are you guys using the samsung browser? i'm using chrome instead since day 1.
is the samsung browser better than chrome?

similar thing happened to my mom before. her note 5 was locked by maxis because the previous user did not pay his bills. sent it to a phone repair shop, they repaired it for only rm150. but that price was for note 5, for note 8 might be a little higher. the repair guy said maxis blocked the imei for that phone so he just changed/replaced a new imei no for the phone, no problem ever since

try getting x-one stealth armor. it covers the whole screen until side & the back too. i've been using this sp since day 1 until today with no issue. so far all 3 cases that i bought (spigen rugger armor, samsung alcantara & samsung protective standing cover) has no problem with this sp too

yup its a screen protector but not like those normal plastic screen protector, x-one sp quality is good & it protects your phone against impact too. been using this brand for my iphone 7 plus too since last year

no lifting at all so far. been using this sp for a month since i first got my note 8 on 10/10/2017

i was really waiting for this deep sea blue color, i think it is the best color for note 8. but i couldn't wait for too long so finally bought my 2nd favourite color the midnight black. if this color was available since beginning i'd go for this color for sure

the free clear casing from samsung is no good.
my cousin used that case when he got his note 8, after 2 weeks there are 2 paint chips on the side (between bixby & volume button) & bottom (beside s-pen) of his note 8 even though he never dropped the phone or anything. if your note 8 is black color, all the more reason to find case with good protection because most cases reported having peeling paint on their note 8 happened on black color one.

+1
I also bought both Samsung Rugged case with kickstand & Alcantara Case.
Using the rugged case on weekdays & alcantara on weekends

after owning the best of worlds, this is my personal comparison between iPhone X & note 8

- for normal day to day use, iphone x ios is definitely smoother than note 8, especially when scrolling in instagram, fb, web browsing, etc.
- iphone x face id is much better than note 8 face recognition.
- note 8 has fingerprint & iris scanner is a plus point.
- iphone x speaker is much better & louder than note 8.
- note 8 screen is more beautiful & better than iphone x.
- iphone x feels small (coming from iphone 7 plus). if there is iphone x plus option it would be much better.
- battery life, note 8 wins hands down. but iphone x battery is not bad too.
- note 8 camera is better for bright color photos, but iphone x camera looks more natural.
- love the raise/tap to wake screen on iphone x, too bad this feature is not available on note 8.
- a lot of apps are not optimised for iphone x yet.
- bought note 8 at rm3150 (Qoo10) & iphone X at RM6300 (SG set). that's double the price
- i get more peoples attention when they see me using the iphone x. its really good for chick magnet & to make people jealous my friends weren't impressed when they saw my note 8, but when they see me using iphone x most of them would ask to see, hold & take pictures of the iphone x.

but in the end, both phones are nice. both have their own pros & cons.
i love & am using both of them together since i have 2 numbers.

p/s: once again, this is just my personal opinion. other people might have different opinion.