Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review

It hasn't even been a year since the original Samsung Galaxy Note launched. It was a work of genius for old Samsung. Many (including us, we admit) were not convinced. Who on earth would want something so big to make their calls and surf the internet, even with a glorified stylus?

Cue awkward silence.

Millions of you, it would appear. The Samsung Galaxy Note has sold by the bucketload. And while it is most definitely a niche device, it's done wonders for Samsung's balance sheet. How do you follow that up? With something better, of course - the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

If you've ever fondled or caressed the original Samsung Galaxy Note and found its larger size too much to handle, we'll break this to you with a sledgehammer - the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is bigger.

It's now 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4mm (5.9 x 3.2 x 0.4 inches), so slightly up from 146.9 x 83 x 9.7mm (5.8 x 3.3 x 0.4 inches). That said, we didn't find it cumbersome at all.

In the way the original Samsung Galaxy Note followed the Samsung Galaxy S2's square design, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 follows the Samsung Galaxy S3's more rounded rectangular look.

And what a beauty it is. It actually felt slightly smaller to us in day-to-day use - but that may be down to the fact that we have gravedigger hands.

The Samsung Galaxy Note had a frankly amazing screen as it was, so would have taken some beating. But Samsung clearly likes a challenge. The size has gone up slightly from 5.3 inches to 5.5. And although pixel density is reduced, we didn't notice it.

This is the bright, vivid Samsung Super AMOLED panel that we all know and love - and what a beauty it is, replicating colours amazingly and immaculately.

As expected, that screen takes up most of the front. You get a home button and two hidden soft keys beneath it as before, plus a front-facing camera and sensors up top.

The handset itself has little to note (geddit?) around the edges. A headphone jack up top, power button on the right, volume on the left and charger port below, right alongside the S-Pen slot - more of which will follow later.

Around the back, you'll find the 8MP camera with flash.

The additional sorcery is carried out away from view. The microSD expansion slot is beneath the rear cover - as is the microSIM slot, hidden behind the enormous 3,100 mAh battery.

And there's a whole lot of goodness even further inwards than that: HSDPA (LTE if you're extra lucky), NFC, GPS, Wi-Fi and so forth. It's a veritable treasure trove of geekdom.

One other thing we'd say is that this does feel like a quality Android smartphone/tablet. We're aware of the protestations by some readers (particularly iPhone users) that phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 feel like toys because they're so light and plasticky.

At 183g (0.4lbs), you couldn't describe the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 as a feather - and the weight gives it a real notion of substance.

If you want to pick one of these big boys up, you'll need to be willing to part with some serious cash - around £530/AU$999/US$700 appears to be the average SIM-free price. It is also available on contract, but be willing to shovel top dollar each month in the network's direction for two years.

Normally, this is where we'd talk about the alternatives on offer. But we admit, we're stumped here. Why? Well, in our mind, there is no clear rival. The Samsung Galaxy Note created its own category, in that there were no real phablets about before.

There is the LG Optimus Vu, which hasn't hit the UK, but is in the US under the moniker LG Intuition, however it's 4:3 ratio screen makes it an extremely odd proposition.

And while you'll get the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system and similar benefits from the Samsung Galaxy S3 or Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (depending on whether you want a phone or tablet), the form factor is pretty unique.

In fact, the only real rival is the original Samsung Galaxy Note - a worthy contender for that title, because it's now available for a much reduced sum.

Around £400/AU$480/US$500 will get you one of those babies SIM-free - and that makes it a very serious and credible alternative to its replacement, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Galaxy Nexus

Google kicked off its launch event by announcing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which will be the first device to run Ice Cream Sandwich and will be launched in November. Check out Samsung Galaxy Nexus: what you need to know.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update

Google has confirmed it is working on an Android 4.0 update for the Samsung Nexus S and other Android devices.
Director of Android operating system User Experience Matias Duarte told Engadget that Google is. "Currently in the process for releasing Ice Cream Sandwich for Nexus S. Theoretically it should work for any 2.3 device."
Motorola confirmed to TechRadar that the Motorola Razr will launch in the UK with Android 2.3, but that there will be an update to 4.0in 2012.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Roboto

Among the first new features championed by Google at the Hong Kong media event was a brand new typeface for Android in the shape of the easy-to-read "Roboto."

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich System Bar and Action Bar

At the launch event, Google showcased a host of virtual buttons that appear at the bottom of the screen in some apps and allow users access to areas of the device like phone and contacts.
These are located in the System Bar - present in all apps - and enables you to navigate instantly to Back, Home, and Recent Apps. Virtual buttons are present across all apps, but can be dimmed by applications for full-screen viewing.
You can also access the contextual options for each app in the Action Bar at the top of the screen.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich voice control

Android 4.0 introduces new voice input engine, You can dictate the text you want, for as long as you want. After dictating, you can tap the underlined words to replace them from a list of suggestions.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich multitasking

Multi-tasking has also been given a boost and with ICS it's easier to see which apps you've been using recently. If you decide you're done with using one, you can easily flick it away to close.
Google says it has made multitasking "even easier and more visual" on Android 4.0. The Recent Apps button lets users jump instantly from one task to another using the list in the System Bar. The list pops up to show thumbnail images of apps used recently — tapping a thumbnail switches to the app.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Face Unlock

Perhaps the most 'Star Trek' of all the new Android 4.0 features is a new piece of functionality called Face Unlock which, as the name suggests, unlocks your handset based on facial recognition tech.



















You can also do more without unlocking. As in iOS 5 you can jump straight to the camera. You can also pull down the notifications window.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Home Screen folders

Like iOS before it, Android is now getting home screen folders too. You can group apps or shortcuts together and, as with iOS, you can do this just by dragging icons on top of one another.From the All Apps launcher, you can now drag an app to get information about it or uninstall it should you wish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich notifications

Notifications have also been improved. On larger devices - tablets - the updates appear in the System Bar, while on phones the notifications roll down from the top of the screen as before.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich favorites tray

On phones and other "smaller screen devices" (that's Google speak), there's now a customisable favorites tray. You can put anything you want here - apps, folders, shortcuts - whatever you want - check out this screen:

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich widgets

As in Honeycomb, you can now resize widgets on phones too. As in that OS, the widgets in 4.0 are designed to be far more interactive, enabling you to flick through appointments, play music and more.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich data

Android 4.0 includes new graphical displays so you can see how much data you're using and how much you've used over Wi-Fi or cellular. You can also see the amount of data used by each running application.
Warning levels can also be specified, as well as determining how much background data apps can use.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich camera

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich also brings some much-needed improvements to Google's camera UI, which the company says it has been working on with Samsung.
ICS devices, and the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Nexus in particular, will have 1080p video, zero shutter lag, a new picture-stitching panorama mode, easier sharing and Instagram-esque filters.
In the panorama mode, you can start taking the picture and then move the camera. The phone assembles the full range of continuous imagery into a single panoramic photo.

"When taking pictures, continuous focus, zero shutter lag exposure, and decreased shot-to-shot speed help capture clear, precise images," says Google. "Stabilized image zoom lets users compose photos and video in the way they want, including while video is recording. For new flexibility and convenience while shooting video, users can now take snapshots at full video resolution just by tapping the screen as video continues to record."
There's also built-in face detection as well as tap to focus.

There are also various editing tools included, too, while there's sharing via Google+, message, Bluetooth, email or Picasa upload.

There's also an improved gallery widget, as well as new album layout with larger thumbnails.
Thankfully you can also now take screenshots - this is going to make our job a whole lot easier!
For video, there's also Live Effects you can apply to distort faces or alter backgrounds.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich apps

The People app does what many manufacturers have been doing on Android for ages - bringing together various social networking feeds into one place,
This offers richer profile information, including a large profile picture, phone numbers, addresses and accounts, status updates, and a new button for connecting on integrated social networks.
The Calendar app has also been updated to bring together different calendars, while the email app can now autocomplete responses and is able to store oft-used replies.
Android 4.0 now also supports visual voicemail.
The web browser is also improved - especially in terms of speed - and now allows up to 16 windows. You can now sync it with Google Chrome and the browser supports offline browsing - it can save versions of web pages you choose.

There's also a new NFC-based app called Android Bump, which allows two phones to exchange a wealth of information, just by holding them together.
It can be used to share websites, maps and start games.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich: everything you need to know

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is now official.
Here's what you need to know about the latest version of Google's mobile OS which combines the best of the Android 2.x phone interface with the Android 3.x Honeycomb tablet interface.

You can check out our Android ICS: What you need to know video below: 

Ice Cream Sandwich is designed for use with both phones and tablets.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich features

Android ICS offers a massive array of improvements over its predecessors bringing the best of both Gingerbread and Honeycomb while providing a raft of new innovations.
The company says 4.0 is a complete rethink of Android's image and is part of a push to make the OS "Enchant me, Simplify My Life, and Make Me Awesome."

"Android 4.0 builds on the things people love most about Android," says Google in a post on the Android Developers Blog. "Easy multitasking, rich notifications, customizable home screens, resizable widgets, and deep interactivity — and adds powerful new ways of communicating and sharing."

Minor improvements include better copy and paste, data logging and warnings and, at last, the opportunity to easily grab screenshots by holding down the power and the volume buttons.
The keyboard and dictionaries have also been revamped, says Google. "Error correction and word suggestion are improved through a new set of default dictionaries and more accurate heuristics for handling cases such as double-typed characters, skipped letters, and omitted spaces. Word suggestion is also improved and the suggestion strip is simplified to show only three words at a time."
"To fix misspelled words more easily, Android 4.0 adds a spell-checker that locates and underlines errors and suggests replacement words. With one tap, users can choose from multiple spelling suggestions, delete a word, or add it to the dictionary."

The new OS is designed to bring common actions to the fore, with better animations and an entirely new typeface - more on that shortly.