So I managed to get my hands on the Samsung Galaxy Note or as some are calling it The Phablet.
I’ve only had the phablet for a day now and I can safely say, that it is more phone than tablet and has the feel of a larger Samsung Galaxy S2. It’s large 5.3 inch screen size makes it hard-ish to hold one handed, but not impossible. It fits fine in my jeans pocket with a slightly noticeable flat rectangular bulge. The phone itself is actually fairly light considering its size and it has a typical Samsung look to it.
The Specs…
So the Note runs a fairly standard TouchWiz 4 skin over the top of Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) and has optimisations for the larger screen and the stylus input.
The phone is fast and snappy as you’d expect with the current Dual-Core Exynos processor performance.
The extra stylus features include…
To see more of a rundown of the unique features of the Samsung Galaxy Note, watch the video below.
I will be using the Note as my phone for the next week and will have a more detailed review after I’ve put it through its paces. But if you’re an early adopter and have to have this beautiful piece of hardware while it’s still hard to come by, head over to the source link.
This is the type & size of device I would really like with ICS. With
5″ screen + HD it’s a highly useful device for everything.
Though I wouldn’t buy this one–don’t want any buttons on mine and don’t want it to look like an iphone 3GS either 😉
btw, nice review!
just watched this vid… good one Irwin.
I’m surprised that we haven’t got a kernel that has the 1.4ghz overclocking for the SGSII considering it’s the same chip.
Stylus looks good. could it be used as a note taking device in meetings instead of the old pad and pen?
I was between to buy Iphone 4s (or 5, it was not sure) or Galaxy note. Now I am pretty sure to buy Note..
This product is really cool…
This phone is crying out for ICS.
Im tempted too buy this as second gaming phone once it gets cheaper and gets ICS.
I have found my tablet too heavy and my regular phone too small for games.
Nice device, but too big for me. I can clearly see in that video that one handed operation isn’t particularly smooth.
Thanks for the review Irwin. Just one thing, the fact that some apps including the market are “confused” is that this is running a 720p display, but Gingerbread was never supposed to run at that resolution. All app developers have tested their Gingerbread apps at WVGA or qHD. No one has tested Gingerbread apps at 720p.
From my experiences so far with the Note (and prior experience with the Galaxy Tab), the majority of apps work fine and scale properly when Compatibility Mode is switched off with Spare Parts. Only a few apps (eg. Doodle jump) refuse to scale nicely.
Root and install LCD Density, fixed
Could you answer some questions?
Where did you purchase it from and for how much? Obviously its not an Australian model, how’s it going with what ISP you’re using?
My biggest question about this device is about the battery life.
Second biggest is about the sensitivity of the stylus and the ability to write notes, maybe even write a signature.
Also I’ve heard reports that it gets quite hot…
This device was through mobicity.com.au and is currently retailing for $869.
It seems to be a Polish version of the phone, but works beautifully on Telstra, great data speeds.
I’ve been using it pretty heavily so far and is getting me through the day. I will talk more about the battery in the full review, once I’ve stress tested the device.
The Stylus is really responsive and easy to use, you can definitely recognise your own handwriting on it.
Haven’t noticed it over heating yet.
Keenly awaiting more info on your review mate…
Also I’d like to know how good the camera is, in particular how quickly will it snap multiple photos?
The iphone is amazing at snapping quick succession shots, i’m hoping this at least matches that.
I hear the pen and digitizer are Wacom, love Wacom products.
Good video Irwin, if a little long. You covered lots of stuff that was interesting, particularly different types of pen usage which I hadn’t seen before.
Funny thing is, I just spoke about the unique things in the Note. Imagine if I did the full review on video, it’d be 3 hours.
and 3GB!
Shit a brick that’s big.
looking forward to it. i miss my streak.
Fair enough. It’s not as tall as the streak though it is wider than it.