Gorgeous screen, powerful processor, slim build, handy stylus
Too big for most pockets perhaps, not everyone likes the stylus
The latest Galaxy Note 3 increases screen size and resolution, beefs up the power and camera and adds some extra tricks to its smart stylus -- what's not to like? Let's find out.
It's on sale now SIM-free for around £600.
Design
It's still big, but the Note 3's 151x79mm dimensions don't seem quite so outrageous nowadays as they did when the original Note emerged nearly two years ago. It's slim, at a sliver over 8mm deep, so it doesn't feel quite as hefty as it is, and while the back is still the usual ultra-slim plastic, it's textured with faux-leather stitching around the edges -- it's just as thin as past iterations, but somehow it doesn't feel as flimsy.
The 5.7-inch Super Amoled screen has grown by 0.15 inches and has upped the resolution from 1,280x720 to full HD 1,920x1,080 pixels, which equates to a retina-poking 386ppi. The old screen looked great, but this new one is luscious, with rich, vibrant colours (a tad over-vibrant, perhaps?) and oodles of detail -- with the same resolution as the Galaxy S4 on a slightly bigger screen it's just about the best you'll get for movies and HD games alike.
Features, Android and processor The sheer size means that it's one of the best handsets to make use of Samsung's Multi Window feature, which allows you to run two apps on the same screen at once -- on some phones this can look cramped, but not here.
Nestling snugly in a slot on the bottom is the new, enhanced S-Pen. Let's get this straight, you never need to use the S-Pen.
It's there purely as an enhancement -- for writing or drawing, though of course you can use it for navigating as well, if you want to. Pull it out and you get an automatic mini menu with five key S-Pen-related apps and you can also do clever stuff like writing a phone number and clicking on it to call. The screen is sensitive enough and the interface easy enough to use without it, but if you like to make your notes by hand and convert them to text (the handwriting recognition is pretty good too) then this is the phone for you.
Android 4.3 has only just appeared on Google's latest incarnation of the Nexus 7, and the fact that it's on the Note 3 shows that Samsung is serious about making this a top-notch handset. In truth, it's not a huge leap on from 4.2, but Samsung's busy TouchWiz interface not only means it looks considerably different from other Androids, it also tends to mean that Samsung devices take a while to integrate any updates to the underlying OS -- so it's effectively future-proofed, at least until we get version 4.4 KitKat later this year. It's also the first phone to be optimised for use with Samsung's new Galaxy Gear smart watch.
The rise of the superphones continues, and following LG's recent
Optimus G2 and Sony's Xperia Z Ultra, the Note 3's quad-core processor is clocked at 2.3GHz and backed by a mammoth 3GB RAM. The result is that it achieved the highest AnTuTu benchmark score we've yet recorded, at 35,936. It's very fast, and a joy to use, with absolutely no sign of lag, even with a dozen or so apps running at once.
Photography
The 13-megapixel camera is a big step up from the last Note's 8 megapixels and it's packed with Samsung's photo features including a range of shooting modes and handy gimmicks like the ability to erase background detail and animate elements of your pics. It's really not bad at all, but it's a sign of the times that stiff competition from the likes of Nokia and Sony means that it's not really outstanding.
The hefty 3,200mAh battery does its best but with so much going on you really shouldn't expect to get much more than a day's use out of it.
Conclusion
It's big, but it's beautifully formed, and delivers excellent performance and a world-leading screen. The camera is pretty good too but it's the S-Pen that really sells the Note series, and the new version is ace.
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Software: Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
Processor: Quad-core 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon
Memory slot: Yes
Display: 5.7in Super AMOLED 1920x1080 pixels
Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0
Ports: microUSB, 3.5mm headphone jack
Camera: 13 megapixel with autofocus, BSI sensor, LED flash; 2 megapixel front-facing camera
Video playback: H.264, MPEG-4, H.263, VC-1, WMV7, WMV8, Sorenson Spark, MP43, VP8, HEVC
Audio playback: MP3, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, WMA, AMR-NB/WB, Vorbis, FLAC, WAV
Radio: No
Battery: 3200mAh
Size: 151x79x8mm
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
