Samsung's first crack at a smartphone larger than five inches came last year in the form of the Galaxy Note. It was wildly different than most phones we'd seen before: it was massive, for one, and involved the use of a stylus
pen, a sorely outdated concept at the time. Who would be willing to buy
this thing? Yet, despite its enormous size, this tablet / phone
(forgive us: phablet) captured more hearts and wallets than even Sammy had probably expected. The S Pen
showed that it was more than just a simple stylus, artists and tech
enthusiasts alike loved it and a successful marketing campaign helped
push millions of units. The Note was an undeniable hit.
Did Samsung realize at the time that it was sitting on a gold mine? It's hard to know for sure, but its success meant only one thing: an inevitable sequel. The Galaxy Note II, introduced a year after its parent, has some big shoes to fill. We believe it's up to the task, though: it boasts a quad-core Exynos processor, twice the RAM, an even larger display and a whole new bag of S Pen tricks. It sounds compelling, but does the new version truly trump the old? Is it worth another sound investment (pricing varies, but it starts around £530 for a SIM-free version) just a year down the road? We'll satisfy your curiosity after the break.
Did Samsung realize at the time that it was sitting on a gold mine? It's hard to know for sure, but its success meant only one thing: an inevitable sequel. The Galaxy Note II, introduced a year after its parent, has some big shoes to fill. We believe it's up to the task, though: it boasts a quad-core Exynos processor, twice the RAM, an even larger display and a whole new bag of S Pen tricks. It sounds compelling, but does the new version truly trump the old? Is it worth another sound investment (pricing varies, but it starts around £530 for a SIM-free version) just a year down the road? We'll satisfy your curiosity after the break.
Hardware :
To gaze upon the newborn Galaxy Note II is to take a crash course in
Samsung's preferred design language. Whereas the original bears the
same overall look and squarish corners as the Galaxy S II, its successor is -- you guessed it -- just as inspired by nature and "designed for humans" as the Galaxy S III.
We wouldn't rule out the possibility of you mixing them up (the size
difference is a dead giveaway, but the phones look quite similar
otherwise). Indeed, Samsung is now in the habit of changing things up on
a yearly basis, which may seem more boring than once every couple
months. By adopting an annual design cycle, however, devices like the
Note II likely get pushed through the initial stages of development much
faster than they would otherwise. We also imagine that the company's
new strategy of consistency will have a significant impact on Samsung's
brand recognition.
Owners of the original Galaxy Note -- whether it be the global N7000 or one of its many variants -- know all too well how it feels to get the occasional "what is that thing?" from random passersby. So will the peanut gallery continue to snicker when you take this out in public? At 3.16 inches (80.5mm) wide, 5.95 inches (151.1mm) tall and 0.37 inches (9.4mm) deep, the Note II is slightly thinner, narrower and taller than its parent. This, along with the pebble-like shape, definitely offers a more comfortable experience when you're cradling it in your hand, though it's just a tad heavier at 6.35 ounces (180g). Despite being more attractive than the first Note, it's nonetheless an indisputably large device, and will continue to draw stares for that reason. (In other words, you'll want to come up with a standard talk track for those times you're approached by curious strangers.)
Owners of the original Galaxy Note -- whether it be the global N7000 or one of its many variants -- know all too well how it feels to get the occasional "what is that thing?" from random passersby. So will the peanut gallery continue to snicker when you take this out in public? At 3.16 inches (80.5mm) wide, 5.95 inches (151.1mm) tall and 0.37 inches (9.4mm) deep, the Note II is slightly thinner, narrower and taller than its parent. This, along with the pebble-like shape, definitely offers a more comfortable experience when you're cradling it in your hand, though it's just a tad heavier at 6.35 ounces (180g). Despite being more attractive than the first Note, it's nonetheless an indisputably large device, and will continue to draw stares for that reason. (In other words, you'll want to come up with a standard talk track for those times you're approached by curious strangers.)
While we all want our smartphones to stick around for a long time, the
matter of build quality is extremely important here, given the fact that
the phone's size makes it more prone to drops. That's why we're happy
with the company's decision to use a polycarbonate
chassis, similar to the one on the Galaxy S III. After handling the
Note II on a regular basis, we're confident that Samsung's crafted a
durable, solid device. (As an aside, you can find a few drop tests
circulating the web. Spoiler: it holds up extremely well.)
Because the new Note has a larger display and thinner chassis, the buttons on each side have been scaled down a notch. The power key, for instance, now rests in a much more natural position that's easier to find by feel. The only downside? It's also much easier to press the button accidentally.
Since we're discussing button placement, we'll continue with the full Vanna White-style tour: beginning with the front, you'll find an LED notification light (which wasn't on the first Note), an earpiece, sensors and a 1.9-megapixel camera above the display, while the large physical home button found below the screen is flanked by two capacitive keys (menu and back) on either side. The bezel on the top and bottom are smaller than on the OG Note, though the left and right bezels are about the same.
Because the new Note has a larger display and thinner chassis, the buttons on each side have been scaled down a notch. The power key, for instance, now rests in a much more natural position that's easier to find by feel. The only downside? It's also much easier to press the button accidentally.
Since we're discussing button placement, we'll continue with the full Vanna White-style tour: beginning with the front, you'll find an LED notification light (which wasn't on the first Note), an earpiece, sensors and a 1.9-megapixel camera above the display, while the large physical home button found below the screen is flanked by two capacitive keys (menu and back) on either side. The bezel on the top and bottom are smaller than on the OG Note, though the left and right bezels are about the same.
The front is frankly the busiest part of the phone; Samsung
professes a policy of minimalism the rest of the way around the Note
II. There's a power button on the right, volume rocker on the left, S
Pen holder and micro-USB charging port (with MHL capabilities -- more on
that later) on the bottom and 3.5mm headphone jack up top. Even the
back keeps relatively quiet, sporting the 8-megapixel camera module and
LED flash just barely above the singular Samsung logo, as well as a
speaker grille that hangs out near the bottom. The battery cover lies
completely flat across the back of the phone (with the exception of the
slightly raised camera and speaker) and curves inward as it prepares to
meet up with the edge.
A design decision we've always appreciated from Samsung is the
removable battery, which has been increased to 3,100mAh (up from
2,500mAh on the original Note). Above it you'll see slots for micro-SIM
and microSDXC cards as well as contacts for NFC and wireless charging.
Our particular review unit, provided to us by our friends at Negri Electronics, is the white N7100, the global version which lacks the superfast LTE speeds many users crave. Thus, folks looking for the fastest Note II around will need to grab the N7105, which offers the next-gen data in bands 7 (2600MHz) and 20 (800MHz). For those keeping score, you can see if your country utilizes these frequencies here. Speed demons in the US may also be interested in variants of the Note II coming out to AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and US Cellular, though there should be very few cosmetic discrepancies between them and their global counterparts -- much like we saw with the Galaxy S III series.
Both global versions of the Note II are capable of 21.6Mbps HSPA+ (850, 900, 1900 and 2100MHz) along with quadband GSM / EDGE. They also boast dual-band (2.4 and 5GHz) WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n with WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA and NFC. If you're a gadget aficionado in need of the full spec list, we've compiled all these specifics below.
Our particular review unit, provided to us by our friends at Negri Electronics, is the white N7100, the global version which lacks the superfast LTE speeds many users crave. Thus, folks looking for the fastest Note II around will need to grab the N7105, which offers the next-gen data in bands 7 (2600MHz) and 20 (800MHz). For those keeping score, you can see if your country utilizes these frequencies here. Speed demons in the US may also be interested in variants of the Note II coming out to AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and US Cellular, though there should be very few cosmetic discrepancies between them and their global counterparts -- much like we saw with the Galaxy S III series.
Both global versions of the Note II are capable of 21.6Mbps HSPA+ (850, 900, 1900 and 2100MHz) along with quadband GSM / EDGE. They also boast dual-band (2.4 and 5GHz) WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n with WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA and NFC. If you're a gadget aficionado in need of the full spec list, we've compiled all these specifics below.
Display :
The Note II's display has earned a whole section unto itself because it's, well, a little different.
And we're not just talking about the fact that the newer version uses a
larger panel with even fewer pixels than the original: there's more to
it than meets the eye (the naked eye, at least). First, a little
background: when the sequel was announced with a 1,280 x 720 HD Super AMOLED panel, we naturally assumed that it would be sporting a PenTile
matrix. After all, that's exactly how this type of display has been
laid out in other handsets, so it's easy to break out the 'ol
jump-to-conclusions mat. However, the microscope (and Samsung's
spokespeople) tell us that this isn't the case at all.
Oddly, though, it isn't the traditional RGB matrix as we've been accustomed to on most non-PenTile phones, either. Instead, it appears to be laid out in a non-striped BGR matrix in which the blue subpixels are perpendicular to green and red, rather than in parallel. This puts the display in a magical place where few Super AMOLEDs have gone before, but it's still a hefty improvement over the first Note. Don't get us wrong: we raved about the OG's 1,280 x 800 display (and rightfully so), but its follow-up looks slightly better despite the lower ppi (267, versus the original's 285). We doubt casual observers will notice the difference, but when closely viewing the two side by side, we found more pixels on the older device. Darks are a little darker on the second-gen model, and colors are just a bit more saturated, too. The viewing angles on the next-gen Note are also great for watching movies, but they're essentially the same as the original. Daylight viewing wasn't a problem with the brightness cranked up above 75 percent.
Oddly, though, it isn't the traditional RGB matrix as we've been accustomed to on most non-PenTile phones, either. Instead, it appears to be laid out in a non-striped BGR matrix in which the blue subpixels are perpendicular to green and red, rather than in parallel. This puts the display in a magical place where few Super AMOLEDs have gone before, but it's still a hefty improvement over the first Note. Don't get us wrong: we raved about the OG's 1,280 x 800 display (and rightfully so), but its follow-up looks slightly better despite the lower ppi (267, versus the original's 285). We doubt casual observers will notice the difference, but when closely viewing the two side by side, we found more pixels on the older device. Darks are a little darker on the second-gen model, and colors are just a bit more saturated, too. The viewing angles on the next-gen Note are also great for watching movies, but they're essentially the same as the original. Daylight viewing wasn't a problem with the brightness cranked up above 75 percent.
Software :
The Galaxy Note II is the first Samsung device to ship with Jelly Bean
(Android 4.1.1, to be exact). All of the OS' new and enhanced features
have been worked into TouchWiz UI. This includes Google Now (long-press
the menu button to activate it), expandable notifications and predictive
keyboard -- heck, even the Jelly Bean easter egg is there. It also
includes the laundry list of new services Sammy introduced on the Galaxy
S III, such as Smart Stay, S Voice, AllShare Cast and S Beam. (S Beam,
by the way, adds the ability to transfer Note II docs to other Note II
devices, but since we only have one tester phone, we haven't had the
chance to try this out.) Popup video, which allows your selected video
to "hover" over other apps, allowing you to multitask, also makes a
repeat appearance here, and it's definitely a better experience when you
have such a large screen to use it on.
TouchWiz on Jelly Bean isn't unlike the experience you've had on Ice Cream Sandwich -- Samsung, as you'd expect, wants to keep the UX as consistent as possible. One of the biggest areas of change is the notification menu: in addition to the expandable notifications (which can be accessed by taking two fingers and pulling down on the notification), the brightness settings are now accessible underneath the quick toggles, and the status bar now houses the settings button and offers the date and time in a larger font. There are plenty of other new tweaks that make excellent use of the new S Pen capabilities, which we'll explain in more detail shortly.
Blocking mode is Samsung's take on Do Not Disturb. You can disable a number of various notifications, set a specific timeframe for them to be turned off and even set up a whitelist of allowed contacts that can bypass the block and sound a notification when they call you.
TouchWiz on Jelly Bean isn't unlike the experience you've had on Ice Cream Sandwich -- Samsung, as you'd expect, wants to keep the UX as consistent as possible. One of the biggest areas of change is the notification menu: in addition to the expandable notifications (which can be accessed by taking two fingers and pulling down on the notification), the brightness settings are now accessible underneath the quick toggles, and the status bar now houses the settings button and offers the date and time in a larger font. There are plenty of other new tweaks that make excellent use of the new S Pen capabilities, which we'll explain in more detail shortly.
Blocking mode is Samsung's take on Do Not Disturb. You can disable a number of various notifications, set a specific timeframe for them to be turned off and even set up a whitelist of allowed contacts that can bypass the block and sound a notification when they call you.
While we expect a device like the Note II to appeal mainly to smartphone
buffs, Samsung is at least making an attempt to make first-time users
feel comfortable. You can opt to change from the standard home screen to
what's called "easy mode," which is essentially just a different
launcher complete with customized pages and large widgets. Aside from
that, there are very few things that differ from your normal TouchWiz
experience -- it's a rather half-baked attempt at wooing a new
demographic.
Samsung's set of motion controls are much
improved from the old Note to the new, with the sequel now matching (and
exceeding, in a couple cases) the Galaxy S III's functionality in this
department. To recap, you can scroll to the top of a screen by
double-tapping the top edge of the phone; tilt to zoom in and out of the
screen in the gallery or browser; pan the phone to move icons on the
main screen; shake your phone to look for updates; turn over the phone
to mute sounds; directly call whatever contact is displayed on the
screen; and more. There are a few newcomers to the Samsung fold: quick
glance shows you a few basic notifications when you wave your hand over
the proximity sensor and there are a few new advanced settings to adjust
the level of sensitivity required to trigger motion when panning or
tilting your device.
Finally, another slick new feature is Smart Rotation. If you're like us, there's a certain annoyance that comes with using the phone while in bed or on the couch because it switches screen orientation on a frequent basis. While you can typically find toggles that lock this, it's not always the best solution -- watching movies or looking at pictures are a couple of examples. Smart Rotation uses the front-facing camera to determine where your face is, and will prevent the screen from switching to landscape mode if you're still using your phone in a portrait position.
One more thing: as with the Galaxy S III, Note II owners are entitled to 50GB of Dropbox storage.
Finally, another slick new feature is Smart Rotation. If you're like us, there's a certain annoyance that comes with using the phone while in bed or on the couch because it switches screen orientation on a frequent basis. While you can typically find toggles that lock this, it's not always the best solution -- watching movies or looking at pictures are a couple of examples. Smart Rotation uses the front-facing camera to determine where your face is, and will prevent the screen from switching to landscape mode if you're still using your phone in a portrait position.
One more thing: as with the Galaxy S III, Note II owners are entitled to 50GB of Dropbox storage.
S Pen :
The crown jewel of any Note device is its accompanying stylus (we know,
we're not supposed to call it that), also known as the S Pen, and
Samsung continues to improve on it with each new version. Indeed, the original Note, Note 10.1
and Note II all have somewhat unique pens, but they all have the same
overarching design and can work interchangeably. That's handy
information for anyone who loses their Wacom appendage, though there's
one drawback: not all S Pens are shaped the same, so they don't all fit
interchangeably in each other's cradles. The original Note pen fits
loosely inside the Note II's cradle, and we wouldn't count on it staying
in for very long before popping out.
Ergonomics are a huge consideration when Samsung designs its pens and indeed, each iteration seems to have a better in-hand feel. The Note II's S Pen is slightly fatter on the button side, which -- when pressing your thumb against it -- contributes to more of a true pencil feel. Also adding to the nostalgia of using an old-fashioned number two is the larger rubber tip, slightly bigger diameter (8mm) and increased length of the pen itself. It also doesn't hurt that you can tell the phone if you're right or left-handed (sorry, ambidextrous users, you have to choose).
Ergonomics are a huge consideration when Samsung designs its pens and indeed, each iteration seems to have a better in-hand feel. The Note II's S Pen is slightly fatter on the button side, which -- when pressing your thumb against it -- contributes to more of a true pencil feel. Also adding to the nostalgia of using an old-fashioned number two is the larger rubber tip, slightly bigger diameter (8mm) and increased length of the pen itself. It also doesn't hurt that you can tell the phone if you're right or left-handed (sorry, ambidextrous users, you have to choose).
We suppose it shouldn't come as a revelation that the second Note's S
Pen and Wacom digitizer have more in common with the Note 10.1 than the
original Note. First, the device recognizes when you've removed the pen
from its holster and, smartly assuming you'll imminently be using it,
takes you to a special page with several pen-optimized apps. (It also
lets you set an alarm that activates if your S Pen and Note get too far
away from each other.) Also, much like the tablet, the Note II is
capable of recognizing up to 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, a
four-fold increase over the OG Note's 256. As a result, we noticed an
improvement in accuracy and precision when using the pen for writing,
sketching and other activities. What's more, the screen does a much
better job of calculating how much pressure you're applying.
This only scratches the surface of what the S Pen is capable of. The Note II not only ushers in enhancements to existing features; it also brings a suite of new features that make the phone even more tantalizing than last year's model. Even the button itself is refreshed: you can now hold down the button while drawing gestures on the screen to access features like the Quick Command tool (we'll cover this later) and a few other navigational abilities. Additionally, you can now copy specific parts of the screen with Easy Clip, which is activated by holding down the button and drawing around the area you want to clip. Once it's clipped, you can choose to save or discard what you've selected. You can also select text by holding the button, tapping the screen and dragging the pen across. And we're just getting started -- the button is capable of plenty more, and we'll discuss its many new talents later in the review.
Before we dive into the first feature, it's important to note that the Wacom digitizer included in the phone is capable of sensing the S Pen as it hovers over the screen, in the same fashion that we've seen in Bamboo Pads for the last few years. As you hold the pen above the panel you'll notice a floating cursor on the screen. This opens up a lot of interesting possibilities, one of them being Air View. Using this feature, the Note II takes advantage of the hover functionality in several ways. For instance, you can hold the pen over emails in your inbox (in the general email app for now, at least) and a pop-up box displays the first few lines. Do the same in your calendar and those pesky appointments pop out at you in more detail as you scan through. Hold your pen over an unknown icon and its function will appear, the same way as when your mouse is held over something on your computer). Our favorite use of Air View is the ability to see GIF-like previews of movies just by holding the S Pen over a thumbnail. (Cool feature worth a mention: all of the video thumbnails in the player show these same types of previews without the pen, which makes the whole screen look alive, but the S Pen makes the pop-up screen larger.)
This only scratches the surface of what the S Pen is capable of. The Note II not only ushers in enhancements to existing features; it also brings a suite of new features that make the phone even more tantalizing than last year's model. Even the button itself is refreshed: you can now hold down the button while drawing gestures on the screen to access features like the Quick Command tool (we'll cover this later) and a few other navigational abilities. Additionally, you can now copy specific parts of the screen with Easy Clip, which is activated by holding down the button and drawing around the area you want to clip. Once it's clipped, you can choose to save or discard what you've selected. You can also select text by holding the button, tapping the screen and dragging the pen across. And we're just getting started -- the button is capable of plenty more, and we'll discuss its many new talents later in the review.
Before we dive into the first feature, it's important to note that the Wacom digitizer included in the phone is capable of sensing the S Pen as it hovers over the screen, in the same fashion that we've seen in Bamboo Pads for the last few years. As you hold the pen above the panel you'll notice a floating cursor on the screen. This opens up a lot of interesting possibilities, one of them being Air View. Using this feature, the Note II takes advantage of the hover functionality in several ways. For instance, you can hold the pen over emails in your inbox (in the general email app for now, at least) and a pop-up box displays the first few lines. Do the same in your calendar and those pesky appointments pop out at you in more detail as you scan through. Hold your pen over an unknown icon and its function will appear, the same way as when your mouse is held over something on your computer). Our favorite use of Air View is the ability to see GIF-like previews of movies just by holding the S Pen over a thumbnail. (Cool feature worth a mention: all of the video thumbnails in the player show these same types of previews without the pen, which makes the whole screen look alive, but the S Pen makes the pop-up screen larger.)
Next up on the list of hover-friendly additions, you can now use your S
Pen to scroll up and down on a page or list. In other words, it's now
just a matter of holding the pen directly above the top or bottom of the
scrollable screen. Sure, it seems gimmicky and unnecessary, but we
discovered that we used this feature more often than we thought we
would. The scrolling action is a little slow, so it's doubtful you'd
want to use this on a lengthy website, but it's handy when you just need
to go down the screen a little bit at a time -- say, in a settings menu
or Twitter feed.
Another neat feature that takes advantage of the newfound hovering capability is the ability to toggle between brush, pencil and eraser simply by holding the pen above the screen and clicking the button. This makes for a quick and seamless experience when you're constantly making mistakes (or changing your mind) as you draw.
When you're in S Note, you can also hold the pen above the screen and long-press its button to activate another new feature called Idea Sketch. A blank notepad appears, you write down the name of a particular category (or just browse through the list) and a whole bunch of possible illustrations show up for you to choose from. Once you choose one that suits your fancy, it appears in S Note where you can adjust the size and outline style -- and then you can either find inspiration from it, or just color between the lines like it's a coloring book.
Another neat feature that takes advantage of the newfound hovering capability is the ability to toggle between brush, pencil and eraser simply by holding the pen above the screen and clicking the button. This makes for a quick and seamless experience when you're constantly making mistakes (or changing your mind) as you draw.
When you're in S Note, you can also hold the pen above the screen and long-press its button to activate another new feature called Idea Sketch. A blank notepad appears, you write down the name of a particular category (or just browse through the list) and a whole bunch of possible illustrations show up for you to choose from. Once you choose one that suits your fancy, it appears in S Note where you can adjust the size and outline style -- and then you can either find inspiration from it, or just color between the lines like it's a coloring book.
Earlier we mentioned that Popup Video is available on the Note II, but
that isn't the only thing that pops up -- you can do the same thing with
Popup Note, which is activated by holding the S Pen button and
double-tapping on the screen. This is basically a miniature version of
the S Note app, which takes up less than half of the screen real estate.
This means you can take notes and watch videos simultaneously. (Popup
Browser is also available.) This is the best example of true
multitasking that we've ever seen on a smartphone, and there were no
lags, coughs, stutters or any sign whatsoever that the quad-core Exynos
processor was buckling under the load. If this is only the beginning of
what these phablets are capable of with the right engine under the hood,
color us impressed.
We're not done quite yet, multitasking fans. Samsung advertises another feature called Multi-Window that parallels -- nay, exceeds -- the aforementioned Popup Note in awesomeness.
We recently saw an implementation of this in the Galaxy Note 10.1, and
it's back, here in the Note II as Multi-Window. The implementation is a
little different this time around, with a long press on the back button
brining up a side bar of apps to choose from. On its tablet incarnation,
this consisted of a choice of six. This time we have much more to
choose from, including YouTube, ChatOn, GMail, Maps, Internet and, well,
you get the idea. This list is also customizable so you can cut the
ones you don't want, and bring your faves to the top. In practice, it
works well. We had videos running while we checked our email, and
happily scoured Google maps whilst we kept some restaurant reviews open
in the other pane. Likewise, it's nice to see that you can use this in
both orientations, with the phone's buttons being applied to the window
that is currently in focus (sounds obvious, but anything's possible).
We'd be interested to see how this might scale down onto something with a
little less display going on, but the Note II's ample square-inchage
certainly makes this a feature worth using. If you've ever used a
dual-monitor setup for your desktop, you'll understand the massive
productivity boost such a feature could bring to your smartphone --
especially given the amount of screen space the Note II offers.
Quick Command is another new feature that takes advantage of the S Pen's
gesture prowess. It's activated by pressing the button while dragging
the pen up from the bottom. A familiar-looking handwriting box shows up,
prompting you to write a command symbol followed by a keyword. For
instance, write "@ Susie" to send an email to Susie; "? [search term]"
performs a web search; "# Joseph" tells the phone to call Joseph, and so
on. On the surface, this doesn't seem particularly useful when S Voice
or Google voice search can do the same stuff, but here's the kicker:
it's fully customizable, and you can add in whatever commands you want
-- and these commands can open up applications or perform a set of
automated tasks (think SmartActions or Tasker). You could program it to
turn WiFi, GPS and Blocking Mode on just by drawing a "C," if that's
what floats your boat.
S Voice makes a return appearance, despite the existence of similar
functionality in Jelly Bean. Not a surprise. What did take us aback is
that it now includes S Pen handwriting recognition. This is definitely
an interesting addition; from our perspective, it doesn't make much
sense to write down a phrase that we could easily speak in less
time -- not to mention the fact that Quick Command already addresses
this capability, albeit in a separate app. This seems like a feature
that Samsung threw in just because it could. Yet it's there if you want
it, and we suppose there are a few folks that are gushing at the idea.
As you've no doubt come to understand, the Note II is fully loaded. The S Pen experience between the first- and second-generation devices is a night-and-day difference: the original Note seems like just a working concept in comparison. This is by far the best pen / stylus / whatchamacallit we've used on a smartphone. If you were a fan of the Note, you'll be pleasantly surprised with its successor.
As you've no doubt come to understand, the Note II is fully loaded. The S Pen experience between the first- and second-generation devices is a night-and-day difference: the original Note seems like just a working concept in comparison. This is by far the best pen / stylus / whatchamacallit we've used on a smartphone. If you were a fan of the Note, you'll be pleasantly surprised with its successor.
Finally, Samsung has released version 2.2 of its S Pen SDK,
which gives third-party developers the ability to beef up their apps
with support for hovering, new brushes, special effects and context
awareness. There's no guarantee your favorite app will magically have
cool new S Pen features, but the option is there for devs to put in a
little extra spice if they're interested.
Camera :
Given what we already know of the Note II's similarities to the Galaxy S
III, would it be much of a shocker to see the two sporting nearly
identical cameras? Thanks to a little help from Supercurio, we did some
digging and discovered that the two phones use the exact same rear
camera modules (known in the code as the s5c73m3). Yes, both utilize
maximum resolutions of eight megapixels (3,264 x 2,448 resolution),
f/2.6 aperture and 3.7mm focal length in stills, while allowing for
1080p video capture. The front-facing cameras are the same as well: they
max out at 1.9MP and are capable of 720p video recording. (Warning:
they default to 1.3MP, which is 1,280 x 960. The 1.9MP setting offers
1,392 x 1,392 pixel resolution.)
But while the two devices may be hardware bosom buddies, there are likely to be a few minor differences in firmware -- especially since the Note II has additional features not yet offered in the GS III. So before we dive into the performance, let's discuss what the device has to offer. First, it has a new "best face" mode, which is Samsung's version of Scalado Rewind: it takes five group photos and lets you choose the best faces. This is handy if Bob blinks in the first picture and Julie's making a weird face in the second -- just take the best of each person and put them together in one magical finished product. There's also a new "low light" mode, which as the name implies, is meant to deliver an improved performance in that arena.
Aside from these newcomers, you'll find the same litany of settings present in the GS III, such as HDR (with strong and normal settings, a choice you're not given on the GS III), panorama, share shot, plenty of scene modes, burst shot, macro focus, white balance, ISO, metering and exposure adjustment.
But while the two devices may be hardware bosom buddies, there are likely to be a few minor differences in firmware -- especially since the Note II has additional features not yet offered in the GS III. So before we dive into the performance, let's discuss what the device has to offer. First, it has a new "best face" mode, which is Samsung's version of Scalado Rewind: it takes five group photos and lets you choose the best faces. This is handy if Bob blinks in the first picture and Julie's making a weird face in the second -- just take the best of each person and put them together in one magical finished product. There's also a new "low light" mode, which as the name implies, is meant to deliver an improved performance in that arena.
Aside from these newcomers, you'll find the same litany of settings present in the GS III, such as HDR (with strong and normal settings, a choice you're not given on the GS III), panorama, share shot, plenty of scene modes, burst shot, macro focus, white balance, ISO, metering and exposure adjustment.
We've always been impressed with Samsung's camera performance because
the company seems more interested in quality than megapixel count. While
both Notes perform admirably, the next-gen version gave us slightly
better results than the original. The new Note produced more natural
colors -- its senior cranked out shots that were typically oversaturated
and oftentimes washed out in the daylight. You'll see a smidge more
detail in the sequel, as well. The Note II was also the winner in
managing dynamic range, bringing out the best contrast and producing
natural colors in the shadows. As for how our protagonist performs
against the Galaxy S III, it appears to be more or less a wash; as
expected, the images were incredibly similar and any differences
resulting from firmware processing were minor.
The LED flash on the second Note is considerably better than the original, providing more light and color saturation. (When compared to the GS III, however, it's tough to see any difference between the two.) The Note II also does a great job of capturing low-light images, as the new low-light mode fares well at grabbing errant photons. Comparing it with the Note and GS III, however, ends up in a draw: after taking several types of low-light shots, each one had its own moment of glory in at least a few contests.
The LED flash on the second Note is considerably better than the original, providing more light and color saturation. (When compared to the GS III, however, it's tough to see any difference between the two.) The Note II also does a great job of capturing low-light images, as the new low-light mode fares well at grabbing errant photons. Comparing it with the Note and GS III, however, ends up in a draw: after taking several types of low-light shots, each one had its own moment of glory in at least a few contests.
As mentioned, the Note II is capable of capturing 1080p video in
MPEG-4 format. A quick perusal of the specs shows that it uses AVC
profile 4.0, has a bitrate of 17 Mbps (the GS III is 17 Mbps, while the
HTC One X is 10 Mbps and the ASUS Padfone is 20 Mbps) and offers a frame
rate of 30fps. You're given the option of taking high-res (3,264 x
2,176) stills as you record your movies, but if you wait until playback
to grab that precious shot, the pixel count will match that of the vid
it was taken from.
In terms of features, the Note II introduces fast-motion (up to 8x) and slow-motion (down to one-eighth) recording modes for videos. You may not want to get too serious with these features, but it's a fun opportunity to be creative (example: fast motion vids are best accompanied by the Benny Hill theme song).
Overall, the video performance was pretty good: yours truly felt comfortable taking home movies with the family and leaving the fancy camcorder aside. It did well at capturing detailed motion without getting choppy, and picked up our voices loud and clear. We heard some gusts on a rather windy day, but it was able to filter most of the additional noise out. The only issue we had was with panning back and forth, where the imagery was choppy, almost to the point of inducing nausea. Frankly, we're chalking most of it up to trying to keep such a large device stable.
In terms of features, the Note II introduces fast-motion (up to 8x) and slow-motion (down to one-eighth) recording modes for videos. You may not want to get too serious with these features, but it's a fun opportunity to be creative (example: fast motion vids are best accompanied by the Benny Hill theme song).
Overall, the video performance was pretty good: yours truly felt comfortable taking home movies with the family and leaving the fancy camcorder aside. It did well at capturing detailed motion without getting choppy, and picked up our voices loud and clear. We heard some gusts on a rather windy day, but it was able to filter most of the additional noise out. The only issue we had was with panning back and forth, where the imagery was choppy, almost to the point of inducing nausea. Frankly, we're chalking most of it up to trying to keep such a large device stable.
Performance and battery life :
By stating that the Note II has a shiny 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos 4412
running the show with 2GB RAM and a Mali-400MP GPU to help things along,
the performance section almost writes itself. We've always been fond of
Exynos, but it's especially wonderful to see it pushed to new frontiers
-- in this case, four cores on a smartphone. As per our usual practice,
let's first see how it holds up in our benchmark tests.
We were expecting to see out-of-this-world results, but even then,
we ended up pleasantly surprised: some of the Note II's scores shattered
anything we've seen before, especially in tests that stress the
capabilities of the CPU and GPU. Four of the benchmarks produced results
that easily bested anything else currently available on the market,
with the other two being among the highest we've recorded.
As for real-world use, we briefly touched on the silky smooth multitasking we enjoyed with Popup Video and Popup Note, and we're happy to report that this wasn't the only area where the processor excelled. Gaming was a joy, with the HD display and capable GPU teaming up together to produce solid and realistic play. With internet browsing, we weren't surprised to see that the Note II is faster and more efficient, since Jelly Bean offers enhancements in that area. Our site opened up quickly and didn't sputter as we navigated, used pinch-to-zoom and did various activities on the browser.
The Note II has incredible battery life, but with a 3,100mAh pack and a more efficient OS than the original Note (which initially launched with Gingerbread before upgrading to ICS), this is exactly what we were expecting to see. In our standard rundown test, which consists of looping a video at 50 percent brightness, WiFi turned on (but disconnected from any networks) and regular push notifications for social media and email, we were able to snag 10 hours and 45 minutes of life out of it -- up just around an hour from the last Note. Granted, we may see a slight decline in the life of an LTE-enabled Note II, but this is still a highly respectable result. We were able to get almost two full days of normal usage from the device, so this should come as even more of a temptation for hungry power users everywhere.
For those asking, the Note II does in fact actually make calls, and it's above average in clarity. We didn't have any concerns with dropped calls, nor did our friends on the other end experience any static or other declines in quality. The loudspeaker earns its name, as it's on the top end of the sound spectrum -- it's plenty loud, regardless of whether you use the earpiece or speakerphone. This resulted in a great audio experience for us when listening to music or watching movies as well.
As for real-world use, we briefly touched on the silky smooth multitasking we enjoyed with Popup Video and Popup Note, and we're happy to report that this wasn't the only area where the processor excelled. Gaming was a joy, with the HD display and capable GPU teaming up together to produce solid and realistic play. With internet browsing, we weren't surprised to see that the Note II is faster and more efficient, since Jelly Bean offers enhancements in that area. Our site opened up quickly and didn't sputter as we navigated, used pinch-to-zoom and did various activities on the browser.
The Note II has incredible battery life, but with a 3,100mAh pack and a more efficient OS than the original Note (which initially launched with Gingerbread before upgrading to ICS), this is exactly what we were expecting to see. In our standard rundown test, which consists of looping a video at 50 percent brightness, WiFi turned on (but disconnected from any networks) and regular push notifications for social media and email, we were able to snag 10 hours and 45 minutes of life out of it -- up just around an hour from the last Note. Granted, we may see a slight decline in the life of an LTE-enabled Note II, but this is still a highly respectable result. We were able to get almost two full days of normal usage from the device, so this should come as even more of a temptation for hungry power users everywhere.
For those asking, the Note II does in fact actually make calls, and it's above average in clarity. We didn't have any concerns with dropped calls, nor did our friends on the other end experience any static or other declines in quality. The loudspeaker earns its name, as it's on the top end of the sound spectrum -- it's plenty loud, regardless of whether you use the earpiece or speakerphone. This resulted in a great audio experience for us when listening to music or watching movies as well.
Samsung's music player offers a full listing of various EQ settings, as
well as a few other methods of enhancing your tunes (3D, reverb, bass
boost, concert mode and plenty of others). Also, when plugging in a pair
of headphones, the phone recognizes that you're ready to get serious
about multimedia and shows you a specialized home page with various
options that would most likely appeal to you. Overall, we were satisfied
with how our music sounded -- we could pick out all of the highs and
lows without any shrill or overbearing areas. You shouldn't have any
problem loading up most audio formats, including MP3 / WAV / eAAC+ / AC3
/ FLAC. (For movies, you'll have success with MPEG-4, DivX / XVID, WMV,
H.264 / 263, MKV, FLV and AVI.)
GPS on the Note II, which also includes support for GLONASS, was consistently accurate to within 15 meters; it swiftly locked our position and managed our navigation soundly. Bluetooth 4.0 low-energy support has been added (the device managed to receive file transfers at an average speed of 120 KB/s) as well as the same MHL capabilities as the Galaxy S III -- this unfortunately means that you won't be able to use a standard MHL cable, and instead you'll need to shell out some extra money for a special Samsung-made MHL-to-HDMI converter for HD video output and home theatre-quality audio. USB file transfers were pretty fast, pulling down 16.44 MB/s received and 20 MB/s sent. We weren't able to test the LTE version, but HSPA+ yielded faster average data downlink speeds than what we've seen on the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
GPS on the Note II, which also includes support for GLONASS, was consistently accurate to within 15 meters; it swiftly locked our position and managed our navigation soundly. Bluetooth 4.0 low-energy support has been added (the device managed to receive file transfers at an average speed of 120 KB/s) as well as the same MHL capabilities as the Galaxy S III -- this unfortunately means that you won't be able to use a standard MHL cable, and instead you'll need to shell out some extra money for a special Samsung-made MHL-to-HDMI converter for HD video output and home theatre-quality audio. USB file transfers were pretty fast, pulling down 16.44 MB/s received and 20 MB/s sent. We weren't able to test the LTE version, but HSPA+ yielded faster average data downlink speeds than what we've seen on the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
Wrap-up :
To answer the question we posed at the beginning of this review, this
thing is the real deal, and it's decisively better than the device that
began the whole phablet craze. With SIM-free versions starting in the
ballpark of £530, it's a bit on the pricey side, but for good reason: it
offers best-in-market performance, an S Pen experience that blows its
predecessor out of the water, a solid OS in Jelly Bean and plenty of
other features that will make this a tempting offer to even the most
petite-handed individual. To do so in a package that's actually thinner
and narrower than the first Note is a tremendous accomplishment, and one
that'll be hard to match. Get ready to have your cake and eat it too.
