Here are some initial Notes on the 9:

Notchless edge-to-edge 6.4" Super AMOLED display with 2960 × 1440 resolution (516 ppi)

Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor paired with 6 GB RAM (8 GB optional)

4,000 mAh battery

12 MP OIS dual rear camera system with dual-aperture ƒ/1.5-ƒ/2.4 wide-angle and ƒ/2.4 telephoto modules, plus an 8 MP selfie cam

128 GB internal storage (512 GB internal storage optional), with additional 512 GB available via microSD expansion

S Pen stylus with Bluetooth connectivity

IP68 dust and water resistance rating

The Note9 looks very (very) similar to the Note8—and in principle at least, we're fine with that. Smartphone evolution has slowed, and even we don't think you should try to fix what isn't broken.

So what is new? Well, it's very slightly wider and shorter than the Note8, with an extra 0.1 inch of display—and it's a hair thicker at 8.8 mm versus 8.6 mm.

In an increasingly rare (but welcome) move, Samsung has kept the analog headphone jack.

Another subtle (but good) change: the fingerprint sensor has packed its things and moved to a happier location, south of the rear camera.

Spoiler alert: we got an early glimpse of the Note9's innards thanks to Creative Electron's wallhack abilities.

Now that we have a map, let's glide on into battle.

We'd like to hit the ground running, but this back panel adhesive is still pretty OP. Nerf it please, Samsung?

Our usual strat of heat, suction, and careful slicing does the trick eventually.

The newly relocated fingerprint sensor is a welcome change here—that flex cable location is much less vulnerable to accidental slicing and dicing.

That said, it's still too short. A few flappy folds like we saw on the Surface Go would make reassembly a happier affair.

The battery's still glued down in a miserable sticky well—but the Note8 didn't blow up so the design is justified, eh Samsung?

The Note9 battery weighs in at a ludicrous 15.4 Wh, eschewing the cautious 12.71 Wh Note8 battery, and eclipsing both the infamous Note7 (13.48 Wh) and the iPhone X (a "mere" 10.35 Wh).

Since we know you'll ask, here are some dimensions: 87.7 mm x 41.5 mm x 6 mm. Weight: 54.7 g. Now go forth and calculate energy density! Or whatever it is you do.

The chips that move the bits and bytes:

Samsung K3UH6H60AM-AGCJ 6 GB LPDDR4X SDRAM, with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 layered underneath

Samsung KLUDG4U1EA-B0C1 128 GB eUFS storage

NXP Semiconductor PN80T NFC Controller

Skyworks SKY78160-51 Front-End Module WLAN

Avago/Broadcom AFEM-9096 Front-End Module LTE

Qualcomm WCD9341 Audio Codec

Maxim MAX77705 PMIC

More chips on the flip:

Wacom W9018 digitizer controller with S Pen capability

Murata KM8423057 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module

Qualcomm SDR845 RF transceiver

Qualcomm PM845 PMIC

IDT P9320S wireless charging receiver

Samsung S2DOS05 display PMIC

Qualcomm PM8005 PMIC

IC Identification, pt. 2:

Qualcomm QET4100 Envelope Tracker

RDA Microelectronics RDA6213N FM transceiver (likely)

Samsung S2MIS01 MST Driver

Qualcomm QDM3870 high band diversity front end module

Skyworks SKY13716-11 low-band LNA front-end module

NXP Semiconductor BGU8103 GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BeiDou low noise amplifier

Antenna Tuner

IC Identifications, pt. 3:

Maxim Integrated MAX585128 audio Amplifier (likely)

Samsung S2MPB02 camera power management

Samsung S2MPB03 camera power management

ON Semiconductor FAN48618BUC53X 1 A Boost Regulator

Vishay DG2730 480 Mbps DPDT analog switch

NXP Semiconductor PCAL6524 24-bit I/O expander

Knowles MEMS microphone

IC Identifications, pt. 4 (sensors):

STMicroelectronics LSM6DSL 3-axis accelerometer/gyroscope

AKM Semiconductor AK09918C 3-axis electronic compass

STMicroelectronics LPS22HB pressure sensor

Maxim Integrated ? heart rate sensor

Semtech SX9320 ? proximity sensor

Diodes Incorporated hall sensor (likely)

The motherboard has absorbed yesteryear's daughterboard, leaving a modular USB-C port (with a Knowles hanger-on microphone) ripe for the picking.

Samsung continues to provide sanctuary for the now endangered headphone jack, while saddling it with a super thin spring-contact-connected cable.

The heat pipe has significantly more surface area than prior generations. Perhaps those pipes proved the concept, or proved they needed to be that much beefier (because Fortnite).

Time for S Pen extraction. We couldn't find a non-destructive way to crack it open, so we swapped in the heavy weapons—the ultrasonic blaster cutter!

Now that Fortnite is here we were prepared for a tomato update, but the S Pen peels open like a banana.

What's in this loot llama? How about a DA14580 Dialog Semiconductor Bluetooth Smart SoC ...

... and a K8373 Seiko Instruments supercapacitor.

And that's all we note!

The Samsung Galaxy Note9 isn’t a radical redesign, but it’s fresh enough to keep our teardown engineers happy. The Note line tends to evolve slowly—bigger motherboard, a different pen, nothing radical—except for a battery that just exploded in size.