Samsung Galaxy Note - First thoughts

[miffed]

Despite mixed feelings about the Galaxy SII , I have just bought a Galaxy Note !

This decision was fuelled by a couple of things , firstly my love of the Dell Streak and its form factor, and secondly , my decision to "hold off" the iPhone 4S and stick with the iPhone 4 (which still chugs along nicely) until the iPhone 5 comes out left me with a "spare" upgrade - I pondered the Galaxy Nexus , but my aforementioned liking for Giantscreen devices made the Note an easy decision.
I'd have loved a white one , but this was not offered so I ordered the Black (or so I thought) - my heart sank when it arrived this morning and I saw the words "Blue" on the box .... Oh dear ... This only lasted a few moments , as it turns out the thing couldn't really be blacker !! I meant to try and look at it in outside daylight to see if it looked blue in daylight , but didn't get the chance , as far as I am concerned it is black.

Build quality is good enough , as with most Samsungs I've encountered it is the usual Glass with a flexible tear off back , which I hated at first , but it starting to grow on me ! it really does seem to be a lightweight & durable option. once the back is on , it feels robust and solid enough.

I have to say I prefer the styling of the Note of the GSII , Textured plastic is FAR more practical than Shiny plastic ! In fact this is the first phone I've had in bloody ages that I am not scared to put down without a case on !!

I switched the Note on - Now , as I have mentioned on here I was disappointed with the GSII screen. I had heard so many people rave about it that I was expecting far more. I found the GSII screen less bright , and over-saturated , Since the Note is a SAMOLED , (supposedly a notch DOWN from the GSII's SAMOLED+) I was prepared for the worst ... but the reality was , I was blown away ! I am not sure if is the scale of the thing , or the resolution (1280 x 800 pentile VS 800 x 480 RGB on the GSII) - I realise that RGB *should* be better , but no matter how I look at it , the Note's screen is much nicer !

Performance is good , but not as good as I was getting on the GSII with CM7, I'd say performance was on a parr with the stock GSII though , hard to tell because I didn't use it much as stock - Although I rooted the Note within minutes of getting it (far easier than the GSII was !) I am going to try and keep the Note stock and learn to embrace Touchwiz ....... at least until either Samsung release ICS for it officially , or CM9 is released , whichever of these comes first !

I haven't had a lot of time to play with the stylus ... When I first switched it on I scribbled a little picture , but haven't even tried to do anything with the stylus since , to be honest I can't see me using it ....but you never know !

I have to say , the size of this thing is alarming ! it makes the Dell streak seem slender - for this reason , although its not a problem for me , I can't see this being a big seller.

All in all , so far I greatly prefer it to the GSII

[Hands0n]

Nice one Miffed. I, too, saw the Note and wondered. I must take a look at one in the flesh. But I am really enjoying the Galaxy Nexus with ICS, so unlikely I'd take the plunge for a Note. It is an intriguing device though.

Interesting your comments about the display differences between Note and SGS2. I don't think my SGS2 was at all bad in that respect. It did not stack up to the iPhone Retina display, but it was exceedingly good as Mr Kipling might say. But the resolution of the Note is an absolute killer. Watching movies on that is going to be awesome, I have no doubt.

The Note is an odd device indeed. It is likely to be very niche, unless someone discovers an amazing use for it in business or education. I just love the variety that Android is spawning. There seems to be an Android device for all occasions.

[miffed]

WRT the screen, viewing angles are so much better on the note , with the Gs2 tilting to the left and right gave me a blueish tint , I thought I had a rogue unit but it was apparent on both my original handset, the replacement , and every other GS2 I have seen, not a huge deal but definitely there - whereas the note seems consistently stunning from any angle just like the iPhone or iPad.

[Ben]

Sounds good miffed; this is definitely a handset that's right up your street!

Is it really that bulky? Surprises me in this age of thin electronics that Samsung would allow such heresy!

[miffed]

Well I found the Dell Streak a nice comfortable size ! Yes its big , but I think its a price worth paying for that lovely big screen , the Dell felt fine in the hand (as a phone) - The note is wafer thin , about the same height as the streak (looking at it in portrait) and slightly wider (only a tad)

As I said , I love it ! but I suspect most will find it too big

Sorry to sound like a stuck record , but this screen is amazing !

[Ben]

Ah ok, so it's still nice and thin. I thought it might be a bit chunky!

[miffed]

Well heres a thing !

I was getting quite frustrated with the Note's speaker being so quiet ... It doesn't seem that bad watching videos etc. but email and SMS notifications seemed to be a mere whimper compared to the SGS2's speaker - how on earth could it be that this massive device , with a 2500mah battery cuuld not produce notification sounds as well as its smaller brother ?

I looked at a lot of forum threads , then begrudgingly at a few "volume boost" apps in the marketplace .... and I noticed that youtube videos were ridiculously loud with some of these apps !
....Then I noticed a lone post in a forum thread (Which I don't think anyone else had noticed) that suggested the problem was the notification samples themselves , Despite being the standard Android affairs , Samsung in their wisdom had chosen to supply them in a "volume limited" form (according to this post)

So I nipped to the marketplace and downloaded an app with some custom tones , lo and behold they were bold as brass without any "boosting" ....Grrrr !

Samsung you utter idiots ... people are sending these phones back because the notification volume is too quiet !!! (lots of posts about this on the net) I was on the verge of falling out with the Note because I was missing messages myself.

Bloody glad I sussed it first !

[Hands0n]

Samsung you utter idiots ... people are sending these phones back because the notification volume is too quiet !!! (lots of posts about this on the net) I was on the verge of falling out with the Note because I was missing messages myself.

I have found exactly the same issue with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, ring and notification tones so quiet you'd need to have the hearing of the average bat to hear them! Likewise, using Zedge I have found no end of "tones" of sufficient loudness to awaken the dead.

Utterly ridiculous.

[Ben]

Talk about falling at the last hurdle! Urgh!

[DaveC]

I have found exactly the same issue with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, ring and notification tones so quiet you'd need to have the hearing of the average bat to hear them! Likewise, using Zedge I have found no end of "tones" of sufficient loudness to awaken the dead.

Utterly ridiculous.

Install Volume+ from the market

[miffed]

The thing is , you don't even need the Volume boost apps - its just the samples supplied are stupidly quiet !

Poor speakers (volume, not quality) are one of my pet hates about smartphones, they are the one thing that I hate about HTC phones. this is also an area where Nokia seem to excel ! To me a phone becomes almost pointless if you can't hear the bloody thing go off !

[miffed]

I am loving this battery ! Moderately heavy use - Been running 25hrs since last charge, 52% left !

Wifi & GPS off , Screen brightness and volume on full , not overclocked.

[miffed]

Wow ! OK so had a few days off - Got bored and installed a custom ROM. As there is no CM7 / 9 for the Note , I chose the Custom ROM that was getting the best reviews as far as I could see (Rocket ROM)

Performance is brilliant ! Again I find myself wondering what Samsung are playing at with their crap software, same as the SGS2 a custom ROM makes it feel like a totally different class of device. Is it Touchwiz's fault ? Well no ! This looks and behaves like stock firmware , only much faster , Touchwiz is still present, so it has to be said that Samsungs problems with crap firmware must lay deeper.

The icing on the cake is Battery life, Running my phone as usual (Wifi on ,GPS off) I am now at 2 days , 2 hours of use with 45% Battery remaining ! Takes me back a few years I can tell you :D

[gorilla]

I see they've shipped (I'm assuming that's not actually sold!) 1 million of these handsets now, so they must be pretty popular after all.

[Hands0n]

I see that HTC have stated that all of their handsets since a few months ago are shipping with unlockable bootroms. Thats good for anyone who wants to use a different ROM

[paulbds]

Went to Trafford centre yesterday evening and there was a mobile exhibition demonstrating the Galaxy Note
Iam in the market for a new phone and have been keeping an eye on this device
Anyway decided to go ahead and get one - my vodafone contract is up in a month so took the plunge and have taken out a new contract with the Note
I got it from Orange/T Mobile getting a 20% discount - If you work for the NHS and show a proof of working in the NHS, you get this automatically

I like the way it has a removable battery and is a lovely device between a phone and a 10 inch tablet size wise

Now, waiting for the ICS update and will order a case from ebay

[Hands0n]

@paulbds - Congrats on the Note, it looks a superb device. I've always like the size of the Dell Streak, but they didn't invest seriously in the device (as is typical of Dell) and so it became marginalised and effectively disappeared. The Note would be on my "seriously consider" list if I were in the market for an Android which, sadly, I am not.

Do tell us how you get on with it over time. Does it frighten women and young children? Can you really use it as a surf board on holiday? :)

[Ben]

The Note does seem to be selling quite well at the moment (a top 10 according to uSwitch, or so I read on mobiletoday.co.uk).

Putting in another request for 'how you get on with it over time' :D Please come back and let us know!

[gorilla]

The success of the Note demonstrates how mature the smartphone market has become. These devices are no longer the preserve of geeks or the business elite. Consumers are now looking at handsets as portable computers and are starting to realise that a bigger screen will improve the user experience. Yes, 5" might seem big when compared to the iPhone, but I imagine that in real life it's perfectly manageable.
Having recently sold my iPad I'm having to rely on my Galaxy SII and while it has a great screen it really struggles as a usable device for surfing the web for a prolonged period of time.
Size does matter!

[hecatae]

My Dell Streak has been repaired and sent back to me, and I have to agree a 5 inch screen is a pleasure to use.

Going back to my X10 Mini Pro afterwards is difficult

[Ben]

Still, I'd much rather have an iPhone and an iPad than a single 5" smartphone. But then perhaps that's 'ideal world' thinking, and actually a considerable number of people are more than happy to make do with the middle ground.

[hecatae]

oh damn you can currently pick one of these up for free on a £20.50 24 month tariff

100 minutes
500 mb data
1gb wifi
unlimited texts
1 swappable

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/samsung-galaxy-note-orange-panther-20-inc-internet-20-50-24-months-buymobilephones-1173459

yes it;s on orange, but what a price