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503 of 525 people found the following review helpful.
Best combination of power and portability in a smartphone
By Paul M.
First, a little backstory: As of two weeks ago, I didn't know I needed this phone...hadn't even considered it. I was reasonably happy with my GSM Galaxy Nexus. Sure, the screen on my GN had that grating pentile "quality," but it ran stock Android with aplomb. Then, on a whim, I purchased the Nexus 7. I was quickly enamored with its screen - both the size and quality. Android really shines once it is freed from the sub-5 inch form factor of most phones. I started using my N7 for almost all my mobile device needs - content consumption/creation, email, SMS (look up Tablet Talk in the Play Store) - the only function it couldn't perform was calling. I joked to my friends that if the N7 were just a little smaller and I could insert a SIM, I'd use it as my primary mobile device. Each time I had to use my formerly beloved Galaxy Nexus, I was disappointed with the experience - the OS just felt constrained by the smaller form factor.So, after one week of being spoiled with the screen size of the Nexus 7, I knew I wanted a phone to match, hence my purchase of the Galaxy Note II.Now, on to the obligatory pros and cons:PROS- Screen Size: If you read my intro, you'd hopefully understood the primary reason for my purchase of this phone. After experiencing Android on the larger screened N7, I couldn't take the constrained feeling of the OS on my Galaxy Nexus. The Note II solved that problem. The screen size is perfect - 5.5" really is how a modern mobile, multi-tasking OS should be experienced.- Screen Quality: Long story short, it ain't pentile, which is a good thing. If you've researched, you'd know it has a slightly funky RGB set-up, but bottom line: I can't tell the set-up is any different than a standard RGB screen. You'll like it - no, you'll love it. Colors pop, and I cannot see pixels. It is clearly on par with the only screen that I could ever personally compare it to: the gold standard iPhone 4/4s.- Multi-Window Multi-Tasking: Awesome. Basically, Samsung allows you to split the Note II's screen into two windows, so you can have two applications running simultaneously on the screen. For example, you could have a window on top with YouTube open, with the one on the bottom for GMail. I've found over the past few days that my use case tends to be: top window, Chrome; bottom window, messaging. This allows me to browse the web while quickly responding to texts. Unfortunately, not all apps support multi-window functionality (I'd love to find an RSS reader that does, and Drive support would be awesome). Facebook and Twitter support multi-windows, as does the aforementioned Chrome and some other apps. As an aside, I was slightly disappointed when I initially received my Note II and discovered it was running older firmware that didn't support the multi-window functionality seen in videos. Two days later, though, I received an OTA update that enabled it.- Touchwiz: I was concerned when I ordered the Note II that I'd quickly tire of Touchwiz, Samsung's skinned version of Android, particularly after running stock Jelly Bean on both the Nexus 7 and Galaxy Nexus. Surprisingly, I've found it actually enjoyable, with numerous tweaks that facilitate better device interaction. Smart Stay stands out - you can enable the device so that the screen stays on if it senses you looking at it (it utilizes the front-facing camera). Toggles in the notification bar are quite helpful - I can quickly turn on/off Bluetooth, Wifi, etc., from the notification shade. I''ve found I've started using Blocking Mode as well - by enabling this, I can shut off notifications at night, but allow a restricted group of contacts to override the block and still reach me.- Horsepower: The Note II *screams*. It handles multi-window mode like a champ, takes photos quickly, installs apps virtually instantaneously, cycles through homescreens like (Project) butter.- S-Pen: the Note II includes a stylus. While not even close to being the primary reason I purchased the device, I've found small uses for it. I downloaded Sketchbook Mobile to doodle (albeit poorly, but that's because of my horrid artistic skills, not because of the efficacy of the stylus), I've scribbled a few notes, etc. I've actually found it to be quite adept at handwriting entry (the Note II transcribes your handwriting into typewritten format). It's also incredibly quick to trace out letters on Samsung's included "Swype"ish keyboard.- Battery Life: After reading early accounts of good battery life on some of the online reviews, I was cautiously optimistic that it would be the case with the device, particularly with the 3100 mAh battery. I can tell you it is; in fact, at times the battery life is stellar. I know some folks will give you anecdotal stories about how their phones last three days under medium use, but I have always believed that "Screen On" time is the best indicator of battery performance. Using that metric (which you can find in the settings menu), the Note II gives me anywhere between 7 and 10 hours of screen time. That is absolutely fantastic for any size smartphone, particularly one that's essentially a mini-tablet.- Battery Charging: Samsung's smartphones (at least the ones I've owned) have notoriously charged very slowly. The Note II is, thankfully, not cursed with this. As I write this review, it's been on the charger for a little less than one hour. It's charged 40% in that time. My Galaxy Nexus charged at a rate of about 25-30% an hour, which is woeful. The Note II has a significantly larger battery than the GN, so it's charging performance is surprisingly good.- Physical Home Button: I like having a physical home key to wake the device. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's much easier to locate the home button on the face of the device than it is to find the small power key on the side. *Pro-tip*: Uncheck "Open via the home key" in S Voice settings. This will eliminate the lag between pressing the home button and the corresponding navigation action back to the homescreen. If it remains checked, there will be a slight delay between pressing the home button and returning to the homescreen (the OS is waiting for a second press of the home button to activate S Voice). Of course, if you like S Voice (I personally don't), you may want to leave this enabled.- Pocketability: It fits in my pocket with no issues, but this is coming from a guy who can fit the Nexus 7 into his dress khakis and cargo shorts. I'm a little on the tall side (6' 2"), so I'm sure that helps.- Camera: Tons of tweaks with the onboard camera software. Takes great pictures. I'm no professional photographer, but it's clearly iPhone 4S+ quality and SIGNIFICANTLY better than the shooter on the Galaxy Nexus.- Speaker: MUCH louder than the Galaxy Nexus. I can actually hear my phone when it rings - hurray!- Notification LED: Once you have a phone with this, you can't live without it.(update 10/9/12) - Stock Samsung Keyboard: It's quite good, and I'm currently using it as my default input method. I prefer it's dedicated number row above the alphabetical keys. Also, it has "Swype"-like functionality. I don't know if Samsung white labeled Swype's keyboard or simply built their own, but it is accurate.(update 10/17/12) - Lack of Carrier Control: I overlooked this in my original review, but I think it's important to note that the international Note II's updates are directly controlled by Samsung. There is no carrier interference in the software update process. I was reminded of this today when I read that international Galaxy S3 devices are now being updated to Jelly Bean, while carrier-branded U.S. versions won't see it for months.*********CONS (this will be short)- Size for One-Handed Operation: At times, you'll have to use two hands to use it, much more so than you would for any other phone on the market today. My hands are larger than average, and I still have to use two hands periodically. If two-handed operation bothers you quite a bit, don't purchase it.- Additional Multi-Window App Support (see under PROS): It would be great if ALL apps could run under multi-windows mode - it is that useful.- Small Inconsistencies with Touchwiz: Nothing big, just little issues here and there. For example, you can create notes (essentially, draw) on the monthly calendar with the S-Pen (great for visually calling out an important meeting), but if you add the calendar widget to the homescreen, your drawn notes won't show on the widget.- Lack of Dedicated Multi-tasking Button: My Galaxy Nexus has a dedicated softkey for the task switcher. For the Note II, you have to long press the home button to bring up the task switcher.(update 10/9/12) - Capacitive Navigation Buttons Do Not Remain Backlit: The two capacitive buttons (Menu and Back) do not remain backlit when using the device, and once they're off, they cannot be viewed (there is no visible etching). This adds an unnecessary learning curve as your muscle memory adjusts to where each key is. Also, I prefer the Back button on the left of the device's face (it is located on the right) - it would be more intuitive/logical to position it to the left of the Home key. (update 11/19/12) You CAN enable the navigation buttons to remain backlit. As J.A. Smithers pointed out in the comments on 11/19/12, go to Settings --> Display --> Touch key light duration --> (choose "Always on" and they will only go off when you turn the whole screen off, i.e. in standby mode).*********TL; DR: It's an awesome phone - if you like Android, it's likely the best phone available now. As long as having to use two hands sometimes doesn't bother you, get it.*********As an fyi, I'm running this phone on Straight Talk and consistently get download speeds in the 7mb/sec range. I'll try to update as I continue getting settled into the phone. Feel free to ask questions.
144 of 149 people found the following review helpful.
Must buy for busy people
By R. Batarseh
This is one hell of a gadget. It is the best product I currently use. The screen is simply beautiful, speed is excellent, and it feels luxurious with the glowing screen and heavy feel. I use it for all sorts of things and it never fails you. Battery is awesome, for the first few days I practically spent all day using it, testing it, downloading apps ...etc. and there's always at least 20-30% battery left at night after 16+ hours of heavy use. I happily spent 600 Euros to buy it, and that was very good value, in fact the price of this phone should not compare to other smart phones out there, as this is a different product, it truly is a phone and a tablet in one (so the alternative is buying 2 items for double the price). I am not a so-called Apple hater, but the iPhone is a toy next to this one(I used the iPhone 5 for 3 days); even the Galaxy S3 is reduced to a toy next to it. Samsung could easily sell it for additional 30% in price (at least to those who appreciate it). One comment about the size: you buy this phone specifically for its size, I wonder how some reviews mention its size as a disadvantage or a con ... how can that be when you bought it BECAUSE of its size not in spite of it? Don't hesitate about it, buy it IF you need a bigger screen. If the size to you is an obstacle then stick to the smaller ones, as this is not intended to be just another phone, it's intended to be a personal assistant, tablet, and phone. I recommend it without hesitation, and would like to thank Samsung for making such a beautiful product.
80 of 83 people found the following review helpful.
Oh boy Samsung does it again.....
By Crysis Complex
I waited a while to write a review on this phone, I had bought the phone right before I went on vacation out of town for 2 weeks (got it the 2nd day of release) and I am blown away by this device. I was a former owner of the iPhone 4s and then I moved to a Galaxy Note (n7000) for 6 months. I was in love with the original Galaxy Note in every way possible and then I sold my old Gnote. I felt bad because I had no idea how good the Gnote 2 would be, if I would love it or hate it. I even regretted selling the Original note. I waited for the day to come and then I bought it patiently waiting day by day (bought on ebay with square trade warranty). I never thought another phone in the world could take me away from the Gnote and then it happen...The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 came along by UPS and shattered the barriers of my expectations of how fast a phone could be and could do. Once again I sit here writing you a review of my 2 weeks of the Samsung Galaxy note 2 (n7100) This Review will mostly compare it to the Original Galaxy Note (n7000).Screen and Multimedia:We already know the screen is a whopping 5"5 inches so I won't get into that. The HD Super AMOLED is what I want to get at. Its just so eye popping to look at every time you look at the Raw HD screen of the Galaxy Note II. Its hard to look away for even a moment. And Guess what? Its NOT PEN-TILE! Really once you look at the screen you will notice it! The screen itself is just so fun to look at and it is some serious eye candy. I know some people are worried about losing some res of the original Galaxy note but trust me this screen is far superior. It was worth losing that resolution in favor of this screen. This is truly the best screen Samsung have ever made. Period. If you was desensitize by the first Note Screen then your in luck because this one is even bigger (mainly longer) then before. Its going to be hard to go back to smaller screens after owning this phone. There was no problems with my screen at all, no dead pixels & no funny colors/bluish tint like the first Gnote. Its a breathtaking screen simply put and it is something that have to be seen. It Decodes DVIX and Xvid movies so watching on this screen is a blast with HD, Netflix also has great quality, and Slingplayer is a wonder to watch TV on the Galaxy Note II! HD wallpapers and wonderful looking on a screen like this. Gaming on this device is pure fun enjoyment every time because you will have extra room to have your thumbs moving. (played NOVA 3, Dead Trigger, Sonic CD, and a few SNES games like TMNT Turtles in time. With those games the Colors just POP! don't believe me? Try it when you get one.) The screen was so comfortable to look at I didn't even pull out my iPad on my vacation.Design / Build Quality / feel:Yes its a big phone/tablet but really it feels nice in the hand. To me it feels so much better then the Original Galaxy Note. Its something about the design of the curves on the back of the device just feels so satisfying to hold. I know the device is plastic but it some how have a premium feel to it. It is very uncanny but its beautiful and looks better then the white version IMO. The gray mixed in with a nature like feel of the GSIII just makes the front of the device very sexy. People gave me compliments on the street saying it was "beautiful" This mixed in with the screen can make this a very attractive phone. It is a solid feeling phone. I can fit it in my pants with no problems because the Galaxy Note 2 is thin, light and easy to hold. If your worried about texting on this thing there is an app called "Thumb Keyboard" in the android market that really makes it comfortable typing. To be completely honest the Stock Keyboard even feels good to type on and very responsive...might be a little tough to reach the middle of the with the stock keyboard in landscape. Other then that its a very good stock Samsung keyboard its even better when you use the S-Pen for your handwriting. This one is also better for the front of it has a notification light, I know that's not a huge bonus to some people but after owning the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3Gs, Dell Streak, Galaxy S II, iPhone 4s and a Galaxy Note...It is refreshing to see that on there for the first time. You can change the color of the Notification light as well but it depends if an app allows you to do so such as Handcent SMS.Call Quality / data speeds / GPS / Wifi:Call quality is great and Samsung made it even better then the Original note. Speaker is WAYYYYY better then the Original Note adding a "extra volume" button during calls. The speaker on the Gnote was not that good to say the lease. I have HSPA+ on AT&T with Unlimited Data and the Download/upload speeds are good with my area getting 7.25 Mbps in Chicago's speed test (Using a unlocked with T-mobile USA will only get you 2G speeds). The speeds are not bad but not that good compared to today's LTE speeds. Its good enough for me though but I suggests waiting for the LTE versions of this phone if your a data speed demon. Another thing I notice with Galaxy Note 2 is that all you have to do is put the microSIM card in and your good to go. It automatically sets up the APN settings for you something that was not on the Original Galaxy note. GPS locks on fast as normal and was great using it on a vacation and Wifi is working perfectly especially with range, it pulls up web pages faster then the first note I can tell you that.Battery:It Last...the 3100 mah battery just shatters the old Gnote battery. Normal usage has gotten me over 48 hours of battery life and heavy usage gotten me about 20 hours. That is just insane....it is just insane if your not use to it which I wasn't. You would think with a screen as huge as 5"5 inches and the power this phone has it wouldn't but it just surprise me how far smartphones have came from 2006. You won't be disappointed with the battery life in the Galaxy Note II.UI / Speed / Processor:Fluid. Fast. Quick. Speedy. Blazing. This phone is the FASTEST phone I have ever used. Why shouldn't it be with a Quad-core and 2GB of Ram. It even had me saying "Is this really Android?" because my first Android phone was a Dell Streak and look how far we come. I was shocked how fast this phone is. I mean every app I throw at it, it takes it down like a beast. This is the first time I felt like I didn't need to change roms or flash it. In fact I see myself keeping this phone stock for a very long time. Yes my friends I am in love with Touchwiz/Nature UX for the very first time. If this is project butter and the future of it then please give me more. The responsiveness of this device is mind blowing. Another thing this phone has is something called "Page Buddy" for Ex: when you plug in your headphones it takes you to a home screen of apps and widgets that you most use the headphones with. It does the same with the S-pen, Docking, and Roaming. It is another function that can activate something called "Multi-view" where you can have two apps open at the same time but they work so seamless. you can have Google Maps open while you text your friends the directions or you can browse the web while viewing a video. Its so smooth, I think this is where the Quad-core really shines.Its a limited amount of apps on the left side of the screen that you can use multi-view with but here is the list:Chrome (Once installed)ChatOnEmailGalleryGmailInternetMapsSNoteMessagingYou-TubeVideo PlayerGoogle TalkAPPS:Comes with a bunch of Samsung APPS which I found myself enjoying. Here are some of the ones I enjoy. Allshare play Connects to all the media file on my PC over HSPA+ or WiFi, It has DLNA that can connect to my Samsung TV, FM Radio that carriers love to take out for you to use their data, Paper artist that let you take a picture and draw wacky stuff over it, S-Voice which I admit is awful but its a decent clone of Siri on the iPhone, Music app is nice and of course all the fun Google stuff especially Google Now. Samsung Email app is good and so is their S-planner (calender) but its nothing to write home about unless your using the S-pen with the calender. The rest of Samsung's apps aren't good. (Gamer, Reader and music hubs are junk and so is the Samsung App store.)S-Pen:It works as it is suppose to and quicker then the original Galaxy note. This would be the one main reasons to buy the phone. As an artist I am very impressed with something like this and could be used as a backup Wacom mini tablet for on the go. The Samsung Galaxy Note II has some really awesome features besides drawing that take advantage of this Wacom pen. You can use it to write down notes, hover it over your video timeline to see whats going on later in the movie, You can use it as a "mouse" to hover over content your fingers can't really activate on the web, Write notes on your Calendar, Write notes on the back of pictures/photos, and so much more that I know I'm forgetting but it all just works with ease.Camera:Takes great pictures up to 8 MP and the best I've ever seen on a mobile device, the pictures are just so colorful. The pictures snaps fast and I love it, if you hold the camera button down it snaps up to 20 photos in a second (?) and it has Panorama which I enjoy using. HD Video recording is great and frame rate and looks very good when being played back on DLNA / Allshare. With a processor this fast its no longer you have to wait a second or two like one original note. I haven't tired using all of the features of the camera but I'm working my way to it like Low-light, HDR, Best shot, etc.Final word:I love this phone and to be honest with you I don't see myself using another phone for a very long time. This Quad-core beast can handle it all. I don't even take out my iPad anymore....I don't even feel the desire to buy the Nexus 7 at this point in time because this phone is just fun to use. This is now my personal on the go PC. I put in a 64GB microSD card into it (MicroSD slot another plus btw) and now I take all my movies and music along with me. Samsung has once again showed me that they can deliver a great product. I can't speak for updates but as far as I know the old Galaxy Note (n7000) is getting Jellybean as well so I expect the Galaxy note 2 to get updated with future Android updates as well.Get this phone if your interested, No I'm not going to call this a phone....Get this media powerhouse if you enjoy media consumption and want a phone along with it. I don't carry around my tablet anymore and I make phone calls with this thing. Its everything I wanted in a portable data device. I know some are worried how big it is but its really not that big of a phone. When you get use to it and its "smaller" then the Original Note making it easy to hold. Its easy for me to carry around but it is a two handed device so keep that in mind. There are ways to use it with one hand like the keyboard and calculator though. I enjoyed using this phone on my vacation and I didn't even use the unlocked Tethering ;) because the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 alone makes for a enjoyable experience to have around. I'm sure there are so many other things I am missing in this review but so far I love it. Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (n7100) is worth every single penny!I haven't used NFC yet so I can't comment on it but I would love Google wallet on this thing if I knew how to get it on there.I recommend a few apps in the play store with the note II:iMediaShare: (Ultimate app for DLNA users.)Thumb Keyboard: (Great keyboard for phones like this.)HD Widgets: (Wonderful weather widget that fits the note screen perfectly.)Sketchbook Mobile: (works great with the S-pen)Sonic CD: (Sonic with Amoled goodness will give you eye orgasms.)Google Navigation: (Perfect device for GPS!)HulloMail: (Visual Voice-mail)Slingplayer: (If you have a slingbox you will LOVE! this app, if you do not I recommend getting one.)Netflix: (For obvious reasons.)Chrome: (Great web browser)Mightytext: (If you love Texting from your PC)Samsung's Kies air: (Wireless Transferring of Music, Videos, Photos, and Texting from PC)Lock Screen 7 & Launcher 7: (Because nothing is better then making this look like a Windows Phone 7 Device from time to time)
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