Hot Release! Samsung Galaxy Note from AT&T

Hot Release! Samsung Galaxy Note from AT&T

Samsung Galaxy Note says it makes a cellphone for everyone, including, apparently, individuals with large fingers.  That's the one potential rationalization for the Galaxy be aware "phablet. " whereas its measurement verges on a tablet, its software program and utilization scream "phone. " That leaves the be aware an unlucky tweener, and this too-big telephone is tough to like. Here's more about Samsung Galaxy Note.

The be aware isn't the primary phone-tablet hybrid.  the thought has been knocking round because the 1990s, and that i have a recording of phablets all through historical past right here on PCMag.  The word might be the best-engineered system of its kind, however there's one thing about this bodily measurement, versus the typical measurement of the human hand, which isn't fairly working. 

Samsung Galaxy Note bodily Design, telecellphone Calls and Internet

The Galaxy be aware ($299 with contract) appears to be like like a Samsung Galaxy S II cellphone blown as much as an impractical dimension.  At 5. eight by three. three by . 4" (HWD) it's slender and beautiful, with a gorgeously sharp, 5. 3-inch, 1280-by-800 tremendous AMOLED display exhibiting colours so deep you are able to fall into them.  There's an 8-megapixel digicam on the again and a 2-megapixel unit on the front, in addition to normal MicroUSB and three. 5-mm headset jacks.  A reminiscence card slips right into a slot beneath the again panel.

The cellphone is slim and gentleweight.  It's simply method too extensive.  whereas I can grip the Galaxy notice safely in a single hand, it doesn't go away any leeway for my fingers to really transfer round the contact display screen.  for many people, it is going to be completely unattainable to make use of this cellphone one-handed.  I've been attempting to take action and failing miserably.  Most notably, I can't attain the vital "back" button with my thumb when cradling the cellphone in a single hand.  I couldn't even reply a telephone name with one hand.

however (literally), I gave the Galaxy observe to Jeff Wilson, who has the biggest palms within the office, and he cherished it.  So for guys with fingers like baseball mitts, this seems to be simply the suitable dimension.

The Galaxy be aware is a nice phone, though it's a bit odd to carry as much as your head.  i used to be involved that the microphone can be to date away from my face, it might trigger subjects with background noise, however that isn't a difficulty betrigger of Samsung's aggressive noise cancellation know-how.  Reception was respectable.  Sound high quality by way of the earpiece is excellent; voice tones are splendidly warm, with excellent quantity.  The speakerphone is loud sufficient to make use of open air.  Transmissions via the mic, altered by the noise-cancellation software, sounded a bit computery, and the noise cancellation didn't knock out the entire background noise from a passing bus.

The Galaxy be aware attached with out bother to our Jawbone period ($129, four. 5 stars) Bluetooth headset for each voice calls and multimedia sound, together with triggering the comparatively correct voice dialing.

The Galaxy word works on AT&T's 4G LTE community in addition to each AT&T's and worldwide HSPA+ 21 communitys.  I received completely superb LTE speeds of about 10Mbps down and 4Mbps up.  AT&T's 4G community isn't obtainable throughout the country—it at the moment covers 23 metro areas—but you shouldn't be disenchanted with HSPA+ 21 both.  The be aware connects to Wi-Fi 802. 11b/g/n, together with mechanically sniffing out and hooking as much as AT&T's paid Wi-Fi hotspot community.  The Galaxy be aware works as a tethered modem or Wi-fi hotspot with the suitable plan.

I acquired eight hours, half-hour of discuss time on the big 2500 mAh battery.  That feels low, though it's lengthy sufficient to not issue into your shopping for selections.  I'll retest the telephone over the following few days. 

Samsung Galaxy Note Taking observes on the observe

The Galaxy observe is simply in regards to the dimensions of a Moleskine notebook, and note-taking is considered one of its premier options.  The be aware comes with somewhat plastic stylus referred to as the S Pen, which tucks right into a slot within the underside.  utilizing the S Pen, you may draw or take notes in Samsung's S word app, Autodesk's Sketchbook Mobile, or anyplace else you select.  The S Pen additionally permits just a few tricks—for instance, taking snapshots of net pages and doodling on them.

utilizing the S Pen is slightly awkward, though, as a result of it's so brief and thin.  i discovered it tough to make use of with out touching the display with the aspect of my hand, which disrupted the enter.  issues acquired simpler after I put the S Pen within the bigger S Pen Holder ($59. 99), which gave my hand some extra distance from the display screen.

This isn't a standard capacitive stylus.  It's primarily based on Wacom technology, and it's each extra exact than a daily stylus and pressure-sensitive, at the very least within the S be aware app.  I couldn't discover every different apps, together with Sketchbook cellular and Evernote's Skitch, that correctly took benefit of the strain sensitivity.

And rather a lot is misplaced when you're translating from pen to touchscreen.  I've spent years taking notes with out looking, and the Note's S Pen stylus lacks the tactile chunk of pen on paper that helps to information my hand.  Digital ink is simply a bit bit annoyingly slower than common ink, too.  It's "Why I Hate contact Screens," throughout once more.  you are able to take notes with it, certainly, however it's an inferior expertise to utilizing a daily pen.

What's the benefit of S-Pen over just-plain-pen.  digital notes are captured and filed, and may be shared simply.  you are able to annotate internet pages or different issues you see on the display.  A stylus can be good for artists, because it could actually fake to be totally different brushes and such.

however for note-taking, a LiveScribe Echo pen ($99, four stars) with a paper pocket book is way superior.  You get the tactile response of bodily paper with the submitting skill of digital notes, alongside with synced audio notes.  And for drawing, the Galaxy be aware is a bit small. 

Samsung Galaxy Note Phablet Phails With cellcellphone Apps

I name the Galaxy be aware a "phablet," however from the angle of Android it's purely and solely a cellphone.  That's an issue.  The Galaxy notice runs Android 2. three. 6 on its 5. 3-inch, 1280-by-800 display screen.  if you open the Android Market, you don't see any pill apps—those usually require Android three. 0.  which means no Autodesk Sketchbook professional (only Mobile), and not one of the Adobe contact apps can be found.  Apps which have each pill and celltelephone variations load the celltelephone model.

This makes for lots of wasted house and wasted alternatives in app person interfaces.  Take TweetDeck, as an example.  The Galaxy notice has room for 2 columns on its chunky screen, however the cellphone model of TweetDeck, assuming a smaller screen, solely exhibits one column.  Ditto for fb.  The built-in Gmail app may have room for a aspect index or preview panel, however that offers you a single-column view as effectively.  the sport EVAC HD offers with the issue by placing an enormous black border round its sport board.

the very truth that that is a big cellphone gut-punches the online looking expertise now and then, too.  Many internet sites—such as our own—detect the Galaxy notice as a "phone" and thus show clunky WAP pages designed for gadgets with tiny screens.  as a result of that is Android 2. three and never four. 0, there's no method to set the built-in browser to power desktop web page mode; you need to obtain the Dolphin HD browser to do it.

This has at all times been the issue with outlier devices, just like the Galaxy be aware and Kyocera's dual-screen Echo (3 stars) for dash.  App builders goal the mainstream, so that they don't optimize experiences for these weirdo units.  The weirdos finish up left with a world of app experiences that don't fairly match.

Fortunately, Samsung redesigned the calendar app to take higher benefit of the big screen, with tabs on the suitable hand aspect.  however except and till 5. 3-inch, 1280-by-800 units develop into a typical size, you'll be left hammering squarish pegs into barely rounded holes with apps on this telephone.  A promised improve to Android four. 0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" might assist repair the awkwardness, however Samsung isn't keen to say when that improve will come (or if it'll even be this 12 months. )

Samsung and AT&T each stuffed the Galaxy observe filled with the same old extras.  There are two film retailers, for instance: AT&T's mSpot retailer is painfully overpriced with $5 leases, whereas Samsung's Media Hub is "more reasonably" priced with leases round $3.  The cellphone additionally comes with Kindle, an AT&T QR code reader, AT&T household Map, each AT&T and Samsung app stores, and a few different gewgaws preloaded. 

Samsung Galaxy Note efficiency and Multimedia

All that aside, the Galaxy word performs the means in which you'd count on a dual-core 1. 5Ghz, Android Gingerbread cellphone to perform: that is to say, swiftly.  It benchmarked within the identical class with different top-of-the-line telephones just like the Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx ($299, four. 5 stars) and the LG Nitro HD ($2four9, four. 5 stars), though its shopping and graphics scores had been a bit of low, most likely reflecting the extra pressure of filling up that high-density display screen.

The Galaxy word is a wonderful video player, because of the large display screen.  It has 10. 8GB of free storage to start, and also you may pop in a reminiscence card as much as 64GB.  It performed all of our check video information as much as 1080p HD decision with out a hitch by means of its speaker and by means of wired headphones, though we had some slight issues with lip sync when utilizing stereo Bluetooth headphones.  To play movies on an enormous TV, you are able to use a $30 MHL adapter (not included) for HDMI output.  The MHL output has one annoying quirk: to activate it, you want to enter the Gallery app; solely then will it mirror your phone's show in your television.

The music participant additionally helps all of our take a look at formats, and music sounded good by wired and Bluetooth headphones.

The 8-megapixel rear digicam is among the sharpest we've examined.  It's fairly quick at 0. 7 second to focus, and photographs look nice.  shiny skies are nonetheless blown out, as we see on most mobile-phone cameras, however in any other case each indoor and out of doors images are sharp and clear.  The film mode information very easy 720p movies at 30 frames per second indoor and out, and 1080p movies at 30 frames per second outdoors, however a rather wobbly 24 fps indoors.  The front-facing, 2-megapixel digicam takes respectable nonetheless shots, however oddly can't file motion pictures.  it really works with video chat apps, although. 

Samsung Galaxy Note Conclusions

Samsung says it makes a cellphone for everybody.  In that way, it's the anti-Apple.  Apple makes one telephone for as many individuals as possible; Samsung makes an almost infinite quantity of teletelephones for various tastes.

i do know the Galaxy notice isn't for me, and that i have bother determining who I'd advocate it to.  however make note: this phablet works simply positive.  when it comes to our lab tests, all techniques are go.  It's a four-star implementation of a two-star concept.  The Galaxy notice works well; I simply don't suppose the world wants the Galaxy notice.

If you're wanting for a small pill, get an Amazon Kindle fireplace ($199, four stars) or maintain out for the upcoming Asus Eee Pad Memo, which can ship a very highly effective Android pill expertise for $2four9 this spring.  If you're a note-taker and sketcher who desires to show your scribblings digital, I'd advocate combining a LiveScribe Echo smartpen with a paper Mini Journal ($12. 95) and a smartphone with broader appeal, whether or not it's an Apple iPhone fourS ($199, four stars) or Samsung's personal Galaxy S II Skyrocket ($2four9, four. 5 stars).  That bundle presents a greater note-taking association for a greater diversity of palms than the gargantuan Galaxy be aware.

Here's some Samsung Galaxy Note Pictures

Posted in: ATandT