User Interface

These days the Galaxy Note ships with Android 2.3.6 and Samsungs own TouchWiz 4.0 user interface. The most unusual input device with the Galaxy Note is the "S Pen" which is also called "Stylus". It is hidden in the bottom right corner of the smartphone where you can easily pull it out. The S Pen itself comes with a button throughout which you can get additional functions. If you press the button und tap the screen with the tip of the pen for more then three seconds it automatically takes a screenshot, which is being forwarded to an editor where you can add hand writte notes. Furhtermoer the Galaxy Note comes with a very good software regarding handwriting recognition. If your handwriting isn't too ugly the Galaxy Note will easily recognize it. In fact you can do everything with the pen. No matter if it's writing text message, e-mails or browser URLs. In fact the pen is a very practical addition. Combined with the widget to write notes, it might even replace all the post its which just lie around.

Conclusion

The Galaxy Note from Samsung is one of the devices you either love or hate. The sheer size of the thing make it take some time until you got used to the device and in the end there are as many advantages as disadvantages because of the size. What's important if you think about buying this device are your personal preferences. If a big display is important for you then you should relly have a look at this smartphone. It was also very interesting to follow all the discussions around this device before it was launched. There were people saying smartphones with screens bigger than 5.0 inch are stillborn. Nowadays, some six month later we see that millions of Galaxy Notes have been sold and thefore it is a huge success.

The highlight of Samsungs Galaxy Note - as expected - definitely is it's 5.3 inch display. A Super AMOLED panel with 800 x 1280 pixel and a pixel density of 285 dpi means that there are rich colors, good brightness, good contrast and very sharp letters. If we were to compare the resolutions of this display, then we'd say that it's similar to Apple retina display you find with today's iPhones. 5.3 inch size is even enough that watching TV on the Galaxy Note is fun.

The second best thing about this smartphone is it's battery. Some might even say that the battery is the most convincing part of this product. Placing a 2'500 mAh battery pack results in a battery life one used to get before the birth of smartphones. It is possible to stay away from a power source for two days even if you are a power user. People who thing that the big display will empty the battery quickly don't need to worry anymore. Even when putting the display to max brightness and providing the chip with load, the battery lasts longer than with all the other smartphones we have tested so far. Another concern might be that Samsung did reduce the performance of the chip in order to get longer battery life. In fact, it's the other way round. Compared to the Samsung Galaxy SII the increased clock speeds significantly to 1.4 GHz for both cores. Therefore there is plenty of performance for all the applications.

Nevertheless it will take some time until you've become used to the Galaxy Note. With samller phones you can do quite a lot of things using only one hand, where you'll need both your hands with the Galaxy Note. This makes everyday use a little bit more complicated. On the other hand there are additional features or even the option that this 5.3 inch smarphone replaces a tablet.

To be honest, we liked the Galaxy Note and as soon as we got used to it we were convinced about this product. Users who are looking for a smartphone with a big display, should really have a look at this product.

Page 1 - Introduction

Page 2 - Preview

Page 3 - Specs / SoC

Page 4 - Case / Design

Page 5 - Display / Camera / Audio

Page 6 - User Interface / Conclusion

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