Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Discussion
I've started a few threads in here in the last few months, grumbling about technology. The Kindle, my divorce from Nokia and grudgingly accepting a Blackberry as the least of the many evils, and the waste of money that was the iPad.
So now a happy story. I bought a Galaxy Note 2 last week, and one week in I can happily say that it is f
king brilliant!
The only real downside is it's size - it's a huge thing, just about fits in a pocket, and feels like holding a computer to your ear when you're talking.
Otherwise though - what a machine. Basically it can do everything the iPad can, plus make phone calls. It's got navigation stuff built it, loads of good free apps. I can read my Kindle books on it (making the Kindle machine completely useless). I can write in handwriting and it recognises it. I can even speak to it and it gets it right about 9 times out of 10.
The upside of it's enormous size is that you can read a document on the screen, a CV or a book. Since I usually arrive fanatically early for meetings this can turn 30 minutes of killing time into something more productive.
It is a lot of worthwhile technology. And even as someone who doesn't believe in change for it's own sake, this is something that is worth changing my stuck-in-the-mud ways for.
Love it.
So now a happy story. I bought a Galaxy Note 2 last week, and one week in I can happily say that it is f
king brilliant!The only real downside is it's size - it's a huge thing, just about fits in a pocket, and feels like holding a computer to your ear when you're talking.
Otherwise though - what a machine. Basically it can do everything the iPad can, plus make phone calls. It's got navigation stuff built it, loads of good free apps. I can read my Kindle books on it (making the Kindle machine completely useless). I can write in handwriting and it recognises it. I can even speak to it and it gets it right about 9 times out of 10.
The upside of it's enormous size is that you can read a document on the screen, a CV or a book. Since I usually arrive fanatically early for meetings this can turn 30 minutes of killing time into something more productive.
It is a lot of worthwhile technology. And even as someone who doesn't believe in change for it's own sake, this is something that is worth changing my stuck-in-the-mud ways for.
Love it.
mine got dispatched today through dial a phone 
managed to get a titanium grey one on an early upgrade with vodafone. 600 minutes, unlimited texts, 500mb data and 1gb wifi for £29 a month inc vat! I also get the phone for free instead of the £229 required and free delivery. Happy days
Just need to cancel that gadget help ste that they put on it for free for 30 days then £20 after then all good!
managed to get a titanium grey one on an early upgrade with vodafone. 600 minutes, unlimited texts, 500mb data and 1gb wifi for £29 a month inc vat! I also get the phone for free instead of the £229 required and free delivery. Happy days
Just need to cancel that gadget help s
te that they put on it for free for 30 days then £20 after then all good!I love the note 2 and was desperate to get one but i could not get on with the amoled screen. Tried a few and everything that is meant to be white had a blue tinge to it. Not sure if its was a bad batch but it just drove my eyes nuts.
Great phone just wish they could sort the colour balance a bit more.
Great phone just wish they could sort the colour balance a bit more.
I got mine last night, and think it's a fantastic device.
As regards colours, there are a few presets you can change, but I like AMOLED screens anyway even if they aren't the most accurate around, they are superficially the most impressive to my eyes.
Anyway back to the Note 2. I have a few more tests to run, but I think this could be the best device I've ever owned by quite a distance. I was going to go for the N4, but glad I didn't.
+ Spectacular screen - many I've shown do believe its too big for a phone, but can't help be impressed anyway. This device has replaced phone and tablet.
+ Battery life - too early to comment, but it seems to last 2 - 3X as long as my old GNex, and even performs at least on par with the Nexus 7 (a full size tablet) if not even better than that!
+ Signal strength - I can actually get a signal, just, at my Jarrow office, which most phones fail miserably to get any. I get a full 3G signal at the front of the building (again my GNex failed to get any here!)
+ S-Pen - A gimmick for some, probably, but I like it, the handwriting function is brilliant.
+ Camera - Excellent for a phone, on par with a Galaxy S3 and only a smidge behind an iPhone 5.
+ DAC - Reported by many reviews to be excellent, and will have Voodoo support from Supercurio @ XDA developers shortly to make it even better. As close as it gets to an Audiophile device in a phone.
+ Speed - 2Gb of RAM and a 1.6 Ghz Exynos Quad Core CPU. More powerful than my PC! Blazingly fast, leaves a SGS3 in the weeds.
+ Expandable storage - A small point maybe, but many phones are turning their backs on this now. I've just ordered a Class 10 64 Gb memory card for £40, giving my device a theoretical 78 Gb storage.
+ Call quality - often overlooked, but I'm hearing unprecedented levels of clarity here.
I'm yet to thoroughly test the Audio quality (with Sennheiser IE6 headphones) and the GPS capabilities, but I'm not worried.
Hell even the inbuilt keyboard is amazing, its as good at predicting what I'm going to write as Swiftkey is (my previous favourite!)
Only downside is TouchWiz is, in parts, still aesthetically challenged, but thats easily sorted with some themes from XDA developers and a new Home screen launcher and icons.
This device is a tech addicts dream TBH.
As regards colours, there are a few presets you can change, but I like AMOLED screens anyway even if they aren't the most accurate around, they are superficially the most impressive to my eyes.
Anyway back to the Note 2. I have a few more tests to run, but I think this could be the best device I've ever owned by quite a distance. I was going to go for the N4, but glad I didn't.
+ Spectacular screen - many I've shown do believe its too big for a phone, but can't help be impressed anyway. This device has replaced phone and tablet.
+ Battery life - too early to comment, but it seems to last 2 - 3X as long as my old GNex, and even performs at least on par with the Nexus 7 (a full size tablet) if not even better than that!
+ Signal strength - I can actually get a signal, just, at my Jarrow office, which most phones fail miserably to get any. I get a full 3G signal at the front of the building (again my GNex failed to get any here!)
+ S-Pen - A gimmick for some, probably, but I like it, the handwriting function is brilliant.
+ Camera - Excellent for a phone, on par with a Galaxy S3 and only a smidge behind an iPhone 5.
+ DAC - Reported by many reviews to be excellent, and will have Voodoo support from Supercurio @ XDA developers shortly to make it even better. As close as it gets to an Audiophile device in a phone.
+ Speed - 2Gb of RAM and a 1.6 Ghz Exynos Quad Core CPU. More powerful than my PC! Blazingly fast, leaves a SGS3 in the weeds.
+ Expandable storage - A small point maybe, but many phones are turning their backs on this now. I've just ordered a Class 10 64 Gb memory card for £40, giving my device a theoretical 78 Gb storage.
+ Call quality - often overlooked, but I'm hearing unprecedented levels of clarity here.
I'm yet to thoroughly test the Audio quality (with Sennheiser IE6 headphones) and the GPS capabilities, but I'm not worried.
Hell even the inbuilt keyboard is amazing, its as good at predicting what I'm going to write as Swiftkey is (my previous favourite!)
Only downside is TouchWiz is, in parts, still aesthetically challenged, but thats easily sorted with some themes from XDA developers and a new Home screen launcher and icons.
This device is a tech addicts dream TBH.
Edited by TameRacingDriver on Friday 16th November 10:45
TameRacingDriver said:
+ Speed - 2Gb of RAM and a 1.6 Ghz Exynos Quad Core CPU. More powerful than my PC! Blazingly fast, leaves a SGS3 in the weeds.
Slightly sensationalist comment there! According to most benchmarks, the Note 2 is about 10% quicker.I had a Note and loved it. The size seems massive initially, but after a few days feels normal. It does make one handed use tricky occasionally, but I thought that was small price to pay. I have an S3 now, and by the time I can upgrade there may be a Note 3 out! Ridiculous how quickly phones are coming out from Samsung these days.
Note 2 is a lovely phone though. Does it have Jellybean 4.2?
I just got one, although i also have an iPhone5 (drunken purchase) which i use daily. Ive not played with the note 2 much as i cant decide if i want to sell it or keep it, but from what i have seen it's more powerful/onpar with this laptop.
It does seem massive a first, but ive got big hands so using it one handed isn't an issue (never lets ne down
lol ).
Definately worth a look if your in the market for a new phone.
It does seem massive a first, but ive got big hands so using it one handed isn't an issue (never lets ne down
lol ).Definately worth a look if your in the market for a new phone.
robsa said:
Slightly sensationalist comment there! According to most benchmarks, the Note 2 is about 10% quicker.
I had a Note and loved it. The size seems massive initially, but after a few days feels normal. It does make one handed use tricky occasionally, but I thought that was small price to pay. I have an S3 now, and by the time I can upgrade there may be a Note 3 out! Ridiculous how quickly phones are coming out from Samsung these days.
Note 2 is a lovely phone though. Does it have Jellybean 4.2?
Missed this earlier... on paper you're right (and it probably was a slightly OTT comment), but there is a noticeable difference in smoothness between the two devices.I had a Note and loved it. The size seems massive initially, but after a few days feels normal. It does make one handed use tricky occasionally, but I thought that was small price to pay. I have an S3 now, and by the time I can upgrade there may be a Note 3 out! Ridiculous how quickly phones are coming out from Samsung these days.
Note 2 is a lovely phone though. Does it have Jellybean 4.2?
Even my Galaxy Nexus was smoother than the SGS3. I don't know why this should be with the specs it has.
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