Hands on: Samsung Galaxy Note II

Life

28 November 2012

The Samsung Galaxy Note was a bit of an odd ball. With a 135mm screen and overall dimensions of 146.9 x 83 x 9.7 mm and weighing 178g, it was never meant to be a just a phone. Pitching at the time at the unclear gap between a tablet and a smart phone, Samsung successfully culled out a niche that had been filled years ago by PDAs, but had fallen away with the advent of the touchscreen smart phone.

After the modest but undeniable success of the Galaxy Note, the company is now back with the Galaxy Note II (NII). Sporting a slightly increased 140mm screen, up from 135, the new Note is similar in overall dimensions at 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm and 183g.

Despite its size, it is easily handled and feels comfortable to use. Its high build quality is evident and its sturdiness means that it can be carried in a pocket, if needed, without fear.

Though this does raise an important point-will it fit in your pocket?

For comparison, we had a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (GNS), supplied by Vodafone, which is a mere 135.5 x 67.9 x 8.9 mm and 135 g. Initially the GNS seemed quite a large device, in area at least, though also easily handled and manipulated. However, it is dwarfed by the NII. The NII will fit in a pocket, but its sheer size means that it is much more noticeable and certainly would suffer if it shared that space with the likes of keys or coins, though the same could be said of any smart device.

Size aside, the NII can do all that a smart phone can and then extends that by being just large enough to be a genuine input device too.

The stylus is much more than a simple pointing device and is detected as soon as it is removed from its holder. There are native note apps that allow one to simply draw on the screen, be it for writing or more creative creations. But, there is also a text mode that allows one to write out things fully, even in cursive script. The limitations found in review were more around getting the hang of punctuation and spaces. It seems that it was only when spaces were either not inserted correctly or misinterpreted in input that the device became confused. When the words remained discrete, its recognition and subsequent rendering as text was remarkable, with a very high degree of accuracy. This capability also extended easily to third party apps too, as in review we were able to use Polaris Office to create a Docx from an exclusively hand written input.
 
Beyond the party piece of interaction via the stylus, the NII does all of the things that any good smart phone does, but bigger. Again, the simple things stand out. For example, having the full number input available on the on-screen Qwerty keyboard is extremely useful. This is as a result of the extra screen area available and clever design. True multitasking is facilitated by the MultiView app ribbon that slides in from the left. It allows one to switch easily between an editable list of apps for easy interaction, cut and paste and more.

The NII in Ireland currently runs Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, but there has been a leaked version of 4.1.2 destined for it, though there aren’t massive capability increases. There are reports of new buttons in the notifications area that can toggle connectivity options, new customisation options for the notification area and the ability to disable the brightness slider from the same area. The MultiView slider can be deactivated and the browser gets a speed boost.

However, Jelly Bean itself makes the NII current in terms of capabilities and is pleasing to the eye. Though unmistakeably a Samsung device, the NII looks very close to the SIII in look and feel and, in this reviewer’s opinion ahead, of most other mobile operating systems.

The fact that NII sports a 1.6GHz Exynos 4 Quad CPU and 2GB of RAM means it is currently topping many performance benchmarks, ensuring that it will be future-proofed for some time. Added to that is the 8MP camera, and whole package is even more attractive.

The final verdict is that, after initial confusion, this is a hugely capable device that deepens the niche carved by its predecessor and makes a very sound bet for anyone who wants an ultra-mobile tablet that is as easily handled as a smart phone.

www.samsung.com/ie

  

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