When I analyzed the first Galaxy Note, just over a year, I doubted whether he was a tablet or a smartphone. After all was too small compared to tablets in the market, and too big compared to most smartphones. In the end he ended up opening a new category, that of “phablets” (mix of Phone and Tablet words, in English), and although your way big man, won the audience and ended up winning a continuation.
Compared to its predecessor the Samsung Galaxy Note II brings some contrasts: it’s bigger on the inside while it is smaller on the outside, and is much more powerful but still has better battery life. And its main highlight, the pen, gained new features that make it very versatile day-to-day.
Design and hardware
Galaxy Note II is slightly narrower than the original Galaxy Note, although it has a larger screen with 5.5 inches. But even so great: it is 8 cm wide and 15 high, although it is thin and lightweight with 9.4 mm thickness and weight of 183 grams. If it is “too big” or not is a matter of personal taste. I have long fingers and still have trouble, for example, typing or reach the corners of the screen with one hand. But I had no trouble putting it in the pocket of jeans.
The design is almost the same as the Galaxy S III or Galaxy S 4, the front is dominated by a beautiful screen 5.5 “HD resolution (1280 x 720 pixels) protected by Gorilla Glass and all the rest is plastic . The back cover and the battery is removable, and there is a microSD card slot for expanding the internal memory which is 16GB, and another for a micro SIM card. There are two color options: white and bluish gray, like the Galaxy S III.
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Galaxy Note II: removable battery and microSD card slot
Click to enlarge
At the bottom of the machine is a slot for the stylus which is also made of plastic and do not need power to operate. There is an HDMI port for connecting the device to a high-definition TV: like the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Note and Galaxy S III is need an adapter cable (MHL cable), sold separately, to use this feature.
worth mentioning that the Galaxy Note II is not compatible with 4G networks that are coming into operation in Brazil. Who wants this feature will have to wait: Samsung plans to launch a version 4G Brazil Note II, but there is still no date set.
Performance and battery
Galaxy Note II uses the same processor Exynos quad-core Galaxy S III, but running a little faster (1.6 GHz) and accompanied by double RAM, 2 GB. With this performance is a little better, but it’s the kind of difference you will only notice if you’re running a benchmark, since the day-to-day they are virtually identical.
Speaking Benchmark were 17,400 points in AnTuTu, the best result among all Android devices that have passed through our hands. Simply put the Galaxy Note II flies down, no matter the task. And it is a great gaming machine, a video processor thanks very powerful Mali-400MP.
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In the benchmark, the Galaxy Note II had the best performance among all the devices we’ve tested
Battery life was a good surprise. With a quad-core 1.6 GHz and a HD screen 5.5 “, it was expected that it would not be very large. But Samsung has equipped the device with a battery of 3,100 mAh, and in our test video playback (with the device in airplane mode and screen brightness at 50%) the Note II reached the mark of 14 hours and 17 minutes.
In the typical use, another great result: the end of a typical workday, which includes about 2 and a half hours of browsing over 3G, some pictures, calls and SMS messages and constant e-mails and networks social, the unit still had 42% charge remaining after 13 hours and 25 minutes out of the socket.
Not satisfied
did audio streaming (via Wi-Fi) for 1 hour and a half, upgraded nine applications, I uploaded 22 photos 8 MP each to Picasa and even then, after 16 hours and 10 minutes unplugged still remained 25% load. The unit gave warning of 15% battery remaining after nearly 18 hours of use, with a total range estimated at close to 20 hours.
Camera
Samsung has a great tradition to include cameras in their top of the line appliances, and the Galaxy Note II is no exception. The 8 MP sensor (accompanied by flash) makes excellent photos in general, although the night shots in poorly lit environments can suffer from noise above normal.
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Detail photo taken with the Galaxy Note II. Click to enlarge
A HDR mode lets you make photos more balanced in situations where there is strong contrast between light and shadow, or dark. There is also a panorama mode and multiple capture modes such as Best Shot, which makes 8 shots in rapid sequence and helps you choose the best, and the Best Face, does the same to get the best possible faces in portraits individual or group, avoiding the weird faces or eyes closed. Are essential for taking pictures of children, pets or action scenes.
comparison with and without HDR image in dark environment. Click to enlarge
Using the stylus you can annotate “the back” of a photo, as was done with the images on paper. So you can add details about who was in the photo, or the place or the time it was made.
Galaxy Note II records video in Full HD, and gives to take pictures and manually adjust the focus of the image during recording. You can also record videos in slow motion (with the action at half speed) or fast motion (2x speed). Speaking of video, there is also a 1.9 MP front camera for video calls.
Software
The real highlight of the Galaxy Note II is in software, not hardware. The operating system is Android 4.1.2, with traditional Samsung’s TouchWiz interface that adds several features. Including extensive support for pen, which was much more versatile than the original Galaxy Note.
It can be used in several ways: the most basic is the direct interaction with the screen, replacing his finger. The pen is detected even at a distance (about 2 cm), and that if a “cursor” appears on the screen, as the projected point by a Laser Pointer.
Right now you can activate the “Air View”: in compatible programs, such as the picture gallery or the e-mail client, for example, simply hover the cursor over an item for a few seconds to get a sample of your content. A photo album is “spread”, providing a sample of all images within it. On the client email a pop-up shows more text title, subject or message body.
AirView lets you view a sample of a photo album without opening it.
Note the cursor indicating the position of the pen in Featured red
There
pen in a small button that, when pressed, to act as a “trigger” for other actions. Imagine you are browsing the web and see a picture or excerpt from an article that is interesting. Just hold the button and draw a line around the item to generate a “clipping” that can be saved on a notepad on S Note, shared via email or social network or stored in a notes application (like Google Keep or EverNote) or virtual drive. Unfortunately the clippings are always treated as images, even if they are a paragraph of text.
pen button is also the key to the Quick Command, a way to perform quick commands from anywhere. Hold it and draw a straight line from the bottom to the center of the screen comes up a panel where you can write symbols and words to make internet searches, consult a map, write an email, send an SMS or make a call. For example ? (symbol to search) Cinema shows cinemas in your area. (symbol for maps) Av Paulista 1500 shows the address in Google Maps and @ (symbol for e-mail) Renato compose an e-mail to Renato in your contact list ( if there are several, you can choose).
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Example notes with digital text clipping web page text and freehand
course, you can also use the stylus to draw and write freehand, with handwriting recognition. The recognition, by the way, works on any text field in any application on the system, it’s time to enter a URL in the browser, compose a tweet or reply to an e-mail. The accuracy varies with the user, and is much better at letter “so” than cursive writing.
Multi-View is another interesting feature, which allows you to run two apps at the same time. Hold the “back” button for a few seconds and a “dock” listing all the apps compatible with this feature will appear on the left side of the screen. Simply drag applications to the Dock screen to open them. The first will occupy the entire screen, the second half lower or upper of your choice. It is very useful, for example, see a map while surfing the web, or calendar while writing an email.
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MultiView: two applications at the same time
Among the programs supported
found the Samsung’s own, like the browser, email client, calendar and S Planner Notepad S Note, as some of Google Chrome, Gmail, Maps, YouTube and GTalk, and to Twitter.
Other features that were already found in the Galaxy S III like Smart Stay, which keeps the screen on while you’re looking at it, are also present. Personal Assistant Voice S comes pre-installed, but still does not speak Portuguese.
Conclusion
When analyzing the first Galaxy Note, we only had to complain about the size and accessories set up there in the basics. Time has proven that the first point is not necessarily a problem, it is more a matter of personal taste. Already set of accessories, unfortunately, has not changed: the box is just the smartphone, charger, USB cable and headphones. For the price (about $ 2,000 in major retailers without carrier subsidy), it would be nice to see at least the MHL cable included in the kit.
Powerful and versatile, the Galaxy Note II is a great device for lawyers, journalists, doctors, illustrators, designers and anyone who always carry a pad of paper and pen in the bag, although the size does not make the best choice for those with small hands, or prefer something more discreet. In this case, the Galaxy S III is a good alternative.
