Samsung Galaxy Note 4G, Blue (AT&T)

Great Hardware; So so software February 19, 2012

Reviewer:  Vince Arter Jr.  (St. Louis, MO, USA) -

Mine came in Saturday the 18th so only one day later than promised. I'm OK with that. Spent the day playing around with it. I lead an enterprise mobility team and lab for a Fortune 500 company and have access to a lot of the bleeding edge technology coming from vendors these days (except Apple who doesn't share much).

I have to say this thing is excellent. It is big. It fits in one hand for me but being a musician I'm used to stretching my fingers and such so it was no biggie for me. I could see how someone with smaller hands might have trouble using it one handed. Even with my finger stretch I was worried about holding it just in one hand.
I live in an area where AT&T is just now rolling LTE and it isn't anywhere near me but I was getting close to 8Mb down and 1.5 Mb up yesterday in a few areas. The notification bar showed 4G but not 4GLTE so I'm assuming it is HSPA+. (???)
GPS is fantastic. Works like a charm. No problems with Wi-Fi at all and getting great speeds on it.

I really like the S Pen. So many have said "the stylus is dead". Well I have to say after using an iPad and iPad 2 with a capacitive pen and loving Penultimate to the point of no longer taking paper notes (until my work iPad bit the dust) I like taking notes electronically. I have tried every mainstream Android tablet out there in my lab or in stores with good pens and none are that great. Just not good. Until I tried the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet. It has a "stylus" type pen (digitizer) and an app (Notes Mobile ... man I wish they would release for all Android devices not just Lenovo and iOS) that is just out of this world. it got me back to thinking that a stylus is the way to go for accurate note taking and ultimately got me thinking about the Samsung Note.

All that to be said I am fairly impressed. The S Pen is very accurate in its capture of my writing and drawing. It is fast and smooth with not "catches" or "snags" in the writing. Very well done hardware wise. Software wise I am NOT impressed. The handwriting recognition is so Palm. :-) It is only about 50% accurate with my handwriting when trying my best. The Notes Mobile with Lenovo was probably 90% accurate with my WORST handwriting and it converted LIVE on the page as I was writing. It was FANTASTIC. Bottom line on the S Pen ... great hardware ... not so great software.

The screen. Oooohhhhh the screen. I am in love. Yes ... the screen is simply AMAZING. The color is great, the viewing angles are good. I have a Kindle Touch for reading as I've never found another device as light, comfortable, yet big enough to read (as I am a prolific reader). I would have to say the Samsung Note is pushing the envelope. If battery life is good enough to get me through a six hour flight (in airplane mode) or several days of average use then I'm sold and might not need the Kindle. The text with the Kindle app (and in general) is sharp and very easy to read. Video is just astounding.

Performance wise the device is very good. I know there were concerns that the performance of the AT&T (US) Snapdragon 1.5 GHz CPU wouldn't hold up to the 1.4 GHz Exynos that was in the non-US devices. I can't compare the two but the benchmarks I've seen online do show that difference. All I can say is that this is my third Android (had iPhones and WinMobile before that) and it outperforms anything else and has handled all of the 3D games and such I throw at it so unless you are going to be doing massive 3D rendering on this thing (HA) I wouldn't worry about it.

Sound is good. Being a musician I like to take a lot of music with me and the sound has been more than sufficient so far. I haven't tried recording on it yet with my audio interface for Android but let's hope it is quiet. I do like the music app that is included better than others I've used on both Android and iOS. I have am not a fan of bloatware but so far the apps have been useful. I wasn't a fan of TouchWiz when I first saw it on other devices but as other reviewers have state with the extra screen real-estate I think this implementation is nice. I'm VERY much looking forward to ICS on this device if AT&T doesn't take a year to get it to us. I think the "phablet", "phoblet" or "phone tablet" (whatever you want to call it) implementation is nice and ICS would probably work well on this form factor.

Overall build quality is good. Even the plastic back feels OK compared say to the Infuse. I've ordered an oleophobic screen protector that has good reviews with the S Pen and a "case" that goes over the back to protect it but that's it for now until I get used to it. Just want to protect it at this point. The buttons for volume and power / sleep feel nice and solid and comparable to other devices I've had and tested in my lab.

So overall it seems to be a fantastic device. This will be my main device now so we'll see how she holds up under heavy use and handling. Very pleased with this purchase so far. S Pen software could have been better implemented and in a more modern way but it will suffice for now. Also hoping Notes Mobile might make it on the device ... grin. Nice job Samsung.

It's pretty in white, beautiful screen and awesome battery February 26, 2012

Reviewer:  R. Parker  (Florida) -

Design

It's a big phone for but if there's one thing you should be aware of, it's the back. The back can be slippery, I don't recommend letting people who aren't careful hold it or pick it up. My phone has already been dropped, on the back from a short distance to the ground.

The actual design of the phone is in my opinion is A+. The phone is pretty slim for such a big battery and screen size. The only physical button, the Power button is located on the right side. It's pretty much a giant Samsung Skyrocket with a stylus. It feels great in my hand(s) and I have normal sized hands. My personal preference for color is white.

Performance

I played with it for a few hours and screen is pretty responsive. I watched a netflix movies and 1080p films over wifi, which were beautiful. The processor seems to move just as fast the one in the skyrocket. There's no lag and handles everything well. South Florida should get 4g next month but HspA+ is enough. 5 to 8 down, 3 to 6 up.

Accessories to buy

I recommend getting a TPU hard gel case with a kickstand.(Not sure if the ones with the stands on amazon)
Leather case for your waist that goes through the belt.
Screen protector

Other thoughts on this phone

Many say you can't use this phone with one hand but why would I want to use it with one hand? (Outside of making a phone call) It better not be for texting and driving. This phone is great for web browsing, watching movies and have fun. This phone is a fun phone and stylus isn't bad.

If you think this phone is too big answer a call and use your ear, then go buy an In-hear Microphone or Bluetooth. I can't give personal experience about the battery life yet until I return my skyrocket. I can tell you that even with JuiceDefender(Battery saver) the skyrocket barely makes it through the the day. This should easily.

Update*

Today I got to test battery without modifying any of the settings. 6 or 7 hours later I'm 25% with extremely heavy usage. This is with facebook, 2 emails pushing and heavy browsing.

Update 2
Battery will last the entire the day with normal useage despite the huge power hungry screen. I watched a few movies and NBA Games. The big 5.3 screen on this phone is just impressive. A few of my co-workers thought the phone was too big until I showed them a few videos. I also don't have any issues holding the phone with one hand.

Thought I'd miss my iPhone 4... March 11, 2012

Reviewer:  Blondayngl  (Washington State) -

I am a gadget geek and love to try new electronics. I have been using an iPhone since the 3GS came out, and no matter what phone I tried, I always went back within a few days- Backflip, Tilt, Blackberry Bold, HTC Inspire to name a few.
I ordered the Note from Amazon Wireless, as it was cheaper than AT&T. I haven't played with it as much as I'd like to (not a good idea to order a groovy new phone in the middle of finals), but am so far beyond impressed with it. I haven't even missed my iPhone.
Texting and emailing is much easier due to the size of the screen, and it only took a couple of days to get used to the larger size.
The speaker doesn't seem quite up to par with the iPhone, but is far superior to the Inspire. The screen is just plain beautiful, and the touch interface is outstanding. Setting it up with my ringtones, pictures and whatnot was a breeze, and the battery life has been great- two days between charges.
The internet is lightning fast and blows the iPhone internet out of the water- the Note is great for work or play.
I honestly didn't think I'd find a phone that could come close to the iPhone, I was wrong. Excellent job Samsung, I am impressed.

Simply amazing February 21, 2012

Reviewer:  Waltah 

This will be a quick review for me. If you know the size of this device and pick one up I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's fast. Real fast. The screen is the highest resolution of any current Smartphone and the extra screen real estate takes advantage of it. Video playback (many codecs supported) is amazing. Web browsing is fantastic and very fast on LTE in my area. Camera is basically the same as the GS2 and that's alright by me as it's an excellent camera.
S Pen is very cool and works very well.
The review regarding the plan pricing should be tossed as it has zero to do with the actual device. People like that just skew the average ratings for no reason. I went from an iPhone 4s to the Note and I'm not going back.
I also picked up the Samsung OEM folio style case that replaces the back battery cover and it's pretty sweet.

Very impressive phone February 21, 2012

Reviewer:  Thomas M. Taylor "runman"  (Phoenix, AZ) -

I have not been this excited about a cell phone since waiting for the original iPhone one to come out. Yes, I am a early adapter.

I love the huge screen. Yes it is big and to some that is a draw back, but I use my phone a lot, but rarely to make phone calls. I am going to school and like to place my PDFs, books, Tabers medical dictionary and other school books on the phone. It really beats having to carry them around, or carrying a separate phone and tablet. I am a little older and my vision is not sharp as it used to be, but the screen is really clear and easy to see. The phone will fit in my dress shirt pocket and any pants or shorts front pockets that I wear.

As for the "wow!" factor. If you remember, I said that I was attending school. The younger students thought the phone was huge and the females thought it was to big for them to carry. But when they saw the PDF notes and the information for the classes I was able to keep on the phone, there still wasn't a "wow" factor or even an "I am impressed" moment, but maybe they understood a bit more. But I did not buy the phone to impress a bunch of young 20 something ladies. So, minus one star for the pretty ladies being unimpressed. LOL

I use the phone a lot for the GPS function. The GPS is very fast to pick up the satellites and find my position. Since the screen is so large, I can easily see where I am going. The screen has wonderful sharpness and contrast. I will not comment of the color quality since I cannot see colors.

Processor speed: I did a bench mark test on the CPU, and CPU coupled with the GPU is fast. Bench marks do not mean to much because they are just numbers, but the dual core processor is pretty quick once in the application and out of the touch whiz interface.

The Samsung interface is a real let down, especially with the included bloatware provided by our friends at ATT. If you are willing to root your phone, you will pick up speed in the main screens and apps screens. I had mine for less than an hour and rooted the phone. I have also modded the lock screen, it is not hard to do. With that mod I can get to my text messages, camera, main menu or adjust the ringer settings with a swipe of the finger instead of having to get to the home screen and then choose what I want to do. But regardless of rather you root your phone; from time you press on the app from the time it launches is fast. My last phone was the infuse, which is very slow and the GPS is even painfully slower.

Stylus: I have play4ed with the stylus a bit and i really cannot see a real use for it except maybe jotting down a short note. I am not going to use the stylus to scroll through screens and pick apps to launch. I makes a nice easy way to write "I love you" to your wife during church. Other than that it is not very useful to me.

Battery: The battery is more difficult to get to then the other phone that I have owned, save the iPhone. Plus, getting the battery cover back on is even harder. I have been playing with my new phone like a child would play with a new toy, so the battery does not seem to last long, but longer than the Infuse or the Skyrocket II. I really wish Samsung would have used the extra real estate, due to the [hones size, to put a little beefier battery.

Conclusion: I really do like the phone. More icons per screen and larger items are easier to see. I spend a lot of time on my phone with internet, apps and texting so ease of use is a huge bonus. I no longer need to carry around a separate tablet or laptop, I have all the information in one place. With the few customizations that I have done, the phone is fast and user friendly. The phone is wide and the need for big hands is a must. The stylus for me is a big looser.