The Samsung Galaxy Note was a runaway bestseller when it launched, selling millions of units in the United States and abroad after industry analysts claimed the handwriting recognition technology and large physical design would not be accepted widely. Never one to leave good enough alone, Samsung has produced the Galaxy Note II, an even larger phablet that delivers a quad core processor and Android’s Jelly Bean 4.1 operating system out-of-the-box. The handset returns the smart stylus S Pen which allows you to write, scribble, take notes, and add text to video and still images. The first wireless carrier to offer the big-screen Samsung Galaxy Note II in the US is T-Mobile, debuting the device on October 24.
Next up in the lineup is Sprint, offering the Samsung Galaxy Note II on October 25 when it will be running on that carrier’s new 4G LTE system. Verizon Wireless has only announced a Q4 delivery date for the part smartphone/part tablet on their 4G LTE network, and AT&T has confirmed a November 9 launch date for their 4G LTE system. T-Mobile claims the Galaxy Note II will be able to reach speeds of up to 42 megabytes per second (Mbps) on their HSPA+ network in the United States. With a large 5.55 inch Super AMOLED display offering resolution at 720 x 1,280 pixels, the Galaxy Note II is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 2, and delivers 265 pixels per inch.
Standard light and proximity sensors are on board for auto brightness adjustment and battery conservation, and that helps the latest Samsung smartphone offering deliver up to 15.00 hours of talk time on the T-Mobile network. That single battery charge also delivers 12.0 days standby from the 3,100 mA battery on board the handset. The hardware package is where the Samsung Galaxy Note II 4G really raises the bar for smartphones and/or tablets, including a quad core 1.66 GHz arm Cortex A9 central processor as part of the Samsung Exynos 4412 chip package. An ARM Mali-400 MP4 graphics processor is also on board, as is 2.0 GB of RAM system memory. The handset also delivers 16 GB of built-in storage, with microSD, microSDHC and microSDXC support for cards up to 64 GB in size.
The Galaxy Note II phablet comes equipped with a rear facing 8.0 megapixel camcorder and front facing 1.9 megapixel chat cam. That rear device is capable of recording video in 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (1,080P HD) and at 30 frames per second. The handset also comes with a music player built in that supports all major audio file formats, a proprietary YouTube video player and Stereo FM radio with RDS capability. Popular online destinations Facebook, Picasa and Twitter have been pre-installed as well. A microHDMI slot joins DLNA wireless connectivity in providing video out, and the handset delivers Near Field Communications (NFC) support out-of-the-box.
October 28, 2012 at 8:58 am
This is definitely a good looking phablet. I’m sticking with T-Mobile since they are the only one with an unlimited plan as useable internet speeds. In most cases, the 4G on my current phone than the LTE phone that one of my DISH coworkers has. We use the DISH Remote Access app on our phones to stream live and recorded shows through the Sling Adapter that we have on our home receivers. With how much his phone buffers, it hardly seems worth paying extra for LTE. It will be nice being able to stream as much as I want without hitting a cap.