Last time, I have stated as to how I finally concluded on having the Galaxy Note. I compared it with one of my favorites, the Galaxy Nexus. Even though I have to give up a dream of having to acquire a Google Phone, this review will reveal whether or not it was a good decision to acquire the Samsung N7000 or better known as the Samsung Galaxy Note.
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| In here lies the treasure! |
Part 2: The Student Review
I have been following the techworld for quite some time now. While I wipe my drool everyday about reading the latest technology trends and the future gadgets, I have never thought that I would be one of the early adopters of a niche size phone. Niche size because the phone is quite massive if you compare it with the latest phones that is coming out in this point in our technological timeline. But the thing is, it really isn't quite a big deal once you get a hold of it. I'll explain why in a minute but first, let's start with the outer layer which is packaging.
Packaging. The packaging for the Galaxy Note (or GNote) is fairly small and neat. The package contained manuals, the actual unit, an itty bitty socket USB adapter with matching black USB cable which doubles as a media transfer wire, and finally an in-earphones with extra ear plugs. My package came with a free leather flip case and a Smart Gold Sim.
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| Out comes the Galaxy Note! |
Form Factor. You hear this in most reviews. YES the device is big for some people. Quite uncomfortable for people with small hands but definitely feels right on my hands. Although, Apple is saying that their screen was specially tailored for people with average hands, I can proudly say that I am glad I do not have average sized hands or else I might have regretted this purchase. Also, the thin built of the device was quite awesome. For me, it doesn't feel bulky or heavy. Reading text and watching online videos is quite pleasurable compared to other devices.
Screen. Coming from an AMOLED display phone such as the HTC Desire, the viewing pleasure of the Galaxy Note was extremely awesome to say the least. The pictures and videos were vivid but some may argue that there is an issue with regards to banding and black clipping. If you are unfamiliar with these, I guess you'll be just fine. As for me, I am not really very mindful of these issues. But as I have tested so far, I do have some issues with regards to gamma and some texture when viewing pure gray colors. However, I am not really bothered at all since these issues do not really come up until you purposely put your device in specific testing method. In terms of overall user performance, the screen is good. What I also like about this device is you can actually read small texts. The texts look crisp and readable but I do advice against reading in full brightness at night. And speaking of brightness, the screen is pretty much brighter than any of the phones I have encountered.
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| The Whole Galaxy Note Package |
Music. I am a music lover but not a music geek. I might be giving the device an overpraise but the Gnote is one amazing music phone. The headphones that came with it are pretty much acceptable in terms of sound quality although I must admit that I haven't really used major brands like Beats and Bose before but I can tell that the earphones supported rich bass unlike those cheap earphones that sounds... well... cheap and
basag (no deep bass only high treble). The 5.1 channel simulation on the music app gave me massive eargasm. Bass was wonderful and the voices were clear. The audio chip really did its job.
Camera. Sporting an 8-megapixel camera, this device surely gave me such wonderful camera shots. I am actually using this phone as my everyday camera while making my digital camera a special occasions device. The video capture is quite astonishing since you can capture up to 1080p of HD Video at 30 fps.
Performance. To tell you the truth, if you came from a single core device, you will find the dual-core experience very entertaining. Everything, from processing images to simply swiping screens makes it fluid and responsive. The Touchwiz overlay seems to be more of an asset of the device because it utilizes hardware acceleration with the launcher. Viewing pure HD 1080p videos in an 5.3'' HD Amoled display causes eyegasm. The colors and the details are simply fantasic to behold and there are no visible frame skips on it. However, running a 1.4Ghz dual-core processor tends to take its toll on the battery when you are viewing videos and browsing non-stop.
Battery. 2,500 mAH is perfect for this device. Before writing this review, I have observed my battery usage for one month and I am proud to say that this device has passed with flying colors. With heavy usage, I was able to survive the whole day (removed charger by 8am) having 35% battery left on 9pm. All sensors and services are on, including Data, Wifi, and GPS and doing Web browsing, texting, and light calls. However, battery life was considerably longer as I am left with at least 50% battery life at the end of the day.
Software. Android 2.3 Gingerbread comes right out of the box for this one but it will be Android 4.0 upgradeable. So far, I am happy with the OS even though there is an overlay on it such as the Touchwiz 4.0. During my HTC days, I would root my phone and load a custom ROM (phone OS) on it to wipe away the overlay. This time, I left the Touchwiz launcher alone. The overall experience on the device was excellent but it could be better. I guess, I just have to wait for Android 4.0 to maximize the user experience. So far, the experience is acceptable, personally.
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| Sample shot of our street |
Conclusion. Nothing prepared me for what I have experienced on the device. I had doubts that the size was too big that it would look awkward on me. Thankfully, it was the opposite. The device fit me well. I was able to perform mobile phone tasks with it and at the same time it was my emergency productivity suite. From e-book reading to drawing, the device performed well than expected.
Now, the question lingers if I should recommend this device? If you have extra cash, I recommend you take this device. However, if you have tiny hands, avoid this device. the form factor is quite acceptable for average-sized hands but really uncomfortable using it on one hand.
Trend Factor (Bonus Review):
This device can catapult you to the center stage if you have average hands. You do not have to flaunt it around. Simply carry it around and it can be a great conversation starter. As for social media, it's not as striking as "posted from iPhone" or "posted from Blackberry". It is also not a frequent head turner like the iPhone or Blackberry but certainly quite an attention grabber especially if you have tiny hands. But if you are looking for a current phone that will be "in" for a long time, this is it. Samsung has put such effort in marketing this since it is the first of its kind (Amoled Phablet) and I believe that this phone will still be in trend until they release a version 2 of this product which could be on the 4th Quarter of 2012.
Personally, though, it's not a head turner nor a conversation starter for me since it looks normal on my huge hands. But I still love it simply because it's a device where I can do almost everything as a student such as writing notes, doodling when bored, and even quick editing documents on-the-go.
This ends part 2 of the story. I hope that you learned something from this and I hope that it helped you decide which phone to get. If you have some questions, hit me up in the comments below.
