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Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100 Android smartphone

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review

The most complete digital communications device known to man?

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I’ve no idea what the Korean is for “let’s stuff everything we can into a phone and ram it up Apple’s jacksie” but it’s a fair bet the phrase was used at the inception of the Galaxy Note 2. This Android handset is the feature-packed successor to the surprisingly successful Galaxy Note that I was quite taken with late last year.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100 Android smartphone

Second draft: Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 Android smartphone

Just as the first Note followed the design language of the Galaxy S2, so the Note 2 follows the S3. I’m no fan of the S3’s looks but, writ large, the aesthetics come together far more successfully. The S3 looks like a too big phone but the new Note looks like a beautifully proportioned small tablet.

Size and weight are close to the original, so the new device will still fit in the back pocket of my jeans without issue. The smooth and rounded chassis goes some way towards mitigating the size and bulk, and I like the low profile volume and power controls.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100 Android smartphone

Marginally bigger screen and higher capacity battery too

There have been a few notable physical changes not least a bigger 720p screen which is now 5.55in rather than 5.3in corner-to-corner and a larger battery that's 3100mAh, up from 2500mAh. The cameras have been improved too, although the basic specs – 8Mp back and 1.9Mp front – are much as before.

The larger screen means the front of the Note 2 is almost entirely taken up by the Super AMOLED panel – perhaps this why it looks a more resolved design than the S3? Made of Gorilla Glass 2 and avoiding any Pentile matrix silliness, the Note 2’s 267dpi display is quite simply a thing of beauty. Bright, vivid, sharp as a tack and colourful – I can make no criticisms.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100 Android smartphone Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100 Android smartphone

AnTuTu and SunSpider results

With a 1.6GHz Exynos 4412 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, support for 4G LTE and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Note 2 is as up to date and powerful as you could possibly want. In short, it goes like blazes and has a superbly sweet and fluid UI. The AnTuTu and Sunspider numbers speak for themselves.

Next page: Bonus points

"It's basically a bigger S3 with a better quality screen"

You say that like its a bad thing

31
0

Re: unsatisfying review :(

Top of page 3 "How does it work as a phone? Superbly, thanks to a size that puts speaker and microphone closer to ear and mouth than smaller devices can manage and very good active noise cancellation".

25
1

I'll bite...

"Quad core is overkill when few applications are massively multi-threaded, just optimise your OS or stop using hooky interpreted Java code."

Damn right AC, this processor is far too fast. Why the hell do we want fast processors in the latest iterations of smartphones and pads? We should have been happy with the 500Mhz processors we had back in the days of iPaq. Goddamn kids.

18
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Hook line..

...and sinker, the dig is there to bring you out to make posts like this, predictable? apple has made billions out of the same type of people.

18
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"It's basically a bigger S3 with a better quality screen."

Just like the original note was basically a Galaxy S 2 with a bigger screen. That only sold in the millions!

"Oh and why in the conclusion are you having a dig at the iPhone 5 which you gave such a good score? be consistent please."

Because the iPhone 5 has proven less than perfect since release? Maps, case scratching, and today I read that there are big software-related battery drain problems for some devices.

If you want a big screen phone with working maps out of the box then the iPhone 5 is out for the moment, and the Note 2 definitely fits the bill.

I think your fanboi is showing...

15
0

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