Samsung Galaxy Note > Reviews (12)

The Samsung Galaxy Note is an Android smartphone/tablet computer hybrid first introduced in October 2011.I
I have part ownership of The Samsung Galaxy Note with my Husband been using the Note ‘phablet’ for just over a month. You will hear people say that it is stupidly large; doesn’t fit your pocket and similar things. After nearly 5 weeks of using it, I now look at most other phones and I think that they look fiddly and awkward. For one thing on the smaller screens text messages that fit the Note’s screen ‘overflow’ and these smaller screens need to be swiped to bring the missing segment into view; web pages pose similar problems on other phones or, fit the screen but at a tiny resolution I know you can ‘pinch’ to change magnification but this takes us back to readable size with only part of the intended text/image visible Hubby has to wear his reading glasses on his old phone but not for the note.

One of our main reasons for buying the phone was to use the maps that are available with several apps to help us relocate when wandering about in the middle of nowhere abroad. Having just come back from Turkey I can tell you that a) there is plenty of the middle of nowhere over there b) the Turkish don’t lose sleep about details like road signage c) it can be difficult to get a signal in some parts.
The Note performed with flying colours. When I was near a strong signal I pulled maps onto the screen and used one of the stylus’ special features (see below) to capture screen shots. Whatever signal strength I had next day I could get these maps back from my micro SD card and work out where I was (even on one occasion when I was about 8 miles from where I should have been). The large, bright screen made viewing of the fine detail (like streams, contour lines and footpaths) possible even in sunlight.

I have no problem with the size of the phone. It is the largest screen ( screen size is 5.3-inch ) on any phone available (as I write), the screen being larger than the entire size of iphones, but still fits into trousers’ pockets (however it wouldn’t if I wore tight jeans . It will also fit into my rucksack or handbag/ shoulder bag if I don’t wear pockets.

The screen is astoundingly large, bright and clear. The 2 dual core processors are fast and responsive and the software is very flexible. I personally find that the stylus which is supplied with the phone is very useful; not only because it is more accurate than a finger at picking out precisely the part of the screen you mean to tap but also because it has a button on it side which, when depressed, allows extra functions that your finger doesn’t access (like capturing an image of whatever is on the screen in a form that can then be edited and saved). The camera takes remarkably good pictures in bright even light i.e. most situations. Shooting an image against a bright light it struggles (as most cameras do) to produce the contrast and colour balance that your eye can see. It might just be my use of the camera because I haven’t found a way to manually override the exposure which could correct these issues.

In the dark without flash the images are rather noisy; but again this is true of most cameras that costs less than a few hundred pounds. Video is recorded even more successfully and plays back smoothly. Software includes editing functions for both still and video work and of course there are many more apps available through Play. Personally I can’t see me being likely to want anything more than the very good editing suite provided with the bundled software.
At work my husband tells me he is using the Polaris Office software increasingly often and being able to create then email these documents; and receive and read both Office Word doc.s (and docx.) and Adobe files is a great help. Once ICS OS arrives (constantly promised but still not here) there is apparently an option of an even more flexible office suite. The Note comes with 16Gb onboard and is expandable with up to another 32Gb according to the manufacturer and another 64Gb according to some who tried larger microSD cards to see if they would work – they did. More than enough storage for work related files, music, videos etc.

So far, there has been one occasion when it inexplicably shut down. This was in the first few days of use and might have been something I did. Removing and replacing the battery solved the problem and it hasn’t re-occurred.

I confess to a few niggling issues. Perhaps most concerning is that the battery doesn’t last as you would hope. It will need charging at least every day and more frequently if you are viewing for hours. To try and conserve the battery life I switch off completely overnight and at odd times when I know I can’t use it even if it rings. This process is made harder than necessary by a ‘shut down’ screen that appears so briefly that tapping the correct position within the brief window of opportunity is a really skilled operation. In the first two weeks it often took me three attempts to switch off.
And, while you are sticking out your tongue and contracting every muscle in concentration to achieve this aim, you find that you accidentally squeeze the ringer volume control (directly opposite the on\off switch) so that, after you switch back on you miss a call or text because you haven’t realised that the phone is in silent mode.

I have also had some trouble with what seems to be poor antennae for wifi operation. At home I get a very strong signal and the phone works fine but in situations where other people get a weak but serviceable wifi connection my Note has struggled and dropped connection.

In conclusion, it is telling that a colleague at work saw my Note and decided to upgrade to one from his iphone 4. Three days after he got it he managed to mess up his password and lock himself out. He is like a man in mourning while he waits for Samsung to return it.

This is a super Luxury Note for us and was of great assistance in Turkey we could find out information about places and maps without having to have sorted all these before we went. As well as this note we took my small basic phone soothe person who did not have the note that time would still be able to use a phone. For most of my daily out of home phone needs my pay as you go is adequate, buy should I need much more than a basic phone then the note comes into its own

We paid £399 for our refurbished Galaxy note There are several outlets for the Samsung Galaxy note on http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/1-275401​6/Mobile-Phones/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-16GB​-Compare-Prices with a refurbished one costing about the same as ours and others for £400, £500 search to find the best deal for you.