It is late 2012, and Samsung has just doubled down on the ‘Phablet’ experiment with the Galaxy Note II (N7100). If the original Note was a curious prototype, the Note II is a polished, high-performance workstation that has converted the UK tech press from skeptics to believers. It is a 183g behemoth that manages to feel more ergonomic than its predecessor, thanks to a slightly narrower 16:9 aspect ratio and a smoother, more rounded ‘pebble-inspired’ design similar to the Galaxy S III. In the hand, it feels like a serious tool, finished in ‘Titanium Grey’ or ‘Marble White’ with a high-gloss finish that looks and feels remarkably sophisticated.
The technical headline is the massive 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display (1280 x 720). While it moves to a non-PenTile subpixel arrangement, the result is a screen that is brighter, more natural, and incredibly sharp for its size. It is the perfect canvas for the redesigned S Pen, which has been physically lengthened and thickened for a better grip. Technically, the S Pen is now a marvel: it features 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity and ‘Air View’, allowing you to hover the pen over emails, calendar entries, or video timelines to see a preview without actually touching the screen. Under the hood, the Note II is a beast, powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor and 2GB of RAM. In 2012, this is effectively the most powerful mobile computer you can buy in the UK, handling heavy multitasking with a level of ease that is genuinely startling.
Multimedia and productivity are where the Note II’s technical specs shine. It features ‘Multi-Window,’ which allows you to split the massive screen in half and run two apps simultaneously, for example, watching a YouTube video while taking notes in S Note. The 8-megapixel camera is fast and reliable, capturing 1080p video with excellent clarity. Connectivity is top-tier: 4G LTE ready, Wi-Fi n, NFC, and GPS. Because of its size, Samsung has packed in a 3,100 mAh battery, which is a technical necessity that pays off in spades; it is one of the first flagships that can easily survive two days of moderate use. The Galaxy Note II is the definitive ‘power-user’ handset, a device that proved big screens were here to stay by making them incredibly useful.