Ola! Been ages since I wrote here, and yes I know not a good thing. Anyway things keep happening and then I can’t manage it all!
So Recently I have been able to get my hands on some really cool devices (If you follow me on twitter, Instagram , you’d know) so yes and one of those Is the Samsung Galaxy Note.
The device as most of you smartypants would know, has a HUGE 5.3 inch display, 1.4 Ghz. Dual core processor and 1GB of RAM. Being an Android Device, people complain mostly of having a bad experience with Battery life on their phones, but this baby comes with a 2500mAh battery. This device is supposed to be somewhere between a tablet and a phone and frankly I feel it is a little too big to be a “phone”.
Day1: Anyway So I have decided to use it over the weekend as my primary device. So far so good, everything is going okay. I had a little trouble getting used to the TouchWiz Home Launcher, (especially the app drawer, which has a shitty way of listing apps in God knows which order). So I have Nova Launcher running currently on it. Everything is working silky smooth, i’ve got almost all the apps I use daily etc. from the Galaxy Nexus (my main device).
As always Contacts and all that is just a button away with no need for shitty bluetooth transfers and syncing with USB cables. Google account > enter details > sync> BAM!. (Check this post to know more)
So I’ll update this post as things happen. Hoping to have a good experience with it as my primary phone (I do use it most of the time for Instagram and all that)
Here are some screenshots for you guys:
So remember to check this spot for more of my views on the Samsung Galaxy note, I’ll have more detailed usage based information about this device and update it here or in more posts. Till then ciao!
UPDATE 11/08/2012
Time - 18:47
So It’s technically day two of using the Galaxy Note. I had been out and took the Note with me. At first I actually did this, checked whether it fit in my jeans pocket. Yup I did that. And surprisingly it fit well, not much of a bulk or anything.
The second thing I was kinda on the backfoot because I felt it would be really odd to receive a call on it in public. Holding such a big device against your face may look a little stupid, but then things were pretty good than I expected. I did receive a few calls in public and didn’t get any weird reactions or looks from other people. One thing you’ll notice, atleast here in Mumbai India is that many people have the Galaxy Note, especially the white one with the flap cover. And if you look around a lot like me, you’ll find out that many females have the Galaxy S II or S III. So Samsung really dominating the smartphone market.
Anyway back to the Note and how it rolls. So what has really impressed me today (after the display being the first reason to fall in love) is the Battery Life. I’ve been using the Galaxy Nexus for some 8 months now and it has a tendency to lose a lot of juice when the display is continuously switched on (while chatting on whatsapp and checking twitter etc.) I wouldn’t say the battery life sucks on the Nexus, because I can easily get some 18-19 hours everyday on a single complete charge and moderate usage. But the Note’s 2500mAh battery is really stable. I’m on a stock rom running Ice Cream Sandwich v 4.03 with the default touchWiz launcher. and auto brightness set for the display.
As you can see in the screenshots above, 49% for some 9 hours, which is really good. Whatsapp, Instagram feed being refreshed like twice a hour, twitter feed being refreshed, camera used, calls and text. The drop in the battery power level was gradual. Which is really something you want, than a battery that falls rapidly on continuous usage.
TouchWiz is a good launcher. I mean if you want something really really *really* light and fast, I’d recommend you go with Nova Launcher. You’ll also get that vanilla Android launcher feel. Anyway The App drawer on the TouchWiz launcher is shit. Today we all hear stories of Apple biting the ass of Samsung because they say they copied the iPhone. I Don’t believe that personally, BUT the app drawer on TouchWiz launcher, if you look closely, you’ll really get a feeling that they tried hard to copy iOS’s home launcher thingy. Bad Samsung.
Speaking of touchwiz, and all these UI thing the manufacturers dump upon the LOVELY LOVELY Vanilla Android is a real pain. Even the folders feature which was refined with the launch of ICS is not up to the mark on TouchWiz even though the phone runs ICS. I mean come on, seriously ICS was pure beauty, why do you want to make it ugly? Well I guess that’s one reason Android will not be enjoyed well by most users. A Nexus Device is how an Android Device should be, Pure Awesome. Sadly many don’t get to experience this. Because Nexus devices are never officially launched here in India.
Coming back to the Note. The Camera is Fantastic. People criticise the camera on the Nexus every second. I personally don’t find any problem with it, the Nexus takes really good pictures. Yes is does suck in low light/night-like conditions, but most phones would. I have a Nokia N9 with an 8MP camera, but it takes shitty photos compared to the Nexus. The Good thing about the camera on the Galaxy Note is that it has a huge list of settings. So you tweak around till you are fully satisfied and take really awesome pictures. And Speaking of pictures, they look spectacular on that *oh so gorgeous* big display. Crisp, Clear and Awesome.
Almost all the apps work nicely on the Note and there aren’t any issues with the display size and app resolution or anything. Yes some widgets tend to be a little odd on the homescreen especially with TouchWiz (eg: Facebook widget)
Holding the phone with one hand and trying to type may be ‘Mission impossible’ but its easy with both the hands. The keyboard and predictive text works fine, and if you’re used to the Stock ICS keyboard you can always switch to it, but I don’t think you’d find a reason to with the Samsung keyboard. Screenshots taken with the stylus or ‘S- pen’ as it’s called.
Videos on YouTube have never been better. The display is like the key player that’s contributing massively for the device’s awesomeness.
Anyway another day to go and I will be writing more of my views and experiences here. If you wish to ask anything about the Galaxy Note, you can always do so by leaving a comment. As of now I’m happy with the phone and not really missing the Nexus. So let’s see how things go!
Until next time! Ciao! :)
