I find the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note a very curious device. Is it just a Samsung Galaxy S update? Or is it something entirely different coming from Samsung? I was able to play with one yesterday and it reminds me of the Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 with its big, flat and light profile.
The Galaxy Note won’t be launched here until end of next week but looking at the specs and reviews over the net, here’s what I think are its 5 killer features which might warrant people from getting this instead of having a phone/tablet combination.
1. Size. The first 5-inch smartphone we held was the Dell Streak. It was chunky and too heavy for our taste. On the other hand, the Galaxy Note has a bigger 5.3-inch screen yet it has the form of the slim and light Samsung Galaxy S2. Weight is not an issue for this device. You can easily handle it with one hand without feeling any fatigue. It’s slim enough to be portable (even pocketable) and at the same time you’ll have ample space for reading books or surfing the web. With its big display size, it can also double as a worthy GPS.
2. Display. Brilliant and gorgeous! It has a Super AMOLED display for vibrant colors and deeper contrast. Then it also has a whopping 1280 x 800 resolution which is even higher than most netbooks. Only the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus and the iPhone 4/4S has a higher pixel density than the Note. I really enjoyed watching high-def videos on it and it is even watchable in different angles due to its IPS screen.
3. S-Pen. This is probably the unique selling point of the Note compared to other Galaxy devices. You may not have much use for a stylus but it’s really usable on its 5.3-inch screen for jotting down notes quickly. It even has a feature where you can take a screen capture with a press of a button and immediately annotate or put marks on it with the S-Pen.
4. LTE and HSPA+ ready. If you want to be secured in the future in terms of mobile connectivity, the Galaxy Note is LTE and HSPA+ ready. There aren’t a lot of phones in the market that can support HSPA+ but this one trumps them better with LTE support as well.
5. Battery life. One of the things that bothers smartphone users is that they had to charge their phones at the end of the day just so they won’t run out of juice the following day. The Galaxy Note has a generous 2500mAh battery which is the highest among other smartphones right now. If you think it needs it because of the display and faster processor, well according to a review, this baby can play a video continuously for more than 9 hours. That’s creeping into the world of Apple’s iPad and most of you know how long the iPad can go on standby mode.
