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"Samsung Galaxy Note II: A Giant Phone That Grows on You\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSamsung Galaxy Note II\nThe successor to the first Galaxy Note smartphone, the Galaxy Note II has a huge 5.6-inch screen and comes with a stylus that lets you do things like draw on photos or screengrabs. It costs $299.99 with a two-year contract and it runs Android 4.1 \"Jelly Bean,\" which lets it use many of the advanced abilities seen in the Galaxy S III, such as auto-tagging of photos and S Voice, Samsung's answer to Siri. Power users will love it, and if you just want a large screen, it's the biggest you can get on a phone.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nS Pen\nSamsung's stylus, the S Pen, is a bit different this time around. It's a different shape that makes it easier to hold, and the phone can now detect when it's removed from its slot.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLock Screen\nYou can set up the lock screen to show you scrolling feed from your social networks.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSlim Profile\nThe Galaxy Note II measures 5.95 x 3.17 x 0.37 inches.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTop View\nThe Note II will come in gray and white finishes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFive Carriers\nThe Galaxy Note II will be available on Verizon, AT&amp;T, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNew Stylus Abilities\nThe phone now interacts with the S Pen in new ways, such as Airview, where it shows a pointer when you hold the stylus within about an inch from the screen.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCameras\nThe rear-facing camera has an 8-megapixel sensor that can record 1080p video, and the front-facing one is 1.9 megapixels.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSize Comparison\nPictured here are the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S III, the original Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Note II.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVersus Original Note\nThe screen on the new Note is larger (5.55 inches vs. 5.3 inches). Much like the iPhone 5, it elongates the screen slightly to go bigger while actually making the overall form factor thinner.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nStylus Comparison\nThe S Pen in the Note II is a different design than the original, making it less inclined to roll away. However, it won't fit older accessories.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHome Screen, Stylus Removed\nThe Note II knows when the S Pen is removed from its slot, bringing up a list of stylus-specific options.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFormulas in S Note\nS Note has several productivity tools, including a mode that will recognize scientific formula symbols.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMini S Note\nThe Note II makes use of the multitasking abilities that are also on the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. By double tapping the screen with the stylus, you can call up a miniature S Note so you can jot something down and save for later.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOne-Handed Operation\nThe Note II can shrink the keyboard and move it to one side to better assist one-handed use of its enormous screen.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAmong tech products \u2014 Android devices especially \u2014 the customer base is often bifurcated between casual buyers and the so-called \"power users.\" The Samsung Galaxy Note II is a smartphone that's catered strongly to the latter group. But for less-demanding customers who are simply drawn to the phone's incredibly large (5.6 inches!) screen, the Note has the potential to convert them into tech lovers with its plethora of cool tricks.\nLike the name implies, the Galaxy Note II is the successor to the original Galaxy Note smartphone, the star of that ridiculous ad that aired during the Super Bowl, where Samsung fans win over various people waiting in line at the Apple Store. The Note bravely put an old-school accessory \u2014 the stylus \u2014 front and center in its feature set, which briefly led to the term \"PalmPilot\" trending on Twitter.\nThe Note weathered the jokes by offering features you couldn't get in other phones \u2014 the precision of a stylus and a massive screen \u2014 and quickly went from laughing-stock to success story, with Samsung selling 5 million of them in five months.\nRewriting the Note\nNow comes the Note II ($299.99 with a two-year contract on AT&amp;T, $249.99 or $369.99 on T-Mobile depending on data plan, also on three other carriers), which actually kicks the screen size up a notch, from 5.3 to 5.55 inches. Still, Samsung managed to make the phone thinner and narrower than the original Note, mainly because, as Apple did with the iPhone 5, it elongated the screen rather than widening it. In practice, apart from the slightly larger screen and different coloring (the new Note is gray, while the old one is black), they feel like the same phone.\nThat feeling goes away once you turn them on, though. The original Note ran Android 2.3.6 or \"Gingerbread,\" whereas the new Note is all Jelly Bean, baby (version 4.1.1). That gives the Note II a better look and feel overall, but it also lets it take advantage of the many features in Samsung's other flagship phone, the Galaxy S III.\nThe new Note doesn't just borrow some of the same features as the S III \u2014 it improves upon them. The camera, for example has burst mode \u2014 where it takes several photos in rapid succession \u2014 built right in, so you simply need to hold down the shutter button; this is something I wish Apple would do with the iPhone.\nThere are also convenience features such as Smart Stay, which keeps the screen from timing out for as long as you're looking at it; and unlike the S III, it actually works. There's also S Voice, Samsung's answer to Siri, and a few other camera tricks, such as auto-tagging of photos for easy sharing.\nAnother difference from the S III: The Note II's 1,280 x 720 screen isn't a PenTile display, which sometimes leads to irritating artifacts; I found it to be plenty sharp.\nThe camera has an 8-megapixel sensor, which is pretty standard these days. The camera's many features, coupled with the huge screen, makes you want to take a lot of photos; but that soon becomes an issue. After just a few days' use, I had racked up hundreds of photos on the device \u2014 so many that the phone had trouble rendering the thumbnails quickly.\nA Stylus, With Style\nBut let's get to the main event, shall we? The big differentiator of the Galaxy Note II is its stylus (a.k.a. the S Pen), and what it can do for you. Samsung modified the stylus for the new Note, so it's not interchangeable with the old one (trust me: Don't try to insert the old stylus in the new slot), and it doesn't support the same accessories. But it works in the same way, with a single button that enables advanced features.\nWhereas the original Note had apps that were tailor-made for a stylus, this time, the entire phone is aware and interactive with it. The moment you remove the S Pen, the home screen changes to offer up common stylus apps. The screen can also tell when the stylus is hovering over it, showing a small dot or icon. Very slick \u2014 and useful, too.\nThe hover technology, called Airview, goes beyond just floating dots. In the phone's email client, for example, you can see the full subject of a message in a pop-up window just by holding the stylus over it. And holding it over a video's progress bar calls up the frame in that moment, letting you easily preview before you make the jump. \nThese novel features, however, betray Samsung's weakness: While they're certainly welcome, they rarely extend beyond the pre-loaded apps on the phone. A single-frame preview is great, but I wish it worked with YouTube. Similarly, the tags you create in photos don't translate to Facebook. However, points for Airview working with most \"mouseover\" menus on the web.\n\n\nNonetheless, I found the S Pen to be a more natural companion this time around than in the original Note. I also like the new S Note app, which is a big upgrade from the older S Memo. The app is essentially the same one I saw in the Galaxy Note 10.1 \u2014 with features for translating your writing into text, shapes and even scientific formulae.\nThe handwriting-to-text feature is much improved from the original Note as well. If you're a reasonably neat writer, you may even be able to have the note translate your words into copy-and-pastable text on a regular basis.\nThe Power of Size\nWait, there's more! No matter what app you're in, holding down the stylus button and double tapping calls up an S Note in miniature without even pausing the app. So if you just thought of the killer slide to your next presentation while in middle of a round of Bad Piggies, you can do both. And where you had to take entire screenshots with the old note, now you can crop just a section of the screen, marked by the stylus, whatever you're doing.\nOh, it also makes phone calls.\nBut what about when you're not using the stylus \u2014 when you have just one hand to operate your phone? Samsung's thought of that, too. In settings, you can turn on \"one-handed operation,\" which will adjust the positioning of things like the keyboard, so you don't have to be Plastic Man to reach all the keys with your thumb.\nI could go on. I haven't even mentioned the ability to share files via NFC (though only with other Samsung Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean devices) or Smart Rotation, which scans your eyes to see if the screen really should rotate with gravity or if you're just lying down sideways.\nNow, you may be able to see why the Samsung Galaxy Note II is a power user's dream. It's not a device you'll master in a few days, but if you've felt your mobile experience has been too limiting, the new Note can put some extra power back in your hands. Is it $300 worth of power? For mobile warriors, sure.\nFor the rest of us, the Galaxy Note II is also worth a look. While I saw the original Note as little more than a gigantic phone, the new Jelly Bean-powered model really does perform in useful ways that other phones can't. Casual users needn't fear its immense size \u2014 or be ashamed of buying it for that reason. You may come for the big screen, but you'll stay for the power.\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/10/24/samsung-galaxy-note-ii-review/?WT.mc_id=en_samsung>