The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is out, after a splashy private global launch in Munich, Germany at the heels of the IFA Berlin 2013 tech show, 10 km away. I was lucky enough to be there with a first-hand look at the Note 3 and yet to be delivered Gear smart watch.
Now that the Note 3 is out with all the cellcos and I have had the Note 3 to play around with, kindly from TELUS, I can talk about it a bit more, as I showed today on GlobalTV Sunday Morning News.
It’s still love at first site with a remarkable piece of engineering and design, noticeably thinner (8.3 mm), narrower and a hair longer than the previous Note 2, yet with a larger 5.7 – inch Super AMOLED full HD screen at pixel density of 386 dots per inch. You simply cannot see pixels with the naked eye. It costs more than the previous Note 2, a disappointment, compared to Apple’s tradition of keeping the same price on new products and discounting older ones. Samsung has been able to get away with sticking with its higher prices, arguably with better made devices, compared to similar competitive products. The leather look alike with faux stitching back does feel and look nice. Its available at all cellcos for $299 with a two-year plan.
There is no competition to the Note 3, a large phone that can double as a very usable tablet, so let’s check out how much better it is as Samsung’s flagship of all-in-one devices.
Samsung’s special, designed “S” apps like S Voice and S Planner, all above the usual Android Jelly Bean 4.3 apps and features, give much value to the phone over other makers. Of note is My Magazine, a Samsung partnership with Flipboard for integrated social and news feeds but with a Personal channel for a magazine look of your pictures, videos notes and more. Very cool.
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The biggest user improvement on the Note 3 is integrated S Pen functionality allowing for a far more new pen experience. Now, there is an initial learning curve to using the S Pen but here are some cool examples of what you can do:
-Removing the Pen from its slot assumes you want to use it, so the screen starts reacting to the Pen, including the Air Command, making things happen onscreen by hovering the pen a few mm over it. The first thing you see is a circular pop-up menu action: Action Menu, Scrap Booker, Screen Write, S Finder and Pen Window.
-You can draw a simple marquee over part of the screen to copy and insert to a tray of apps that shows below, like Gmail, Scrapbook, EvernoThite and more, all time saving stuff.
-Draw out an email or phone number and Action Memo will recognize context and send it to the right app. Think of as directing your scribblings to apps like your browser or contacts.
-Screen Writer lets you grab a screen shot and write notes of arrows, like added info on a map you are sharing.
-The Pen Window lets you draw a rectangle of any size or shape onscreen, and you can pick an app to show inside this floating window. For example, you can open a mini calculator of hand written expenses you have been recoding during trip.
-The Pen can now press the S Pen on capacitive buttons, another time saver.
A very innovative feature on the Note 3 is One-handed operation, which shrinks and adjusts the entire working screen to a smaller size so you can use the device with hand. You can change the size and move it anywhere on the 5.7 inch screen where its most comfortable to use with your left or right hand and thumb. It’s like running a smaller 4 inch screen phone floating on a blank background of the larger screen.
The large 3200 mAh battery fits snug and the piggyback slot for Sim and MicroSD card smarty saved space for the thinner Note 3. Even the external micro USB charger is combined with a smaller port for an optional combined connector for much faster transfers. The microSD slot can take up to hard to find 64 GB cards, but Samsung’s sample 64 GB card we were given in Germany at the launch works fine.
The Note 3 is an LTE phone with six bands and frequencies so it will pretty much work well anywhere.
The 13 megapixel camera is similar quality to that of the S4. Great looking pictures that beat out any other smartphone (except the much superior 41 megapixel Nokia 1020) including the iPhone 5S. But once shooting in dim light inside without flash, the quality degrades quickly with digital noise and a noticeable drop in sharpness. But the photo features like Best Photo, Beauty Face, Best Face, Sound & Shot, Drama multiple exposures of action scenes, animated photo, Golf Swing multiframe in one recording, Erasor (removing people who get in the way in a busy scene), excellent Surround shot and more, make up for the sensor’s shortcomings.
Is the Note 3 worth upgrading to? If you have never used one, yes. It’s a phone, small sharp tablet and hand writer. Even Note 2 owners might want to pass down their older device for the Note 3 for the larger screen, thinness, longer running and better quality photos. Being able to shoot 4K video is a game changer. Using that special USB 3.0 extra micro USB slot I mentioned earlier with the right cable will facilitate speedy 4K transfers to larger screen capable player.
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