Review: Samsung Galaxy Note

What is the ideal size for a tablet or smartphone? That’s the question manufacturers are asking themselves as they try and find that sweet spot for consumers. Do customers want something small enough to fit into a pocket or would they rather opt for more real estate with a larger screen.

Samsung was one of the first to break away from the pack, experimenting with different screen sizes with the launch of the Galaxy Tab a few years ago. It was the first tablet which didn’t fall into Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad footprint. Now Samsung is trying something new again, this time introducing a smartphone larger than most are used to.

At first glance one could say the Samsung Galaxy Note has a bit of an identity crisis. Is it a smartphone or a tablet. The 5.3-inch screen makes it look like a shrunken tablet but make no mistake about it, Samsung defines the Galaxy Note as a smartphone.

The Galaxy Note has a very nice look and feel. Like many of the phones in the Galaxy lineup the design is simple and clean. The only physical buttons on the phone (power, volume rocker)  are along the outer trim. The over-sized touchscreen is the focus here.

The “HD Super AMOLED” screen is certainly quite beautiful. It boasts a 1280 x 800 resolution and whether you’re looking at photos, watching videos or just browsing the web it’s a feast for the eyes. The deep black levels really stood out when I was watching video.  Everything appears vibrant, crisp and clean on this screen. That being said being outdoors poses a problem as it is highly reflective, meaning despite it’s large size the screen displays poorly outside.

On the inside the Note is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual-core ARM chip with LTE connectivity. Samsung is shipping the device with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread on board. An update to Ice Cream Sandwich is expected at some point, however Samsung is leaving us guessing as to when that will be.

Like many smartphones there are two cameras on the Galaxy Note. The rear camera is 8-megapixels, while the front is 2-megapixels. There is an LED flash on the rear and you can select a variety of scene modes including portrait, landscape, night, sports, party/indoor, sunset, dawn, fall colour, fireworks, text, candlelight and backlight. There is also an exposure setting which can come in handy in bright areas. The large screen made it quite easy to browse through the settings and select the one that best fits your lighting situation.

The camera is quite good. To give you an idea I snapped the same photo with the Galaxy Note and the iPhone 4s. You can see the variances in colour. The Note’s colours were a little more vivid while the iPhone’s were slightly dulled down. The actual colour was somewhere in between the two.

Picture taken with the Samsung Galaxy Note

Picture taken with the iPhone 4s

Besides the larger screen the other big difference between the Samsung Galaxy Note and other smartphones is the addition of a stylus. Samsung calls it the S Pen. I know what you’re thinking. The Palm Pilot is back! Well not quite. In the Note’s case the S Pen isn’t needed for navigation. Sure you can navigate with it but you can also do much more such as draw on the screen. S Memo pulls up a blank page and will allow you to doodle freehand. You can choose different types of pen styles such as pencil, marker or paint brush. Okay, not many people will be wowed by this feature, but the S Pen has a secret. A small button on the side allows you to take screen captures which can then be brought up in S Memo. These screen caps can be drawn on and then sent via email, Bluetooth etc to other people or devices. For example, if you wanted to let someone know where to park in downtown Calgary you can grab a screen capture from Google Maps, draw on it then send the photo. Samsung says you can also draw over video so annotations pop-up as the video plays. Samsung has a special app called the S Choice which shows you all the app that are currently compatible with the new S Pen.

The S Pen is a feature you will either love or hate. Is it needed? No it isn’t but some people will surely find a use for it. I myself can see the advantage of having it but it’s not something I would use every day.

After using the Samsung Galaxy Note for a week I found the experience to be quite enjoyable. I had no issues with freezing and no battery life complaints. No major issues to complain about…except for the size. I simply couldn’t wrap my head around using the larger-sized phone. It wasn’t that it felt awkward in my hands as it’s quite light, rather it was the feeling when I held it up to talk on the phone. For me it was slightly too big. It really is a personal preference.

If you like the idea of the S Pen and the larger screen my biggest advice would be to go to your carrier and pick up a demo model to get a feel for the device. That’s really the only way to know if size will be an issue for you.

The Good

Solid design
Beautiful screen
Solid camera

The Bad

Some will find the Galaxy Note a bit big

The Samsung Galaxy Note is available from Rogers, Telus and Bell starting February 14th for $199 on a 3-year contract.