The jump from a single core to dual core processors in smartphones was a huge one in technology, and also in performance. Two cores can handle the same amount of operations as a single core in half the time. Recently a couple of handsets have upped the ante by delivering quad core CPUs to smartphones, and one of them is the Sprint Galaxy Note II phablet. That handset also delivers the Jelly Bean operating system out-of-the-box for the first time in a Samsung smartphone.
Officially announced on September 19, the Galaxy Note II debuted on Sprint’s brand-new 4G LTE system on October 25. The handset has been an immediate hit globally, selling more than 3 million units its first 30 days of availability. Returning from the original Galaxy Note is the S Pen smart stylus, native handwriting recognition technology, and Near Field Communications (NFC) support out-of-the-box, and what was the largest screen of any smartphone on the Galaxy Note has just become larger.
That 5.55 inch display joins an oversized, extended life 3,100 mA battery to make for a smartphone weighing in at a heavier than normal 6.3 ounces (179 g). But even with that mini tablet-sized screen, Samsung designers did a good job making the handset as small as possible, measuring 5.94 x 3.16 x 0.37 inches (151 x 80 x 9 mm) overall. A built-in proximity sensor helps that battery deliver excellent performance, and a light sensor is built into the display, automatically adjusting for the proper brightness levels taking into account any ambient light present.
That Super AMOLED screen on the Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note II 4G delivers a resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels, and a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protects against scratching and chipping. The handset delivers a true HD 16 to 9 aspect ratio, and pixel density runs above average at 265 pixels per inch. A full 16 million colors are present in the display, and talk time runs a generous 15.0 hours from a single charge, roughly twice the 4G LTE smartphone average.
A Samsung Exynos 4 (4412) chipset has been employed, and the Galaxy Note II for Sprint delivers one of the first quad core processors on a smartphone in the US, a 1.6 GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPU. Graphics are handled exclusively by the ARM Mali-400 MP4 (Quad-Core) GPU, and double the average RAM memory for a 4G smartphone is present at 2.0 GB. The handset delivers 16 GB of built-in storage and a microSD slot for expansion, and the rear facing 8.0 megapixel camcorder provides video capture at 1,080 P HD resolution. A front facing chat cam is also on board, and a YouTube video player joins a built-in music player and Stereo FM radio with RDS in the multimedia package on board the Galaxy Note II.
