Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Neither. It's a tablet. Or a phone. Or
both. We really don't know – but it has some of the best specs around
and Samsung's hoping this will ship by the bucketload.
The Samsung
Galaxy Note is a phone/ tablet hybrid that doesn't really sit in any
category - we've reviewed it as a smartphone simply due to the fact it
can make calls, but Samsung is definitely trying to create a new
category of device with this 5.3-inch screened behemoth.
It's
funny how mobile trends can change. Just a few years ago, manufacturers
were falling over themselves trying to outdo each other to to provide
the smallest handset in the world. Motorola got them pretty thin with
the RAZR line and Samsung's own D500 was titchy.
Then something happened and big became cool. Yet, we don't seem to mind any more.
Just
as well really, because the Galaxy Note is just that – big. Falling
somewhere between the tablet and phone goalposts, it's not as enormous
as pictures may imply. But it is larger than your average smartphone.
Its
dimensions come in at 146.85 x 82.95 x 9.65mm yet, at 178g, it's fairly
light considering how heavy it could have been. This is a trait we've
come to expect with the Galaxy line with both the
Samsung Galaxy S and
Galaxy S2 handsets also being light as a feather.
To
look at the Note, it looks just like a larger version of the S2. The
front is incredibly minimalist with only a Samsung logo and homescreen
button visible to the eye (the homescreen button is a little more
rectangular than that of the S2, almost in an effort to make it seem
less iPhone-like.)
The
front facing 2MP camera and light sensor are there but almost
impossible to see on the black model. The left hand side holds only a
volume rocker, the top houses the 3.5mm headphone jack and there's a
power/lock-unlock button on the right. The micro USB charging and
syncing port can be located on the bottom.
The
8MP camera with LED flash is located in the centre of the rear portion
in the same way it is on the S2 although, bizarrely, Samsung has, once
again, chosen to have the actual glass covering of the lens protruding.
We
can't understand why it's not recessed as this merely makes the already
vulnerable camera more prone to being scratched when the Note is placed
on a surface.
The speaker is located near the bottom of the rear
and just above the dock for the 'S-Pen' (i.e. fancy stylus) that
Samsung appears to be so excited about.
The
crowning glory of the Note is the screen: 5.3" of WXGA goodness (1280 x
800) and it is a belter. Samsung has always been renowned for its good
screens with even the Galaxy S giving us that wow factor last year.
We
were bowled over by the S2's Super AMOLED Plus but the Note just blows
that out of the water. 285ppi is what it gives us and not only are
colours vibrant and sharp, but it looks easily as good as anything that
Apple produces with a 'retina' label, even though it's obviously a lot
bigger.
Under
the hood, you'll find a dual-core 1.4GHz processor powering this beast
and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage (which you can also expand
by another 32GB with removable memory.)
A 2,500mAh battery should
give you plenty of juice – but considering the size of the screen,
which is always the biggest drainer, it may not go as far as one hopes.
It's
difficult to see just who the Note is aimed at – mainly because it's
hard to give it a label and put firmly in the camp of being just a phone
or just a tablet. Samsung claims it's the kind of device a lady could
carry around in her handbag but it doesn't feel like something that has
been solely designed with the girls in mind.
The nearest device we can think it compares to is the
HTC Flyer
though that's been out a while now and is already being reduced in
price. For some buyers it could very well be a choice between the Galaxy
Note and Galaxy S2 and with the only real differences being size and
the 'S-Pen', there's not much in it.
At
the time of writing, you can pick the Note up sim-free for a shade
under £600 which places it firmly at the top end of the spectrum and
comparable with an unlocked
iPhone 4S 32GB.
You
can of course pick one up on contract as well – but due to its specs
and positioning, it's not something you'll get for free unless you're
willing to pay more than £40 a month. And that's on a two year deal.
INTERFACE
The Galaxy Note runs Android Gingerbread 2.3.5 out of the box and has Samsung's own excellent TouchWiz skin living on top.
It's
almost identical to the version on the Galaxy S2 though has some minor
tweaks. For example, to take advantage of the extra screen real estate,
there are now five icons to a row rather than four. You'll also find a
little blue glow when you scroll to the top or bottom of a menu.
Plus
there are a couple of new live wallpapers and when adding widgets, you
now go back to the beginning of the list when you reach the end rather
than just not being able to go any further.
The
Note offers the usual multiple Android homescreens with the ability to
delete or rearrange them but not add any more than seven in total.
You
can pinch in to show an overview and navigate to what you want that way
or you can swipe from left to right. Doing so at the bottom of the
screen where the page number is displayed will get you between screens
even faster.
Widgets
can be displayed in any place – and in any way. Samsung offers the
ability to resize them although this only allows you to do it to certain
ones (compared to some third party launchers which let you resize
everything and make it look low-res).
There's also a rather
snazzy ability to resize web pages by holding your finger on two points
and tilting the phone towards or away from you. It looks cool but is
completely pointless since you can just pinch to zoom to do the same
task more effectively.
Whizzing between homescreens is fast thanks
to that processor though we did notice that the more we filled it up
with apps, the longer it would sometimes take to go back to the
homescreen when hitting the home button from within an app.
Not so much that you'd become annoyed with it, but we were looking out for it having experienced the same delay on the S2.
Pulling
down on the Android notification bar gives you access not only to your
notifications but also a really helpful shortcut menu that will let you
toggle things like wifi/gps/Bluetooth/sound/auto-rotate.
It's
similar to the offering we get in HTC's Sense but is more easily
available on the TouchWiz implementation. We would have liked the
opportunity to customise this a little and add our own shortcuts though.
Application
drawers can be a little hit and miss on Android handsets depending on
the vendor but TouchWiz is one of the good ones. Apps can be reordered
as you like and can even be placed into individual folders although it's
a little more convoluted than the automatic dropping system of the
iPhone.
Here,
you have to go into editing mode and then create your folder and drag
them in. Crucially, you also have to do options->save afterwards. If
you don't and just hit the home button like an iPhone user, prepare to
see all your changes disappear which can be annoying if you've just
spent ten mins doing a little bit of app admin.
Apps can also be
deleted easily via the drawer in editing mode rather than forcing you to
go through the settings menu as some Android handsets do.
It's a
great, intuitive system and fantastic for new users. It may lack the
feeling of having your hand-held that an iDevice gives a novice but
after 20 mins of playing around with a Note, even the most amateur of
Android users will be comfortable with how it all works.
Verdict
There are very few things we can
complain about with the Galaxy Note. Samsung has taken what is already a
brilliant handset and built on it to make an even better one.
The
problem is – is it a handset or is it a tablet? Will users be carrying
this around as well as a phone? In our mind, forget the 'S-Pen' and just
concentrate on this being a large phone and PMP and you can't go wrong.
And then, the only choice you have to make is "is it too big for me?"
It
is a pricey device – but you can't deny it's a premium product and that
shows not only through the specs but also the build quality.
We
can't see Samsung successfully creating a new product category with the
Galaxy Note though - we just can't imagine that many businesspeople who
hate paper and love media enough to consider carrying this around, even
if it doesn't replace a smartphone.
