Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Android Pie is out and available for everybody. At the time of writing this, it is the most certainly the final beta build. Therefore, it is safe to say that it is pretty stable to use. The purpose of this article is to help enthusiast fans update their Note 9 to Android Pie and One UI manually. Since the beta update is limited to certain countries and regions, therefore, it is the only option.
Note that this guide caters to two main variants of Note 9. These are SM-N960F (Exynos Note 9) and SM-N960U (Snapdragon Note 9). The major difference between these two devices is the chipset used. Therefore, the firmware for both of these devices is different. Make sure to check your phone’s model number before starting the update process. 
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What’s new in Note 9 Android Pie Update?
Android Pie is also known as Android 9.0. It is the latest update in the market and it packs a ton of cool features. These include the likes of navigation gestures, improved do not disturb mode, adaptive learning, and battery optimizations. These are the base Pie upgrades but it is not all.
The most notable upgrade is the brand new One UI update for Note 9. It is based on and basically merged with the 9.0 update. To be honest, these actually complement each other. Let’s go through some of the major changes in the latest update.
The most notable feature in One UI is one-handed usage. Galaxy Note devices are notoriously large and pretty hard to use with one hand. Even though this is the main selling point of these phones, but sometimes we need to use it with just one hand. Therefore, Samsung has made special efforts to make sure that all apps and interfaces can now easily be handled with just one hand.
Another key improvement is the Phone-wide Night mode. While some may mistake it for dark mode but it is not quite the same. See, there are plenty of third-party apps for activating night mode on phone but none of these actually work well. Since these are not fully compatible with the system. The new Night Mode in One UI for Note 9 is a massive and much-needed upgrade.
The last noteworthy update is the new Samsung keyboard. Now it supports a floating keyboard in all apps. Moreover, it is made more pleasing aesthetically. The keyboard will change colors based on the accents of whichever app it is opened in. This feature is pretty similar to how Chrome Mobile’s address bar changes color.
Last but not the least, Samsung has to implement a scene optimizer in the Camera app. It is an AI-based upgrade that automatically detects the scene and tries to optimize camera settings for the hotshot.
Pre-Requisites
- Odin 3.13.1 – Download
- Samsung USB Drivers – Download and Install on your PC.
- ADB Drivers – Download
- Your phone model number is either SM-N960F or SM-N960U. To check this, go to Settings > About Phone > Check Model Number.
- If the phone model number is N960F, then dial *#1234# in the dialer app. Make sure that you get the following information:
- AP N960FXXS2ARK2
- CP N960FXXU2ARJ1
- CSC N960FOXM2ARK2
- If it is not the case, then head over to the next section of this post to fix it.
- If the phone model number is N960U, flash N960USQU1ARJ7 firmware via Odin first. Don’t know how to do it, follow the steps in the heading below.
- Make a backup of all data on the phone as it will erase user data.
- Before updating, keep the phone’s battery above 50%.
Install ARK2 Firmware on Note 9 N960F – Do it before the Android Pie Update
- Download Update files from Here.
- Extract these files anywhere on your PC.
- Open Odin and select four files from it; CSC, AP, BL, and CP. Select these files in respective sections.
- Once done, turn off the phone.
- Hold Volume Down + Bixby + Power Button together. Keep these pressed until you see the Download Mode screen. Leave these buttons now.
- Connect the phone to the PC using a USB cable.
- Odin will show “Added” in log and blue light in ID: COM box.
- Once done, hit the Start button.
- Leave the phone until flashing is completed. The phone will restart automatically.
- Once done, move on to the next step.
Install ARJ7 Firmware on Note 9 N960U – Do it before the Android Pie Update
- Download Update files from Here.
- Extract these files anywhere on your PC.
- Open Odin and select four files from it; CSC, AP, BL, and CP. Select these files in respective sections.
- Once done, turn off the phone.
- Hold Volume Down + Bixby + Power Button together. Keep these pressed until you see the Download Mode screen. Leave these buttons now.
- Connect the phone to the PC using a USB cable.
- Odin will show “Added” in log and blue light in ID: COM box.
- Once done, hit the Start button.
- Leave the phone until flashing is completed. The phone will restart automatically.
- Once done, move on to the next step.
Update Exynos Note 9 N960F to Android Pie 9.0
- Download the update zip from HERE. (ARK2 to ZRKQ)
- Put this zip file on to SD Card. Copy it to the root of the SD Card. If your phone does not have an SD Card, then skip stepping 9.
- Turn off the phone and wait for 10 seconds.
- Hold Volume Up + Bixby + Power buttons together until you see the recovery logo.
- Use the volume buttons to navigate inside the recovery menu and the power button to select the “apply update from SD card” option.
- It will pick the update zip you put in the SD card in step 2.
- Do not touch anything until the phone updates.
- It will restart after the update.
- If there is no SD Card, then put the update zip anywhere on your PC.
- Unzip the ADB tools you downloaded before anywhere on your PC. The folder should be named platform-tools.
- Enter recovery mode on your phone using steps 3 and 4.
- Select the “apply update from ADB” option from the recovery menu.
- Connect the phone to PC via USB cable.
- Inside the platform-tools folder, hold the shift key on the keyboard and right-click on the mouse. Select “Open command window here”.
- Type “ADB sideload
” and press enter.
- The update process will take a few minutes. Wait until it is done and the phone will restart automatically.
- That’s it! Exynos Note 9 N969F is updated to Android Pie 9.0!
Note: Below is the further beta update files. You can flash these files in progressive order. i.e. Flash beta 2 over 1 and so on.
Update Snapdragon Note 9 N960U to Android Pie 9.0
- Download the update zip from HERE. (ARJ7 to CRKE)
- Put this zip file on to SD Card. Copy it to the root of the SD Card. If your phone does not have an SD Card, then skip stepping 9.
- Turn off the phone and wait for 10 seconds.
- Hold Volume Up + Bixby + Power buttons together until you see the recovery logo.
- Use the volume buttons to navigate inside the recovery menu and the power button to select the “apply update from SD card” option.
- It will pick the update zip you put in the SD card in step 2.
- Do not touch anything until the phone updates.
- It will restart after the update.
- If there is no SD Card, then put the update zip anywhere on your PC.
- Unzip the ADB tools you downloaded before anywhere on your PC. The folder should be named platform-tools.
- Enter recovery mode on your phone using steps 3 and 4.
- Select the “apply update from ADB” option from the recovery menu.
- Connect the phone to PC via USB cable.
- Inside the platform-tools folder, hold the shift key on the keyboard and right-click on the mouse. Select “Open command window here”.
- Type “ADB sideload
” and press enter. - The update process will take a few minutes. Wait until it is done and the phone will restart automatically.
- That’s it! Snapdragon Note 9 N960U is updated to Android Pie 9.0.
Final Words
Android Pie is an awesome update for Note 9. It’s been quite long since it is pending. This guide is for Snapdragon Note 9 N960U and Exynos Note 9 N960F only. Therefore, do not attempt it on any other model.
Moreover, before updating to Android 9.0, make sure that your current firmware is the same as mentioned here. Follow the pre-requisite methods to make sure that you install correct firmware before updating it to Pie.
That’s pretty much it! Feel free to leave your feedback and queries in the comments below.
