Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review

mobile88.com. Samsung has launched Note 2 early October, and we’ll finally be giving our two cents about Samsung brand-new tablet/phone amalgamation.

At a glance
+ Improved Nature UX
+ Powerful hardware
+ Great battery life
- Unwieldy

In the box
Samsung Galaxy Note 2
3.5mm headphones
MicroUSB
Travel Charger
 

Right off the bat, we thought we mentioned that the Note 2 looks so much sleeker compared to its predecessor. It bears many design nuances similar to the Galaxy S3, but it’s much larger screen, means it won't get mistaken for one.

Samsung also improved the build quality of the device - everything feels less plasticky, it has a glossy sheen of a new (albeit large) sports car. The one qualm we do have is the same thin back cover as the original Note.

Samsung has managed to trim off the width (from 83mm to 80.5mm) and thickness (9.7mm to 9.4mm) from the original Note. Samsung made full use of the bezel space and squeeze in a 5.5-inch screen. You’ll get Android’s three button setup at the bottom of the screen.

Most of the controls remain in place, the power button is still on the right and the volume rocker is on the left. However, Samsung redesigned the power button to a lower position to accommodate our thumbs better.

Notice the power button placement on the Note 2 (on top)  

 

Speaking of its screen, the Note 2 has a Super AMOLED screen that translates into a wide-screen 16:9 aspect ratio rather than the 16:10 aspect ratio of the original Note The screen is also coated with Gorilla Glass 2.

Inside you’ll get a quad-core Exynos 1.6GHz processor, and 2GHz RAM, so everything feels zippy and responsive. On Antutu’s benchmark, you have a device that sits at the tippy-top of devices, only outperformed by brand new Google devices like the Nexus 4 and Optimus G.

Crack open the back cover, and you will get a full view of the battery, along with microSIM slot along with microSD slot for expandable memory. Inside there is a 16GB worth of internal memory.

 

On the back is a single speaker grille at the rear of the phone that sounds surprisingly well even when we turn the Note 2 to full volume.

Tucked away inside that giant frame is new and improved S-Pen, compared to original Note, taking 'notes' on your screen feels natural, and while we wouldn’t recommend it over pen and paper just yet, in a pinch there would be no better substitute.

For all you productivity types, hover the pen on top of certain items, you can use to pen to quickly preview emails, notes, even calendar appointments. Called the AirView feature, Samsung says saves you time, energy, and makes it easier to manage your life’s contents. There are nifty features with the S-Pen too, like its ability to remind you that you’ve left the S-Pen behind.
software
Samsung laced the Galaxy Note 2 with 4.1 (JellyBean), so you’ll get the latest and greatest of the Android builds. Right off the bat, you’ll notice how incredibly responsive everything is. Samsung has put in a lot of work into the Android 4.1, with something called project Butter, so while the quad-core processor helped improve its response, there is no doubt Samsung’s voodoo has improved the UX immensely.

Speaking of UIs, the new Nature UX, aside from being responsive, has a few new things up its sleeve now- namely the Multi Page feature, which you can set two apps on top each other. like the original Note, you’ll have seven home screens, with plenty of widgets, and apps you can populate with.

Other UX additions include the ability to resize the pop-up play windows, just pinch the video windows to make to screen as big as small as possible. It also works with Multi Page, which will allow three screens working in tandem.

With JellyBean means you’ll get Google’s staples, like Maps, Gmail, Calendar, Google+, YouTube and Play Store apps. Along with newer apps like Google Now.

Connectivity and battery life

The Note 2 has a strong battery life, in fact it runs longer than the original note comfortably. The 1800mAh battery managed to get us through the day. A day that consisted of Facebook, Whatsapp messages, Twitter, along with the occasional call and text. In fact it managed a full 16 hours of productivity life.

Plenty of connectivity options on the Note 2 - it comes with HSPA, Dual-Band WiFi and Bluetooth. You can share media via WiFi Direct, there is also an FM receiver if you want to listen to the radio. Media sharing can be handled via Note 2’s DLNA app, which makes it easy to share files with friends on the same wireless network.

Samsung’s S Beam will allow you to share content easily from your Gallery, Music Player, Video Player, and S Note to another device with the S Beam.
camera
The phablet has an excellent 8-megapixel camera, leave it on auto, snap away, and photos will look great with minimal effort. We’ve tested its camera under various conditions, and they all came out great.

The UX also gave the Note’s 8-megapixel camera the Best Face feature - the camera is able to take a burst of five photos, then allowing you to quickly pick the best faces and edit them onto poses, ruling out any mishaps during photoshoots with friends. The Note 2’s camera is also able to capture 1080p video. Along with a VGA front-facing chat camera, that is able to capture 720p videos.

 

Just hold down the camera button and you can also take a burst of up to 20 photos. The feature also ties in with the Best Shot feature, which puts the decision of picking the best photo in the hands of your Note 2.

If you are a photobug who likes to delve into the specifics of a shot, you can your exposure, saturation, contrast and brightness.
verdict
At RM2299, there is no doubt that the Note 2 is a powerhouse device that will dish out some serious competition against iPhone 5.

The Note 2’s comes with a 5.5-inch display, it looks sleeker than its predecessor, with a slew of hardware upgrades.

We've always viewed external UIs as something that will slow down the overall experience of a phone. Yet somehow Samsung managed to improve the Note 2’s Nature UX to the point where it actually feels seamless with the Jellybean operating system.

That being said, we recommend this device highly to anyone looking for great device in their pockets. Perhaps the two points that will stump any potential buyer is its price point, and its size.

One thing's for sure, it is a worthy contender as one of the best devices of 2012.