Samsung Takes Over the Universe with the Galaxy Note II
The original Galaxy Note is one of the best mobile devices that money can buy and until now, it remains to be one of the most capable Android devices out there (though it's already showing signs of aging). With the Galaxy Note, Samsung has successfully created a new category of mobile devices, which fits somewhere between smartphones and tablets, which tech geeks fondly call a phablet. Admit it, Dell did not succeed in creating this new category of mobile devices with its Streak phablets. And to give the original Galaxy Note more credit, it also has successfully brought back to life the "stylus," which was supposedly killed by Apple when the first iPhone was launched. And the only way that Samsung could pay homage to its highly successful phablet is by giving it a successor, the Galaxy Note II.
The Galaxy Note II looks very much like the Galaxy S III but on steroids. It's also available in two colors, at least for now: Marble White and Titanium Gray. While its length has increased a bit, it has gotten sexier at only 9.4mm thin. And because it is on steroids, it has become a tad heavier at 183 grams. Like the Galaxy S III, it is made of hyperglazed plastic, which is arguably a cheap material for a high-end phone. But hey, plastic means lightness...and that means portability. On front of the device, you will see the 5.5-inch screen, capacitive touch control buttons, the home button, the earpiece, the HD front-facing camera, and the proximity and ambient light sensors. At the back of it, you'll see the loudspeaker, the 8-MP camera, and the LED flash. On top, you'll find the 3.5mm jack for your headset and a microphone. Below, you'll find the S-Pen, the microUSB port, and another microphone. On the left side are the volume rockers, and on the right side is the power/sleep button. Sadly, like the Galaxy S III, it does not have a dedicated shutter key for the camera.
Let's move on the screen. The Galaxy Note II has a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD capacitive touchscreen with good viewing angles and sunlight legibility, which is a tad bigger than that of its predecessor. Like most recent high-end Samsung mobile devices, the multi-touch screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2, which makes it resistant to scratches. The screen resolution is 720 x 1280 pixels, which results in a pixel density of 267 pixels per inch (which is a bit less than that of its predecessor). Luckily, it does not make use of a PenTile matrix (like the Galaxy S III) and uses a full RGB matrix, which makes the screen look fine, crisp, and vivid.
Now we have the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS! The Galaxy Note II is the first Samsung mobile device to ship with Google's latest OS, Jelly Bean (topped by Samsung's own TouchWiz UI of course). While there's not much difference between Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, you will notice that the Galaxy Note II has one of the smoothest transitions among all Android devices. You will seldom (or not at all) experience lag when flicking through panes, windows, or pages. As for the CPU that powers the Galaxy Note II's software, it is equipped with a 1.6 GHz Cortex-A9 quad-core Exynos 4412 by Samsung. This is basically the same as the one used on the Galaxy S III but it has been overclocked. Like the Galaxy S III, it also uses a Mali-400MP GPU. It is now available in 16GB/32GB/64GB configurations with a whopping 2 GB of RAM. That's a lot of memory, storage, and processing power indeed, making the Galaxy Note II a force to be reckoned with. The phablet is also equipped with a lot of sensors: proximity, gyro, ambient light, accelerometer, compass, barometer. It also has GPS and Stereo FM Radio with RDS.
What about the Galaxy Note II's camera? Yes, it is equipped with basically the same camera module used in the Galaxy S III. The main camera is capable of shooting 8-MP stills and 1080p FullHD videos. The camera is also accompanied by a very powerful (sometimes blinding) LED flash that can be used in low-light conditions. It also has auto-focus, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, panorama, burst shot, etc. This camera module used by Samsung is one of the best camera modules by the company to date. Photos are super clear and videos are breath-taking. It is good to note that the Galaxy Note II's built-in video player also supports every major video format out there so there is no need for conversion. Meanwhile, the front-facing camera of the Note II has been downgraded from 2-MP to 1.9-MP but it's nothing to worry about as you'll only use it for video calls and vanity snapshots.
When it comes to its telephony and messaging features. It supports
regular calls, video calls, SMS, EMS, MMS...basically every mode of
communication you can think of. You can also change the font face and
font size for a customized look. For file
transfers, you can do it via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC (Android Beam), and USB. It also
supports Wi-Fi Hotspot and Tethering. For data connection, it is compatible with almost every data network from GPRS to 3G to LTE. It also has deep Facebook and Twitter
integration as well. Did I mention that it has a lot of accessibility features as well?
As far as applications are concerned, virtually any application made for
Android can be installed in the Galaxy Note II. With its 2 GB RAM and
expandable memory (up to 64GB), it can accommodate all your applications, music files,
videos, documents, and whatnots. The Google Play Store
has a lot of apps for you, with many of them free! Sadly, you cannot
transfer apps from phone memory to SD card without rooting the
smartphone. Oh you can also create and edit MS Office documents right out-of-the-box. When it comes to Internet browsing, the Galaxy Note II has got everything
covered. You can bookmark sites. You can save pages for later use. You
can side-load Flash Player and play Flash videos (which iOS devices cannot do). You can basically do
anything you want when it comes to browsing. The zooming and panning
also work well. You can also play Flash-based games on your browser!
The Galaxy Note II also has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. Let's start with the S Pen, which is a modified and glorified stylus. The S Pen can do what Samsung calls as Air View. It is basically a convenient and quick way to browse your pictures without having to open any
folders. Then we have the Popup Note, which take directions, phone numbers, and other information conveniently while on a call with a double-click of the S Pen. It also features Quick Command, which enables sending an email, calling or sending a text message to your friend,
sharing the meeting location and so many other things easily. Then there is the Easy Clip: click, trace, clip, and send. That’s all it takes to include what you want in email, messenger, S Note, and Scrapbook. Like the Galaxy S III, some of these new features are useful
and others are plain gimmicky. The Galaxy Note II also has the S-Voice, which is a
Siri-like assistant but sadly it's not as useful as one would want it to
be. It also features Popup Play, which enables you to watch videos and
do other tasks at the same time. Other cool
features are the Smart Stay and Direct Call. The former enables your phone
to detect your eyes so that the screen won't turn off while you are
still looking at it. The latter enables you to call directly anyone from
your phone by just putting it on your ears. It also has a lot of motion
and gesture-based tricks.
To wrap up, I believe that the Samsung Galaxy Note II is in a league of its own...and its very few competitors have no match against it. Having an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at launch basically puts it ahead of the competition, which may include flagship smartphones. The only cons that I
could think of is its bulk. Let's face it. Not everyone wants a smartphone as big as this or a tablet as small as this. But other than
that I think it's a great device. If you can afford it, go ahead and buy
it. You will not regret it. Until the competition comes up with a product that poses a real threat against the Galaxy Note II, the Galaxy Note II will continue to be the best-selling phablet in the whole universe.
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