The Galaxy Note is new bread of phone. Tablet and phone in one. But will it work? Will the Note be a success?
The form factor and style is the Same as the Galaxy S II. But in terms of size is a big step up from the Galaxy S II. I think of it as a bigger brother to the SGS II.
The Screen
Here you can see just how large the Note is next to my SGS II. (My note is running a custom DPI of 240 here)
The Note rather large 5.3" 800 x 1280 Super AMOLED HD display. Like the Galaxy S II's display. The colors are very rich, blacks are very black (Not grey like other lcd's) and brightness up there with the best.
The screen resolution passes 720p, however this 800 x 1280 resolution isn't the 16:9 ratio seen on the Galaxy Nexus. Due to the this widescreen movies on Note will have boarders.
The Super Amolded uses the pentile display matrix and due to the pixel density you don't notice this with normal use. However if you have great eyesight and look at the screen very closely (I mean very close) You can begin to see the tell-tale jagginess on straight edges of icons and text.
In everyday usage this does not detract from the usability and enjoyment of the device. The screen size is just great to use. Specially when it comes to browsing the web or playing games on the larger screen. Going back to my Galaxy S II now makes it feel like a toy, the screen just seems too small. It will be hard going back to a smaller smartphone now I have the Note.
Hardware
The Galaxy Note sports almost the same hardware as the Galaxy S II. A part from the CPU and GPS chipset. The CPU is using a Exynos CPU clocked at 1.4 Ghz. Which will also happily overclock to 1.7Ghz using a custom Kernel or Rom. In terms of CPU power and responsiveness I would say that after using both phones on a Stock rom with default clock speeds the Note has a slight edge. Its just that little bit quicker when I compare it too my stock SGS II. Here are somne benchmarks showing just what kind of power the dual core CPU has over clocked 300Mhz (1.7Ghz).
GPS chipset:
New GPS chipsets now being incorporated into the latest generation of new smart phones are using the Russian GPS equivalent. Called Global Navigation Satellite System aka GLONASS the Note is no different as is using this system. Plus the standard U.S based GPS network. What does this mean? A huge improvement in lock times and you now seem to lock on to up to 16 or more satellites. First time I used the GPS Status app with my first ever boot on the original firmware. I got stat lock in about 5 seconds. And this was inside. Now when ever I turn on maps or use Sygic. I have lock in about 3 seconds and it keeps the lock. Its quite possibly the best GPS phone on the market I would say. With the 5.3" screen real-estate and GPS chipset the Note trumps even dedicated GPS units.
Locking on to 16 or so Satellites is common place using the note. And lock times are blazing fast.
The S-Pen
The Note also has a unique stylus called the S-Pen. A detailed review on just the S-Pen is here: Galaxy Note S-Pen review
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