A year on, three colors, and more than 10 million units later, Samsung today unveiled the true heir (sorry, Galaxy Note 10.1) to its Galaxy Note smartphone (or ‘phablet’, as some would call it) at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event in Berlin. And unsurprisingly, the new device is officially christened as the Galaxy Note II.
The new Samsung Galaxy Note II bears an eerie resemblance to its Galaxy S III cousin, even down to its colors. Would it follow in the latter's footsteps, and be available in more shades later? Only time will tell.
For those who haven’t seen our earlier news piece, here’s a quick recap. The new NFC-capable Galaxy Note II features a 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a 1,280 x 720-pixel resolution (this is a slight drop from the original Note's 1,280 x 800-pixel resolution), an Exynos SoC that packs a quad-core 1.6GHz CPU (compared to the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note 10.1's quad-core 1.4GHz CPU), as well as an 8-megapixel rear camera. And Samsung’s choice of OS for its newest creation is the Google Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The 3G version supports up to 21Mbps with HSPA+; the 4G LTE version up to 100Mbps (42Mbps with HSDPA). According to Samsung, the Note II has a longer battery life (the battery is detachable, by the way) than the original Note, and charging is now faster.
Available in marble white or titanium gray, the Galaxy Note II is set to launch in October starting in major European, Asian, and Middle East markets. There's no word on Singapore pricing yet, but it's likely to be in the ballpark of US$800 without contract.
Here's a rundown of the key specs of the members in the Galaxy Note family:
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If you're one to follow smartphone trends closely, you will notice that most other big-screen phones remain within the safe range of 4.55 to 4.8-inches - prominent examples would be the quad-core Samsung Galaxy S III (4.8 inches), quad-core HTC One X (4.7 inches), quad-core LG Optimus 4X HD (4.7 inches), and the recently-announced quad-core LG Optimus G (4.7 inches). Sony Mobile has chosen to veer on the safe side with things, opting to stay put at the maximum size of 4.55-inches (case in point: the dual-core Sony Xperia TX and Xperia Ion).
Of course, the Galaxy Note II remains one of the few to join a small stead (but certainly growing pool) of smartphones with touchscreens of 5 inches and above. In this case, its closest competitor, (outside of the Samsung family, of course) is the 5-inch LG Optimus Vu, first glimpsed at MWC this year. And let's not forget its recently announced successor, the Optimus Vu II. While we're certain that it will adopt the 4:3 aspect ratio, 5 inches and above form factor of its predecessor, nothing much is known of it yet.
| Key Specs | Samsung Galaxy Note II | |
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Without further ado, here are some comparison shots of the Galaxy Note II and its predecessor, the Galaxy Note.
The Galaxy Note II (left) vs. the original Note (right). Notice the change in screen aspect ratio. So despite being taller and haing a larger 5.5-inch screen, the Note II actually looks slimmer.
Galaxy Note II (top), original Note (below): You can barely tell the difference between the two devices' thickness, which is good news. As you can see, the volume rocker on the Note II has been shortened. Nonetheless, the tactile feedback has not been affected.
The power button gets a slight push to the center and like the volume rocker, is noticeably smaller. Nonetheless, it still remains on the right profile of the device. Do keep in mind once again that the Note II is positioned on the top, with its predecessor at the bottom.
The bottom hasn't seen much changes either - the micro-USB and S Pen slot still remain in virtually the same positions. We noticed, however, the S Pen on the new Note II (top) is nearly twice the size of the S Pen on the original Note (bottom).
The headphone jack gets a slight reshuffle at the top and is now placed closer to the right side of the device. We doubt this will make much of a difference in usability either way.
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Besides a slight bump in screen size to 5.5 inches, a change in screen aspect ratio (from 16:10 to 16:9), and an SoC upgrade, the Note II has a whole host of other enhancements and new features. Samsung has pitched the Note II as an even more powerful tool than the original Note for creative expression.
