Samsung isn’t shy about putting their proprietary tweaks and enhancements to compliment the stock Android experience, and that’s the case with the Galaxy Note II. Smart Stay, S Voice, AllShare Cast and S Beam all make an appearance with the Note II, as well as the ability to pop out video so you can watch and use other apps at the same time. Of course, all the other enhancements that Android 4.1 brings is also present, which include Google Voice and an all new notifications screen.
Of course, one of the main draws of the device is the S Pen, Samsung’s own interpretation of a stylus. Physically the S Pen has also been improved by the Korean firm, and is now more ergonomically inclined compared to the previous iterations. The S Pen is now slightly fatter for better purchase when writing, and the S button on the pen is now easier to hit while writing. The pen is very responsive, which doesn’t surprise us at all since the Note II has a Wacom digitizer.
Like the previous Note products, the S Pen (and by extension, the S Note app built-in to the device) allows you to do a couple of neat things with the Note II. You can select and copy entire portions of the screen to edit and integrate into your notes, as well as create unique illustrations and the like with better precision than last year’s model. You can also use the S Pen as a navigation tool, thanks to the new hover function of the S Pen. The screen basically recognizes if the S Pen is being held a couple of centimeters it, which allows you to scroll through sites by just moving the S Pen to the boundaries of the site being browsed. You can also use the Note II’s powerful handwriting recognition capabilities to navigate. We were a bit surprised that it was able to recognize our handwriting, chiefly because our scribbles are about a step above what toddlers produce when they’re playing doctor.
Another great feature that couldn’t be possible without the S Pen is Quick Command. It basically allows you to perform a series of tasks by using preset or custom commands that you write down using the pen. For example, you want to send an email to James. All you have to do is access Quick Command by pressing the S Pen button and write @James. Here’s the best part – the Quick Command function is completely customizable, and you can even combine different commands into one code.
Like we mentioned before, the Galaxy Note II uses an 8-megapixel camera that is similar to the one found on the Galaxy S III. But unlike the S III, the Note II has a few enhancements that really make it shine when it comes to photography. The camera has almost zero shutter lag and is completely capable of shooting in burst shot mode. There’s also a nice feature in the Note II that’s called Best Face, which basically shoots a series of pictures and then allows you to choose which one you’d like to keep.
(Camera Samples below. Click on pictures to enlarge)
Overall picture quality is great, and the Note II natural colors compared to the original. It’s also capable of shooting very nice images even in low light. It’s also able to take 1080p videos without any issues.
Writing performance specs of the Galaxy Note II almost seems like a formality, given the extremely capable hardware stuffed into the large device. Nevertheless, it’s still important to gauge where the Note II is in terms of synthetic benchmarks. It scored 5611 points in Quadrant Standard and 13585 points in AnTuTu.
The only thing that came close to its score was the yet unreleased device from HTC, the One X+. While the standard caveat for synthetic benchmarks applies, we’re happy to report that the Galaxy Note II never had any issues with running any of our apps, nor did we notice it slowing down at all.
A large device like the Note II requires a great deal of power, but the surprisingly enough the device the Note II managed to last almost two days with moderate use, thanks to its Li-Ion 3100 mAh battery. We were absolutely floored with its battery endurance, especially when you consider that most smartphones in the market out today struggle to reach the end of the day with enough juice left in them to make a call.
The Galaxy Note II is one of those rare devices that gets everything right. Possibly the only reason that we can think of for you not to get one is if you have small hands, but then again if your hands are too small you shouldn’t be getting this anyway. The Galaxy Note II builds on the framework of the original and improves on it in every possible way. It’s not cheap of course – it’ll retail at Php 32,999 – but for that money, you’re getting a whole lot of device.
What’s Hot:
Large screen
Innovative S Pen
Excellent performance
Hands free camera operation
Excellent picture quality
What’s Not:
Pricey
Not for people with small hands
Bottomline:
The Galaxy Note II is one of the finest smartphones Samsung has ever made. If you can afford it – get it.
Buymeter: 5/5
Tech Specs
- Operating System: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), TouchWiz UI
- CPU: Exynos 4412 Quad, Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A9 with Mali-400MP
- LCD size: 5.5-inch Super AMOLED, 720 x 1280 resolution
- Physical Dimensions: 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4mm
- Weight: 183 grams
- Band: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
- Internal memory (including expandable memory capacity): 2GB of RAM, available in 16/32/64GB versions, expandable through microSD