They used to be big, later they became redundant. As soon as smartphones were ready to offer the same features, PDAs were on the way to becoming extinct. With a device like the Samsung Galaxy Note though, one can't help but wonder if they're making a comeback. It's got a big touchscreen for reading and entering text, with a stylus for jotting down notes and sketches, with powerful hardware that beats most phones in processing power and features. Sounds like a new-age PDA to us. The screen is part of the new HD SuperAMOLED line and boasts the impressive 1280x800 pixel resolution. It uses a PenTile matrix, but with 285ppi you can't really tell. Stretching over a whopping 5.3 inches, it makes browsing those web pages an almost tablet-like experience. The Samsung Galaxy Note shares the Exynos chipset with some of its Galaxy siblings, but it's the one with the 1.4GHz dual-core CPUs. We've already had a look at its performance and we can say it's blazing fast. If it's becoming hard to keep track of all the features, here's the gist of the Galaxy Note specs in summarized form: The Samsung Galaxy Note packs the same camera as the Galaxy S II, giving you 8MP stills and FullHD video recording. If the image quality is on par, the Note should easily beat its tablet competitors in the photography department. One important area is portability - Samsung have made the device as small as possible (there's hardly any bezel around the screen) but 5.3" is pretty big. Figuring how to carry the Galaxy Note around will be a challenge, but if you find a way you can leave your phone at home - the Note has top of the line droid specs and full phone functionality too. Well, we've got our cargo pants on and we'll try and find room for the Samsung Galaxy Note. The Samsung Galaxy Note has a 5.3" SuperAMOLED screen of WXGA (1280x800) resolution. That's 16:10 aspect ratio, which is close enough to the HD aspect (16:9) to fit videos just right but it's a bit wider, which comes in use when browsing the web. SuperAMOLED offers great contrast (theoretically infinite), saturated, lively colors and 180-degree viewing angles. It's not a 'Plus' model, which means it uses PenTile (2 subpixels instead of 3 per each pixel). But the very high pixel density - 285ppi - puts pixels so near the edge of human vision that you have to stare closely to barely make out the PenTile grid. For comparison, the Galaxy Tab 7.7 display has 196ppi, the Galaxy S II has 217ppi, HTC Sensation XE - 256ppi and the iPhone 4 offers 326ppi. We took some close-up shots of the screen of the Galaxy Note along with the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4 to illustrate the difference. The photos are shot at the same magnification, so you get an idea of how the different pixel densities affects the amount of fine detail in the visible image. You can see the PenTile matrix of the Galaxy Note, but its pixels are closer in size to those of the iPhone 4 than those of the Galaxy S II so the "grid" look typical of PenTile is practically invisible on the Note's screen. Plus, users will typically hold the bigger screen farther from their eyes, which increases the perceived pixel density further. We mentioned that the theoretical contrast is infinite - that's because black pixels are completely switched off (that is, they give off zero light). In practice, reflections limit that to a finite number, but it's usually several thousands, well above any display that uses a backlight. Samsung have gone through a lot of effort to make their SuperAMOLED technology as non-reflective as possible and they've done a pretty good job of it. Outdoor viewing is good, but there's another problem, brightness. The 5.3" screen on our test Samsung Galaxy Note is rather dim. We don't have a retail version, so it might be a pre-production issue that will be fixed. This is probably the case, since we didn’t have this problem with the bigger, 7.7" SuperAMOLED on the Galaxy Tab 7.7. We won't be doing brightness measurements this time around, we'll wait for the retail units to come out and include the results in our review. The Samsung Galaxy Note uses portrait orientation by default and packs practically the same set of controls as the Galaxy S II. This is a Gingerbread device, not Honeycomb like the Tab 7.7, so that's no surprise. Above the screen you have the proximity and ambient light sensors, along with the 2MP front-facing camera. On the other side of the screen is the hardware Home button plus the capacitive Menu and Back keys on its side. There's an earpiece on top and a mouthpiece at the bottom, so you can use the Galaxy Note as a phone. Holding it with one hand is not particularly comfortable but we'll get back to that in a minute. At the bottom, next to the mouthpiece is the standard microUSB port (hooray!), which leaves a quadruple life - it's a data and charging port, TV out port too (via MHL) and supports USB On-The-Go. The bottom is also where the S Pen lives, - that's what Samsung calls the active stylus of the Galaxy Note. On top of the device, there's just the 3.5mm audio jack and another microphone. The sides of the Samsung Galaxy Note are pretty barren - there's a volume rocker on the left and a Power/Lock key on the right and that's it. They are thin and barely protrude, so they're not the easiest buttons to press, but it's not a major problem either. We complete our hardware inspection at the back where we find the 8MP 1080p-video-capturing camera accompanied by an LED flash. The back also houses the single loudspeaker of the Galaxy Note. We have the usual complaint here: the camera lens is not protected from scratches and fingerprint smudges and the loudspeaker gets muffled when you place the Note on a level surface. But most manufacturers seem to ignore such issues more often than not. The back cover is made of finely textured plastic (very similar to that of the Galaxy S II), which is nice to the touch and great at hiding fingerprints. You can see the back of the Note compared to the back of the Galaxy S II and how the two stack up size-wise. Popping the back cover open reveals the 2,500 mAh battery. Samsung are mum on the battery time. Also here is the SIM compartment, next to the microSD card slot, neither of which are hot-swappable as they're blocked by the battery. How Samsung could put the microSD card slot there on such a huge device is beyond us. They have more than enough room to put the slot in a more convenient location. The Galaxy Note is a monster compared to regular phones - but then again, it's not exactly a phone. It's thin (9.7mm), light (you wouldn't guess it weighs 178g) and the rounded edges help ergonomics. But still, one handed use is a problem - your thumb most likely can't reach every point on the screen (certainly not comfortably) and unless you have big hands, you can't easily wrap your fingers around the Note to hold it without fear of dropping. Two-hand thumb typing is absolutely spot on, however. Pocketability is an issue too - you can certainly slip in into your pocket (the thin frame helps a lot here), but a lot of people won't find that solution acceptable. Still, most coat pockets or purses will find enough room for the Galaxy Note, which is worth having around with all that screen real-estate. Web - FaceBook - Localist - Posterous - Twitter - Blogger - Flickr - Email Why Dr Mobiles Limited?
Samsung Galaxy Note official photosSamsung Galaxy Note at a glance
The Samsung Galaxy Note at our officeDesign and display
Screen size comparison: Galaxy S II vs. Galaxy Note
The 5.3" SuperAMOLED of the Galaxy Note is impressive
Close up shots of theThe rest of the body
The usual set of sensors above the screen and the hardware controls below it
Mic pinhole microUSB port and S Pen at the bottom • 3.5mm audio jack and another microphone on top
Volume rocker on the left • Power/Lock key on the right
Size comparison: Galaxy Note vs. Galaxy S II and Samsung Galaxy Note vs. BlackBerry PlayBook
The 8MP sharpshooter and the loudspeaker at the back • 2,500 mAh battery under the cover 
The Samsung Galaxy Note held in hand
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
2011 Smartphone review: Samsung Galaxy Note
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