Samsung Galaxy Note deals & review

The Samsung Galaxy Note is big. It fits more accurately into the Personal Data Assistant (PDA) or “palmtop” niche than it does the smartphone, featuring a huge 5.3 inch screen. Its considerable size may be a turn-off to some, but the shrewd customer will be aware of the merits of this device, and there’s no doubting that the Galaxy Note has plenty of positives.

Yes, the handset is very large, but it is optimised for better browsing and display capabilities. It comes complete with a stylus called the “S Pen” which allows for precision control on the display screen. The stylus-screen interaction is pressure-sensitive, so you can write messages on the screen, launch apps, take photos and much more.

In terms of spec, the Galaxy Note bullies most smaller devices. It is powered by a 1.4GHz ARM-based dual-core processor and ably assisted by 1GB RAM. Initially it will run on Google’s Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, with an upgrade to Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, anticipated shortly after release.

Although in-built memory is a standard 16GB, the Note strikes a chord with the potential for microSD support for up to 32GB, with a 2GB card included in the standard package. This sets the Note apart from smaller rivals, as only the iPhone 4S can compete with 48GB memory, and Apple’s offering is significantly more expensive with a comparatively small display.

Speaking of screens, the Note’s boasts a 1280 x 800 WXGA resolution and Samsung´s Super AMOLED display, with images refreshingly bright and presented in rich, vivid colours. Samsung’s vaunted 180-degree viewing angle coupled with the screen size makes the Note ideal for showing media to friends or presentations to colleagues. The video playback puts smaller 4-inch screens to shame, and excels when displaying high-def content. The display is made from reinforced Gorilla Glass, making for a robust and sturdy device that should withstand the rigours of everyday wear and tear.

The Galaxy Note also has better cameras than its little brother, the Nexus, boasting an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 2 megapixel front-shooter. Additional features include LED flash, touch focus, autofocus, geo-tagging, image stabilisation, multi-shot, panoramic capture mode and face-detection.

In terms of unique selling points, the Note’s battery is a 2,500mAh unit - that´s nearly twice as big as a typical smartphone battery pack - allowing for more life on the move. On top of Samsung´s social hub, which integrates email, texts and contacts, there are a couple of new features. The organiser app - called S Planner - allows comprehensive plotting of your life with big-screen calendars and To Do lists. The note app - S Memo - allows spoken, typed or S Pen-sketched information to be stored as a ‘memo’ to be edited and shared at your leisure.

Critics who dismiss the Galaxy Note as being too unwieldy for a phone entirely miss the point: this palmtop is best utilised with a bluetooth headset and a belt pouch when making calls. In other departments, it truly comes into its own. It is small enough to be easily portable, and yet large enough to provide an excellent medium for modifying documents, playing games and viewing video clips and streamed HD films.

Essentially, this is an ideal solution to those who have to work on the move, and find tablets and netbooks too bulky, like a kind of twenty-first century clip-board. The Galaxy Note is also one of the better mobile video-centric devices on the market, ensuring the phone should have a broad appeal to business and leisure users alike.