THE SAMSUNG GALAXY Note ($300 with a two-year contract), a 5.3-inch phone with a stylus—like pen, runs exclusively on AT&T’s 4G LTE network. Its “S Pen” works quite well, with the user interface, but I wish that the device had more apps for the pen.
Tablet or Phone?
The 5.3-inch display puts the Note in an interesting spot between a phone and a tablet. It is light enough, but I found it a bit too wide for my hands. It measures 5.78 by 3.27 by 0.38 inches, and weighs 6.28 ounces. The
Note has the typical touch-sensitive navigation buttons below the display, including Menu, Home, Back, Search, pLus a volume rocker and a power button. On the bottom is a slot for the S Pen.
The Galaxy Note’s 5.3- inch display has a 1280-by- 800-pixel resolution. The technology is HD Super AMOLED. The Note handled image and text rendering welt: text and images were both sharp and clear.
The Galaxy Note includes a Wacom-made S Pen for note-taking and drawing. Wacom pens recognize both right-handed and left-handed users, and the S Pen also mimics the act of physically taking notes: The harder you press the pen on the Note’s display, the thicker and bolder your lines will be.
Apps and the Pen
The Note runs the latest version of Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread), with a version of the Touch Wiz interface similar to the one on Samsung’s Galaxy S II phones. The Note also has built-in software and special gestures for the pen.
One handy app, called S Memo Lite, lets you jot down notes from pretty much anywhere within the phone. To pull up S Memo Lite, you hold down the button on the pen and then double-tap the display.
You can also take screen shots, simply by pressing and holding the pen to whatever item you want to capture. Your shot then opens in a simple photo-editing app that lets you crop the image.
Writing on the Galaxy Note takes some getting used to. But I liked being able to jot down ideas and reminders. And the keyboard has a pen mode that will convert your handwriting into text. I thought it did a pretty good job of conversion, overall.
The current selection of pen-friendly apps is a bit anemic. Right now, the included apps for pen mode are Polaris Office, S Memo, and a game called Crayon Physics. Polaris Office lets you create documents, spreadsheets, and slideshow presentations. You’ll find AT&T- and Samsung-added apps, too.
Performance
Powering the Galaxy Note is a 1.50Hz dual-core Qualcomm processor. I tested a few graphics-heavy games on the device; all of them ran smoothly, and they looked terrific on the Note’s large display. Video (up to 1080p) also played flawlessly.
I ran the FCC-approved Ookla app to test the Galaxy Note’s data speeds over AT&T LTE in San Francisco. Average download speed was 24.64 megabits per second, and average upload speed was 8.78 mbps—both ridiculously fast. Call quality was good over AT&T’s network. Friends I called reported that my voice sounded clear and natural. I couldn’t detect any distortion or static on my end.
The Galaxy Note lasted for a full day of heavy testing before I had to recharge it. The 8-megapixel camera snapped good pictures, indoors and cut, but the phone’s dimensions make it a little awkward to use. (Ginny Mies)
Tablet or Phone?
The 5.3-inch display puts the Note in an interesting spot between a phone and a tablet. It is light enough, but I found it a bit too wide for my hands. It measures 5.78 by 3.27 by 0.38 inches, and weighs 6.28 ounces. The
Note has the typical touch-sensitive navigation buttons below the display, including Menu, Home, Back, Search, pLus a volume rocker and a power button. On the bottom is a slot for the S Pen.
The Galaxy Note’s 5.3- inch display has a 1280-by- 800-pixel resolution. The technology is HD Super AMOLED. The Note handled image and text rendering welt: text and images were both sharp and clear.
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| Spec Tech Android™ 2.3 (Gingerbread) 1.4GHz Dual Core Processor 146.85 x 82.95 x 9.65mm, Weight 178g HD Super AMOLED, 5.3” WXGA (1280 x 800) |
But as on many AMOLED displays, colors were overs aturated, skin tones looked ruddy, and whites had a slight yellowish tint. Still, oversaturation isn’t always a bad thing: Colors on the Note looked rich and bright, and blacks were deep.
The Galaxy Note includes a Wacom-made S Pen for note-taking and drawing. Wacom pens recognize both right-handed and left-handed users, and the S Pen also mimics the act of physically taking notes: The harder you press the pen on the Note’s display, the thicker and bolder your lines will be.
Apps and the Pen
The Note runs the latest version of Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread), with a version of the Touch Wiz interface similar to the one on Samsung’s Galaxy S II phones. The Note also has built-in software and special gestures for the pen.
One handy app, called S Memo Lite, lets you jot down notes from pretty much anywhere within the phone. To pull up S Memo Lite, you hold down the button on the pen and then double-tap the display.
You can also take screen shots, simply by pressing and holding the pen to whatever item you want to capture. Your shot then opens in a simple photo-editing app that lets you crop the image.
Writing on the Galaxy Note takes some getting used to. But I liked being able to jot down ideas and reminders. And the keyboard has a pen mode that will convert your handwriting into text. I thought it did a pretty good job of conversion, overall.
The current selection of pen-friendly apps is a bit anemic. Right now, the included apps for pen mode are Polaris Office, S Memo, and a game called Crayon Physics. Polaris Office lets you create documents, spreadsheets, and slideshow presentations. You’ll find AT&T- and Samsung-added apps, too.
Performance
Powering the Galaxy Note is a 1.50Hz dual-core Qualcomm processor. I tested a few graphics-heavy games on the device; all of them ran smoothly, and they looked terrific on the Note’s large display. Video (up to 1080p) also played flawlessly.
I ran the FCC-approved Ookla app to test the Galaxy Note’s data speeds over AT&T LTE in San Francisco. Average download speed was 24.64 megabits per second, and average upload speed was 8.78 mbps—both ridiculously fast. Call quality was good over AT&T’s network. Friends I called reported that my voice sounded clear and natural. I couldn’t detect any distortion or static on my end.
The Galaxy Note lasted for a full day of heavy testing before I had to recharge it. The 8-megapixel camera snapped good pictures, indoors and cut, but the phone’s dimensions make it a little awkward to use. (Ginny Mies)