Soldato
That's got to be a little embarrassing though, right? You know... shopping at ASDA
Very, closest place for nappies though.
Samsung Galaxy Note: 5.3", 1200x800 SuperAMOLED, S-PEN stylus, 2500mAh attery... *phew*
- Thread starter Richdog
- Start date
Very, closest place for nappies though.
Soldato
- Joined
- 13 Mar 2006
- Posts
- 6,712
True, I do think the nexus probably is at the size limit for comfortable one-handed use. Just a pity they chose to use a worse cpu and gpu and camera and omit a micro usb card slot. I prefer the size of the nexus but it felt.like they compromised.on the specs of the nexus too much.
Ditto, I find the CPU/GPU nerf pretty shocking personally, as well as the omission of an SD slot... unforgiveable on what is marketed as a top-end Android device imo.
What I find even stranger are the people in the Nexus thread defending it to death, when in all aspects but the screen resolution and OS (soon to be remedied) it is inferior to an SGS II... not to mention the series of pretty major release bugs its been subjected to.
Personally I think the Nexus was intentially nerfed to ensure the Galaxy II continued to sell well. Samsung have a habit of releasing all of their new premium Galaxy phones with bleeding edge technology... the Nexus was clearly not one of those releases, and you have to wonder why.
Last edited:
Fanboys! People get all worked up about technology, it's a tool get over it.
I agree there, it is a bit half-arsed in some respects. I was more or less expecting that though, as it has been the case in the past.
I can't speak for everyone, but the reason I'm getting one is as follows -
- Unmodified ICS that I don't have to wait for and future updates are very quick (not that I'm massively bothered about the latter)
- I really don't like TouchWiz and think it makes the software feel cheap and nasty personally, while functionally it's fairly good
- I really like the soap bar design of it over the other Samsung designs
- I like the notification LED which is often a bizarre omission on Samsung devices
- The screen fixes my main gripes about AMOLED panels and is quite possibly the most important feature of the device for me; I'm not a big fan of the S II screen
- The SD card slot omission is stupid but I can live with it
- The internals, while out of date, are still very quick and it doesn't seem to make a blind bit of difference to real world performance, which is ultimately all that matters (short term)
- The camera seems simply 'good', but I don't take that many pictures, same for video
- I'll no doubt change it for a Galaxy S III/iPhone 5 in a few months so long-term doesn't concern me
I don't think that is particularly unreasonable. Is it a must have upgrade over a Galaxy S II? Absolutely not. Is it justifiable? Absolutely.
Soldato
Quality of photos isn't really noticeable, but I much prefer the camera on the Nexus. Yes this may mainly be a software thing, but by the time Samsung release ICS on the Note or SGSII I will likely have moved on to a new phone anyway!
Agreed on all points.
Also what many GS2 owners are forgetting is that most people who have bought a Nexus have upgraded from something other than a GS2.
I dont think anyone is forgetting that point... I just think the people who are into their mobile tech are just surprised that the Nexus is not the beast of a phone that was expected... it's a missed opportunity, and as I said, I think it is completely uncharacteristic of Samsung to nerf phones in this way, and I think they did it because it is being marketed as a Google phone, as opposed to a Touchwiz-based Samsung device. I believe they want to reserve the best tech for their own pure-Samsung devices and ensure as little competition as possible with their purebred Galaxy line.
As Robbo eluded to it has been the same for all previous Nexus handsets.
Of course Samsung will save the best internals for their own flagship model, it's to be expected. Besides that, there will be components available only in 6 months time whereas they wouldn't now due to production lead time.
People with Nexus phones are happy because they have noticed considerable improvements in real world use despite the hardware not being class leading.
Anyone moved from an iPhone to the Note?
I have had the iPhone since the 3G and have a 4S at the moment. I really love the note taking facility on the Note and would be great to be able to take notes while on a bluetooth headset. I have not used one or seen one but the specs are amazing.
I like the iPhones slickness and app store but am afraid I would miss it if I moved. I have never really used Android either. I used to have Windows mobile all the time until i moved to the iPhone but got sick of tinkering to make it work properly.
Can you read magazines clearly on the Note?
How does the camera compare to the 4S?
I have had the iPhone since the 3G and have a 4S at the moment. I really love the note taking facility on the Note and would be great to be able to take notes while on a bluetooth headset. I have not used one or seen one but the specs are amazing.
I like the iPhones slickness and app store but am afraid I would miss it if I moved. I have never really used Android either. I used to have Windows mobile all the time until i moved to the iPhone but got sick of tinkering to make it work properly.
Can you read magazines clearly on the Note?
How does the camera compare to the 4S?
Soldato
What real world improvements are these? Browsing the internet? Or are there improvements in games? How does the Nexus actually perform when running N64 or PS1 emulator games for example, has anyone tried it? If real world performance in all areas is on par with the Note or superior (as with ICS) then I suppose the hardware doesn't really matter.
I had an iP4 since launch day for over a year and moved to a GS2. App store is better overall, the screen clarity and sharpness was better on the iP4 but almost everything else was better on the S2 imo. After a month or so of using the S2 I was quite sure I would not waste my time with another iPhone, I don't think they are worth it at all anymore. I missed the sharpness and clarity of the high res iP4 screen though so got a Note and when you get use to the size, and you do quite quickly, it is a beast of a device.
You can customise it so much more, have it looking the way you want and when you get bored, completely change it all. It is much more of a games console too, I currently have over 1000 games on mine, SNES, Mega Drive, Playstation, N64 etc which I play with my PS3 pad wirelessly. I can also read books comfortably on this and browse the internet without zooming in all the time. From everything I hear about ICS, it seems Android has caught up to (if not bettered) the 'smoothness' of iOS and that should be coming soon to the Note which will make it even better.
Go into a shop and play with a galaxyS 2 or a Note if you can find one on display and see how you like it. No point just jumping out to a different eco system and then finding out you don't like it.
Yup browsing is significantly faster, fastest phone available right now in that aspect, it's also a much more pleasant experience especially with LABS and chrome sync.
Some games have seen an improvement like Shadowgun which has higher fps on the Nexus despite on paper having a lesser gpu than the S2, don't know about any emulator games - not tried, nor have I seen results. Using Gmail is much faster to use now that they have changed the layout, in some regards it's actually faster than using the desktop equivalent, something noted by reviews. The calendar has also been improved as you can pinch to zoom in and out. Some widgets are more interactive too now and resizeable. Using bluetooth over MHL I've noticed some improvements as well, particularly with scroll wheel integration.
The screen really is a huge plus though, both for browsing and media playback.
Associate
- Joined
- 8 May 2007
- Posts
- 877
I moved from an iPhone to the Note, though I already had Android on my tablet.
Overall I probably prefer Android as an OS; it's more feature rich and has greater flexiblity. Though they both have strengths and weaknesses. In terms of hardware the Note is also a more appealing device than any of the current iPhone models for me.
However the Android market is still lacking compared to Apple's app store. If mobile gaming is important to you then iOS is still far superior. I think giving up the iOS ecosystem is difficult, and I have no intention of getting rid of my iPhone even though I have two Android devices.
If the 4S had come out with a 4" or greater screen then I would have almost certainly bought it, but screen size has become a priority for me and I'm very happy with the Note. It's a fantastic device and I recommend at least trying one out in a store.
Last edited:
When developing Honeycomb, Google chose Nvidia as their SOC partner. For ICS it's TIs turn to provide the showcase SOC. We've known this since the early part of the year. Now, it just so happens that the 4460 is the best SOC TI make at this time. It is rated for 1.5ghz but for some reason (probably battery life concerns) it is underclocked to 1.2ghz.
You can blame TI for not having a more aggresive roadmap, and you can blame google for selecting them in the first place, but you can't blame Samsung here for 'nerfing' the phone.
I should point out that while the GPU in the nexus is definitely inferior to the Mali found in GSII, the CPU should perform very simillarly, with both being 1.2ghz Cortex A9.
The lack of SD card was clearly a Google decision too, they are citing having one unified storage partition and flash performance as the reasons behind it. They should have included 32gb as standard like on the Verizon model though.
The camera is one area you can say they skimped on. Maybe in order to have a zero lag shutter response time they had to use this specific camera sensor? Who knows?
Last edited:
Associate
- Joined
- 8 May 2007
- Posts
- 877
In regards to the Nexus, I'm sure that the hardware is fine for current apps and it still seems a great phone to me. Only 13GB usable storage was a deal breaker for me though, and I'm glad because now I wouldn't want to settle for a .6" smaller screen and no pen 
Last edited:
I agree. One of the reasons I use to justify not getting the Note is that it would be harder to go back to a phone with a smaller screen. 5+" is hardly a common resolution and there's no guarantee that Samsung will make a Note successor. Basically everything from there on can only disappoint.
Give it a few days - you'll get used it it - 4.5" is hardly small