• Hardware

  • Is it worth buying the Samsung Galaxy Note ?

Hey peeps ,

I recently heard about the Galaxy Note, and yesterday I saw it at CityMall, it was HUGE.

8 months ago I bought the HTC Desire HD because it was the phone with the biggest screen available to me in the market. I still LOVE that phone, and find it better than all its successors. (Maybe because their screens got smaller)

Obviously we've established I like big screens and I cannot lie! I've seen and read almost all reviews online and all of them praised the Note. But that isn't reassuring due to a previous incident that happened to me a year ago, when the Blackberry Torch was released. Reviews online were amazing, but after buying it, I hated that phone so much I was lucky I got rid of it quickly. It was slow, laggy, ran on a poor poor platform and its touch was simply horrible.

But Samsung is no RIM. Although a couple of things are holding me back:
1.I've never really gotten amazed by the super AMOLED screen on the GSII, I find it abit too crisp ?
2.I find the UI on Samsung phones to be a bit 'dead' and TouchWiz to be annoying.
3.I read somewhere online that by comparing the resolution of the Note with its size using a 'ppi calculator' (if i remember correctly) the new Samsung Nexus and the Note would provide almost the same "screen space" hence its size becomes redundant, and getting the Nexus would make more sense. If thats true then I'd wait for the Nexus with ICS and more frequent updates!
4.I really really love the Desire HD.
5. This may be too early, but 3D phones are starting to come out, will the Note be outdated fast?

Pros :
1. DHD is not getting ICS officially, while Note is of course.
2. The screen is BIG :D I dont care how silly I will look holding something this big to my head (rofl).
3. I'm curious to see how the android apps I develop look on it, never cared about buying a droid tablet, I find them too slow.


Someone help me out with this decision please ! Do you think its worth switching to the Note, by getting used to Samsung's UI and AMOLED Screen, or should I wait for the Nexus or some newer phones that might get released with the same concept of a phablet ? (phone-tablet)
The Note is just an SII with a wider screen, and HTC is known for not making you enjoy the full android experience.
i saw it yesterday...HUGE indeed! it made my galaxy s2 look small and tiny!
well i am amazed.that you dont like the super AMOLED plus screen!.it is great! i've compared it to.the desire Hd, sorry but samsung's screen is waaaaay better; and since the note has the same screen, and with its' size, this thing is unbeatale!

About touchwiz, it may be a little ugly for some, but is really effective and full of usable shortcuts, so once you use it i bet you'll like it for sure.
Hope my comment.was helpful :D tc
why do people forget that there are a dozen launchers available on the market if you don't like touchwiz
12 days later
Just a quick update on anyone interested in buying the phone. All I can say is that its AMAZING. I was abit pessimistic regardless of the high reviews it got. But the phone is simply too good to be true. If you like huge screens but slim phones, this is the one for you. The battery literally LASTS, after using it for around 2 hours of browsing and then another 2 hours of Hotspot tethering, abit of gaming and lots of chatting, I arrived home with 20% battery left, and it had been uncharged for 22 hours !
if you have a galaxy s2 then no because its basically the same thing,just an inch bigger with a stylus.
Well I'd rather not troll over the technical differences between the two phones. You seem to be underestimating the " 1inch difference". I can only speak from personal experience when I tell you my friend got the s2 a week ago and we were all impressed by its speed and smoothness. A week later the S2 was dwarfed next to the Note, remember the note has an excellent battery and a higher resolution / ppi than the ipad2.
i know the cpu is clocked at 1.4 rather than the 1.2 of the s2,root the s2 and overclock it but honestly,who needs a 1.4 dual core proccessor

and yes ppi is better,i dont read on my phone and everything is very clear on the s2,and yes it is 1 inch difference,the SUPER AMOLED PLUS is still sammy's best screen,and the only real upside it has is the battery.
If I didn't already own an S II, I would definitely get the Note. The phone's larger size isn't a problem for me, and I'm a sucker for anything with a stylus.
As it is though, I'm very happy with my S II.