This is the Olympic Galaxy Note 8

Can a phone inspire you to be an Olympian?

Maybe not, but if you’re already an Olympian and competing in Pyeongchang, Samsung’s cooked up a special treat for you. The company has created this official Olympic version of its popular Galaxy Note 8 for athletes competing at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

Apart from its looks, this phone is the same as the original Note 8. Functionally, it has all the same features and capabilities, but that’s not a bad thing. we rated the Note 8 very highly in our original review. It’s just got a pristine paint job worthy of an Olympic champion.

The glass on glass finish of the Note 8 now has a white backing, which hides fingerprints and smudges and looks fresh all the time. The frame is gold, though the shade is a little dialed back and looks a bit silver. The S Pen gets this new color too and it’s an eye catcher.

The Olympic rings sit on the lower third of the backing, in the same color as the golden frame. As an official partner of the Olympics and company from South Korea, host of the current Winter Games, this feels like an immense endorsement for this phone. Athletes from the Summer Games in Rio also received custom Galaxy devices, but you can almost feel how proud this Korean company is to fully represent.

There are a few cosmetic changes in the software, too. The phone features a pre-installed Olympics theme and a custom boot screen. These are a little less exciting, as the Olympic motif is basically circles and lines of different colors on a dark background. I really like the preset graphic for the always on-display, a gold medal.

I can’t help but wonder how useful this special edition will be. Olympic athletes are the only ones who get this device, and it might not make much sense to have it on them during those rigorous workouts. The phone is still large, tall, and made entirely of glass. It’s probably too fragile for the kind of training many of its users do. It’s a nice representation of the olympians’ achievements, though.

It’s too bad this version was only made in a super-limited run, as it’s the Note 8’s only white option. If that’s something you’d really want, maybe it’s enough inspiration to get moving and one day reach an Olympic level. Or just keep an eye on eBay over the next few weeks. If you ever get to the Olympics, Samsung will probably something like this waiting for you.

Let us know what you think of this super rare Olympic edition of the Note 8, which we were lucky enough to get a look at.