Smartphone Review 2012: Sony Xperia Tablet S (Auckland, repair, unlock, tablet, Apple, iPod)

Introduction

You wouldn't call Sony's first foray in tablets a sweeping success. Last year the company released its first two droid slates and, while they were both eccentric enough to get everyone's attention, none of them was really fit to survive in a crowded and highly competitive market.

  
Sony Xperia Tablet S official photos

It seems though that Sony are quick learners. The Xperia Tablet S has kept the catchy folded magazine design, and lost fat around the waist while enjoying a processing power boost, that should let it catch up with the competition.

Key features

• 9.4" 16M-color PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen of WXGA resolution (1280 x 800 pixels); Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine and oleophobic coating
• 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 CPU, ULP GeForce GPU, 1GB RAM, Tegra 3 chipset
• Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich
• Quad-band GPRS/EDGE and quad-band 3G with HSPA connectivity (HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps)
• 16/32/64 GB of built-in memory
• 8 MP autofocus camera
• 1MP front-facing camera; native video calls
• 1080p HD video recording @ 30 fps with stereo audio
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Stereo Bluetooth v3.0
• TV-out (adapter required), USB host (adapter required)
• SD card slot
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Infrared port
• GPS with A-GPS support; digital compass
• 1080p MKV and SD XviD/Divx video support
• Accelerometer and proximity sensor; three-axis Gyroscope sensor
• 6,000 mAh battery
• Guest Mode for multi-user access
• Splash proof

Main disadvantages

• Below-par screen resolution
• Proprietary connector for charging and connectivity
• Poor outdoor visibility
• Peculiar design favors portrait hold, top-heavy in landscape
• Splash resistance issues

There's no 1080p screen or Jelly Bean here, but Tegra 3, a BRAVIA-powered WXGA and Ice Cream sandwich still give the Sony Xperia Tablet S good fighting chances in its price range. The metal design should help get the attention of those tired of plastic devices, and there are some nice home-baked software tweaks such as guest mode and remote app.

  
The Sony Xperia Tablet S studio shots

The splash-resistance of the Xperia Tablet S is a nice touch as well, although given the most recent turn of events it probably won't be as much of a selling point. Still, Sony has produced a well-equipped tablet that should offer snappy performance, the unmatched versatility of Android and cool looks. Now who wouldn't want some of that?

We still need to take a closer look and see how the cool sounding specs translate into real-life performance. As usual we'll start with the hardware right after the break.

Design and build quality

The Sony Xperia Tablet S measures 239.8 x 174.4 x 8.8 mm, which makes it notably more compact than its closest rivals in terms of specs and price - the Asus Transformer Pad TF300T (263 x 180.8 x 9.9mm) and the Acer Iconia Tab A510 (259.1 x 175.3 x 10.2 mm). At 570g it's also way easier to carry and operate without support for your hands than the other two (the Asus slate weighs 635g, while the Acer tips the scales at 680g).

Sony Xperia Tablet S held in hand

However, there are two things to consider here - the Sony Xperia Tablet S BRAVIA screen is of the rather unorthodox size of 9.4", as opposed the 10.1" LCD on the other two. The 15% difference in screen estate doesn't put the Xperia Tablet S in a new category, but is still big enough to be evident in everyday usage.

Also, the folded magazine design brings the thickness of the tablet at the top end to 11.9mm. This one is actually much less of an issue as the tablet is as slim as promised for the lower two-thirds of its body and that's where your hands sit most of the time anyway. The extra depth makes the tablet top-heavy though, which is something to consider. On the other hand, the folded bit provides excellent grip in portrait orientation.

Overall, we think the Sony Xperia Tablet S easier to wield and carry than just about every 10" tablet, but still not light enough to be considered much more than a couch device. Prolonged use is guaranteed to tire your hands and you'll be looking for a place to rest against in a matter of minutes, despite the lowered weight.

As for the design - Sony like to joke that the folded-magazine styling is lawsuit-proof. We've heard that one on at least two separate occasions and it's one of those things that don't usually sound as good the second time around. The last thing you would want anyway is have lawyers tell the designers what to do.

To be clear, we don't think this was the case here. Sony just likes to point out that their R&D department came up with something that looks vastly different from anything on the market and yet still works. Okay, maybe not vastly different, after all there's only so many ways to do a glass front panel with a huge screen in the middle, but the back is instantly recognizable.

 
The folded magazine design is pretty nice

And while making an impression is one thing, making a good impression is a whole other story. Luckily Sony has nailed that one too and we quite like the Sony Xperia Tablet S. The folded bit at the back even enables easier (and more secure) attaching of carrying cases like the official cover that Sony sells as an optional accessory.

The only part of the design we are not too sure about is the fact that the folded piece is made of black textured plastic, while the rest of the back panel is smooth aluminum and the two don't go too well together. We are not saying it's bad, but there's certainly room for improvement.

Controls and display

The front panel of the Sony Xperia Tablet S is dominated by the 9.4" BRAVIA-powered display of WXGA resolution. The screen tends to be pretty reflective, which leads to rather poor sunlight legibility, but has pretty good image quality indoors.

The contrast and colors are good and the screen is reasonably sharp. It doesn't come anywhere close to the 1080p screens out there and the iPad 3 Retina, but it's doing fairly well for within the WXGA category.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Sony Xperia Tablet S	0.35	334	947	0.67	526	783
Apple iPad 2	0.18	167	925	0.55	429	775
Apple iPad 3	0.21	167	809	0.6	477	779
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7	0	200	∞	0	328	∞
Asus Google Nexus 7	0.25	244	954	0.36	327	908
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1	0.27	223	832	0.49	406	821
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1	0.31	257	826	0.55	502	915
HTC Flyer	0.18	169	921	0.41	409	1002
Huawei MediaPad	0.19	223	1149	0.35	396	1117
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus	0.17	196	1141	0.34	424	1236

We were also able to put the display under our digital microscope for a closer look at the pixels. Check it out:

The display under a microscope

The 1MP front-facing camera is located in the center above the display, when you hold the tablet in landscape mode. Alongside it is the ambient light sensor, which enables automatic screen adjustment.

The power/screen lock button is located on the right side of the Sony Xperia Tablet S, next to the volume rocker.

 
The power key and the volume rocker sit on the right

At the other end we find the SD card slot, which is hidden under a small plastic flap and the 3.5mm audio jack. You read that right - the Sony Xperia Tablet S features a full size SD slot, rather than one of the microSD variety.

 
The 3.5mm audio jack is next to the SD card slot

On one hand this allows for even cheaper memory expansion, but on the other hand this means that you can't simply insert the microSD card from your smartphone in your tablet. You can simply have an adapter pre-inserted in the slot to solve this issue, though.

The fold of the Xperia Tablet S on top is deprived of any functional elements, while at the bottom you get the stereo speakers and the Sony proprietary connector. Yet another proprietary connector is hardly great news and we really hope Android manufacturers will finally follow Google's lead with the Nexus 7 and start putting microUSB ports on their tablets.

The stereo speakers and the proprietary jack at the bottom

We conclude our hardware tour at the back, where we find the 8 megapixel camera lens. There's no flash here, so don't expect to get any kind of usable shots in low-light conditions, but since tablets (let alone 10-inchers) are by far not the most comfortable devices for taking photos we won't be deducing any points here.

The 8 megapixel camera lens

Underneath the metal back panel sits a 6000 mAh battery, which Sony says is capable of lasting for up to 12 hours of usage on a single charge. The number sounds quite good, but since we didn't get to spend enough time with the slate we are unable to confirm if it's achievable in real life.

It's now time we move on the Sony Xperia Tablet S user interface. Sony has backed in some interesting tricks in the Android 4.0 ICS interface and we'll not get to see if those work as advertised..

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Smartphone Review: Apple iPhone 5 vs Samsung Galaxy S3 (Auckland, repair, unlock, 0212640000) cracked screen

The iPhone 5 is here, and selling by the million. As expected, it features a larger screen, a faster processor and a slightly-improved camera. But the real question is - which one should you buy, the iPhone 5 or the Samsung Galaxy S3?
We take a look at the features of both phones, put them in the ring and told them only one is coming out alive. Here's how they fared…
Release Date and SalesiPhone 5 - Available now, 12 September unveiling, 21 September available date Samsung Galaxy S3 - Available now, unveiled May 2012
The iPhone 5 is out there. Early supply issues meant that demand oustripped supply, but looking at the numbers it's no surprise. The iPhone 5 sold five million units in its first weekend on sale, and two million in its first 24 hours. 

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has already been released, of course, and has done extremely well in its short time on this Earth. Back in July we heard that the phone had already broken through the 10 million sales barrier, making it a faster seller than either of its predecessors, the original Galaxy S and the hugely popular Galaxy S2. 

By the end of 2012, analyst predictions suggest the iPhone 5 will sell around 26 million units. Samsung's own JK Shin has said he expects the Samsung Galaxy S3 to sell 30 million by the end of the year. Let's not forget that the Samsung Galaxy S3 has been on sale for a lot longer, though.


Design
iPhone 5 - 7.6mm thick, metal casing, non-removable battery
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 8.6mm thick, plastic casing, removable battery

Apple has taken aggressive measures to make the iPhone 5 as thin as possible. The rear layer of glass has gone, the phone uses a teeny nano-SIM and the screen technology merges its constituent layers to squish everything down as far as possible. As a result it's just 7.6mm thick, a full millimetre less than the Samsung Galaxy S3 - which is 8.6mm thick. 

It's extremely impressive, and Apple has also tweaked the design of the phone to make it feel a bit less severe in the hand, despite being mega-thin. Its edges are slightly bevelled, rather than stepped, so it feels little more… hand-friendly. You still might want to grab a case for the utmost in hand comfort though. Crucially, the new etched aluminium back is much less slippy than previous versions and build quality is exceptional. 

There is one slight issue, though, that's a bit of a problem if you opt for the black version of the iPhone 5. As its rear is aluminium, it is quite scratch-prone. In the black edition, any scratches are clearly visible as they reveal the bright silver of the aluminium underneath. 

It's not such a problem with the white version, but has already left many new iPhone owners a little annoyed. Apple has admitted this issue, but says it's normal for an aluminium device.



Samsung's great white (well, pebble blue and white) hope for 2012 has an all-plastic finish that uses a flimsy, ultra-thin back cover.  This is the one part of the phone that has caused the most criticism, as it doesn't make it feel all that much like a device you should be spending £500 on, even if in practical terms it's just as tough.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is also significantly larger than the iPhone 5, thanks to its ginormous 4.8in screen. It's 71mm wide, while the iPhone 5 is around 58mm wide. Our top recommendation is to get hold of a Galaxy S3 before buying if it's on your hit list. Some will find it a bit too big for comfort. 

Accessories
iPhone 5 - new-design Earpod headphones, new Lightning power connector
Samsung Galaxy S3 - microUSB charge cable, Samsung noise isolating IEM earphones, adapter

We don't normally compare the accessories of phones when we give them the head-to-head treatment, but Apple's accessories this time around are of note. The iPhone 5's headphones have been given a completely new design, one you just don't see elsewhere. 

The headphones are called Earpods, and they're not the typical iPhone buds of old, or the common noise isolating IEM type either. They're small, made of plastic and are designed to nestle into your ear canals, offering a bit more noise isolation than the earbuds of old. 

They're incredibly comfortable and fit securely too, and crucially for fellow train/coach/car/plane passengers, the Earpods leak much less sound to the outside world. They also sound pretty good too. Apple has completely redesigned the sound ports to boost bass and even out mid-range. The result is a surprisingly good listen, with good bass response and a notably wide sound stage. That said, they still don't block out external noise enough for our liking and we're only talking good for a £25 set of earphones - don't ditch your custom IEMs just yet.

The power cable of the iPhone 5 is also different, using the new 8-pin socket rather than the 30-pin type that has been in use for years. Apple calls it Lightning, which linguistically fits-in rather nicely with its Thunderbolt computer port. You also get a power adapter for the cable and a SIM removal tool.

Samsung's Galaxy S3 is more ordinary in its approach, though no less useful. It features a microUSB charge cable, a power adapter to plug this cable into and a standard pair of Samsung-branded IEM noise isolating earphones. The latter offer some external noise isolation but aren't actually that great when it comes to sound quality.

Screen
iPhone 5 - 4in IPS, 1,136 x 640 resolution
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 4.8in Super AMOLED, 1,280 x 720 resolution

Every generation of iPhone since the original of the species back in 2007 has uses the same size screen - 3.5in. That has all changed with the iPhone 5. It now has a widescreen 4in display of 1,136 x 640 pixels. 

It's this change of screen style that will make the iPhone 5 able to offer a larger screen without making the phone any wider. Pixel density is the same as the iPhone 4S too, although the new aspect will make it much better to watch movies on. 

Many apps have already been tweaked to support the new longer screen while older ones will just leave bars where the extra pixels now live. 


The Samsung Galaxy S3 cares a lot less about how wide it is than the iPhone 5. With a gigantic 4.8in display, the Galaxy will be too wide for some hands - it's a whopping 7.6cm across. Screen pixel density will be comparable to the new iPhone, though, with 720 x 1,280 spread across the display.

Each phone uses quite a different screen tech type. The Samsung Galaxy S3 features a Super AMOLED panel, while the iPhone 5 uses a new take on the IPS technology that has been used in iPads and iPhones for years. 

Super AMOLEDs offer superb black response and vivid colours, but IPS screens tend to look a little more natural. In our recent comparison of the Samsung and the HTC One X, we found in favour of the HTC's IPS type. 

In bright sunlight, the iPhone 5 is the clear winner of the two. It's less reflective, offers greater maximum brightness, supplying much better visibility in this sort of challenging situation. In a dark room, though, AMOLED comes into its own.

Software
iPhone 5 - iOS 6
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (4.1 incoming), TouchWiz UI

The battle of iOS versus Android is one we've been watching ever since 2008, when Android was born. Android has changed a good deal more than iOS in that time, and is finally getting close to becoming as slick and quick as iOS. Apple's OS has always been pretty nippy.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 isn't quite there yet, as in most territories it still uses Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich rather than the latest Jelly Bean version. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean sees the start of an initiative called Project Butter. This is designed to take full use of the processor power available, with the aim of running Android at a solid 60fps. 

Android offers more integrated features an flexibility than iOS too. You can even change the way your phone responds to basic functions, such as replacing the SMS app with a third-party one. Apple doesn't let you do anything like this. And, of course, the home screens of Android give you much more control over how your phone looks than the rigid app menu layout of iOS.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 also benefits from a blunder made by Apple. iOS got rid of the Google mapping solution that had been in use since the early days of iPhones, replacing it with Apple's own stab. At present, Apple's new Maps app doesn't work too well though. Its maps are out of date, with towns mis-named and many roads simply missing. 

The Samsung Galaxy S3 uses good old Google Maps, which works a treat. And actually features maps from this decade.

Samsung's phone also benefits from a few tweaks added-in with the TouchWiz UI. Most notably, it brings features that were only introduced in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. These include monitoring for eye movement before switching off the backlight and integrated NFC pairing.

Power
iPhone 5 - 1GB RAM, A6 processor, power TBC
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 1GB RAM, Exynos 4412, Quad-core 1.4GHz

One area where the Samsung Galaxy S3 might beat the next iPhone is its processor's figures. The Samsung Galaxy S3 uses the impressive Exynos 4412 chip, which has four cores and runs at 1.4GHz. 

Annoyingly, Apple hasn't revealed in-depth technical information about the CPU. At present, we only know that it is two times faster than the iPhone 4S's chip, which has a dual-core 1GHz CPU and PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics. Will it be quad-core? Will it offer face-melting speed? You'll have to come back in a while to find out. We'll update this feature as soon as we have the full details. 

Connectivity
iPhone 5 - new proprietary 8-pin connector, no microSD, microSIM
Samsung Galaxy S3 - microUSB, microSD, microSIM

Perhaps the most earth-shattering change in the iPhone 5 is that it rejects the 30-pin connector used across iPods, iPads and iPhones in favour of a much-smaller 8-pin model. This is comparable in size to the microUSB standard, although it's not exactly the same as microUSB. Apple is never keen on going with the bog-standard option when it can make its own version.

The problem with changing connector is that the new iPhone will be incompatible with current iPhone docking accessories - not good news if you own something like a B&W Zeppelin. However, Apple does offer a connector that acts as a bridge between the old 30-pin socket and the new 8-pin one.

It's all change, but the iPhone 5 doesn't bring expandable memory to the series - no iPhone to date has offered a memory card slot. You're also mostly tied to iTunes when transferring content like music and pictures to the phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 is pretty much the polar opposite in its approach. It lets you use microSD cards and uses the microUSB standard. Handily, it's MHL compliant, too, able to output HD video with surround sound audio to an HDMI port when used with the right cable. Unlike the iPhone, the Samsung doesn't rely on sync software to transfer files directly either - you can drag and drop files when plugged into a computer over USB.

Cameras 
iPhone 5 - 8MP, LED flash
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 8MP, LED flash

Although many elements of the iPhone 5 have been improved hugely over its predecessor, the camera has only been given a slight upgrade. It's still an 8-megapixel sensor, and it still uses a pretty standard LED flash. Its aperture is f/2.4 and it uses a five-element lens. Like the iPhone 4S, the sensor offers backside illumination. 

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has an 8-megapixel sensor and reams of features including image stabilisation, touch focus, 1080p video capture and an LED flash. However, its image quality is at best on-par with the iPhone 4S's camera (and outperformed by it in some conditions) and we hope that the iPhone 5 will offer some significant improvements. 

The iPhone 5 also offers an impressive looking panorama mode - just tap and pan to automatically create an image. Unlike other similar panorama modes we've seen this one keeps the full size image, giving you up to 28 megapixel images - nice.

Battery
iPhone 5 - 1440mAh
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 2100mAh

The iPhone 5 hasn't gotten a huge battery increase over its predecessor.  The iPhone 4S has a 1430mAh unit, and the iPhone 5 a 1440mAh unit. It'll last for 40 hours of audio playback, or up to eight hours of talk time, with 3G enabled. 

Also, like previous iPhones you can't swap out the battery on the iPhone 5, so if you're caught short without power you're done for... well, your phone is anyway.

Samsung made a particularly strong effort with the latest Galaxy's battery, outstripping most of its rivals by around 20 per cent. For example, the HTC One X uses an 1800mAh unit and the Sony Xperia S a 1750mAh battery. 

In spite of the larger screen and only slight capacity increase, the iPhone 5 betters the stamina offered by the iPhone 4S. Apple must have put some real effort into this.

Verdict
More than is often the case, the battle between the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3 is the very definition of the case between iOS and Android, between Apple and Google. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is more flexible, with expandable memory and a more malleable OS. However, the metal body of Apple's phone feels a lot more premium, and is a much friendlier design for those with less than giant hands. And with the larger 4in screen, it won't feel quite so tiny next to the Samsung Galaxy S3, either.
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How to update your iPhone and iPad to iOS 6? (Auckland, iPad, Repair, iPhone, Unlock, drmobiles, cracked screen)

You may not have an iPhone 5, but you can still get the latest Apple operating system by updating your iPhone or iPad to iOS 6. Here's how.
Are you keen to get your hands on the over 200 new features in iOS 6? Here’s our guide to a smooth update for your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.
Which devices get iOS 6?
The new iPhone 5 ships with iOS 6, but you can also upgrade a few Apple devices to take advantage of the latest version of the iOS platform. Here’s the complete list:
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S
iPod Touch (4th generation)
iPod Touch (5th generation)
iPad 2
The New iPad (3rd generation)
You can get a closer look at some of the new features in our hands-on with iOS 6.

Limited features
Before you get too excited, there are some features that will only work certain devices. For example, Siri is only available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad (3rd generation), and iPod touch (5th generation). Turn-by-turn navigation is only available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPad 2 or later with cellular data capability. Panorama is only available on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPod touch (5th generation).

How to update to iOS 6
You have two basic options for updating your device to iOS 6, either wirelessly over-the-air (which will take a while) or hook it up through iTunes. Before you begin do a backup.
If you want to update to iOS 6 OTA then go to Settings > General > Software Update and pick iOS 6. Tap through the setup screens and wait until the device restarts (it would be wise to plug it in, especially if the battery is low). Click through another few setup screens and you’re done.
It will be much faster to use iTunes. Simply load it up and click iTunes > Check for Updates to get the latest version. Connect your device, select it in the left hand column and click Check for Update. Choose Download and Update, continue through the setup screens and wait. Leave your device connected until it restarts and then run through the setup screens and you’re done.
Make sure you don’t unplug the device or turn it off during the update and it should be plain sailing.

Problems updating to iOS 6
Every big rollout like this inevitably results in a few problems. If you encounter any hassles updating to iOS 6 then please post a comment, and if you find a fix then let us know. We’ll post a list and some possible fixes.

Cannot connect to iTunes store
If you encounter this message when you click on the App store link in Passbook then don’t worry. You can try the following fix:
Go to Settings > General > Date and Time > Set Automatically > Off.
Now set the date one year ahead to 2013. Go back and try to update the app again. If you get an error message, go back to Settings and turn Set Automatically back on again.

Wi-Fi issues
Some users found they had problems connecting to Wi-Fi networks after updating to iOS 6. The problem was caused by a Web page that went down on Apple’s website (it has now been restored). If anyone is still encountering issues with this, toggling Wi-Fi on and off should resolve it. If not, then try turning Wi-Fi off and restarting the phone before turning Wi-Fi back on again and you should be good to go.
Missing music
A number of users are reporting a problem with missing music after the iOS 6 update. Apparently Playlist, Album and Artists names are all present and correct, but attempts to play the tracks fail. It appears the Music app is having trouble finding them. Siri can’t find the tracks in question either.
You can find a discussion of this issue at the Apple Support website, but there is no solution yet other than restoring. That means deleting the content and then restoring it from a backup. The problem seems to be linked to iTunes Match.

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Tech News Update: The Little Giant from Samsung, Galaxy Note 2. (Auckland, smartphone, repair, unlock, 095515344)

Key Features

• 5.55in AMOLED display, 720x1280, 267 pixels per inch
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• 1.6GHz, quad-core processor
• 2GB RAM
• S-Pen stylus

Samsung Galaxy Note 2


Introduction

We have the technology to put a man on the moon, tweet from Mars and record an entire series of television at the push of a button, but replacing paper and ink with bits and bytes has eluded us.

That doesn't mean that we haven't tried - far for it infact; we had the Palm Pilot in the 90s and those chunky Sony Ericssons with the flipdown keyboards ten years ago but nothing to date has felt like pen and paper.

Galaxy Note 2 with an iPhone 4S

Samsung thinks it's cracked it though, with the Note 2. As the name suggests, this is the second generation of Samsung's Galaxy Note smartphone and falls somewhere between the smaller (but still huge) Galaxy S3 phone and the 10.1in Note tablet.

The Note 2 is the first Samsung device to get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box, but it's that enormous 5.55in screen and S-Pen stylus that make this phone stand out from the crowd.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2: Design and Feel

Earlier this year, many said how the 4.8in Galaxy S3 phone is too large to be used comfortably in one hand, and more recently we concluded that the 4in iPhone 5 was a better size.

We stand by that, but now the Note 2 has come along and opened our eyes to a third way; if we stop thinking of the Note as a huge smartphone, and more as a pocketable tablet that can make calls and send texts, we end up with a device that starts to make sense.

Forget about using it with one hand (even if the TouchWiz interface can be adjusted to help) and use both hands - better still, crack out the S-Pen stylus and use the Galaxy Note 2 as intended; this is a device that replaced both a conventional tablet and your smartphone.

Below that headline-grabbing screen is a central Home button, flanked by two capacitive touch-sensitive buttons for Back and to call up more options. A long press of the Home button opens up a list of apps currently multitasking, a double-press launches S-Voice (Samsung's answer to Siri on iOS) and finally a long press of the options button opens up Google Now.

Above the screen is the earpiece, proximity and ambient light sensors, a notification light, and a front-facing 1.9-megapixel camera.

There's a screen lock / power button on the right edge, volume rocker on the left (both of which are low enough to reach with one hand), a 3.5mm earphone jack up top and a micro USB port on the bottom for syncing and charging.

Next to that USB port is a slot housing the S-Pen stylus, while around the back Samsung has installed the same 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and 1080p video recording as is featuring on the Galaxy S3 smartphone.

Regular readers may be fed up of us complaining about the glossy plastic Samsung uses on all of its current products - and we're just as fed up of writing about it - but sadly the Note 2 is no exception.

We don't mind the glossy white - although we are fans of the matte white finish of the HTC One X - but the fake chrome edge is, as with the Galaxy S3, cheap.

If the chrome bezel was cold-to-the-touch and added a little weight to the device, then fine; but what Samsung has give the Note 2 is a piece of plastic that is reflective beyond belief, attracts fingerprints and - at least on our S3 - scratches and chips to reveal black plastic underneath.

It's a poor design choice and one which we hope Samsung will move away from sooner rather than later.

The rear cover of our Note 2 review unit moved and creaked a little when pushed near the volume rocker; not a deal-breaker, but not something we want from a £500+ device.

Elsewhere, it's obvious - and not necessarily a bad thing - that Samsung has borrowed much of the S3's design for the Note 2, both for its hardware and software.

Weighing 183g the Note 2 is around 50g heavier than the Galaxy S3 and a full 71g lighter than the slimmed down iPhone 5 - both of these phones are praised for their lightness, and considering its vast size, we're surprised the Note 2 doesn't weigh more.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2: Hardware and Connectivity

Being a £500 smartphone the Galaxy Note 2 has Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n with the ability to become a Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP for streaming music to wireless speakers, NFC for swapping contacts with a tap, 4G LTE (where available) and a microSD card slot.

There's 16, 32 or 64GB of storage as standard depending on how much you want to spend, and that SD slot under the rear cover (along with a microSIM slot) can increase storage by up to 64GB if you have a card that big.

As with the Galaxy S3, the Note 2 has a wide range of party tricks aimed to help make using it easier and more intuitive. Using the accelerometer, some menus can be navigated by tilting the device, and this works for zooming too, but we found it to be nothing more than a gimmick.

Along with that accelerometer, Samsung has crammed in (although we guess there's plenty of room) a compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor and, bizarrely, a barometer.

For syncing and charging the Note 2 uses a microUSB port located on the bottom edge of the device, and finally for audio there's a headphone jack at the top.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2: Operating System and Performance

The Galaxy Note 2 is, without doubt, one of the fastest and most powerful smartphones on the market today. Powered by a 1.6GHz quad core processor and 2GB of RAM the Note 2 is a very capable device and shrugged off just about anything we had to throw at it.

Intense 3D gaming, HD YouTube videos, live TV streaming, social networking, acting as a hotspot...the lot.

As is the case with the Galaxy S3, HTC One X, Apple iPhone 5 and others, the Note 2 responds to your commands just about instantly, and no matter what we did it was impossible to encourage any form of lag or slowdown of the Android operating system.

One annoyance was with the Home button. Because a double-press launches S-Voice (Samsung's answer to Siri) there is a small pause between a single press and the device reacting, while it waits to see if you press twice.

We're talking no more than a second here but it's just enough to be noticeable - especially when the rest of the system is so quick and responsive.

There is a similar delay when pressing either the Home or power button to wake the phone from sleep, but it's not the end of the world.

Being one of the first devices to come with Google's brand new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box is a plus, but Samsung's TouchWiz UI skin changes so much, casual users will be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the Note 2's software and the Galaxy S3 - and the Note 10.1 tablet for that matter.

For us this isn't a problem, because we like TouchWiz and giving all of its devices the same user interface helps to unify the product line, and this ultimately keeps customers safe in the knowledge that no Samsung device is drastically different from the other.

Another small fault we came across was that the phone would sometimes fail to lock. A press of the lock button would turn the screen off, only for it to come back to life (unlocked) a couple of seconds later.

We wouldn't go as far as to call this a security flaw, because the phone comes back to life almost instantly and you would surely notice, but it's certainly a quirk Samsung needs to iron out.

The Note has a huge 3,100 mAh battery that saw our review unit last two full days of average use with the screen at around 50 percent brightness. Two hours of streaming video from the BBC iPlayer saw the battery drop less than 20 percent - it has the best battery life of any phone we've tested this year.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2: S-Pen

The S-Pen is of course what makes the Galaxy Note unique and Samsung has been busy improving the plastic stylus since it's first outing in the original Note last year.

Now longer, thicker and more comfortable to hold, the S-Pen feels more natural than ever and thanks to the 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, using it to write and draw efficiently is easy.

Sliding the stylus out causing the Note to vibrate and (if it's unlocked) display a new Home screen with links to quickly create a note.

While the S-Pen can be used to navigate just about all of the TouchWiz user interface - only the capacitive buttons below the screen cannot be prodded with the stylus - there are very few apps that make full use of it.

S-Note is a very basic note-taking app, allowing you to adjust the thickness of virtual ink, the colour and the type of pen or pencil the stylus is acting as.

Writing on the Note's screen is much natural than you would first imagine, and the screen can tell the difference between the nib of the S-Pen and the side of your hand, so leaning on the phone to write won't cause unwanted scribbling - basically, the screen will only respond to the style when it is less than a couple of centimeters away.

That stylus is a lot smarter than it's humble plastic construction would have you believe; the Note 'knows' when the stylus is within around two centimeters of the screen, and a dot appears to help you work out where exactly the pen will touch the screen.

This hovering technology also helps you preview content without actually tapping it. For example, hovering over the subject line of an email in your inbox will cause a preview box to open, showing more of the email, without you having to open it.

Another use is when watching a video. Hover over the timeline and a preview box will open showing a frame from wherever you're pointing the stylus - it's a useful way of scanning for a certain part of a video while not disturbing what is being played.

Once we selected a fine virtual point for the stylus we found writing on the Note 2 to be much like writing with a pen and paper - of course the screen provides less feedback than paper but as a replacement to our trusty notebook, it's closer than ever.

As for handwriting recognition, the S-Pen and Note 2 do a good job and even our mainly illegible scrawls were understood and converted to text more often than not, although the time it takes to write and have it converted to text - which just a fes seconds - is long enough for us to type instead of write text messages and emails.

That said note-taking is a joy and the ability to quickly take a screenshot by clicking a button on the side of the S-Pen is a bonus - screenshots can then be drawn on and emailed or shared via social networks.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2: Display

The display measures 5.55 inches, has a resolution of 720 x 1280 and a pixel density of 267 per inch; along with the stylus, it's the Note 2's enormous screen that sets it apart from everything else on the market.

It's a Super AMOLED display and, as with the Galaxy S3, has a slightly cool, blue tinge. This isn't a deal-breaker for us, but it's worth remembering that the current crop of high-end Samsung devices make everything look a little cooler than it should.

Despite the slightly-off temperature balance, the screen of the Note 2 is excellent. It's clear, bright and very responsive to touch inputs, with a wide viewing angle and contrast is equally good.

HD content looks fantastic, naturally, and being AMOLED means that blacks are impressively dark.

While the screen quality cannot be disputed, the sheer size of it is definitely a love-or-hate affair. The extra size makes watching video, browsing the web and viewing photos better than any other smartphone, but typing and ideally navigating around the user interface - especially with one hand - is difficult.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2: Camera

Samsung has fitted the Note 2 with an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus, tap-to-focus, burst shooting, HD video recording and a whole range of other features and settings.

It's the same camera as found in the Galaxy S3 and that's good news to us - the S3's camera is one of the best we've tested this year.

You can shoot photos in HDR (high dynamic range) to capture scenes with high and low lighting in the same frame, burst mode - which shoots eight photos in around three seconds, then picks the best - and the usual range of monochrome and sepia effects.

White balance, metering and ISO can all be adjusted manually, or left to work things out automatically, and there's 13 different scenes to choose from, ranging from sports and portraits, to shooting by candlelight or capturing fireworks.

Although there's a minimum of 16GB of storage on tap depending on which S3 you buy, the resolution of photos taken can be lowered from 8-megapixels to six, 3.2, 2.4, 0.9 or just 0.3-megapixel if you so wish.

As for video, the Note 2 shoots in full 1080p HD, although that can be trimmed down to 720p or lower if you need to save space, while the white balance and exposure can be adjusted and photos can be taken while you shoot video.

The flash can be turned on to help illuminate the scene while recording and the phone usefully shows in megabytes how large the current recording is as you shoot, next to how much storage you have left on the phone.

The lack of a physical shutter button means that getting the perfect photo by tapping the on-screen icon can be difficult, compounded by the camera being located in the middle of the phone, rather than in an upper corner, and the touch buttons below the screen often get in the way - hitting Back and being ejected to the home screen while recording happened more times than we care to remember.

Verdict

This is where it gets difficult. The Note 2 is huge, there's no escaping that. But while the S3 is big for a phone, the Note does more - enough to class it as something entirely different? Possibly.

Samsung has created a device that is as love-or-hate as it gets; for some it's a phone that is far too large to be useful, yet not big enough to be a tablet; for others, it's a product that fits perfectly between a phone that isn't small enough to work on effectively, and a tablet that is too big to carry with you everywhere.

If you fall into the latter, then the Note 2 is perfect. It's fast, sleek, well built (plastic design aside), with the newest version of Android, a good camera and a stylus that is far from a gimmick.

But, if the Note isn't for you, then Samsung offers the smaller Galaxy S3 and - coming on 11 October - a 4in Galaxy 'Mini'. 

Sure it barely fits in your pocket and making calls in public feels like you're part of a comedy sketch, but forgive it for standing out and the Note 2 is wonderful; (just) small enough to fit in your pocket, but large enough to read, game and browse on.

It's a compromise between having a small phone and a large tablet. It may not be perfect all of the time (one-handed operation is all but impossible), but for most of the time it is ideal.

That isn't the outcome we were expecting. We thought it was ridiculous and we'd hate it, but give it a couple of days and you stop reaching for the iPad when you need a bigger screen because it's already there in your pocket.

As for getting used to such a large phone...our iPhone 4S felt like a toy and far too small after just a few days with the Note 2. It's amazing how quickly you get used to it, and nothing smaller will do.

Scores

• Screen: 8/10
• Design: 7/10
• Camera: 9/10
• Operating System: 9/10
• Build Quality: 8/10
• Overall: 9/10

The Good:

• Huge screen
• Stylus is useful, not a gimmick
• Good camera
• Incredible performance
• Great battery life

The Bad: 

• Huge screen
• Plastic finish feels cheap
• A couple of software issues to be addressed
• Not enough apps to use S-Pen with
• S-Voice still needs work
  
  
  
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