The handset was officially announced on September 19 after growing rumors that it would release this year in the United States, and the Galaxy Note II big-screen tablet/smartphone with 4G connectivity capability launched on the T-Mobile HSPA+ network on October 24. The handset is offered in your choice of either titanium gray or marble white currently, and T-Mobile has stated the big-screen, Jelly Bean 4.1 enabled handset is capable of speeds up to 42 MB per second when used in their HSPA+ network coverage areas.
As one of the few handsets which operates on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, Samsung also includes their TouchWiz UI Android overlay, using standard multitouch capacitive gestures or the enclosed smart stylus S Pen for device navigation. The S Pen provides note-taking abilities in several applications, and also allows the Samsung Galaxy Note II handset owner to write in their own handwriting style. The 5.55 inch Super AMOLED screen is the largest found on any 4G smartphone, and a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protects the screen from chipping and scratching.
Overall display resolution runs 720 x 1,280 pixels, and better than 16 million separate colors are represented on the display. Standard light and proximity sensors allow for auto brightness adjustment and battery conservation, which helps the 3,100 mA battery on board to deliver up to 15.00 hours of talk time from a single charge. Standby time runs 12.0 days, and the Samsung Galaxy Note II 4G handset is the first in US to debut a quad core processor and 2.0 GB of RAM system memory. The chip set is a Samsung Exynos 4 (4412) package, with an ARM Cortex A9 Quad core CPU at its base.
That central processor has been clocked at 1.6 GHz, and an ARM Mali-400 MP4 graphics processor is also on board. 16 GB of memory is built-in, with a microSD slot providing storage expansion and accepting cards up to 64 GB in size. 8.0 megapixel camcorders are the norm on most current smartphones, and that is the case with the Galaxy Note II.
That rear mounted device records high res video in 1,080P HD resolution, and a 1.9 megapixel chat cam provides video call support. The handset also delivers a built-in YouTube video player and music player which supports all major audio file formats, and offers a Stereo FM radio with RDS display features. Facebook, Picasa and Twitter have been pre-installed, and Near Field Communications (NFC) support is present out-of-the-box.
Buy the Samsung Galaxy Note II at a $120 savings at select online retailers now starting at 299.99.
