FOREnormous battery
Expandable memory
Amazing screen
LTE capable
Blazingly fast
AGAINST
Expensive
S-Pen is still complicated
Slow camera shutter
Size may be a barrier
It hasn't even been a year since the original Samsung
Galaxy Note launched. It was a work of genius for old Samsung. Many
(including us, we admit) were not convinced. Who on earth would want something
so big to make their calls and surf the internet, even with a glorified stylus?
Cue awkward silence.
Millions of you, it would appear. The Samsung Galaxy Note
has sold by the bucketload. And while it is most definitely a niche device,
it's done wonders for Samsung's balance sheet. How do you follow that up? With
something better, of course - the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
If you've ever fondled or caressed the original Samsung
Galaxy Note and found its larger size too much to handle, we'll break this to
you with a sledgehammer - the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is bigger.
It's now 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4mm (5.9 x 3.2 x 0.4 inches), so
slightly up from 146.9 x 83 x 9.7mm (5.8 x 3.3 x 0.4 inches). That said, we
didn't find it cumbersome at all.
In the way the original Samsung Galaxy Note followed the Samsung
Galaxy S2's square design, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 follows the Samsung
Galaxy S3's more rounded rectangular look.
And what a beauty it is. It actually felt slightly smaller
to us in day-to-day use - but that may be down to the fact that we have
gravedigger hands.
The Samsung Galaxy Note had a frankly amazing screen as it
was, so would have taken some beating. But Samsung clearly likes a challenge.
The size has gone up slightly from 5.3 inches to 5.5. And although pixel
density is reduced, we didn't notice it.
This is the bright, vivid Samsung Super AMOLED panel that we
all know and love - and what a beauty it is, replicating colours amazingly and
immaculately.
As expected, that screen takes up most of the front. You get
a home button and two hidden soft keys beneath it as before, plus a
front-facing camera and sensors up top.
The handset itself has little to note (geddit?) around the
edges. A headphone jack up top, power button on the right, volume on the left
and charger port below, right alongside the S-Pen slot - more of which will
follow later.
Around the back, you'll find the 8MP camera with flash.
The additional sorcery is carried out away from view. The microSD
expansion slot is beneath the rear cover - as is the microSIM slot, hidden
behind the enormous 3,100 mAh battery.
And there's a whole lot of goodness even further inwards
than that: HSDPA (LTE if
you're extra lucky), NFC,
GPS, Wi-Fi and so forth. It's a veritable treasure trove of geekdom.
One other thing we'd say is that this does feel like a
quality Android smartphone/tablet. We're aware of the protestations by some
readers (particularly iPhone users)
that phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 feel like toys because they're so
light and plasticky.
At 183g (0.4lbs), you couldn't describe the Samsung Galaxy
Note 2 as a feather - and the weight gives it a real notion of substance.
If you want to pick one of these big boys up, you'll need to
be willing to part with some serious cash - around £530/AU$999/US$700 appears
to be the average SIM-free price. It is also available on contract, but be
willing to shovel top dollar each month in the network's direction for two
years.
Normally, this is where we'd talk about the alternatives on
offer. But we admit, we're stumped here. Why? Well, in our mind, there is no
clear rival. The Samsung Galaxy Note created its own category, in that there
were no real phablets about before.
There is the LG
Optimus Vu, which hasn't hit the UK, but is in the US under the moniker LG
Intuition, however it's 4:3 ratio screen makes it an extremely odd proposition.
And while you'll get the Android 4.1 Jelly
Bean operating system and similar benefits from the Samsung Galaxy S3
or Samsung
Galaxy Note 10.1 (depending on whether you want a phone or tablet),
the form factor is pretty unique.
There are two snappers bundled with the Samsung Galaxy Note
2 - an 8MP one around the back and a 1.9MP camera facing the front. Eight
megapixels may not rock your world if size matters, but if quality does, you've
come to the right place.
The camera is extremely capable, comprehensive and
intuitive. Firing it up is super quick - even quicker if you put a shortcut on
your lock screen, so you can swipe into it from a standing start.
The camera is constantly seeking a lock to focus
automatically - but you can alter that point with your finger by tapping
anywhere on the screen.
Camera
There are two snappers bundled with the Samsung Galaxy Note
2 - an 8MP one around the back and a 1.9MP camera facing the front. Eight
megapixels may not rock your world if size matters, but if quality does, you've
come to the right place.
The camera is extremely capable, comprehensive and
intuitive. Firing it up is super quick - even quicker if you put a shortcut on
your lock screen, so you can swipe into it from a standing start.
The camera is constantly seeking a lock to focus
automatically - but you can alter that point with your finger by tapping
anywhere on the screen.
The flash is extremely strong, just like on our Samsung
Galaxy S3. We found ourselves in the rather hilarious situation of being in
a dark bar with friends who were all snapping with their iPhones.
When we fired the flash up on this, the comments were
unprintable. It actually is blinding if you're not expecting it - but the
beauty is that it is also very good at what it does, and can match some point
and shoots in that respect.
Verdict
Samsung has taken a product many people - including us -
expected to sink. It's built on that and given us something even better.
Faster, stronger, better looking, and more functional. It's
better connected than ever, and thanks to that increased screen size, now takes
the crown in our eyes as the perfect media player.
We liked
Samsung has achieved something special here, because it has
made the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 bigger than the original, but pulls it off so
that you don't notice it too much.
The fact that it launches running Android
Jelly Bean and has such grunt with that processor makes this a
class-leading phone. And with a camera that churns out fantastic snaps, it's
the perfect device in many ways.
We disliked
But we just can't get over the fact that the Samsung Galaxy
Note 2 is biiiiiiiiig and feels a bit odd in the hand at times. The S-Pen is a
welcome addition, but it's so complicated.
And sometimes, the whole experience can be too technical -
for example having to dig about in the menu for web reformatting options or
download extra bits just to get it to sync with a Mac.
Final verdict
It's tricky to pull all of this together in a final summary.
Do we mark the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 as a phone with a trillion bells and
whistles? Or as a personal media player that makes phone calls?
As a phone, it's big, but once you get over that, if you
can, it's great. As a PMP, it really does excel, and as a web communicator, it
is almost second to none (though we can't fully get the taste of Flash absence
out of our mouth).
But it's also expensive, and the kind of handset that we
think will struggle to find mass appeal - however the iPhone 5 will still set
you back more, as you'll need to fork out £46 per month of the 16GB version,
where as you can pick up a free Note 2 from £31 per month on a two year deal.
We already hear lots of people complain that the Samsung
Galaxy S3 is far too big. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 takes that to
another level, and the Galaxy S3 can now be picked up for free on a 24 month
contract starting at just £21 per month, or £430/AU$670/US$690 SIM-free, while
the Note is around £530/AU$999/US$700.
Ultimately, there's no getting away from the fact that the
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is a niche device. But it does almost everything it sets
out to do perfectly, with grace, class and maximum functionality. And if you're
in the market for a larger smartphone or a small tablet, there really is no
better device.
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