My love affair with large phones started with the Palm Tungsten W. It was a phone that was ahead of its time and behind it - all at the same time.
Back then (2003), it costed a cool 30 grand. And it has coolness that could make polar ice caps shiver. It had a huge screen, it had a full qwerty keypad, memory card support, the whole shebang . You could have one if you were okay with speaking into a wired headset.
But then, holding that in your hand, you would automatically become the Chuck Norris of Chuck Norris.
Time passed, the love of qwerty remained. I squeezed the last drop from my N63 and N71 (and I still do.) I saw the iphone and I hated it instantly. I used the ipad and loved it grudgingly. All this while there wasn't a phone in the market that I really WANTED.
Sure, there were a lot that made me look at them, consider buying them only to ultimately discard the thought. It was then that the E7 came into the picture. It was, I then believed, the phone that could answer all the questions that were left by my earlier sliders and the qwertys (HTC 8525 lasting the longest with me), but then, after having my hands on it for a good two days, I still felt there was little I could do with this phone than I can with my existing pair of Nokias, and then, sauntering along the dusty, war ravaged horizon came in the Samsung Galaxy Note.
This was a phone, I wanted to have. This was something that my heart CRAVED for. It was my new Bullet 500, it was my turbo charged Optra Magnum, it was, as someone who knows me put it, my next new hot girl friend.
This phone, in all honesty, is the phone that can make any phone and any tablet feel inferior. True that sunspider scores are better in the Tab. True, the display is technically better off on the SG II or Iphone 4S, true, it is stuck in a size that no everyone appreciates, but then, that could be said of anything.
That would be like saying the Aventador cannot do off-road. It will be like saying the B52 cannot carry passengers.
That would be pointless.
What matters in the real world and real world is what I am going to give you.
General Appearance:
The size gets to you first. No matter how many pictures you have seen, no matter how many times you might have held it, nothing can come close to what you feel when you actually see the phone sitting beside your existing / friends phone
I have the Black/Blue version of the phone. It just looks like a black slate and there is nothing striking about it barring the slightly shiny blue metal chassis.
Physical buttons include a volume rocker on the top left and a power / screen lock towards the right. Add to this, a home key at the bottom of the face.
A long press on the home key will launch a task manager pop-up from which you can proceed to the task manager or choose to open one of the 6 recently opened programs.
General Promise Keeping:
The biggest problem with most devices is that they do not do what they make us believe they can. However, in this case, Sammy can go free on all counts. The Galaxy Note allows you to do practically everything the TV commercial leads us to believe it can.
You can crop pictures, you can pop them into other word processing applications, you can write on the screen, and whatever it is what the commercial says.
The Stylus and Note-taking functions:
The stylus is a neat piece of kit. It isn't too light nor is it too heavy. It initially feels slightly fragile but over a period of fair use, it has proven its worth.
Sammy gives us to change the dominant hand, so whether you are a left hander or otherwise you can be happy with it.
The pen is also the only way that you can take screen-shots with (unless of course you have a third-party app or if you have rooted it).
Once you take a screenshot using the stylus, you are immediately taken into the editor where in you can make any changes, including writing on the screenshot using the s-pen, you desire.
However, if you are planning to use it as a full replacement of that paper scribbling pad that you have had in your bag all these years, you might as well forget it. Technology has not reached there yet.
You can take notes, but it needs some getting used to, and you cannot definitely do it for extended periods without feeling cramped. Also, the pen requires you to write larger than you would using a normal pen and paper. The small strokes are not really registered with such great precision.
The note taking apps that are built in will take care of most of the uses that you can put the Note to and they are snappy and fairly intuitive to operate.
General Performance:
A long string of absolute gibberish would be the perfect way to summarise the performance of the Note. If I had to use one word, i would have used a hyphen two make one word out of two and would have said mind-melting, but then, since this is the first time I am writing a review of any sort here, it would only be fair to flex my verbal muscle a bit.
The performance is Snappy. There is no lag in opening any app no matter how intensive it is. I have not used any atomic timers to measure delays, but then, this is a real world test and in all these days of use, I did not perceive any lag of any sort.
Gaming:
To be fair, i loaded it up fairly heavy. I played Crime Story, Grabatron, GTA, Pirates of the Caribbean Master of the Seas, Gun Bros, Osmos HD, Wind-up Knight, Anomaly Warzone and never once did it hang, or lag or behave erratically.
Apps:
My app testing was by no means extensive, but with the general apps, Including the built in Polaris Office, IM+ Pro, Opera, everything works as it is supposed to.
If you are the kind to download apks, the Note like its galaxy S sibling allows you to install apks directly without the need of any installer. All you need to do is go into the settings and allow the device to install non-market apks and you can tap and install your way to glory.
Movies and Video:
This is by far the best video and movie experience I have had in a portable device ever. I know I am sticking my neck out a bit, but I am willing to do so. I have thrown in a 7.2Gb fullHD MKV at it and it played it without skipping a beat.
(mostly using MX Player. The standard player also plays almost all files you care to throw at it, though it refused to play one particular .mkv file, I do not know why)
Seeking without lag? 90% of the time
Pausing and restarting without a lag? 95% of the time
The colours are reproduced brilliantly, the contrast is fantastic. Blacks are deep black (the regualr AMOLED Stuff) and whites are super white, and everything is crisp, clear, and the vivid scenes waste no time in jumping out at you.
Some users are reporting a blue tinting at heavy angles, but my device seems to be thankfully free of any such shading / tinting.
Music and Radio:
This is one are where the GNote doesn't score well.
The built-in FM tuner works, but just about. Both my Nokias have better reception and better audio output (Tested using the stock headphones, Sennheisers, Beats, Intex, and local headsets). The reception is average, but the volume output and the depth leave a hell of a lot to be desired.
Music reproduction definitely falls into the 'not-bad-at-all' category and definitely does not fall into the 'fantastic' category. The bundled headphones give good bass and will be good enough for most, but if you are a confirmed audiophile, you need to look elsewhere.
The bundled loudspeaker is located on the lower back making it unsuitable to listen to anything (ring tones included) when the device is lying on its back, especially on soft, sound absorbing surfaces (read beds and car seats).
Camera:
Mixed Bag. Moody. It sometimes produces photos with fantastic detail and then goes on to shoot pictures that are grainy and filled with noise. I have used other camera apps, but the results are more or less the same.
Why the camera behaves the way it does, I have no damned idea.
Here are some pictures that I have clicked, so you decide:
The same is the case with videos, but generally speaking, under good lighting conditions, it turns out fantastic videos.
The Niggles: What Gets your Goat
- Speaker Position. They could have taken a leaf out of the tab book and placed on either side of the micro-USB port
- Non hot-swappable microsd card. Remove back panel, remove battery, insert card. What were they thinking?
- No HDMI, not even an MHL cable bundled. Kidding? No.
- Crappy Loudspeaker, that too only one of it. And this is a media power horse.
- Tactile-feel of the volume rocker and power button - they could have been better.
- The 1/2mm gap between the screen and the border.
Additional Information: This is a copy-paste job of what I already posted on the Samsung Galaxy Note Discussion Thread.
[font=arial, sans-serif]Been using it for the past three (or so) months (Bought it almost on the day of its release). Let me give you my observations[/font]
- it is big enough only if you haven't had anything larger than 5 inches in your palm.
- I crossed the borders of three countries in these three months and never did anyone give me an odd look when I was talking on the note.
- It was always a point of great interest - without any hint of any negative suggestion.
[font=arial, sans-serif]If these were the issues bothering you, you may rest easy. If not, read on:[/font]
- One handed operation is not always possible. Unless you have large palms. I have fairly large palms and there are instances where I had to get the other hand to help me in, but that never felt cumbersome. (both my hands are usually free when I am using my phone. I keep my hands on the handle (cylce) or the steering (car) when I am on the road.
- Battery life: On 3G, it is dismal - like on any other phone. I got 6hrs from a full charge to 18% on a 3G marathon, with above moderate usage, it will last you through the day (14hrs) (not the night, though)
- Without 3G: A full days moderate usage. (26 odd hours)
- Only Wifi: More than moderate usage - 24hrs.
- Video: 4hrs full HD (40% brightness) with the headphones on + an hours worth of browsing on the side (3G on all thru)
- Camera : This is sort of an odd ball. Fairly moody. I have some fantastic shots and some very very mediocre shots. But definitely not for low light conditions.
Hope this helps!
