Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review I’ve no idea what the Korean is for “let’s stuff everything we can into a phone and ram it up Apple’s jacksie” but it’s a fair bet the phrase was used at the inception of the Galaxy Note 2. This Android handset is the feature-packed successor to the surprisingly successful Galaxy Note that I was quite taken with late last year …
Build quality is very much akin to the Galaxy S3 so while it is all plastic, and the battery cover is a bit bendy when not fixed in place it still felt solid enough as a unit. I'd have no qualms about taking one on a two year contract from this perspective. And at least being plastic it won't start showing up minor scuffs and scratches.
I own a 3rd hand note and apart from bragging rights, I can see nothing wrong with Samsung build quality on their flagship devices.
The steering wheel on my car will flex and feels plasticky and, thats the most crucial thing I'll hold in my had of a day.
Of course if you were after feel good factor, you'd already own the iphone 5, thus not bothering with this review.
Yeah I had a HTC hero for a bit that is solid and feels weighty in the hand. Also I could already feel it sticking in my leg when it was in my pocket. I tried a Samsung galaxy s2 for a week, and it was far easier to use(Swype keyboard is AWESOME) and I never felt in in my jean pocket. That shred my idea about weight equals quality. I almost traded in my trusty Nokia for one! But now I'm going to have to get the S3.. I felt that "The S3 looks like a too big phone" (forgive the poor use of English in the quote!) Once I put it in my hand, hey it fits...even fits in my gf's tiny hands..hey it isn't to big, just looks that way. Appearances can be deceiving... but f@#k me is the phone intuitive to use! Quite loving the widgets on the slider homepage, which is a far cry from the Apple interface that is stuck in 2003(or whatever) with rows of icons... Apple phones are backwards imo. My mate was telling me how amazing iOS was and how you can use gestures, etc but I just stopped him there, bottom line is that if you can't just pick up a phone and use it, the phone is s#@te.
Fin. Am off to form an orderly queue of one to get an S3.
"bottom line is that if you can't just pick up a phone and use it, the phone is s#@te."
Interesting you should say that. My old mum was due an upgrade, currently on iphone 4, wanted better camera, better screen, but crucially didn't really want to shell out £250+ for an iphone 4s/5.
So we plunked for a S3, which Vodafone kindly said we could try for 14 days.
So data transferred over..nope, Samsung software doesn't work on a PPC mac...google sync...well some of the data made it.
So sim out of the iphone, into the S3. Phone rings.
Green Telephone appears, Red telephone appears.
Mum presses the green button, nothing. I press the gree button nothing.
We look at the screen, no instructions, nothing, more presssing. Call missed.
Apparenlty Samsung can't be bothered to write slide to answer on the screen, so for the S3, you can't just pick up the phone and use it, it fails the first test quite badly.
Just for fun, tried it with a few more people that hadn't got either an iphone or android device, i.e older candy bar phones and the like, same thing, press the green button, nothing, more cursing.
Are you sure you want an S3?
I note that you have 1/17 in the votes department, which I feel is totally unwarranted.
When I first had a Samsung Android phone I experienced the exact same bullshit with the retarded swipe-to-answer-but-we-wont-tell-you-thats-how-it-works rubbish.
As you say it is first and foremost a phone. If you build a inherently simply device such as a phone with a UI that is anything other than immediately obvious to a first time user then you are doing it wrong.
Somebody at Samsung needs to go and buy a book and learn what "affordance" means.
Can't wait for the new Samsung door handle. It'll be the one that is round and looks like it turns, but in reality it doesn't turn at all, but rather flips on a hinge, the direction you flip depends on whether you want to open or close the door. The correct direction for a particular action is to be determined by trial and error on the part of the user.
You get little arrows that make it quite obvious now. Don't know about earlier versions. I imagine most people would need to go look up what affordance means... Just because they didn't get it exactly right (although it's always seemed obvious to me) first time, doesn't mean they aren't continually improving things. Or are you an iphone user? ;-)
"If you build a inherently simply device such as a phone with a UI that is anything other than immediately obvious to a first time user then you are doing it wrong."
Answered a call 30 seconds after turning on my original galaxy s and figured it out before the second ring.
Just because you aren't sharp enough to figure out such a simple thing doesn't mean there's something wrong with the UI or the phone!!!
"Answered a call 30 seconds after turning on my original galaxy s and figured it out before the second ring."
Well, congratulations, you "figured it out"
Which is to miss the point entirely of course.
Answering a phone should be such a simple operation that it should not require "figuring it out"
It goes against other reviews that state while it is good, it is not great, there is flex, there is stuttering and there is a general lack of polish and smoothness of the operating system.
I've used one and I have to say that even with the power it fails because it has a jerky response. The Touch Wiz needs to go and then JB can be properly optimised for the device.
Really?.. I have been researching this phone for a month, have (almost) read every review out there from the major websites to the geeky ones - NO one said what you quote above. Everyone says amazing hardware and performance but some criticise physical size and the temperature of the colour 'white' - that's it! This phone has also topped most benchmarks!
well the question could be reversed - are you paid by Apple or some other competitor to go round saying bad things about it? Aside from the fact that it is highly unlikely that you actually had one in your hand, your comments fly in the face of every single other opinion and review out there which declares the phone to be very smooth and slick.
Were you paid by Microsoft to say the device has jerky response, while every reviewer said it's smooth as butter?
Pro Tip: you can deactivate Touchwiz and use Nova Launcher instead, which is very quick and light on Resources, and you can still use the Samsung apps you want for pen etc...
I have to say the build quality of GS2 astonished me - mine recently got hurled down 20 foot of stone steps. It acquired some mild bruising around the edges and a small very scratch on the screen. It hadn't even powered off.
Also after 17 months of battery swapping every day the flimsy looking back panel is still going strong. It might be light and thin but if it's anything to go by Samsung products are tough.
so the review only mentions on two pages the note function and on the other the screen. does it work as a phone? does the thin phone etches into the skin if holding it at the ear for more than 5 minutes? how do you download the scribbles to other devices, etc? pictures look great, but that can be photoshopped. unsatisfying review - little is said about software for sync with your computer for instance. Since I had only wp7 and iPhone I don't know android so well.
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Re your question "does it work as a phone?" Can I point you to the paragraph on page 3 that starts: "How does it work as a phone? Superbly ..."
As for your other comments, I think I'm right in saying that El Reg reviews aren't necessarily the most in-depth you'll find.
As for downloading scribbles etc, I've not tried to download an picture from my Note v1.0, but it was surprisingly easy to send a sketch via Skype and e-mail to a colleague. I say surprising because I wasn't expecting to actually use this feature in a business environment, but suddenly it was the right solution and it just worked...
Yes this is why laptop-sized ipads are so cheap, and those 7" tablets are more expensive. Oh wait.
And you should congratulate Samsung for putting the power of an ipad into the much smaller Note :)
(And although larger devices can have larger batteries, the larger displays tend to hog more battery too.)
Don't know if the ROM on the review model has it, but there's also split screen multitasking on later ROMs if you hold down the back button. Apparently, the first batch of UK Note II's didn't get this feature, but will get an OTA to add it.
http://www.talkandroid.com/134347-samsung-highlights-multitasking-feature-on-galaxy-note-ii-smartphone-in-new-promo-video/
That should add a few percentage points to the score! :)
I bought a HP Touchpad bluetooth keyboard for my Android devices, was the bargain bin price of £20 and a lovely bit of kit. Can highly recommend.
It seems that stock Jelly Bean doesn't support a proper UK keyboard layout for bluetooth keyboards, but I managed to fix that with about 10 minutes of googling and tinkering (requires root though)
There are several BT keyboards available for phones.
My smallest one is about the same size as the GalaxyS2 it's mostly used with, while a laptop-scale one sits on the desk at home when working there.
There's one at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kit-Universal-Mini-Bluetooth-Keyboard/dp/B0047ZGNGO along with a bunch of other links at the bottom of the page.
Everything from $12 jobs from china that look like 80% sized Apple keyboard copies, to Logitech jobs for $90, that are really also from china, but *might or might not* have better keys and a better battery.
If this thing sells even better than the last Galaxy Note, we could even expect finding covers with integrated keyboards, like they make for tablets...
...6 months in and it still does eveything i need, so more cpu and a slightly better screen, both of witch im satified with atm, hmmm dosnt scream at me to update guess ill see what Note 3 is like towards the end of contract, that said nice evolution and it does seem to iron out a few niggles will be interesting where they take it from here and what software features they will dribble back to the original.
I agree with DCope, I have the Note 1 and it never lets me down, doesn't lag and has a great screen.. I have difficulty in justifiying the upgrade, the N2 does come with JB though ( the N1 will eventuially get it too, hopefully soon).
I have a colleague prepared to buy my N1 for 250€ so if one of the local shops comes out with a decent offer I might be a little more tempted to upgrade change.
Overall a great phablet* for someone that doesn't already own one but a difficult decision for those that do.
*( I know there are some commentards who absolutely loathe that word but it seems well suited),
+1
The Note1 is such a fantastic device I'd have trouble justifying the upgrade for myself, but given the number of people that have asked for a look at mine* and then left nodding and cursing Apple in the past few weeks I'd say they'll sell a few of these...
* Oo-err missus...
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