Galaxy Note II review

Galaxy Note II review: Larger than life

by Hiranand Sunny Naresh

Updated 08:28 PM Oct 19, 2012

The Samsung Galaxy Note II. Photo SAMSUNG

The Samsung Galaxy Note was an unexpected success here when it was launched in October last year, and now the South Korean giants are looking to replicate that success with what they claim to be a bigger, and better Galaxy Note II.

The pre production unit we received looked and felt better than the original Note. With its 5.5-inch screen, the Note II is slightly bigger than the original Note - which had a 5.3-inch display - but it is also narrower and slimmer. It is also slightly heavier (2 grams), tipping the scales at 180 grams. And thanks to its metallic body, it feels more professional compared to its predecessor, which has been criticised at times for feeling cheap due to its plastic finish.

The Note II is also much faster and powerful than the original Note, thanks to its 1.6 GHz, quad-core processor and Android Jelly Bean operating system. Downloading and switching between apps was a breeze and the device even scored a massive score of 5,908 in the Quadrant test. The original Note could only muster a score of 3,802.

The newer Note also comes with a bigger 3,100 mAh battery which allowed me to watch videos, answer calls, browse the Web and listen to music for more than 12 hours without having to charge it.

I hardly used the S Pen on my original Note but with the Note II, I was constantly using the revamped S Pen to check and add calendar events and scribble notes. I even used the S Pen for text messages because the handwriting recognition was incredibly accurate, even for my penmanship which has been likened to chicken scratchings far too often.

There is very little difference in camera functions between the Note and Note II: Both come with an 8-megapixel main shooter on the back and a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera, and picture quality is almost similar. The only difference is that the Note II has a burst-shot function which allows users to take multiple shots at one go, then pick the best one of the lot.

The Note was impressive enough but the Note II takes it up a few notches. It's nicer to look at and hold, faster in use, and lasts longer. Most importantly, it takes greater advantage of the S Pen stylus, something which continues to set the Note series apart from its competition. The Galaxy Note II is not only Samsung's greatest smartphone to date; it's the best Android mobile device money can buy now.

The GALAXY Note II LTE comes in Ceramic White or Titan Gray colour options and will be available at $998 (without contract) from tomorrow at Samsung authorised dealers as well as at the three telcos. HIRANAND SUNNY



We answer readers' questions:

Twitter reader Sad Olive Girl (@ohmygodnadia) asks: "How light is it compared to the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 5?"

The Galaxy Note II weighs 180g, the iPhone 5 weighs 112g and the iPhone 3GS weighs 135g.



Facebook reader Ntt Med asks: "Has the internal memory size increased to 64GB and above?"

According to the tech specs, the Note II offers 16/32/64GB User memory + 2GB (RAM), with microSD (up to 64GB). Nothing above 64GB, unfortunately.



Juanda Zeng would like us to compare the camera quality of the Note II with the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy SIII.

The iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy SIII and the Galaxy Note II all feature 8-megapixel cameras. In a test between the iPhone 5 and Galaxy Note II cameras, the iPhone 5 picture is sharper, has more details and contrast but is grainier than the Note II's.

Source:  www.todayonline.com