Samsung’s Galaxy Note II may have some slick new hardware, but it’s software where the company is making its most significant changes to everyday usability. Two of the biggest enhancements are Air View and Quick Command, using a combination of the S Pen digital stylus and gesture recognition, and taking advantage of Wacom’s active digitizer technology. Head on past the cut for a video demo.
Air View also works with contacts – showing phone number, email and other details when you hover over entries in your address book – and messages, along with calendar entries and content in other apps. When you’re playing back video, meanwhile, you can trace the nib across the timeline and see thumbnails of the coming scenes, which makes a big difference in finding a particular spot. Windows pen-enabled tablets have long used stylus hover to mimic hovering the mouse pointer over something without necessarily clicking, and it’s a welcome improvement to the Note II’s interface.
Galaxy Note II Air View and Quick Command hands-on:
Quick Command is a mashup of sketched shortcuts and quick launching: hold down the barrel button on the side of the S Pen, swipe up the screen, and the dialog loads. Samsung’s most proud of how it can be used to flick off a speedy email – handwrite “@ Simon” and a quick note, and a new mail opens up addressed to “Simon” and with the message pasted into the body; if you have more than one Simon in your contacts, you’re presented with a list of the options. Unfortunately it can’t be used with Google’s Gmail app, only Samsung’s customized Mail version, though other S Pen improvements will be opened up to third-party developers when v2.2 of the SDK is released on August 30.
Other features of Quick Command include settings toggling or loading other apps, such as drawing an equals sign to boot up the calculator, and you can create your own with your choice of shortcut sketches. What’s not clear is how much of the new S Pen functionality will be brought to the original Note, Samsung telling us that hardware differences will mean only select features will be ported back.
There are now several devices on the market that Samsung has added its “Note” brand name to, this week adding the Galaxy Note II for a larger screen than the original with a whole new styling in its case as well. With the birth of the Galaxy S IIIcame the dawn of a new smooth generation of aesthetics for Samsung, this spilling over first into the tablet universe with the Galaxy Note 10.1 then hitting the Galaxy Note II. With this tie-up came brand recognition that was all Samsung’s own, and with two devices on the market with the same styling and many of the same abilities, its become time to make with the comparisons.
With the Samsung Galaxy Note II you’ll be working with a 5.5-inch display at 1,280 x 720 pixel resolution – if you’d like to know how this and the rest of the features and abilities compare to the original Galaxy Note, head over to our Galaxy Note war posted earlier today. This device compares to the original Galaxy Note quite readily, while with the Galaxy Note 10.1 on the market we’ve got a device with a much more giant display and similar backbone. The Galaxy Note 10.1 has a display that measures in at 10.1-inchs with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. The Galaxy Note II uses HD Super AMOLED technology while the Galaxy Note 10.1 uses TFT LCD.
Both devices are able to take microSD cards, but the Galaxy Note 10.1 is not equipped, as the II is, to take 64GB cards. The Galaxy Note 10.1 has a 5 megapixel camera on the back and a 1.9 megapixel camera on the front, this matching the Galaxy Note II on the front while the smaller device has a much more powerful 8 megapixel camera on the back. You’ll certainly want the Note II if you want to take high quality photos, that’s for certain. Both devices also us S-Pen technology and have a Samsung S-Pen embedded within them for easy carrying.
The Galaxy Note II is the smaller of the two devices at 5.95 x 3.16 x 0.37 inches while the Galaxy Note 10.1 rings in at 7.1 x 10.3 x 0.35 inches – quite a bit larger, but actually just a bit thinner. Both devices use Bluetooth 4.0 and are able to connect with Wi-fi, but the Galaxy Note II will also be able to connect to mobile data as well – carriers to be announced soon. The Galaxy Note 10.1 may also be able to connect to mobile data in the future, but at the moment it’s just a wi-fi machine. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will be appearing on the Galaxy Note II while the Galaxy Note 10.1 currently has Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Jelly Bean on the way “very soon.”
At IFA 2012 we’ve gotten our first glimpse of the next phablet, the Samsung Galaxy Note II – now it’s time to compare to the original from one year ago to see what’s been improved. First you’ll notice that the casing for the device has taken on a whole lot more “Galaxy S III” styling, just as the original Note did with the Galaxy S II. The back and front are more than likely going to feature different color combinations even beyond the blue and white we’ve seen thus far.
With this new Galaxy Note II you’ll be working with a display that’s 5.5-inches rather than 5.3-inches but the amount of pixels has gone down (from 1,280 x 800 pixels (285ppi) down to 1,280 x 720 pixels (267ppi)). That’s perfectly OK though since the display technology has changed as well – you’ll be working with HD Super AMOLED rather than Super AMOLED Plus. The chassis have obviously changed also, now 5.95 x 3.16 x 0.37 inches (151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4mm) rather than the slightly fatter and shorter 5.78 x 3.27 x 0.38 inches (146.9 x 83 x 9.7 mm) of the Note 1.
This new iteration of the Galaxy Note has a microSD card slot that can carry up to a 64GB card while the original only had the ability to work with 32GB. The new version also has three device iterations based on internal memory: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The rear-facing camera stays the same quality as far as numbers go with 8 megapixels and the ability to capture 1080p video, but the front-facing camera has been changed from 2 megapixels down to 1.9 megapixels.
Above: Galaxy S III vs Galaxy Note vs Galaxy Note II
The new Galaxy Note II has NFC in all variations from start to finish, and you’ll be working with Bluetooth 4.0 rather than 3.0 which the old model came packed with. The Galaxy Note II comes with 2GB of RAM rather than 1, and its Exynos processor is a 1.6GHz quad-core SoC rather than dual-core. Finally you’ll be working with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right out of the box while the original Note was just updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich several weeks ago.
Have a peek at our Galaxy Note II timeline below to learn more and, again, check out our hands-on with the device via the link above. Also be sure to check out the rest of our IFA 2012 coverage to stay up to date on all things pushed in Berlin!
Today at its IFA 2012 press conference, Samsung confirmed that the newly announced Galaxy Note II will make use of a new, redesigned S Pen. In addition to boasting an improved 8mm grip, it has a rubber tip. It also recognizes 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, which is already true of the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. Other than that, Samsung hasn’t shared much in the way of specifics, but if you’d like to see video of the new Note in action, we can at least offer that.
Most likely you all just noticed that Samsung finally took the covers off of their new super-sized Samsung Galaxy Note II phablet. The first question most of you probably have is regarding US availability. The Galaxy Note II will be launching internationally first, and as usual the folks across the pond in the states will be waiting a bit longer.
Samsung announced the Galaxy Note II this morning and you can see the full details from our announcement post. Then to see just how awesome this 5.5-inch Android 4.1 Jelly Bean powered Android device actually is you’ll want to immediately take a peek at our Galaxy Note II hands-on. Once you get all excited prepare yourself for a little bit of bad news.
As we mentioned in the announcement post, Samsung won’t be launching the Galaxy Note II in the US right away. Rest assured however that it will be coming, and coming soon. Hopefully from multiple carriers including Verizon. Here’s the official statement from Samsung US themselves:
“Samsung Mobile is planning a U.S. version of Galaxy Note II, which will be available later in 2012. Building on the success of the original Galaxy Note, we’re confident that the Galaxy Note II continues to redefine what consumers should expect from their smartphone and delivers a powerful, innovative and unique experience. Exact timing and retail channel availability is not being announced at this time, we will continue to share information as it becomes available”
So there you have it! The Galaxy Note II is here, it’s awesome, and it won’t be available in the US until later this year. Hopefully they’ll have it out sometime late October and if the Galaxy S III was any indication of how they’ve managed to work with US carriers we could see it launch on multiple carriers. AT&T received the original first, but we aren’t sure how round deuce will play out. Enjoy our hands-on video below and we’ll update the minute we know more about the Galaxy Note II in the US.
If you’re waiting for the US release date for Samsung’s Galaxy Note II, we’re sorry to say that you won’t find one today. While this version of the form-defining phablet is destined for European, Asian and Middle Eastern-markets, the company promises a version of the device will hit American shores before the end of 2012, as you can see in the quote we’ve got from the company below.
“Samsung Mobile is planning a U.S. version of Galaxy Note II, which will be available later in 2012. Building on the success of the original Galaxy Note, we’re confident that the Galaxy Note II continues to redefine what consumers should expect from their smartphone and delivers a powerful, innovative and unique experience. Exact timing and retail channel availability is not being announced at this time, we will continue to share information as it becomes available.“
Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Note II, the successor to its surprising hit “phablet” the Galaxy Note, with a 5.5-inch stylus-enabled display and 1.6GHz quadcore processor. Running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with 2GB of RAM, the Note II also includes a fatter, longer stylus – though still fitting it into the body of the phone itself – with a new rubber tip for more comfortable handwriting and sketching. Perhaps most impressive, though, are the dimensions: by trimming the bezels, Samsung has managed to bring the new Note II in at almost the same size as the model it replaces, despite the larger screen.
In fact, it’s 9.4mm thick and 180g, and bears more than a passing resemblance to the Galaxy S III. Two color versions will be offered – marble white and titanium grey – and three storage models, 16/32/64GB. The screen, an HD Super AMOLED, has lost a few pixels in width – it’s now 1280 x 720 rather than 1280 x 800 – but the battery has gained capacity, now up to 3,100 mAh and, Samsung told us, charges more quickly and lasts for longer than on the Note. Connectivity will likely include various 4G models, along with NFC, WiFi and Bluetooth.
The biggest changes, though, are to the software, which Samsung continues to refine for digital notetakers. Pull out the S Pen stylus and Popup Note loads for quickly jotting down reminders; hold down the barrel button on the side of the stylus and swipe up, and you get Quick Command, which uses handwritten shortcuts to toggle settings or load apps. It’s also capable of more advanced functionality: for instance, you can write “@ Paul” and then a brief message, and it will open up a new email, address it to Paul, and paste the message into the body.
Other changes make the most of the screen size on offer. The gallery can now show a column of albums on the left and their contents along the right, all on the same screen, and the Popup Play floating video tool we saw on the Galaxy S III has been brought over and makes more sense on the larger Note II display. Hover the nib of the pen over a gallery folder, message, calendar entry, contact or photo, and it will expand as a preview. The same system gives video timeline previews as you hover-scrub through clips.
Facebook calendar entries now sync with Samsung’s own calendar, and there’s a Screen Recorder tool that can create a video clip of your pen actions, useful if you need to show someone exactly what changes you need made to a document or presentation. As before, clipping out sections of the display as screenshots is simple, and there’s handwriting recognition.
Samsung hasn’t confirmed pricing, nor carrier versions, but we’d expect to see the same sort of numbers and availability as the existing Note when the Galaxy Note II hits stores in Q1 2013.
Samsung US gave us the following comment:
“Samsung Mobile is planning a U.S. version of Galaxy Note II, which will be available later in 2012. Building on the success of the original Galaxy Note, we’re confident that the Galaxy Note II continues to redefine what consumers should expect from their smartphone and delivers a powerful, innovative and unique experience. Exact timing and retail channel availability is not being announced at this time, we will continue to share information as it becomes available”
Take the DNA of the original Galaxy Note, add the style of the Galaxy S III, and throw in a more comprehensive understanding of what digital pen-users want, and you’d come up with the Galaxy Note II. Samsung’s second-gen “phablet” manages to deliver a larger screen in a more pocketable form-factor than its trail-blazing predecessor, including making the digital S Pen itself easier to wield. We caught up with Samsung and the Note II ahead of its official launch at IFA 2012 to see if one of our favorite devices could really have been so improved.
Make no mistake, it’s still a big phone. Samsung has trimmed the top and bottom bezels and so managed to fit 5.5-inch screen into a space where previously a 5.3-inch one resided, without making significant changes to the overall bulk of the handset, but it still dominates the hand. Happily the blunt edges of the original Note are gone, replaced by the softer curves and glossy plastic we saw previewed in the Galaxy S III. It’s a visual trick, but it does make the Note II appear smaller.
The other big physical change is to the S Pen, which still gets a silo in the body of the phone itself, but is both longer and thicker than the first-gen version. It also has a new, rubber tip, which does make tapping and writing on the touchscreen feel less like you’re scratching away at your phone with a toothpick. The new stylus is compatible with the old Note, though of course it won’t stow away inside.
When it comes to the display, Samsung giveth and Samsung taketh away. The panel itself is bigger – and just as bright, color saturated and generally delicious as we’re used to from AMOLED technology – but you actually lose out on some pixels. The Note II runs at 1280 x 720, just like the Galaxy S III, whereas its predecessor ran at 1280 x 800. You don’t really notice the difference, but it does mean that some of the apps and changes Samsung has made for the Note II won’t be rolled back to the original Note, because of hardware differences that include the new resolution.
Samsung Galaxy Note II video demo:
Part of the reason you don’t notice the change is that Samsung has made more intelligent use of the real-estate on offer. The gallery UI, for instance, has been tweaked to accommodate both a folder list and the contents of the currently selected folder simultaneously, making navigating through a far swifter affair. It works particularly well with the new Air View previewing system, which finally takes advantage of the hover-support Wacom’s active digitizers provide.
Float the nib of the stylus above a gallery folder, for instance, and it will bloom up to show thumbnails of what’s in that folder (up to nine pictures at once, with the previews scrolling to show more for as long as you keep hovering). S Note gets its own homescreen pane appended onto the default list of seven, for browsing your folders of existing notes or starting a new one; alternatively, as soon as you pull the S Pen out, a blank note is brought up onscreen.
Officially, the Note II should run faster than before – indeed, we had no problems using Samsung’s Popup Play video picture-in-picture with an HD video clip, while simultaneously browsing full webpages – though we’ll need to get our hands on a review unit (and final software) to see how it holds up under true everyday stress. The 2GB of RAM is a welcome addition, though, and generally moving between apps proved lag-free.
Twelve months ago, the original Galaxy Note was met with both derision and delight. Some loved the idea of a tweener phone/tablet which made “proper” use of a stylus; others took great pleasure in reciting Steve Jobs’ famous comments about devices using pens being instant failures. In the intervening period, though, its built a strong following of users loving the expansive display and convenience of digital notetaking.
The Galaxy Note II promises to build on that. It’s an evolutionary change, not revolutionary, but it’s further evidence of how Samsung’s “a device for every sub-segment” strategy with phones and tablets can deliver some highly appealing products, especially when you take the Korean company’s very capable supply chain into account. You can’t really argue with the Note II’s display, or its processor, or indeed its 8-megapixel camera.
What you can argue over is whether the Note II is still too big. If you felt that about the original, then this new version is unlikely to change your mind. Still, we can see the new phablet finding a similarly enthusiastic audience as its predecessor, and in a marketplace filled with me-too phone slabs, its S Pen functionality remains a welcome diversion from the norm.
While we can’t say it was a shock, Samsung’s latest superphone has arrived — and it’s got a new stylus. The Galaxy Note II pushes the screen frontier to 5.5 inches wide, with another HD Super AMOLED display, this time at 1,280 x 720. Despite that expansion the phone is a mere 9.4mm thick, while it now houses a larger capacity (faster charging) 3,100mAh battery and a quad-core Exynos processor clocked at 1.6GHz. As the Galaxy Note was to the Galaxy S II, so the Note II takes some design riffs from the Galaxy S III, with the same rounded edges, glossy finish and extra software piled atop its Android base. There’s also Samsung’s reliable 8-megapixel camera sensor on the back, capable of 1080p video-recording.
The great news is that the Galaxy Note II will be launching on Jelly Bean — no laborious waiting for those over-the-air updates for Google’s very latest. Software additions are understandably heavily weighted towards the phablet’s S Pen advances. The stylus itself now has a rubber nib, which Samsung reckons will offer an experience closer to pen and paper. User can add “Quick Commands” to their stylus gestures, while “Air View” allows you to peruse galleries and folders by floating the stylus just above the screen. Samsung’s also added an Easy Clip ability to crop and share from anything beaming out from the Note II’s 16:9 screen. Stylus functionality has been gifted to the calendar (S Planner) and the native email app, while the S Pen itself will now notify your phone if it’s left behind. The device will launch in Titanium Grey and Marble White, arriving internationally before the end of the year. We’ve just managed to handle both the Galaxy Note II and that reformed stylus — check out our hands-on here.
Samsung’s got a handful of announcements to offer its mobile fans at IFA this year, and it’s started big: with the Galaxy Note II. The new Android device packs a larger 5.5-inch, 1,280 x 720 16:9 screen, but still falls roughly within the same generous footprint of its predecessor. A year on, we’ve now got a more powerful SoC, up from a dual-core 1.4GHz processor to a new quad-core 1.6GHz Exynos chipset (yes, that’s even faster than the one found in the Galaxy S III) and Android Jelly Bean right out of the box. Samsung’s putting a lot of focus on making the most of all that screen space and S Pen functionality. We got our hands (both of them) on the Galaxy Note II just a few hours early, so after the gallery, skip past the break for our first impressions.
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