turn the heads of power users. Its noticeably larger size is an attractive feature all by itself, but Samsung hasn't stopped the upgrades there. The S8 Ultra is also packed with a variety of internal improvements over its smaller siblings and is clearly geared toward productivity and people who work from home. These improvements will come at a higher asking price, of course.
Better, faster, stronger

Read more
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 and S8 Plus have few compromises
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 being held up with the lock screen showing.

After months of rumors, speculation, and leaks, Samsung has finally revealed its new Galaxy Tab S8 lineup at Samsung Unpacked. As we've been expecting, the trio of new tablets includes the Galaxy Tab S8, Galaxy Tab S8 Plus, and Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, with the latter bringing some hefty upgrades over the two smaller and more affordable models. The S8 and S8 Plus provide plenty of power in an attractive package, though, for those who don't need the Ultra's considerably larger screen and internal storage space.

Same internals, different sizes

Read more
Samsung’s Odyssey Neo G8 monitor has highest refresh rate of any 4K display
New Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 monitor seen from the side and from behind.

Samsung has just unveiled a one-of-a-kind curved gaming monitor during CES 2022, dubbed the Samsung Odyssey Neo G8.

This 32-inch screen offers 4K gaming with an unprecedented refresh rate of 240Hz, making it the first screen in the world with that high of a refresh rate at this resolution.

Read more