It’s time for the most gigantic branding you’ve ever seen on a smartphone, right here live on the Galaxy Note II made by Samsung and plastered by Verizon. What will likely be one of the most sought-after models of the Galaxy Note II here is also being shown to have a Verizon logo on the front on the home button – as big as the home button – with Verizon’s 4G LTE branding on the back panel as well, rather massively. We got ahold of this Verizon Galaxy Note II unit at the Samsung Galaxy Note II World Tour NYC stop this week amid many party favors indeed.
This device is essentially the same as the Samsung Galaxy Note in each other iteration its been released, both nationally and internationally, save for a few details. The apps are slightly different in their abundance – instead of the T-Mobile apps you get on the T-Mobile unit (as we’ve reviewed in full here), you get the Verizon collection. Not all that different from what we’ve seen recently on units such as the Motorola DROID RAZR, including Color installed right out of the box.
We’re also minus the notification pulldown additions that T-Mobile made on their unit, and the settings menu has but one addition – a connection to your data plan from Verizon. In other words, you’re getting the same device no matter which carrier you’re on, save the data speed, the data cost, and the branding. Where the T-Mobile and AT&T versions of this device do not have anything but Samsung on the front, Verizon has flexed its muscle with a home key brand mark.
Have a peek at the few hands-on photos you’ll need to experience the Verizon 4G LTE Galaxy Note II for yourself and keep on pressing your face to the screen until the actual unit is available in stores. We’re also getting pumped up about the AT&T 4G LTE version which we’ll be testing out soon as well – data speeds mostly, of course. Don’t forget also to take a peek at our Galaxy Note II international review too – hot stuff!
If you were thinking about forgetting that the Galaxy Note II existed for one reason or another, the party happening tonight hosted by Samsung and starring no less than Kanye West is surely meant to change your mind. With the Samsung Galaxy Note II about to be available on several carriers across the United States and abroad, this week Samsung has brought on a media event blast normally reserved for a slightly less publicized event than this – ie a product announcement. Here though, it’s all about keeping the thunder while Microsoft is in town.
This week New York is also home to the premiere of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system, with hardware manufacturers and software titans bringing their own fire throughout the week. The biggest Microsoft showing is set for Thursday as well, it containing both a live-televised press event and a major Times Square send off the likes of which the world has never seen – it’s the most screens taken over by a single company, after all.
We’ll be at the Microsoft Windows 8 press event tomorrow morning too, mind you. It’s a full week with more lovely mobile and near-mobile action than the computing universe can handle.
At Microsoft’s approach, Samsung about to be out-done. With the Galaxy Note II already up in international reviews as well as national reviews, the push this week acts more as a waving of a flag than it does an opening of door. Kanye West is here to knock the door down and wave the flag like a maniac, one way or another.
We’ll be at this stop on the Galaxy Note II World Tour 2012 throughout the night. We’ll let you know how it goes. Stay tuned, and check the timeline below for more Galaxy Note II hands-on action!
The new HTC One X+ has landed on the SlashGear test bench, and with HTC so especially proud of the performance tune-up its given its Android flagship, we were keen to see how it fared. Day-to-day speed we’ll have to test awhile ahead of our full review, but some early benchmarks should help identify where the Tegra 3 smartphone has been particularly polished. Plus, with the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for Samsung’s unlocked Galaxy S III dropping in the UK just earlier today, it seemed rude not to run some comparative scores.
Compared to the One X we reviewed back in April, HTC’s new top-end Android phone steps up to the latest version of Tegra 3, a quadcore running at 1.7GHz. It’s paired with 1GB of RAM and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4+; our review model is European-spec, which means no LTE.
We focused on some basic benchmarking tools most Android users are familiar with. First up, Quadrant Standard, which tests CPU, I/O, and 3D graphics performance; next SunSpider, a test of browser JavaScript performance, which gives a good idea of how web surfing compares to other phones, tablets, and even desktops; then Qualcomm’s Vellamo, which focuses on mobile web performance, examining HTML5 crunching abilities and CPU subsystem performance; and finally, AnTuTu, which looks at CPU, GPU, RAM, and I/O performance.
In Quadrant, the One X+ pulled ahead with a score of 6068, over 800 points more than the Galaxy S III, at 5207. The HTC did particularly well in the CPU and I/O subcategories, though the Samsung did much better in memory performance and 3D graphics. HTC’s phone put in a better showing in SunSpider, too, scoring 1082.2ms (lower is better) against the Samsung’s 1215.4ms. Neither managed to quite match the results we saw from the iPhone 5, however, which nipped underneath the 1,000ms boundary with a score of 914.7ms.
Quadrant and SunSpider benchmarks:
As for Vellamo, the scores here were mixed. In the HTML5 side of testing, the One X+ did better, edging ahead with 1894 against the Galaxy S III’s 1615. However, the tables were turned in the Metal tests, with the One X+ managing 491 against the Galaxy S III’s 558.
Vellamo benchmarks:
Finally, AnTuTu. The HTC pulled ahead once more, though again not in all of the categories. In total, it scored 12,945, besting the Samsung in CPU, RAM, and I/O testing. The Galaxy S III, however, scored 12,082 overall, with better performance in the GPU category.
Synthetic tests of smartphone performance don’t tell anywhere near the full story; you can’t say from benchmark results whether a phone will necessarily lag in multitasking, or suffer frustrating pauses in keyboard responsiveness or when trying to open up a well-stocked inbox. They’re a good indicator of the raw potential of the smartphone, however: what well-written apps will be able to call upon to achieve great performance.
We’ll be running the One X+ through real-world testing ahead of the full SlashGear review, but already HTC’s new powerhouse has shown its mettle.
US Cellular has been offering the Samsung Galaxy Note II on pre-order for over a month now, but it just sent out an email clarifying that the device will be stocked on retail and virtual shelves beginning this Friday, October 26th. This falls in line with the “late October” timeframe we were promised; pre-orders, by the way, will also begin shipping tomorrow. As a recap, the Note II will only be available in titanium gray and with 16GB internal storage, and will cost $300 with a two-year commitment and $800 without one — a huge difference, no doubt, given T-Mobile’s $650 full retail cost. Tomorrow is the last day to pre-order if you’re worried about facing inventory shortages or long lines on Friday. The best part? No silly logo on the home button (we’re looking at you, Verizon).
In the Samsung Galaxy Note II we’ve got an experience like no other – similar to the first Galaxy Note with its massive display and S-Pen action, but here with processing power and software just great enough to carve for itself a unique place in the smart device universe. The T-Mobile version of this device is so very similar to the rest of the carrier editions here in the USA that it’s almost foolish to review it more than once – the differences have been sliced down to the apps included inside, Samsung once again flexing their brand power to keep the device near-identical across all carrier borders. This device is to the Galaxy Note line what the Galaxy S III was to the Galaxy S line, continuing very much with Samsung’s coming-of-age – very wise indeed.
Hardware
We’ve already had a peek at this device in one other iteration in our Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (international edition) review – keep that in mind as you jump down the list here with this USA-bound device. In the end they’re extremely similar, this certainly a testament to Samsung’s newfound power to demand essentially the same device on any carrier it works with.
This device is what appears at first to be a super-sized version of the Samsung Galaxy S III, the smartphone you’ll also be able to pick up at each of the carriers this Note II is on. What you’re seeing is Samsung’s family brand integration taking hold, with the company hoping to ring in a true product with the best elements of both the original Note and the S III at once. The display is 5.5-inches rather than 5.3 as the original was with a smaller bezel and thinner body to boot – it’s really a nicer device to work with on the whole.
Samsung Galaxy Note II / Galaxy S III sharing abilities
Samsung took some time molding this 80.5 x 151.1 x 9.4 mm beast, making it feel smooth and round as the Galaxy S III, cashing in on the design language that they’ve successfully made the public understand with that one giant cross-carrier release. The Galaxy Note weighs in at aproximately 182.5g and sticks to this weight no matter which carrier its on, with a body that remains the same for case integration and a much more likely 3rd party accessory manufacturer success story.
Hands-on with T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note II features
This device comes with a T-Mobile back panel that’s the same glossy plastic as the Galaxy S III series, here with a lovely Black tone right off the bat instead of just Blue or White – though they’re coming out right away as well, if you like. The display has a subtle curve around the edges, there’s still the faux-chrome edges as the Galaxy S III has, and they’ve also both got the same sort of Samsung-made case/back cover replacement accessory that flips over the front and keeps your display safe in your pocket or purse or backpack.
The display has less pixels across it than the original Note, but also replaces the PenTile technology used there for a lovely HD Super AMOLED unit instead. What you’ve got here is indeed less pixels than before, even though you’ve got a larger display – but the trade-off (if you can call it that) is well worth the result: this display is 1280 x 720 pixels (rather than 1280 x 800) and is now compatible instantly with masses of 720p apps right out of the box. It’s both sharp as you could ever want it to be and brighter than your eyeballs should reasonably need.
The cameras on this device include a 1.9 megapixel front-facing unit ready for video chat and OK-looking photos and the back has a rather nice 8 megapixel camera with single LED flash. Both cameras have a fabulous backside-illuminated sensor and are capable of 1080p video. The headphone jack sits in the top left, the main speaker sits on the back under to tiny slits near the S-Pen slot, and the S-Pen slot is on the bottom with a whole new hole (and S-Pen, mind you) for much more intuitive action and use.
The back of this device is replaceable and sits on top of a massive 3,100 mAh replaceable battery. Also under the hood you’ll find a space for your microSIM card and a microSDHC card – this device can take up to a 64GB card, just like the Galaxy S III can. You’ve got the option of picking up a Galaxy Note II in one of three different internal storage sizes (depending on the carrier you’re aiming for), those being 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB.
Inside is also a collection of a who’s-who of top-tier connectivity options including Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX, NFC, WiFi a/b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz) with WiFi Direct, and USB 2.0 Host. The USB 2.0 Host works through your standard microUSB port, and you’ll need a converter of some sort to connect to your external storage devices. Accelerometer, digital compass, proximity sensor, gyroscope, A-GPS, Glonass positioning, and S-Pen technology that we must assume was developed by wizards.
Of course the S-Pen connection, outlined in its own fabulous section later in this review, is aided largely by the Samsung-made Exynos processor that powers this device. The Exynos 4 quad-core processor runs here at 1.6GHz per core, and that’s ARM Cortex-A9, mind you. Everyday use with this machine makes the case for the processor without a doubt, here utilizing essentially the same power that the significantly larger Galaxy Note 10.1 uses to roll with this 5.5-inch machine – it’s a monster, for certain (see our standard benchmarks below as well.)
S-Pen
With a new Note comes a new generation of S-Pen, and once again Samsung does not disappoint with improvements over the past release. Here the pen feels more like a standard No.2 pencil (a classic size, of course) and has a fine new collection of software enhancements to go with it. The pen also still sits inside the Note II snugly, able to be removed and replaced with ease yet staying firm when in transit.
The S-Pen is now another level ahead of the competition in its software implementation – where the S-Pen’s original iteration took Wacom technology to punch the capacitive “finger-dummy” styluses of the past right in the face, the new S-Pen gives it a double-wallop. The first and most apparent place you’ll see this second level is in its ability to appear as a floating nib – you can be about a half-centimeter above the display and you’ll have a sensor showing on the screen: this marker on the display has a collection of uses.
The S-Pen has a variety of new features throughout its software and hardware builds, but some of the most interesting bits come from the S-Pen hover feature we were told about some weeks ago. The S-Pen is now able to give you previews of many different items including emails (in your email app, not Gmail quite yet), S Planner calendar, and videos in your Samsung Videos app. Your standard gallery app too will allow you to preview the images inside a gallery folder, flipping through sets piece by piece.
With the Note II you’re able to set the device to detect when you’ve left your S-Pen behind. You can bring up a new home page that only exists when the S-Pen is out. You can take a screenshot with a tap and hold on your display, these shots then able to be written on and shared at will. This functionality makes us wish Google integrated such an ability into the basic version of Android, it’s so helpful on a daily basis.
The S-Pen also works now with Quick Command drawn-commands, with a question mark followed by “Weather” bringing you web search and an exclamation mark followed by a location bringing you to that location in Maps. Similarly you’re able to write out commands with S-Voice, though this is a bit less intuitive as wherever you’re going to be in a position to hear S-Voice speak, you’re probably going to be able to speak out loud yourself.
After the software integration with the S-Pen, there’s always the usability factor. The comfort with which we’re able to use the S-Pen has far increased over the previous generation Galaxy Note, reaching now for the same highly-tuned size of the pen included with the Galaxy Note 10.1. Here we’re using something much closer to a pencil where before it was just a teensy bit too thin.
Software
In addition to the S-Pen being the star of the show and having most of its features advertised surrounding this stylus, Samsung’s TouchWiz and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean have added some awesome enhancements that will bring your mobile experience to a new level. One of the oddities is the ability called “Page Buddy” to have a sort of “peekaboo” home screen that appears only when you plug in the right accessory. There’s one for your S-Pen (as mentioned earlier), one for docking mode, and one for your headphones as well. Rather helpful stuff for plug-and-play sorts of folks.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is your standard system here with Samsung’s TouchWiz integrated within, and a set of T-Mobile and Samsung apps added to the standard Google fare. Of course Samsung’s TouchWiz integration no longer sits around as the same execution for every single device as such additions did at the start of Android – now it’s unique for each device, allowing enhancements to take hold exactly as they should depending on the device’s abilities.
Galaxy Note II hands-on with custom vibration notifications
You’ve got such fabulous abilities as recording your own vibration combination for notifications, circling items with your S-Pen to take miniature screen-shots, and the calling forward of S-Note with a double-tap on your display with the S-Pen once again. This S-Note calling feature links in with other pop-up windows you can use, these first appearing way back on the TouchWiz UX software update to the original Galaxy Tab 10.1 – it’s come a long way since then, to say the least.
Benchmark Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Note II brings on a level of fluidity and instant-reaction taps that we’ve only otherwise seen on Android with the LG Optimus G. Both devices use quad-core processors, with the G using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro and the Galaxy Note II using Samsung’s own Exynos quad-core architecture – essentially the same as is used in the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. Have a peek here first at some Asphalt 7 gaming action to see how well the unit holds up in a racing situation.
Next have a peek at the benchmarks that show this machine to be acting right up in with the other warrior we just looked at, Qualcomm and Samsung here duking it out for supremacy. Have another look at our LG Optimus G review to see how closely these two new beasts get, keeping in mind that the LG device has a slightly smaller display with a similar amount of pixels in the end.
Camera
The 8 megapixel camera on the back of the Samsung Galaxy Note II has never looked nicer in the Samsung family of devices. That’s a feat in an of itself, mind you, as the Galaxy S III brought on some fury of its own just a few months ago at its introduction to the world. Now we’re seeing no drop in quality and a lovely interface crafted for the Galaxy Note II so you can make photography, however odd it looks with a device of this size, your own high-quality experience.
Both up close and far away we’re doing well here, with Samsung certainly leaving this device out in the rain for quality on either the front or the back camera. You’ll find that 1080p video works well and 8 megapixel photos, be they HDR or standard – or an array of other odd filters – look rather nice. Have a peek below at a selection of examples from the Galaxy Note II and see how they compare with the Samsung Galaxy S III review – look similar to you?
Battery Performance
The battery on the Samsung Galaxy Note II has had a rather easy time getting through the day with its 3,100 mAh of juice, even with a hard day’s work behind it. That said, Samsung has provided us with a set of easy to manage power-saving abilities that everyone should be well aware of by now. The display is the most power-hungry of anything on this device, as is always true of a device with a display as potentially bright as this one – placing this on “auto” will do wonders for your battery life.
There’s also the rather fabulous Blocking mode which you’ll have to switch on from your Setting menu. This option brings on the ability to disable incoming calls, notifications, alarm and timer, and LED indicator at the tap of a button – it appears in your notifications menu near the rest of the switch off/on buttons. You can also set it up to switch on and off at certain times of the day every day if you wish – and you can block certain contacts with the feature, but that’s not about batteries unless you’ve got a stalker, of course.
Samsung also includes their general Power Saving mode which works wonders once again – use this, blocking mode, and auto brightness on your display will bring you more than enough power for more than a day at a time. You’ve got the ability to replace your battery on the go, also, so keep that in mind if you’re an insane constant-use sort of person.
Wrap-Up
The Samsung Galaxy Note II is a device that any Android and Samsung-loving fan will love, but outside the faction of normal citizens that have a need for such a massive beast of an in-betweener, this machine might just fall flat. It’s not that it’s not great – this device is made for awesome high-level mobile computing and it definitely does that well, but if you can’t fit the Galaxy Note II in your pocket, you’ll probably not want to use it on the regular.
If you’re a smartphone user and have enjoyed the Samsung Galaxy S III, you’re probably going to want to at least have a look at the Galaxy Note II. It’s an enticing prospect, seeing your best buddy Galaxy blown up to a 5.5-inch display-toting size with a magic want embedded in its side. I’ve found the Galaxy Note II to be entirely enjoyable to use each and every day I’ve used it – but complaints about the first iteration of this device hold true here as well.
If the size is a boon to you, you might as well not even try it. If you want to have the highest level of mobile computing on the market right now with the finest-tuned amalgamation of both software and hardware in one device, the Samsung Galaxy Note II is the one for you. Those that want an all-in-one Android that does essentially everything any Android-toting device on the market has been able to do thus far, thus is the one.
Unlocked versions of Samsung’s Galaxy S III in the UK are beginning to receive the Jelly Bean update this morning, in a new OTA update. The firmware for Android 4.1 has already been spotted for carrier-branded versions of the handset, but so far has been missing from unlocked Galaxy S III devices such as those purchased from Samsung’s own stores. That’s all changed this morning, however.
We checked our own unlocked UK Galaxy S III, and found that a new update was indeed available for the phone. Measuring in at a hefty 284.36MB – which means downloading over WiFi is advisable, rather than your cellular data connection – the package can also be acquired through Samsung’s Kies app and loaded via USB.
Among the improvements in Jelly Bean on the Galaxy S III are Google Now, which uses your appointments and location to flag up pertinent snippets of information; more details on alerts in the notifications bar; and new amendments to the camera app that allow video recordings to be paused and resumed. As on the Galaxy Note II, there’s also a new Blocking mode which allows users to pare back what notifications they receive, and from whom.
You can check for the latest firmware for your Galaxy S III by going to “About Device” in the settings and choosing Update. Alternatively, load up Kies and download it there. Vodafone and Three have already begun pushing out their own Galaxy S III Jelly Bean updates, while Samsung says US carriers have their own timetables for the “coming months.”
It’s either a premature confirmation or one of the larger executive gaffes we’ve seen in recent memory, but it’s hard to ignore. LG’s Mobile Product Planning lead for India, Amit Gujral, just claimed in an interview with IBNLive that the “LG Nexus” will launch at Google’s October 29th event and ship to India “by the end of November.” He even stuck his neck out to offer specifications — the Nexus will reportedly have a very Optimus G-like 4.7-inch screen and quad-core 1.5GHz chip while throwing the unreleased Android 4.2 into the equation. Nothing’s official so far despite the statements, and we’re not expecting to Google to spoil its own party; if Gujral really does have the inside track, though, we may have been given a peek at the main attraction in Google’s playground.
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
It’s about time. The HTC DLX has most often been rumored carrying a Verizon-style 6435LVW or Droid Incredible X name, and yet it was unveiled first in Japan as the J Butterfly; we really needed the photos just now surfacing at Android Central to remind us that the 5-inch, 1080p gigantophone could still come to Big Red. While nothing’s confirmed yet, the black-with-red-trim design and all too prominent Verizon labeling make a convincing case for the DLX’s ultimate US destination. A helpfully provided phone profile screen might be more interesting to some, as it hints that we might get the same quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM and 8-megapixel rear camera as in the J Butterfly — Verizon won’t pull a Droid Incredible 4G LTE and tone down the hardware, if this is true. Without any more details, we’re still left wondering just how soon Verizon could commit to launching the smartphone. There’s no guarantees that Verizon will follow KDDI’s schedule and ship in early December.
Update: We’ve been wondering whether the odd name was meant to be short for Droid Incredible X, i.e. “DIX” instead of “DLX,” but our friend @evleaks on Twitter just showed us a list of device PIDs that mentions the latter. @evleaks also suggests that DLX might be short for the codename “Deluxe” for the international variant, just as “ENRC2” was short for “Endeavor C2” (One X+).
Update 2: It turns out the J Butterfly has the codename “Deluxe J” in its bootloader menu, so there you have it. Thanks again, @evleaks!
It’s about time. The HTC DLX has most often been rumored carrying a Verizon-style 6435LVW or Droid Incredible X name, and yet it was unveiled first in Japan as the J Butterfly; we really needed the photos just now surfacing at Android Central to remind us that the 5-inch, 1080p gigantophone could still come to Big Red. While nothing’s confirmed yet, the black-with-red-trim design and all too prominent Verizon labeling make a convincing case for the DLX’s ultimate US destination. A helpfully provided phone profile screen might be more interesting to some, as it hints that we might get the same quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM and 8-megapixel rear camera as in the J Butterfly — Verizon won’t pull a Droid Incredible 4G LTE and tone down the hardware, if this is true. Without any more details, we’re still left wondering just how soon Verizon could commit to launching the smartphone. There’s no guarantees that Verizon will follow KDDI’s schedule and ship in early December.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
