Samsung Galaxy Note: 5.3", 1200x800 SuperAMOLED, S-PEN stylus, 2500mAh attery... *phew*

[Richdog]

Actually very good service from Handtec. Responsive to Tweets and tracking that actually said when it would be delivered in an hour slot.

My unboxing video -

Andy thanks for that I really like your video... you have a measured pace when you speak, a pleasant voice to listen to, and you don't babble. Not sure i can say the same about any other Youtube reviewers ive seen. Please do another video asap looking at browsing etc please! Also, Maps and SatNav would would be great to see if you have time.

 

[Richdog]

Thanks for the comments. I did open Maps in the unboxing video.

No blue that I can see...

Got to be honest, with LauncherPro installed, it doesn't seem all that smooth at the moment

Forger Launcher pro. I dumped it a while ago for GO Launcher. Try that and see how it runs.

 

[Richdog]

Andy, Robbo is a lovely chap but feels the need to make a gazillion posts within a short period of time, all repeating the same point but written in a slightly different way. In this case, his reservations about the note's screen, size, S-pen, and the fact that he "thinks he will pass" on it. I think I have literally read those same points in 50 of his posts over the last 10 pages.

Robbo, no offence but that's what you do.

 

[Richdog]

I hope (and somewhat expect) so, and I look forward to seeing it!

Me too, but the more I see youtube vids the more I think it is a smidge too big for everday convenience. Im seriously considering getting another SGS II as my daily phone now that they have come down in price and are still the mutts nuts, and a separate 7-8" tablet for media/browsing on the go.

 

[Richdog]

That could be an idea, the Tab 7.7 would probably be great for that.

My thoughts exactly, even if it does cost an arm and a leg.

EDIT - Or hold on for a Kindle Fire/Nook Colour 2 as they will be half the price.

 

[Richdog]

The 7.7 an has a 3g slot for a sim card, and so you won't need the sgs2 if you don't mind having a bluetooth headset.

Erm, so use a 7" tablet as a daily phone? Thanks for the suggestion, but I think i'll give that a miss.

 

[Richdog]

Optimised browser, likely to be the fastest on the market. Will also sync with google chrome bookmarks, can auto set to load in desktop mode, incognito mode. Save pages for offline browsing.

New camera app which has been needed for some time really, useful stuff like panorama feature.

All the google apps have a got a big refresh, Gmail - faster to use, Google music, Google+, Calendar etc...

Widgets are now scrollable like they are in Honeycomb, which means more detail can be accessed on your home page without opening the widget. Widgets are also resizeable.

Launcher allows you to configure which 4 things you want on every screen.

Built in mobile data tracking, you can set limits and warnings for your monthly data limit. You can then also view in detail which apps have been eating your data and restrict how much they use.

Battery life should be optimised in ICS.

Roboto text I guess.

Probably forgotten some other stuff but that's all I could remember.

The problem is that all of these points are software and
ICS based, and I worry that the internals of the nexus aren't up to scratch for a phone thats going to need to last for the duration of 2012, in a time when more powerful phones are going to recieve the update to ICS anyway.

 

[Richdog]

I can't think of anything on Android (present or on the way) that the internals of the Nexus wouldn't be able to handle.

The SGS II with Exynos chip is powerfulk enough to stream 1080p Youtube videos... the Nexus isn't. I'm not saying that makes or breaks a phone by any means but like it or not, the internals of the Nexus are now a little aged, and they were imo purposefully nerfed by Samsung so that it didn't compete directly with their super high-end smartphone line. It is specced to be in line with Ice Cream requirements... little more, little less. It is, besides the screen and OS, a distinctly unspectacular phone.

Are you having second thoughts about the Note now Richdog or are you waiting to try one in person?

Waiting to try one in person, but as I said before leaning more to a normal sized phone and a separate tablet now. In all liokelihood the Nook Tablet http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/nook-tablet-barnes-noble/1104687969

 

[Richdog]

Do we know for a fact that the 1.2GHz dual-core qualcomm can't stream 1080p? And does it really matter?

The thought of that high a resolution and high pixel density on a 4.7 inch screen is more exciting than if the processor is 1.4GHz or 1.2Ghz at least for now...

Multiple hands-on tests confirmed it. Its all down to the individual I guess, but yes it matters to me that a brand new phone cannot match the power of one that was released a year ago, and yet costs significantly more for what is basically a 720p screen, and... well, that's it really.

 

[Richdog]

They're talking about outputting 1080p content to a TV/Monitor? Decoding HD video is one of the most compute heavy tasks a phone or home computer will probably do these days.

Yes exactly, and the Nexus can't. Not a good thing in my book... it's a visible limitation on a new superphone.

The internals are hardly that different. If you think the Nexus won't last a year, then I'm pretty sure the Note won't either.

Saying that, I agree though. HTC have already announced their 1.5ghz QUAD CORE phone (HTC Edge) which will be released Q1 2012. Phones don't last 6 months these days. Exciting huh

I disagree with your first point... the Note has a 1.4ghz Exynos in it... it plays 1080p mkv's without a sweat... what much more is there for a phone to do other than that when it comes to processing power?

 

[Richdog]

Check this excellent video on video playback on this device.

Wow, very impressive. Id love to to see the same test with the Nexus.

 

[Richdog]

http://www.androidnz.net/2011/11/galaxy-note-real-user-review-part-1.html


Looks good

Not bad, although id be interested to see what your thoughts are on it as an e-reader. Can you try downloading Amazon Kindle app or Aldiko and trying an ebook to see what its like reading on that screen for a while?

Also some comments on call quality woudn't go amiss

 

[Richdog]

Tbh, I've not been well for a few days and I'm going to blame that! There were a few sentences I was looking at and just couldn't reconstruct them, so I just went with them!



I've done that in my video version at around 2:50, hows that?

 

[Richdog]

This is a forum after all, what do you expect?

/endargument.

 

[Richdog]

What he meant is that when you take a screen shot it doesn't show the quality of the screen it only shows the resolution of the screen - if there was a giant scratch down the screen you wouldn't know if from a screen shot.

I think he wanted a macro close up shot of the Note screen to see the actual pixel density and colouring up close.

For me it was good to see the amount of real estate the screen had... ive already seen how good the text is in other pics.

 

[Richdog]

Is this back on the table then?

You should probably try living with one and see how you get on with it over time, that's the only real way with something like this unless it's immediately apparent it's too big for you to use.

It was just good seeing the real estate, the phone is interesting and im enjoying finding out more about it. As I said, ill try one in hand before making any kind of decision about whether its on or off.

 

[Richdog]

Sure the screen is larger and HD but it is still AMOLED so if it is black it uses less power - so I don't think the power usage is that much higher than a 4.5 inch Galaxy S II like they have in the US.

Lets be clear EVERY smartphone be it an iPhone or an Android phone has terrible battery life - if you use them from 9am until 9pm for more than just checking the odd e-mail they will DIE... The HTC Titan has the best battery life of any phone I have tried or used recently and that has a 4.7inch screen... and that is with an Evo 3D 1730mAh battery inside it.

This Note will easily last a full day of usage which is a huge benefit.

Simply not true. My SGS II would last well over 24 hours with email checking, bit of surfing, the odd call. My ZTE Blade last a full day of casual Wifi browsing, an hour of ereading, constant Facebook and email upd even then usually has juice to spare.

 

[Richdog]

I played with a Dell streak today... bloody big but awesome in practise.

 

[Richdog]

To those of you who own this, how is gaming at native resolution... are there 3d games that support it, and how smooth do they run?

 

[Richdog]

I own a tablet, but I've not actually used it since getting the Note. This screen size hits a real sweet spot for me.

You do have to zoom in a bit for most sites to read them properly though, right? Also is typing a breeze on that size screen? Im ham fisted to say the least when it comes to on-screen keyboards.