SMH @ FanBoys November 20, 2012

Reviewer:  Kenyon Martin  (OHIO) -

I initially wanted to get the New EVO 4lte. When I heard of this device I did some research, because as an EVO owner for 2yrs the only direction I could see myself going was IPhone... I was definitely not a Samsung fan.

After owning the product for a few weeks, I am impressed.
It is Fast
It is responsive
It is also Overwhelming with so much to do with it. I admit I use the pen function very seldom.

I do not like the keyboard, but that's because I am spoiled to HTC's. I will live.

You have to consider the size. I love the size, others may not like it so much.

Technologically speaking it is top of the line... not top of the Android line, it is TOP OF THE LINE.
We have to understand that Apple OS is proprietary and specific which enabled it to edge towards perfection sooner. The Open Android System has finally approached that bench mark via the Galaxy Notebook2. It doesn't mean that Apple is not Top of the line also, BUT it does mean you have a choice of best devices and don't have to give up any functionality or capability and you may just possibly... be adding with this one. (Check out Phone Dog's head to head Notebook2 vs Iphone5).

Do your homework. As of right now there are 3 reviews. This and two others. The 1 star one flamed all samsung devices, so also do your homework in the reviews you read too.

This is my first review but I had to set the record straight.

If you can afford this, Get this!

This is the future right here in our hands... November 29, 2012

Reviewer:  Rajesh Ramjit 

Actually the future is a smaller device that "unfolds" into a tablet size..and Samsung is already working on the type of screen to facilitate this. Until that arrives, this is the best mobile device in my opinion out there. I had a rooted EVO 4G and never felt the need for a tablet because it did everything I needed...aside from really working, for which I used my desktop. I was thinking of the EVO 4G LTE because I had grown to like HTC and liked the increased size and the beauty of the device. Still as a photographer, I wanted a mobile device with an excellent camera, not that the EVO LTE was not,(my daughter has it and my other daughter with her IPhone 4S, a very good camera, envies hers) did not want Samsung because of radio problems.
Then came the NOTE II and I kept hearing about the power and capabilities. I felt this was the device that would put a tablet in my hands at the same time.
At first I was put off by the size, almost so huge as to be ridiculous. I never thought I would have such a huge device. That was for about ONE day. After that, it quickly grew on me, and I was hooked.
Call quality - excellent...no complaints...works smoothly with my jawbone bluetooth...just paired up and connected...smooth.
Jelly Bean - Heaven...this thing is what Android was supposed to be...we have arrived finally...Apple no longer holds the advantage for having a seamlessly smooth no lagging OS...JB matches or surpasses it with intuitiveness, speed, beauty, flexibility and potential.
Features: so much that I haven't even used them all yet.
Speed: no splutter..no lag...just goes from one screen or command to another like butter.
Size: I LOVE IT!!!...I cannot go back to a smaller device.
Camera: almost perfect...I would like to be able to adjust shutter speed and aperture...may be possible...have to see if there is an app available for that..other than that the photos are better than I have ever seen from a phone and rivals PS cameras out there. The HDR will make you scream in delight. So I am happy that the phone has the camera quality that I really needed.

I bought the adapter connection to stream to my TV HDMI..I bought another connection to connect directly to my DSLR...will come back with those results later.

It is not for everyone but if you want one device to do everything...browse internet, connect to many other devices, read magazines, read books, look at movies, edit photos!!(with a pen)...etc, etc....this is it.

note: I bought a case for it and while it looks good, it goes not fit in my pocket like before...before you could not know it was there because it was so thin.....this is how it overcomes its size...by its thinness..

LOVE IT...

Hands Down THEE Best! December 8, 2012

Reviewer:  Shop-A-Holic "BeeBee"  (Southeast, WI) -

I have had smartphones since they practically came out. I started out with a brick of a Blackberry and boy have things changed! I was hesitant about purchasing the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 because of the hefty $299 price tag but I thought to heck with it and gave it a shot! Let me tell you...its worth every penny!

SCREEN: This screen is the best I have seen on a phone. Its crisp, clear and so easy to see even in direct sunlight! Netflix, Hulu+ and GoogleTV work flawlessly and look amazing! The colors are so bright and vivid! I get compliments all the time on this aspect! I absolutely adore the HDsuperAMOLED screen!

SIZE: Yes, the size is a little scary at first (5.5 inch screen!), but me being a woman, I wasn't concerned about placement (purses, ladies). I have heard a lot of people say "It won't fit in your pocket"...but the phone is so slim, its easy to place! They also make real nifty case/wallets for this thing!

BATTERY: This battery is straight up PHENOMENAL! I only charge it at night when I go to bed (unlike my other smartphones in the past that lived on life support 24/7) and at that, I really could even go a couple days without charging. With super heavy use like Netflix, texting, taking pictures, talking on the phone a couple hours...my battery will start at 100% around 8am and be around 74% by 6pm. That is amazing in my book. That alone is the worth the price!

INTERACTION: This phone comes with the hyped up S-Pen. I didn't really think I would use it a whole lot but wow was I wrong! It really is a lot of fun! You can use it to hover over your screen and see whats in certain folders (images, music, etc.). It also works as a scissors, which is nifty! You press the button and hold it and you can cut and crop anything on the screen! Its fun to quickly jot down notes in a pinch! You can send hand-written images to anyone! I love this little gadget!

Overall, this phone is the best phone I have ever used. In my honest opinion, it is much better than the iPhone! Sorry Apple! This phone is just so customizable! The options are limitless! The screen is AHHH-mazing and you just cannot beat this powerhouse's battery life! Thanks Samsung! You definitely made a quality product that I am just pleased to own! Keep them coming!

It's the size that counts. November 16, 2012

Reviewer:  China Mary "China Mary"  (Oahu, Hawaii) -

Definitely faster than my Epic with the physical keyboard. No LTE on Oahu and the 4G coverage is crappy so I can't say how that goes. Wifi connects quickly. Jelly Bean is great and easy. If you're afraid to switch to Android...it's not that hard. Our 4 year old knows how to use my iPod touch and this phone. Never used Siri so I can't compare the S Voice, but it seems helpful so far. I was able to send text messages hands free while driving. It's not perfect though. I asked it to dial one thing out of my address book, and it dialed a different person. I wish that it had asked to confirm if that was the name that I said before connecting. Oh well. I even asked it, "How much wood could a woodchuck..." and it gave the correct answer, but it couldn't give me an answer when I asked if it liked green eggs and ham.

I actually use the S pen. I did my homework last week scribbling notes on a PDF.

This phone works for me because I watch a lot of videos from my memory card. They load fast and smooth. I email and text more than talk so the big phone next to my face isn't a problem. It doesn't fit in ANY of my pockets. It evens hangs out of my back pockets. Women's clothing have small pockets. If you use this for business...do you really wear pants with cargo pockets to meetings? It fits easily in purse though because it's slim. Since the screen is bigger, I have it set with bigger fonts. When it comes to music, I still prefer using my iPod classic. It just seems simpler.

I miss having a physical shutter button like the Epic has. Takes good enough pictures for phone quality.

The biggest plus so far is the minimal amount of bloatware that Sprint has on this compared to when I got the Epic two years ago. There was a crap load Sprint and NASCAR apps that you couldn't delete. Those are all optional now in the Play Store. Still has Swype. I can't Swype some works while holding this with one hand. Thumb won't reach across.

Biggest complaint is that when any version of iphone comes out, there are hundreds of cases available before the phone is even out. I'm still waiting for Otterbox to release their cases that their website keeps saying, "soon". I have butter fingers. MMMmmmm, Butterfingers.

Keep in mind that the screen is bigger so anyone standing around you can easily see what you're doing. I'd like to play with this and a Samsung TV to test it out. Also interested in that docking station with the HDMI output, but not for $100.

The last post November 21, 2012

Reviewer:  JOHN SOARES 

The last post gave this phone a one star and they dont even own the phone, they mentioned s3 they must own the s3. this is not the s3 this phone blasts off with a battery that lasts 15 hours of talk time. this phone is the best device in market today period.

had it for a few weeks love it December 29, 2012

Reviewer:  regionalagent 

The phone is great, plays most video and audio files, has great battery life*, NFC is nice.

I have to say that the people moaning about the size must be petite or just silly, 90%+ of the people purchasing this phone do it for the screen size.

The screen looks fantastic, video, even high def video, plays smoothly audio is pretty good for a phone, twice as loud as my previous phone without much breaking.

The battery lasts nicely even when using the phone for video , audio, and phone provided you leave the auto screen brightness setting on. If you turn the brightness all the way up and play with the phone constantly you will push to get 7 1/2 to 8 hours out of the battery. However that being said the auto brightness setting works well to give the proper brightness as needed.

The Motion setting came activated with all items selected on my phone and it took me some time to work them all out, I would be doing something and the phone would do random things, if you haven't had a phone with motion before I recommend turning them all off to start and learning them one at a time. The quick glance feature is fantastic, and the turn over to mute/pause function works really well.

I wasn't a big fan of the UI to start with but I have grown to like it, although I still prefer the HTC UI as it seemed more polished but this is just personal preference.

If you haven't installed Google now I highly recommend it, I was highly surprised after randomly installing it from a pack of programs, it sends me travel information such as travel time from my current location to home, allows you to set updates for weather, sports teams, birthdays ( synced only from google+ network at this time), appointments including the option for updated travel time to appointment location, local events, and tons of other things that make the Note II a perfect phone and planning accessory.

The antenna seems to be weak (or possibly more accurate) compared to the HTC EVO 4g, the note gets 1-2 bars in places where the EVO 4G would get 4 bars or better. That being said I haven't had any problems with dropping of calls or network connection.

S Suggest isn't for me the suggestions seem random and I don't think I have installed 1 suggested program.

I have only used the S pen twice once the day I activated and once to try to take notes in a meeting, while serviceable I don't think it will replace pen and paper for taking notes for me any time soon.

I haven't used the multi window function yet as I am still playing with all the other functions and haven't taken the time.

After trying the Note II the S3 and an Iphone5 I would recommend the Note II to all but the most apple obsessed user, or a petite person worried about the size. The Note II is speedy, the screen is great, and there are a ton of great functions. The S3 while a bit smaller has all the same functions with the exception of the pen functions but not as much processor power. The Iphone5 has the fixed battery and I am not a great fan of the UI.

Most Excellent Phone I have ever owned December 5, 2012

Reviewer:  Jamie Pina 

I absolutely love my new phone. I have had it for going on three weeks now and upgraded from the Evo 4G (original). It has a super fast 4-core processor, 2GB of Ram, 10GB storage(even though it says 16GB), 50GB of online storage from DropBox. It is huge, but I love it. Easy to read and listen to music with. I read a ton of emails, articles, and RSS feeds, and it is perfect. I beleive that you should have a bluetooth or wired headset to use the phone, but I don't mind it. Also, I have not found something to protect it with...I would love to know what other's are using to protect it. My kids love it too!!! They have plenty of screen room, so playing games is great, as well as reading books and using Kid Mode. Thank you!!!

Totally sold on this product! November 30, 2012

Reviewer:  Hogpen 

I initially was going to upgrade to the S3 simply because I couldn't afford the extra $100 for the Note 2. However, my wife and I both were able to walk out of the store with Note 2's while spending only $300 in the process. She's an iphone convert and I've been on android devices for a few years. After doing my homework, I knew the new Note was the way to go. The speed is tremendous compared to the S2 skyrocket that I previously owned. The S pen features are a real treat as well. I've had the phone 3 days now and continue to unlock new and exciting features. If I had to pick a downer, it would be the color choices. I was hoping for the red like the S3 was offering, but definitely not a deal breaker. I have had no issues thus far converting from my old phone to this one...just wish I had more time to explore it. If you can afford the initial price tag or stumble on a deal like my wife and I got, then I say...GO FOR IT!

I love this phone November 30, 2012

Reviewer:  Katherine 

Is the best phone that I had and, yes I've had several iphone models... The Android system jelly bean works smooth, the fact that I can transfer files in and out the phone so easily is great also the screen resolution is outstanding

Best Phone or Device I've ever owned January 27, 2013

Reviewer:  ActionAndAdventure!  (Knoxville, Tennessee) -

Originally purchased the Samsung Galaxy Note II with AT&T. Switched from ATT due to their inflexibility to offer a truly unlimited data plan for families. That's another story.

Moved to Sprint and purchased a marble white Samsung Galaxy Note II.

I am experiencing the same superb degree of excellence with this device as I did with ATT.

The Note II is a beautiful phone. Physical construction of very good and form factor is perfect for my needs.

If you think your pockets are too small for this phone, then you need to re-think your clothing situation. Re-purchase clothing which is adequate for this device. It is that good.

Quad 1.6 processor power is notable. Very fast machine. Phone quality (voice) is excellent. It very simply, works. Every function of the phone, that is.

Bluetooth communicates with my Prius's Bluetooth effortlessly. WiFi works perfectly. The Android 4.1.1 operating system (a.k.a., Jelly Bean; whatever) works fantastically. The Google-system does everything it should do without a hassle. The Google voice search is better and faster than my family's five (5) iPhone 4Ss (yes, we have 6 phones on our Sprint account; an exception to their 5-on-1 plan policy; another story), and the Google voice search system works great; but I rarely use it.

My primary reason for purchasing this phone is its size and fantastic performance. Both are very impressive. Together, it's a masterpiece.

Viewing data on a 5.5" screen of this quality is a pleasure. I generally use the large screen to check aviation weather. There, looking at either textual, radar, satellite, or other planning weather systems is made easy by the strong processing capabilities of this phone, and its excellent display. Just beautiful.

Battery life? So far, I'm experiencing a full-day (i.e., 12-hours on this large 3100miliamp battery. There may even be a lager battery (which would be even better), but bone-stock from the Samsung factory, the battery is amazing.

Speaker phone is excellent. Viewing movies, amazingly beautiful.

Every function of the device is solid.

Touch screen works perfectly, looks fantastic.

Charging systaem works as-advertised (mini USB).

This is simply the best phone device I have ever seen. Simply fantastic.

If you can tolerate a large device (and there are some considerations), then I highly recommend this superbly designed and built Samsung Galaxy Note II device.

Top of the Line is right.

It's large. Its screen is larger than the entire outer dimensions of an iPhone 4S.

Perfect.

Best Phone I've Owned March 14, 2013

Reviewer:  Joe 

Coming from a Galaxy S3 I knew that I was basically getting a larger upgraded version of what I already had. I am not going to sit here and compare it to other manufacturers as every phone is unique and fits people in a different way. I will however talk about why this is the best phone for me. The S3 was a great device and I loved everything about it, but I always felt like I needed a slightly larger screen. 5.5" is a large screen. I will admit that when I set the two phones next to each other I was shocked at how much larger the Note 2 was. The size of this phone will deter a lot of people and that's fine. This phone is not designed for everyone. I LOVE the larger screen. I have never understood how people could text or email on smaller 4" screens. I have man hands that come with man fingers and my thumb can cover half of the keyboard on those smaller devices. Not for me. The features of this phone are beyond what most people would ever need or use, but it is nice to have them just in case. The quadcore processor is noticably faster than the dualcore that was put in the CDMA versions of the S3. Screen is equally amazing just on a larger scale. I feel like Android finally has an OS that I can feel comfortable with. I started way back with Froyo and thought they had a long way to go. Gingerbread always left me with the Linux feeling. Honeycomb was short lived on tablets and ICS was like Vista for me. More problems than it was hyped up to fix. Jelly Bean is like Win7 for me. Perfect. I love eerything about it. The look, the power, the smooth operation, and features included with it. Touchwiz has some nice tweeks as well. Coming from owning HTC for the last 4 years (excluding my recent S3) I was very use to the Sense features and grew tired of how bloated it had become. Sense seemed to take control over my device and I found myself rooting to remove it. Touchwiz is subtle and less intrusive to the user experience of the device and offers a lot of unique features. I have yet to figure out how I lived before NFC. I use this feature every single day and it makes life so simple. NFC tags with NFC Task Launcher(Free in Google Play) is a marriage that will last for me. If you are looking for a powerful, beautiful, and large device then this is for you. The size is not for everyone. If you are confortable with the size of the S3 and want a little more size(thats what she said) then you will do great with this device. Almost every retailer I have visited has a Note 2 on display for you to look at or play with. You do become use to the size very quickly to be fair and when you grab someone elses phone it will feel absolutely tiny in your hand. This review may or may not help you at all with your decision, but I hope it does.

I'm in love =) February 1, 2013

Reviewer:  slloyd76 

So, to start of I'm a phone addict..this is my 5th phone in the last year, evo, iPhone 4s, evo lte, Samsung galaxy s2...there's probably few more. This phones awesome, and I couldn't beat the $99 price tag. I scoured the internet looking at reviews, impatiently waiting..wouldn't you know, it was a holiday, do I didn't get it till Friday. Now I've had it for over a week. I haven't found a flaw yet. I have small hands, so most of the phones I've used weren't ever just with one hand. I've always used 2 anyways. So don't worry about the size of the phone, you'll get used to it fast. The screens beautiful, and the s pen is fun to use. I don't have 4g here, not until about June, but this phone is fast without it, so I definitely look forward to June coming. This phone has many features I haven't even discovered, and I have a feeling I shouldn't get bored for awhile. Btw, games on here are Awesome =)

Awesome phone March 11, 2013

Reviewer:  Mr. T 

I had an Iphone 4S and thought it was great. I enjoyed using it and wanted to move onto an Iphone 5. However, after discovering the Note 2, I changed my mind. I have the Note 2 for about a week now and I can honestly say that this phone is 10 times better than any Iphone. This is my own opinion. The features and endless productivity I can use with this phone is almost endless. A lot of the reviews from many websites such as CNET and others don't give this phone the credit it deserves. The S-pen feature along with the multi view screen, long lasting battery, and many others makes this a must buy phone.

Loving my Samsung Note 2 February 13, 2013

Reviewer:  Armand Charpentier  (Winston-Salem, NC, US) -

After playing with the iPhone 5 and Samsung Note 2 at my local Sprint store (where they have real phones, not dummy displays) I decided on the Note 2. I have been using Android phones for the past few years, and have never had any complains with the OS. The S-Pen helped me make that decision, as did the size and speed of the phone. Before getting my hands on one, I worried about the size. I don't find it too large at all (granted, I am a big guy), and find it the perfect size for e-book reading without needing to carry a bag around everywhere I go.

With moderate to heavy use, I find myself making it at least 10-16 hours with the battery still at 35% or so when I plug the charger in at night. It charges pretty quickly with the OEM charger, and the car charger I had previously for my last two phones (EVO and EVO3d) doesn't seem to have any issues charging the battery.

I haven't played with the alarm settings too much, short of setting some alarms, but it seems that there isn't a way to change the default alarm sound. I'll post an update if I find one. Or if you know of a way to do that, post a comment below. Note: At the time, I'm not looking to root the phone.

I was eligible for an upgrade from Sprint, and decided to buy the phone through Amazon WIreless because it was a hundred dollars cheaper there. Someone told me that it was because it comes from Sprint with a 64gb SD card (which I have also been told it does not). Even if it does, I spent less money purchasing an SD card separately.

The phone is fast, responsive and I've had no buggy issues with it like I've had with previous smartphones, including the Samsung Hero and Moment, the latter making me swear off Samsung phones forever until now.

One concern I had was whether or not I would like the keyboard. I do. The swipe to text function is almost as good as Swype, and the addition of numbers at the top of the keyboard makes it so much easier to use, especially when entering things like passwords.

I'm loving this phone/phablet. Never been happier with a smartphone since my first Blackberry all those years ago.

WOW!! December 29, 2012

Reviewer:  ScorpioQueen 

I JUST GOT MINE YESTERDAY AND I'M ON IT NOW WRITING THIS REVIEW! THIS PHONE IS AMAZING, WITH TOO MANY FEATURES TO WRITE.

PRO: IT REPLACED MY TABLET!

CON: THE PRICE IS THE ONLY THING I CAN THINK OF (BUT I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET THE $99 PRICE).

I WAS WORRIED ABOUT THE SIZE BUT, GOT OVER THAT QUICKLY. DON'T SEE WHY PEOPLE MADE SUCH A BIG DEAL ABOUT IT. AND I CAME FROM THE BB TORCH SO YEAH, I WAS USED TO THE SIZE PRETTY QUICK.

Ideal for a power user with Bluetooth and a good data plan December 14, 2012

Reviewer:  L. E. Lockhart "academic in training"  (College Station, TX, USA) -

The important thing to be aware of with this phone is that it is NOT AN iPHONE COMPETITOR. It's not designed to compete with a polished, perfected-out-of-the-box experience. Which, as a former iPhone user, is exactly why I chose this product: whereas the iPhone starts off feeling perfect and eventually reveals its limitations, the Note II works out of the box but needs a lot of customization. So, to start off with the things that were a bit annoying out of the box:

-Comes with a SwiftKey keyboard, which for people new to Android is a custom keyboard that predicts what you're going to type, but it's suboptimal compared to the SwiftKey programs you can get free or for a small fee through Google Play (or, I suppose, the Amazon App Store for Android). The reason for this is that the official SwiftKey, as opposed to Samsung's customized version, can actually learn from your social network posts, emails, Twitter, etc., instead of using a one-size fits all solution.
-Has a somewhat clunky Samsung UI with some confusing features, like a "simple" and "complex" version that don't actually work the way they say. This can be supplanted or customized away.
-Has some really good stuff that works with the S-Pen (the stylus built into the device), but it's not well documented.

Finally, make sure you have a data plan that lets you use a lot of data, because this machine is a multimedia beast!

It's a little big, but other than that it's pretty flippin' cool January 13, 2013

Reviewer:  Garrett Clark  (Seattle, Wa) -

The samsung galaxy note 2 is a beast of a phone. I have small hands, so to hold this thing is like holding a small tablet. It's able to do things I never thought possible with a phone before. It's pretty amazing.

What A Monster!! December 28, 2012

Reviewer:  Alex Gesse 

If I could give 10 starts out of 5 I would. I like everything about this phone. Even though it's not a unibody case the quality of the product is still great and I can easily change the battery in the future if needed. Talking about Battery... no need to worry about running out juice before the end of the day anymore.

The phone is gorgeous and the screen is awesome. It took some getting used to it when I first started using it but now I'm already used to the size and because the phone is very thin, it's actually less noticeable then my older phone.

The OS is Jelly Bean and it's awesome, super realiable and fast, not a single freeze or errors so far, I also liked this version of touchwiz very much from Samsung, I really liked the user experience here, everything is easy to do and there are so many tweaks and options for you to play with to make the phone work the way you want it. The stylus I'm still playing with it, I'm no artist but I like the option to use if I want it. I'm sure some apps will make great use of it.

The phone also comes with a very good headset with mic, volumes control and also an extra button to pause/skip music. I missed this feature on my old phone.

Talking camera, picture quality in low light had quiet a lot of noise, more than what I expected. I think the iPhone still wins in this department, but it's still a good camera.

I really liked how Samsung took especial care to detail in this phone, I mean even the notification light is pretty, i'ts not too solid it's more like a foggy light and I also liked the ringtones, alarms and touch sounds Samsung used, all really pretty to hear.

This phone is awesome, I don't know how else to put it.

The best phone period. January 6, 2013

Reviewer:  alex chavez 

Give this phones size a day or do to set in and you're hooked. You won't want to get a smaller phone than this. I use my friends gs3 or an iPhone 5 and can't stand the size of the screen. I will never go back to a smaller device. The hardware in it is top of the line. So far best processor out. Best screen, nothing tops samsungs SAMOLED screens. With the ability to change color levels in the settings you won't find a better display. The only negatives would be the back cover not being the best but I bought a flip cover and it feels 10x better.

NICE May 25, 2013

Reviewer:  Da-Man 

I Love it very much and would not trade it for no other phone that is out right now point BLANK