Database Users

[Q] From Galaxy S2 to Galaxy Note

People who have/had a Galaxy S2 and are now using the Galaxy Note please share your toughts.
I'm thinking about getting a Galaxy Note.
Only 2 things concerning me is the size (I am big, so wouldn't matter that much) and battery life.
One Review could get 2.3 days other 1.5 day and some reviews didn't came further than 12/14hours.
On My Galaxy S2 (Rooted but stock) I unplug around 08:00 and around 22:00 I have 40% left.
My setup:
2 Exhange push, 2 IMAP (1Hour), Twitter (1 Hour), Weather (1 Hour), Facebook push, Whatsapp push. Total screen on time during a day is around max 2hours.
I am going to get a new phone end of November and thinking of Galaxy Note or Nexus Galaxy

I upgraded from the S2 to the Note. Size is good for me coz i like big screen. Battery life i will say it's better than the S2. and also, i didn't see any custom rom out there that improve the battery life for the note. so once some better rom out for note, it will be much better than s2.

I moved as well from S2 (rooted but stock as well) to this and it's the same experience albeit on a excellent and huge screen. I use my phone for multimedia purposes more than making calls so it was a no brainer for me.
The battery capacity is excellent even though it is powering a huge hd resolution screen. I have had it last all day with 2 1080p music video watching, Shadowgun game playing (10 - 15 min), web browsing (25 - 30 min), 2 x gmail (exchange) and 1 x hotmail (imap) account active as well as using to make and receive calls (15 min).
Hope it helps.

I loved the GSII, but I love the Note even more! At first I was getting poor battery life, like maybe 10-12 hrs with moderate use, but I went to running services and disabled several things that looked related to apps I had no use/desire for, and battery life has shot up. The battery usage screens are really handy. I'm now getting much better life, better than any other phone I've had. Extrapolating, I'm looking at 30-40 hrs per charge. I still need to go through and figure out which apps are keeping my phone awake and draining the battery so I can remove/disable and not have to manually stop the services after each reboot. These are stock apps/services, as I haven't installed that many apps, and none that I didn't have on my GSII, too.

Thank for the quick response.
What about the "poor" call quality (some reviews say)
I use my phone for chatting, mailing, browsing and texting...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

xmoo said:
People who have/had a Galaxy S2 and are now using the Galaxy Note please share your toughts.
I'm thinking about getting a Galaxy Note.
Only 2 things concerning me is the size (I am big, so wouldn't matter that much) and battery life.
One Review could get 2.3 days other 1.5 day and some reviews didn't came further than 12/14hours.
On My Galaxy S2 (Rooted but stock) I unplug around 08:00 and around 22:00 I have 40% left.
My setup:
2 Exhange push, 2 IMAP (1Hour), Twitter (1 Hour), Weather (1 Hour), Facebook push, Whatsapp push. Total screen on time during a day is around max 2hours.
I am going to get a new phone end of November and thinking of Galaxy Note or Nexus Galaxy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Xmoo, nice to see you here too.
Your background use looks a lot like mine, you should have no problems with lasting the day with a healthy reserve on the Note (I'm finding it's battery life much better than my SGSII).
Call quality seems commensurate with the SGSII for me, I think on my end it sounds a bit better, but my fiance who is the main person I talk to on the phone says the call quality on her end may be slightly worse than the SGSII.

Call quality is quite acceptable to me; it's about the same as the GSII. I'm actually very happy with it, as I came from the Nexus One before the GSII, and while it was clear, it was way too quiet and difficult to hear. In addition, on the nexus one I couldn't hold the phone with my shoulder, as covering the second mic made it impossible for the other person to hear me. So now, I'm still very happy every time I talk in the phone because it's so much easier and pleasant, even though clarity is just average.

I currently have a SGS2 as well and it is the best phone I have owned by far. The only thing stopping me from buying the Galaxy note is reports of lag and slowness compared to the SGS2. The large size doesn't bother me, I tend to use my phones primarily for data. No shops stock the GN around where I live at the moment so cannot go and check it out for myself.
Any speed comparisons will be appreciated.

galaxy S2 to note
billu said:
I currently have a SGS2 as well and it is the best phone I have owned by far. The only thing stopping me from buying the Galaxy note is reports of lag and slowness compared to the SGS2. The large size doesn't bother me, I tend to use my phones primarily for data. No shops stock the GN around where I live at the moment so cannot go and check it out for myself.
Any speed comparisons will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure the leg that you're talking about but I think it was due to touch Wiz. I switched to launcher Pro plus and everything is just very fast. What's really different about the Note, other than everything that's been mentioned here, is the size of the screen makes for much better widget-apps placement. The S2 uses a 4 x 4 icon grid, the note can use 5x6 icon grid with everything just as readable. I just took a look at the galaxy S2, boy does it look small and my Note has much faster scrolling with launcher Pro. I imagine that ICS will be great!

True, Touchwiz was also laggy on sgs2
Gonna go play with the note
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

Interesting, TW is more lagfree than LP+ for me, I'd assumed that was because of hardware acceleration which SPB Shell also offers (while we wait for ICS which has it natively).

I wish I were any of you, with my GS2 and already upgrading to a note..

Hmz... Played with it today.
Everything felt better than my SGS2.
Only issue is the size. I got big hands and it just fitted.
But having a big phone like that doesn't allow me to wear skinny jeans

I am upgrading from a gs2 as well. i picked mine up on a trip to the Netherlands. i couldnt be happier. one handed operation is a little tricky even for a guy like me with big hands (more like fat fingers), but i could care less. battery life is as expected, not that great, but wait till someone cooks up a proper rom, my gs2 had a couple hours batt life and heated up enough to cook your face, but a custom rom fixed it and i was getting stellar batt life. in that respect i can only hope that Nitr8, responsible for the gs2 insanity rom gets a note, when i ran the insanity rom i was getting 4 days batt life on my gs2. typing on the note is like using my laptop. also i find myself using the web on it and other services i would never use on my gs2 due to screen size. webpages are easy to read and navigate, resolution is great, and obviously the samoled screen is a joy to look at. the only time i feel a little dissapointed is when i look at a solid colour background and see the grid lines, whether its to do with a scaling issue, or a faulty screen manufaturing process, i still dont care. do yourself a favor and download a 1080p copy of avatar and watch it on the screen. this will be the best demonstration of why amoled samoled and regular ole' oled screens are going to revolutionize how we see movies and tv. the color saturation is a little strong, but i like it. in my personal opinion, if you can live with the little faults, and you can actually hold it properly, i def suggest getting a note.

I just got mine this morning.
I've been using it ever since and every time i go back to the GS2, it feels tiny

xmoo said:
Thank for the quick response.
What about the "poor" call quality (some reviews say)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently, for at least some of the people who were having poor call quality, noise cancellation was apparently on during calls, and that turning it off during the call makes the problem go away. Supposedly, noise cancellation is supposed to be on in video mode only, not for calls, so I assume that it will be fixed. (If not by Samsung, then by this community!)

call quality is good on mine, i have had zero complaints, i even had someone talk on mine while i listened on another phone. everything sounded good. also there are no settings for noise cancellation that i could find..

Had my Note for two days now I use my phone a lot for call, my wife says it looks like a tabletop calculator at that point she picked up the calculator and held it to her head lol,
Its a lovely device but you really need to see it in the flesh cause it's BIG.
I love it but I'm still in undecided.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

Ive moved from the S2 to the note and back...
Im 193cm tall and Ive got large hands but I wasnt able to use the note with one hand.
Here my impressions compared to S2:
Pro Note:
Call quality
Battery life
HD Screen (watching video is great)
Contra Note:
Pen issue (its laggy and doesnt draw correct 2-3mm offset)
The note app is a joke, you cant scroll around like having a large paper
its to large for using it as a phone
its laggy comperd to my tweaked S2
To be real its not better then the S2 only larger with HD screen... The "note" function isnt worth to upgrade only the screen/size and for me its not a mobile device you can handle with one hand.

If only it came in 4.8inch.....
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

[REVIEW - Professional Comparison] Galaxy Note GT-N7000 & GT-N7100

Hello everyone!
Nearly everyone, who is reading this, will own a SAMSUNG Galaxy Note GT-N7000. Our beloved device is a real special phone with many functionalities, other phones doesn't have. But be honest. I am from a more mechanical-technical sector, like from car-planning and constructing.
And one very very important thing about cars is, the first car of a new type, like the new Mercedes A-Class, will have more faults than the last one. That's a proven thing, because over time, the developers change things because of the feedback.
So everyone who owns a Galaxy Note One is kind of a guinea pig or experimental rabbit. Name it as you prefer, but fact is:
Samsung built something from scratch with no feedback at first.
Thats' the FIRST thing why I thought, that I have to buy the Galaxy Note Two.
I fell so deep in love that I thought I must have this device although it's as expensive as three used, but well preserved Note One's.
I spent very much time for searching videos about this telephone and the specifications. I thought the phone is a real MUST HAVE, but after that, I found things that made me thoughtful.
That's why I am opening this thread. Everywhere you can read reviews where people are idolizing the Note 2 and everything that belongs to it. They say it's a real successor and so on. But there are no real objective comparisons between the old and the new one. But at first I want to say, that the Galaxy Note 2 is for sure a real great device and the name successor is partly given right. But not in all situations and circumstances.
Let's begin :
Size of the display and resolution:
Note One: 5,3" with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels, a ratio of 16:10, a density of 285ppi, and uses PenTile-Matrix technology.
Note Two: 5,5" with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, a ratio of 16:9, a density of 267ppi, and uses normal RGB-matrix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
> For everyone who don't know the difference between PenTile and normal matrix, please use Wikipedia.
When I heard that the Note 2 has a screen diagonal with 5,5" is was like OMG :cyclops: ! I must have it. After some time, I found out, that the resolution is less than before and so the density shrinks noticeably. I thought that's a minus point, but then I thought OKAY it's a normal RGB matrix so the difference could be acceptable. Then I thought I should compare that in real, so I drove to the next store, where I can play around with the Note 2 and I came to the following conclusion.
The density IS less but you won't notice it really easy. BUT. Yes, there is always a but. The RGB matrix shows a worse picture than the PenTile matrix. I couldn't believe it a first so I checked again with many different pictures. The Note One provides MUCH MUCH MUCH better clearly defined borders and more beautiful colours. Anyone who can't believe this now, check it out by yourself! The other point is, that pictures on the Note Two get some kind of grey stripes in vertical. That won't look nice and doesn't emphasize the potential of such a big screen. Fact is, that borders with a PenTile matrix a looking jagged, but they are clear.
EDIT:
It's not a RGB matrix, it's a non-striped BGR-matrix. And after some more comparison of the displays, I came to the conclusion, that the screen of the Note 2 is really better. The striped pictures were... I don't know where from. So the screen provides very natural colours and you won't see any bad things to mention. Just test it out by yourself!
Although both phones are not bad, this point goes to the Galaxy Note Two!
Ergonomics (phone itself and also stylus):
The S Pen is an invention that makes sense in every way. It's very comfortable to use it and makes life with our Note's easier most of the time. But the stylus of the first Note is not really good designed. If it's dark it's very hard to find the button on the stylus without holding it near to the display the get some light. With the stylus of the Note 2, there is not such a problem. The side with the button is flat. You will find the button very quick, although you won't look at it and in addition it's very comfortable to hold. Also the bigger size makes it a pleasure to use.
The design of the first Note is a little bit abstract. You need some time to get used to it, but after that, you can use the phone without problems. I know what I am talking about, because I changed from my Samsung Galaxy S2 to the Note. Today I am using my Note without problems also with only one hand. That won't make any problems at all. The buttons have their places and I am used to this phone. BUT... The Note 2 is in this case a real real improvement. The buttons are moved downwards a little bit, so you can reach them also if you are holding the device normal at the lower end. The width of the phone is PERFECT! You can type on the virtual keyboard with no problems AT ALL! So the screen ratio is a big improvement. Also the home button got raised a little bit, so it's easier to push it. Also the round corners make the phone very easy to hold.
Undisputed this point goes to the Galaxy Note Two. (That's also the point I wanted to mention at the beginning with car development.)
Hardware and it's potential:
Note One: 1.4GHz Dual-Core Exynos processor with 1GB RAM and Mali400 GPU
Note Two: 1.6GHz Quad-Core Exynos processor with 2GB RAM and Mali 400GPU
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the hardware components haven't changed since the Note One, but there ARE improvements! The processor changed, the RAM, the Note 2 got Bluetooth version 4, NFC. I won't talk about BT4 and NFC because these are nice features, but commnly not in excessive use, that's why they are not important now. My Note One has nearly the same specs as my Acer 5253 notebook (regarding the processor), so that's not bad. 1GB of RAM is also not bad for Android, BUT it's not the world. It happens very often, that RAM is full very quick and if I juggle between more than four apps like browsing the web, then starting the music player, answering an SMS, reading an E-Mail and making a note, and then coming back to the browser, the phone has to completely reload the app. That can be very annoying. 2GB of RAM are a real enrichment. The processor of the Note One does it's job very good, I would say we should blame Samsung for their interface because of the stuttering sometimes. But the processor of the Note 2 is also a real diamond. It also works really good.
Although the specifications are speaking for the Note Two, that can't be the last consequence. The main difference is, that the Note Two comes with Jelly Bean and "Project Butter". The Note One provides Ice Cream sandwich with no "Project Butter". Also we know, that the memory management of Samsung is not the best, which are causing this stuttering. I don't have any of these problems on CM10 AT ALL! Also most of the apps won't unleash at least the potential of the Note One, so there is no real need for a quad-core processor.
AND there are also some points reagarding the whole phone market. Two years ago, phone's had only single-core processors. Computers already had quad- to octo-core processors. FACT IS that manufacturers were already able to build phones with quad-core processors in 2009, but they didn't because if they use every step, they can achieve more money. THAT'S A FACT! So don't get impressed of horsepowers. What count's is INTEGRITY! I was talking to a Samsung developer of SAMSUNG AUSTRIA and he told me, that the quad-core isn't a real improvement, because information processing get's worse per core. But that's too deep now.
So summarized, more cores are not always more performance.
To be fair, this question ends in a tie.
These three points are the main differences between the Note One and the Note Two.
I WON'T MENTION SOFTWARE-REGARDING IMPROVEMENTS BECAUSE MOST OF THEM
WILL COME TO THE NOTE ONE IN DECEMBER TO JANUARY.
And also I want to eliminate this common believe about the stylus and HOVERING!
Samsung told us, that the Note Two is able to recognize the stylus, although you are not touching the phone with it. WTH is new here? You can also hover with the stylus on the Note One! Test it out and open the XDA homepage and try to hover over the buttons of the page at the top (Quick Links for example). You will see that it works.
Responses from YOU ALL I want to answer:
Koguchi9 said:
Also you didn't talk about the aspect ratio. Personally 16:9 is only great for videos... Everything else 16:10 is a large improvement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I talked about the ratio in ergonomics. The 16:9 ratio is in this way an improvement, because the phone got narrower. It's easier to write on the keyboard, also when you are not used to such a big phone. But in my opinion the 16:10 ratio is WAY BETTER for productivity. I compared the phones also in this way and came to the conclusion, that it depends on what you are doing with the phone. If you use it as a media center, you will love the 16:9 ratio, if you use it for office and productivity like I do, 16:10 is much better. And at the first sight, the Note One's screen looker bigger although that's not true. Only because is wider. Proven.
andrekua said:
Hovering in Note 1 does nothing, but if you hover long enough with Note 2, it will load the menu. While I'm not sure whether it is configurable, the hovering works better in Note 2 due to its higher sensitivity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YOU ARE RIGHT! The S Pen and the stylus recognition is much higher, the Note Two will detect the stylus earlier than the Note One, but both are able to hover something. And AirView and all the features of the Note Two are ONLY software features. I said, that I don't want to mention them because the Note One will get them soon.
msedek said:
You forgot about the 3100mah battery... Slow/fasf motion/burst mode built in camera(0 shutter lag) , and the better audio DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I forgot that! The battery is very big, that's super for using your phone during the day. Some people already tested the battery and some mean you have more actove-time now, but that's partly a myth. The Note Two NEEDS the bigger battery because the RGB matrix has more subpixels to light. They display needs more power. But its true, the battery as blazing strong! More screen-on-time than I need ! And yes, the camera is faster now. The burst mode is a very attractive feature, like the Zeroshutter-Lag. I know much people like these features, I don't care about that, so I'd forgotten to integrate that into my post. FACT ist also, that the Note Two makes more natural pictures, while the Note One's pics are more yellow. And really I can't tell any difference in Audio Output/Input, so thanks for this information!
ChodTheWacko said:
I've had the Note 2 for a couple of weeks, and formerly owned the Note 1 since launch day. (roughly a year). I do want to ask the OP - do you actually have one? Or are you just going by specs?
Here's my supplement to your review, based on my experience of using the note 2 so far.
*) Notification light. At last. and you can customize the colors with lightflow.
*) it sure is nice that the microsd card isn't blocked by the battery.
*) Signifigantly louder speaker.
I find it very hard to find anything to complain about with regards to the Note 2. The only thing that comes to mind is that the USB port is weird, and some USB cables don't stay in well.
The only other major annoyance is JB's fault - that you can't use Apps2SD anymore. DirectoryBind is almost a requirement now if you play huge 1-2 Gig games on the 16GB note. (which only has 10 gig of app data space). That means rooting your phone (which I did, so I'm fine).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first I want to especially thank your for your enlargement of this comparison! And I'm sorry of cutting your post, but therwise my post would get to long. So no, I don't have a Note Two but I really wanted to buy it and I spent much time playing around with one in a shop, so I tested everything in real. And the first point is also for me very interesting, the notification light! IMPROVEMENT IMPROVEMENT! I like it, that the Note Two has a notification light. Really! It's also nice, that you can change your microSD card, but in my case, that doesn't matter, I will tell you at the end of my answer why, because it could be also interesting for everybody here. And the louder speaker. As I already mentioned before I didn't know that, but it looks like the Note 2 has really a little bit better sound processing. And you are also right with the USB cable. It's not possible anymore to use old MHL-Connectors for example. They will fail. If thhe new pin configuration of the USB port was neccessary or only a new marketing gag... I don't know.
And regarding your space problem. I have also the 16GB version of the Note One. As I am using Google Play, my space can shrink very fast because I want to keep the music on my card in the cache. THE PROBLEM IS: Google Music only uses the internal memory, as also games does.
Here is the solution for you:
In system/etc/ there is a file called vold.fstab this file configurates the mounting points of your storages. You can simple change the mounting points of the microSD card and the internal memory and they are swapped with no disadvantages. That makes sense because I am using a 64GB microSD card and now my phone hast 64GB INTERNAL MEMORY. For detailed instructions, please PM me.
abhinav quietly brilliant said:
i guess the note 2 has a 1.9 mp front camera and our beloved note one has 2.0 mp front camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's vice versa. The Note One has 1.9MP in front. But I don't think that this is a real improvement.
Thank you all for your answers and questions!
SUMMARY ON PAPER:
The Galaxy Note Two is a beautiful device and makes some faulty things of the Note One better. The handling is a pleasure and the stylus is a big improvement. All the other changes are only a product of the progressing time. THIS CHANGES HAVE TO BE! Otherwise people say it's old. Yeah, humanity is very very stupid. If you have the chance to get the Note Two very cheap, I would say you should take it. Otherwise STAY with your beloved Note One. It's a great device and also in two years it will be. I also made my decision and came to the conclusion that I will keep my Note One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SUMMARY IN REALLIFE:
So. After some phone calls and much time spent on searching good offers, I got a Galaxy Note Two now for nearly nothing more than a Note One. I will sell my Note One in one week. I have the Note Two now for 5 hours and there are some things, that differ from the summary on paper. At first, the screen is beautiful, although sometimes you can see those grey stripes, I talked about. The screen ratio is WONDERFUL for playing around. Steering works brilliant on the Note 2. But anyway, productivity apps will be circumcised because of the new format. The external speaker is really good. Playing music with it sound very nice. Also deeper sound frequencies are now with more power. The battery is really good. I am playing around now with the display all time on for four hours, making phone calls and using Google Play streaming some tracks, battery fell from 90% to 78%! That's more than fine. And I like those software features. Although they are not neccessary to mention, they are cool to use. The stylus is very comfortable to use, as I already told you. The design is cool, I like it really, I like also the button very much. The home button is a small thing but it makes navigation very nice. Also I like the glass very much. So the design is TOP! The camera is brilliant. Fast in any way. And the rest of the phone also. But that's now only the felt summary. The real one is in between of felt and paper summary!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope I can clarify all the questions around this thorny topic.
If there are any other questions, please post it.
If they are important, I will include them in this post!
I am from Austria and English is not my native language.
I am feeling very sorry for my language rape !
If this is helpful or informative for you please hit the Thanks-button.
Best regards,
Gerhard

Nice comparison/Review dude

Nice comparison Gerhard.
I haven't had a chance to play with a Note 2 yet, however the biggest thing that would put me off upgrading is the lower screen resolution. It may be slightly bigger, but the drop in res and aspect ratio is disappointing.

I see no compelling reason to upgrade either. Happy to wait for the next generation Note or whatever other wondrous thing Samsung or Google have to offer in a year or so.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Nice comparison.. Once the note 1 gets the JB update we will then get a true sense of how much an update the note 2 is.
Also you didn't talk about the aspect ratio. Personally 16:9 is only great for videos... Everything else 16:10 is a large improvement.

There are some minor differences. Hovering in Note 1 does nothing, but if you hover long enough with Note 2, it will load the menu. While I'm not sure whether it is configurable, the hovering works better in Note 2 due to its higher sensitivity. You have to hover near to the screen with Note 1 but with Note 2, it was at least twice the distance (or possibly more, I did not measure).
The rest would have to rely on how much updates Samsung are willing to provide for Note 1 Jelly Bean updates.

You forgot about the 3100mah battery... Slow/fasf motion/burst mode built in camera(0 shutter lag) , and the better audio DAC.
Enviado desde mi GT-N7000 usando Tapatalk 2

I've had the Note 2 for a couple of weeks, and formerly owned the Note 1 since launch day. (roughly a year).
I do want to ask the OP - do you actually have one? Or are you just going by specs?
Here's my supplement to your review, based on my experience of using the note 2 so far.
Pros:
1) I have to admit, the note 2 is more comfortable to hold. Part of it is that it is less wide, but the corners are also rounder and it doesn't jab into your palm as much. Biggest surprise for me.
2) The s-pen is much nicer to hold, and the button easier to find and push. The CPU also makes the pen more responsive. This is a rather big deal if you are a s-pen user.
3) The hardware s-pen switch is quite nice. You can pull the pen out, scribble on the s-memo, and put the pen back in. S-memo automatically opens and closes, making the final result a LOT like pen and paper. Also, having the 'you forgot your s-pen' alert is REALLY nice.
4) The Note 2 is really really responsive. I don't know if it's a factor of the faster CPU, faster GPU, 2 Gig of memory, and/or JB. It's probably all of them together. I thought the note 1 was great, but the note 2 is just insane.
5) Notification light. At last. and you can customize the colors with lightflow.
6) Bigger battery is GREAT. I can't wait to see what the Mugen extended battery is - 6700 mah? gulp.
7) it sure is nice that the microsd card isn't blocked by the battery.
8) Side note on the memory - 2 gig over 1 gig, for me, is a huge deal. After bootup, I only have 1.1 gig memory left. That's with a custom rom that stripped out all the bloatware.
9) NFC - don't really use it to be honest
10) Bluetooth 4 - should save power over BT 3.
11) Signifigantly louder speaker
12) Much better sound chip.
13) Minor thing, but the Note charges a fair bit faster. It's a bigger battery, but stock charger is a 2A charger.
14) bigger screen, but only slightly - 4%. I quickly got used to the 16:9. It's not THAT different from 16:10 in day to day use. It's not like you went from 4:3 to 16:9 or anything. I still believe that using a standard resolution is a good thing in the long run, but that's just me.
15) Gorilla glass 2. I'm not sure if it's a big deal in the long run, as they might have just made the glass thinner to compensate for the extra strength.
16) Power button isn't so close to the corner, so you aren't accidentally hitting it so much.
17) Apparently no black crush.
There are, of course, the numerous software improvements that may or may not make it to the Note 1.
I'll list them for completeness, but they can be considered 'short term' improvements in the Note 2.
A) multi view
B) smart view (i.e. auto-rotate doesn't drive you crazy when you are lying down)
C) JB in general I guess
D) air view
for starters. Those I use all the time.
In short - I really loved my Note 1 but I recognized that it had lots of little annoyances/quirks.
I just accepted them, knowing that the original note was a brave new step into unknown territory.
The note 2 pretty much wiped out every single complaint I had about the Note 1, and made everything I liked about the Note 1 maybe 20% better. I find it very hard to find anything to complain about with regards to the Note 2. The only thing that comes to mind is that the USB port is weird, and some USB cables don't stay in well.
The only other major annoyance is JB's fault - that you can't use Apps2SD anymore. DirectoryBind is almost a requirement now if you play huge 1-2 Gig games on the 16GB note. (which only has 10 gig of app data space). That means rooting your phone (which I did, so I'm fine).
So for me the Note 2 was well worth the money. I had definitely really maxed out my note though, having about 300 apps/widgets on it.
If you're a lighter user, then it's a tougher call.
- Frank

Silberpfeil3110 and ChodTheWacko...Thanks for the detailed comparision...
I have been using note since last Dec and I agree that there are few things which are annoying and could be changed...
Haven't played with Note 2 yet but its on my wishlist

Shrink said:
I see no compelling reason to upgrade either. Happy to wait for the next generation Note or whatever other wondrous thing Samsung or Google have to offer in a year or so.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
me too. It's just not worth the money for me to upgrade to note 2 when I don't even play video games on my phone. Mainly just surfing the internet, and my note 1 is really good enough for that right now.
We'll save alot of money by waiting as always. Hell, in one year, we'll probably have the note 3.

DPMAce said:
me too. It's just not worth the money for me to upgrade to note 2 when I don't even play video games on my phone. Mainly just surfing the internet, and my note 1 is really good enough for that right now.
We'll save alot of money by waiting as always. Hell, in one year, we'll probably have the note 3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He he, that long, the way Samsung churn there phones out your be reading about note 4's this time next year.
I tend to agree that there is just not anything that pulls me towards sending £200 on top of the sale of my note 1, I have used both side by side, and am happy with my note 1. I know people seem to think the screen width doesn't mater, for me I found the note 2 annoying, love the width of the note 1, but then I'm not a movie watcher.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

yeah really. Hell, in 6 months, if I really want the note 2, I could probably buy it used for a good price because someone will be looking to upgrade to something else like s4

i guess the note 2 has a 1.9 mp front camera and our beloved note one has 2.0 mp front camera
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

Koguchi9 said:
Also you didn't talk about...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
andrekua said:
Hovering in Note 1 does ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
msedek said:
You forgot about the ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ChodTheWacko said:
I've had the Note 2...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
abhinav quietly brilliant said:
i guess the note 2...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU for your information!
I have edited the opening post and integrated your questions and answers!
Best regards

abhinav quietly brilliant said:
i guess the note 2 has a 1.9 mp front camera and our beloved note one has 2.0 mp front camera
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me, the Note 1 front facing camera is total BS.
S3 and Note 2 front facing camera is way superior.

Silberpfeil3110 said:
The Note Two NEEDS the bigger battery because the RGB matrix has more subpixels to light. They display needs more power. Of you compare the Note One and Note Two, you will find out, that the display-on-time is nearly the same. Of course if you are listening to music and the display is off all the time, the Note Two will last longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a Note 1 user for a year, and having now had my Note 2 for a few weeks, I can say that for my usage patterns, which are quite heavy, the Note 2's battery life blows the Note 1's out of the water.
Put simply, on my Note 1, I would regularly get 5 to 6 hours worth of screen-on time on my phone from a single charge, whereas on my Note 2 is is more like 9 to 10 hours screen-on - that is in excess of a 50% improvement and means I haven't ever felt the need to carry around a 2nd
battery with my Note 2 (even though I have a couple) whereas I would not leave home without a spare for my Note 1.
I was never unhappy with the battery life on my Note 1, but on my Note 2 the battery life is quite literally epic in comparison!
The only thing I honestly miss about my Note 1 is the 16:10 aspect ratio, because I do use remote desktop and Citrix apps from time to time on my phone, and you do miss those extra 80 pixels in that scenario. However, in every other respect, the Note 2 is a vastly superior device to the Note 1, and I loved my Note 1! (Technically, I still love it as I've kept it as a backup device!)
Regards,
Dave

foxmeister said:
Put simply, on my Note 1, I would regularly get 5 to 6 hours worth of screen-on time on my phone from a single charge, whereas on my Note 2 is is more like 9 to 10 hours screen-on - that is in excess of a 50% improvement and means I haven't ever felt the need to carry around a 2nd
battery with my Note 2 (even though I have a couple) whereas I would not leave home without a spare for my Note 1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the biggest load of crock I've ever read in a while.
If you use your phone under normal conditions, there is no way in hell you're going to get a screen on time of 6 hours on the Note 1 or 9-10 hours on the Note 2.

PoisonWolf said:
This is the biggest load of crock I've ever read in a while.
If you use your phone under normal conditions, there is no way in hell you're going to get a screen on time of 6 hours on the Note 1 or 9-10 hours on the Note 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for telling me that what I experience for a fact is a "crock", but then again you know exactly what I do with my phone day in day out and so obviously are extremely well qualified to tell me how much screen-on time I get? I hadn't noticed that I have attracted a stalker!
I clearly must be very confused, and I'm simply imagining that my phone is still operational when it isn't.
I have no reason whatsoever to lie, so I'll just go on enjoying my 9-10 hour battery life along with plenty of other Note 2 users, and you can go on believing whatever "crock" you wish.
For those more reasoned souls, take a trip over to the Note 2 forums and ask around.
Regards,
Dave

ChodTheWacko said:
After bootup, I only have 1.1 gig memory left. That's with a custom rom that stripped out all the bloatware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was actually the piece of information I was looking for and about to ask about it on SGN2 board.
I have to say the JB memory usage must be significantly higher than ICS. It suggests the Project Buttler is an in-memory caching system to require memory.
Did you remove much from /system/app for house cleaning or just user applications? I'm thinking Samsung features also taking up a good portion of the memory providing the custom ROM you mentioned shipped with the original Samsung Features. Could you clarify that please?
@all users
You should know that if you intend to purchase JB devices it must support 2GB ram at least to be future-proof and not to choke after opening a couple of applications.

I am an ordinary user of my phone with a lot of spen usage during ward rounds. Keep my reference books on my phone. Do a hell lot of browsing and watch movies and music. I dont really need a powerhouse coz most of what i need is already in my note 1. Though i use the camera a lot and would have upgraded if there was a bigger camera. Some features in the note 2 are just not for me. Like air view i only use spen for taking notes or drawing. Dont use it to scroll things on my phone. So a useless feature for me. Multi view is also useless because u dont have enough space to open the messaging and read an email altogether coz the keyboard takes half the screen so another gimmick.
0 shutter lag thing is dealt by the fastburst camera.
Spen indicator or alarm thing. If ur reaponsible u wont loose ur stylus.
People who play hd games should definitely go for note 2. But ppl like ua ahould atick to our devices.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app

What you like and what you hate most on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2?

Hello! I am seriously considering purchasing a Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
I'm coming from an Lg Optimus 4x Hd.
The question is:
This device has some kind of bug?
The camera is good?
The battery lasts about how long?
How is the performance of this device for gaming?
This unit heats up a lot?
The completion of this unit is painted or is it metal?
The function of the S-Pen is useful?
What do you think about this device?
Be honest, what you like and what you hate most on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2?
[EDIT]
Today got the Samsung Galaxy Note 2! I am very happy.
I hope that from now on everything runs as smoothly as possible with Samsung.
LG disappointed me a lot.
I had 3 devices (LG P500h), (LG P990) and (P880 LG).
All devices with critical defects, ranging in quality from the camera, touch screen and gaming performance.
I thank you all for the information provided, and support.
Team, we are now one more!
Thank you!
Sent from my MZ601 using xda premium

Ha ha... Don't think to much. Just go buy it. You will not regret it. If 5.5 inch n 720p is ok for u, then this phone is unbeatable
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

Hey OP that is the exact situation I was in, I had the crappy 4X HD and swapped it for a note 2. Honestly it was the best decision I have ever made re: mobile devices, it completely destroys the 4X and isn't locked down like the aforementioned LG atrocity. Do it.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

No big that I'm aware of. Except you cannot move apps to the sd card easily. Directory bind resolves this.
Personally for me the camera is very good. Maybe not the best on the market though?
I get all day of very heavy usage out of my battery and I've disowned my in car chargers now.
I play lots of games vice city, nfs, and they are all flawless.
It does not get hot at all.
The phone is plastic but I always use a case.
I don't really use the s pen but my kids love it.
I'm really glad I got this phone it is immense. The best phone I've ever owned. I couldn't go back to a smaller screen. The battery is a dream and it's so quick to use.
Buy it and let us know your thoughts

xavierleonelbr said:
Hello! I am seriously considering purchasing a Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
I'm coming from an Lg Optimus 4x Hd.
The question is:
This device has some kind of bug?
The camera is good?
The battery lasts about how long?
How is the performance of this device for gaming?
This unit heats up a lot?
The completion of this unit is painted or is it metal?
The function of the S-Pen is useful?
What do you think about this device?
Be honest, what you like and what you hate most on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2?
Sent from my MZ601 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bugs? No bugs that i notice.
Camera is pretty good, better than most phone camera's.
More than 14 hours battery life for me.
Gaming is awesome, will run nova 3, asphalt 7, and others perfectly.
Mine hasnt heated up at all, nice and cool unless i go mad flashing roms, then it gets warm.
Plastic, and i am enjoying the plastic.
Spen depends on what you use it for, most of samsungs functions seem a little gimmicky to me, however 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity with sketchbook pro for tablets makes this an awesome tool for an artist.
This is a very nice phone, i love it.
The only thing that might be considered bad is the lack of updates from samsung; but that can also be a good thing. I have a nexus 7 tablet, 4.1 was good, 4.1.2 was good, 4.2.1 ran poorly, 4.2.2 was good. The nice thing about slow updates is we will likely never see 4.2.1 for this phone, the bad thing is if we get a bad update we get stuck on it for a while.
Tl;dr awesome phone, you will probably love it.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

The only bad thing is, you will have the feeling of wanting to throw away other smaller phone...
Sent from my Galaxy Note II using xda premium

Guess what, there is a guy who used note 2 which came last year, bought s4 and sold it again to get note 2 again. Just shows how cool is this phone.
After using s1-s3, I was very hesitant to get this phone but honestly this has been my best ever experience since last 8 months with note 2. Just close your eyes and buy it.
What I loved most:
0% lag, thanks to quad core ad 2 gig ram.
battery is toooooo good for a smartphone, you will just love it.
Perfect size.
What I disliked:
Poor wifi signal reception, actually signals dropout/fluctuate very frequently.
Poor low light camera performance, just like other galaxy series phone.

Ooh, toughie. Will try to be as objective as possible. Mine:
Pros:
Absolute beast - no lags, runs anything that would run on it without any issues or stutters etc.
Wolfston Sound chip, which gives you excellent results with your high quality headphones if you use one.
Battery life - hands down the best battery life I've ever had in a smartphone. Can't seem to kill the battery even with super heavy usage.
Expandable storage - nuff said.
Gorgeous screen - in my personal opinion, it has the best SAMOLED screen of all other phones. Love the 5.5'' RGB amoled, calibrate and you get gorgeous contrast ratio and color reproduction with the screen.
S Pen - underrated, helps me to take notes, and browsing is far better with the S Pen out.
Those are the things I LOVE, there are plenty more I like a lot, which I can't even begin to list here.
Cons:
Camera is top notch, but if you're into taking pictures of moving objects, it's bit of a letdown.
Awkward to use one handed - you can use it, but it's still awkward. That should be obvious though, given how large the phone is. Amazing for two handed though, you'll struggle to type in tiny phones once you get used to it.
Relatively poor daylight visibility - much better than S3, but not on par with S4 or other LCD phones. I can see stuff on bright really bright daylight too, but it isn't terrific. If you're always using your mobile in the sun, that might be something to take into consideration though.
---------- Post added at 05:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:24 AM ----------
sohebq said:
Poor wifi signal reception, actually signals dropout/fluctuate very frequently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine actually has excellent signal reception You sure that it's not just an issue with your device?

^^
Device is fine, I updated rom and it did help but no as much as expected. I am not the only one with this issue I guess. The problem is that even in a room where I have router, it frequently fluctuate signals.
sent from: The New S-Pen

i love everything of my note 2 but my note 2 got sds insane chip that drives me crazy all the time but you are good to go with a kernel+recovery patched for sds otherwise this is the best thing i have ever had

sohebq said:
^^
Device is fine, I updated rom and it did help but no as much as expected. I am not the only one with this issue I guess. The problem is that even in a room where I have router, it frequently fluctuate signals.
sent from: The New S-Pen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, is it the router? I mean there must be some workaround surely, because mine has excellent wifi reception, better than my Nexus 7, actually.

I basically don't like the back cover, for me it's pretty slippery and I can feel myself losing grip on it when using it with one hand...and that's basically it
everything else I love about it!

tuxonhtc said:
Hmm, is it the router? I mean there must be some workaround surely, because mine has excellent wifi reception, better than my Nexus 7, actually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have 2 routers and issue is same. Do check 1 thing for me, stay in the room where the router is and monitor the signal strength from the wifi icon. Does it remain stable, I mean stuck at 4 full bars or fluctuates between 3 and 4 bars.

What I don't like is that you can't move apps to sd card and that's the only issue I have with this phone. I know there is work around but not feeling very confident about using it. What I like best is a row of numbers above keyboard. Using omega Rom and it's fantastic. This phone is blazing fast, very good battery life doesn't heat up like my old sgs2. And it actually feels quicker than my wife Xperia Z for some reason

sohebq said:
I have 2 routers and issue is same. Do check 1 thing for me, stay in the room where the router is and monitor the signal strength from the wifi icon. Does it remain stable, I mean stuck at 4 full bars or fluctuates between 3 and 4 bars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Checked for 1 minute, it seems stable, didn't seem to drop at all?
Anyways, regardless - if it was a noticeable issue, I would have experienced it surely?

tuxonhtc said:
Checked for 1 minute, it seems stable, didn't seem to drop at all?
Anyways, regardless - if it was a noticeable issue, I would have experienced it surely?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Consider yourself lucky then.
check these threads, wifi issue is addressed a lot of times.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1956155
-

- Device has no bug. There was this emmc chip bug and sds issue, but it's 'believed' to be fixed by Samsung.
- S Pen useful? Hell yes! I've mainly considered Note for it, and I'm very impressed. I'm not going back to Galaxy S lineup.
- Device heats up? Honestly I've been using Samsung smartphones for 3 years now and I just don't know what this heating up problem is. And I live in a place where real feel temp is 48°C at noon. People saying my device heats up a lot, no offense, but have no idea what is heating up actually.
- Camera? A lot of people will disagree with me I know, but I found the camera to be average, if not below. However I'm a SLR user. Still, iPhone cameras are way better than N2.
- Battery? At first, on 4.1.1, the battery life was awesome, unmatched in comparison to any other phone and unbeatable. Now with 4.1.2, it's not awesome, but still good, and better than any devices released so far. I don't know about S4 though.
- Gaming performance? I don't play games on mobile phone
- What do I think about the device? If you don't wanna wait for N3, and don't like S lineup then buy it eyes closed.
- What I hate most? Only one thing, PLASTIC.
'Swyped' from my GT-N7100

This device has some kind of bug?
The only thing that irritates me is that the Samsung sms app converts > 320 character sms messages into mms ones. Not really a bug, just an irritating feature which can easily be bypassed by using a third party sms app.
The camera is good?
Amazing. Only the s4 can really top it so far as phone cameras go, imo.
The battery lasts about how long?
Easily lasts a day of heavy use or as much as 2-3 days of light-moderate use. One day I was bored as all hell, used it for eight hours (screen on time) while connected to wifi and it still had 30% left when I plugged it in.
How is the performance of this device for gaming?
I'm not a heavy gamer but I doubt there is a single game on the play store which can make this thing lag.
This unit heats up a lot?
Gets warm if you're gaming or something, I'm ordinarily use like emails, Web, etc it is cool to the touch. Never felt it get uncomfortably warm.
The completion of this unit is painted or is it metal?
It's coloured polycarbonate with a painted silver plastic trim.
The function of the S-Pen is useful?
I use it to take quick notes all the time, in the same way I used to use a small notebook. Tbh the pen is just icing on the cake. Even if it had no pen it would be a great phone. The pen just sets it head and shoulders above all other phones on the market right now, even the gs4.
What do you think about this device?
I love it. At first I thought it might be too big, after 30 minutes of using it my Nexus 4 and gs3 just looked pathetically tiny - like toys in fact - and I knew I could never go back to a small phone like those ones. People still laugh at my phone because of its size. When I see them squinting to read emails on their lesser phones I laugh at them.
Be honest, what you like and what you hate most on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2?
I love everything about it - it's fast, big high quality, high res screen, good camera, good sound quality and volume, huge removable battery (becoming rare these days), micro sd slot, and even though it's big it's thin so the size isn't that much of an issue.
What I hate most is that I can't put the phone down. My Nexus 4 and 7, gs3, even my note 10.1 haven't been touched on the 6 weeks or so I've had this phone. In fact I'm selling all of them because this phone fulfils all my needs.
Sent from the mighty Note II

Like:
- Screen size!!
- Performance
- Battery
- Camera
- Smart Stay/Rotation
- Multiview
- More special Samsung features and gestures
- S Pen (I don't use it alot, but its nice..)
- Micro SD slot
Hate:
- Samsung not releasing whatever CM team needs (didn't really understand what they need..)
- AMOLED screen, I just don't really like it. You might will. Its personal
- Plastic build

Like:
- Screen size!!
- Performance
- Battery
- Multiview
- More special Samsung features and gestures
- Micro SD slot
Hate:
- Plastic build
- and the price..
Sent From My Galaxy Note II

From original Note to Note 3

I'd like to know the opinion of people who jumped from the original to Note 3. I'm considering buying one, but I also think I have at least two or more years of perfectly acceptable usage left in my original. Or am I thinking that just because I haven't tried 3 yet?
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4

I too came from original Note 1.0 to 3.0
3.0 has so much more feature than the original 1.0

I came from the original to this new one.
Difference, IMO, was night and day. I would barely, BARELY get a full day of use out of my battery on light usage. I.E. if I did even moderate use throughout the day, it was close to being dead before dinner. And I did complete discharges then full charges once or twice a month to try to keep the battery good. With the new note, I get MORE usage than the original, meaning increased screen on time, increased usage of things like BT, and it seems to last well into the next day. I would say it at least feels like double the usage time on increased usage.
The spen has become a completely differnet tool as well from the original, at least to me. I find I pop it out far more than I used to, whether its to use action memo + popup apps, or simply to navigate around websites quicker. And spen + multiwindow is a dream. Drag and drop works like a hot damn, and while not 100% of the apps support multiwindow, alot of the basic daily driver apps do (web browsing, texting, etc).
I had my original note for a little over 1.5 years, and was extremely apprehensive about jumping on board with the Note 3, especially right out of the gate (I tend to try and wait a while, see if there where any problems or hiccups with the initial release). And I can tell you with 100% certainty, I am NOT regretting it for a second.
Do your research however. Find out what people are having issues with, so you can make sure you don't get a bunky handset. I did some testing right away, and found none of the issues others where dealing with (handwriting keyboard locking up, reducing the screen for one-handed use, etc). While I will admit there seem to be a lot of handsets with wierd quirks on them, if you end up with a solid model, you will be extremely happy.
But remember, everyone is different, and everyone feels different benefits or problems have their own weight. I've seen people complain so much about audio from this device as to seem like they would trade it in for an alternate phone. I LOVE the external speaker. It's a lot louder than the original, and that makes me happy. Other people, not so much.
I hope you get a chance to try one, with the ability to take it back if you are actually not happy with it. GL!

My note 1 was falling apart on me and I had been waiting for the note 3 for about 8 months. The first thing I will say is hands down better battery life. Awesome screen, speakers, response, and a whole lot smarter. S Pen is a lot better to but that's not really my thing.
I would say get it but if you can wait a few months then wait because I'm sure the price will drop by at least $50.
All around very happy with my note 3.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I just made the jump from the original to the note 3 as well. I love it! As some of the others said, I get better battery life and the S Pen features are great.
My advice - is to learn all of the S-features first before deciding not to bother with them. That way you know what the phone is capable of, instead of finding out 6 months down the road that one of the features was something you would have been using every day.
Also... It took a while to get used to removing the S Pen. I don't have much for fingernails, and that made it a little bit harder to remove the S Pen than the original note (at least for me).

I gothad the note for a long time, then moved to the s4 briefly & then onto the note 3.
Frankly, the n1 isn't outdated. Screen resolution is pretty high.
Ram & processor more than adequate for n1 usage.
Yes the n3 is a million times better but you can easily buy two batteries to use throughout the day (by charging them both on a dock charger). Which is what I did with the n1.
I got a second battery for the n3 but I haven't needed to use it.
Is it just because my battery is brand new or does the n3 battery have abnormally good life?

I did the upgrade from the Note 1 to the Note 3 and I am glad I did, Here is what I noticed
Good:
Much much faster. Note 1 was SLOW
Better screen, and easier to see in the sun
S-pen is more accurate.
Battery is exponentially better. My note 1 lasted a day if I was lucky and 3-4 hours with heavy use. Note 3 lasts me 2 days with heavy use.
Improved talk quality.
Much better camera
GPS acquires signal faster and rarely drops it where as the old phone dropped it every few minutes.
Headphone output quality is much improved.
Bad:
Much worse signal strength. I used to get 3-4 bars of 4G, and 3-4 of LTE at my house with the Note 1 and now I get 2-3 bars of 4G and only get 2 bars of LTE in my kitchen and none anywhere else in my house. There is also a very low signal area on my commute home and the Note 1 would hold a call through it where as the note 3 will drop it every time.
Bluetooth talk quality seems to be worse. Seems distorted on my end compared to the Note 1.
Overall I am happy with the new phone and I am very glad I got it. Hoping that the 2 issues I have with it are fixed in a firmware update.

Kumabjorn said:
I'd like to know the opinion of people who jumped from the original to Note 3. I'm considering buying one, but I also think I have at least two or more years of perfectly acceptable usage left in my original. Or am I thinking that just because I haven't tried 3 yet?
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still on N7000 as well, and, thanks to SlimBean 4.3, I don't think there is any point in upgrading yet.
I would have upgraded to Note 3 if they released it with the 6.3" screen we saw on the Mega, but sadly they didn't, so not worth the upgrade.
I'm waiting maybe for the Note 4, or hopefully the Note 3 with the flexible screen, praying they make it bigger.

Surprised about battery usage, I'm down to 50% after a day, but I guess I'm not using it as much as you guys.
The issue about radio connection is worrisome.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 4

Night and day difference here also. Some pluses for me:
Speed - Everything opens much faster. There's enough memory to keep apps in the background and immediately available when switching between them.
Spen - Some features are questionable since I find the pen a bit small for clicking but there is now some level of friction on the tip. It's still plastic sliding over glass but now it feels like the friction gives me a greater level of control for signing docs, notes, and drawing.
Battery Life - I can get over 24 hrs with moderate use (6 hrs screen time) and still have about 10% left over.
Multitasking - In addition to having apps available in the background, I can now do multiwindow and have two apps on screen. Some apps allow you to drag text and images between them. The floating windows are also available but with the way I use the device, pulling out the pen, clicking, and drawing the box take more time than using app tray.
IR blaster - I don't watch much TV but the Note 3 turns on my TV and cable box without me having to find the remote.
If the Note 1 is still working well for you then you can certainly stick with it. It was a great device but when the Note 3 came out I put old girl out to pasture. She sits on my desk now and tells me the time and weather.

From note1 to note2 was night and day. So from note1 to note3 is probably different months.

I would be glad to have note 3 as i use have all family note..i would be more glad if there were no issue with note 3 display..pink hue issue which mine suffer now..
Sent from my SM-N9005 using xda app-developers app

MohJee said:
From note1 to note2 was night and day. So from note1 to note3 is probably different months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good one. The difference is really that significant? I have to get my grubby fingers on one when they hit the stores.
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4

Kumabjorn said:
I'd like to know the opinion of people who jumped from the original to Note 3. I'm considering buying one, but I also think I have at least two or more years of perfectly acceptable usage left in my original. Or am I thinking that just because I haven't tried 3 yet?
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may want to wait before making the jump due to call distortion issue on some of these phones. I ordered two from Verizon, they replaced both, went to corporate store and tried two, so that is six with the same issue. Verizon said they had a ticket with Samsung but no exact date for the fix. I then called Samsung and they confirmed they were working the issue for Verizon but could get no indication as to when it would be resolved. It appears that Sprint which rolled out the phone before Verizon had a Samsung OTA to fix it a couple of days ago.

3686964439
killeraxemannic said:
I did the upgrade from the Note 1 to the Note 3 and I am glad I did, Here is what I noticed
Good:
Much much faster. Note 1 was SLOW
Better screen, and easier to see in the sun
S-pen is more accurate.
Battery is exponentially better. My note 1 lasted a day if I was lucky and 3-4 hours with heavy use. Note 3 lasts me 2 days with heavy use.
Improved talk quality.
Much better camera
GPS acquires signal faster and rarely drops it where as the old phone dropped it every few minutes.
Headphone output quality is much improved.
Bad:
Much worse signal strength. I used to get 3-4 bars of 4G, and 3-4 of LTE at my house with the Note 1 and now I get 2-3 bars of 4G and only get 2 bars of LTE in my kitchen and none anywhere else in my house. There is also a very low signal area on my commute home and the Note 1 would hold a call through it where as the note 3 will drop it every time.
Bluetooth talk quality seems to be worse. Seems distorted on my end compared to the Note 1.
Overall I am happy with the new phone and I am very glad I got it. Hoping that the 2 issues I have with it are fixed in a firmware update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to post an update to this..... I figured out my signal strength issue and my bluetooth issue. It was not the phone it was the case I had it in. The Incipio DualPro Shine case blocks signal on this phone. According to Network Signal Info app its 10 dBm of signal that it blocks. Once I took the phone out of the case It gets just as good of signal as my old Note 1 and my Wife's GS3
Bluetooth issue is a compatibility issue between the phone and my headset. I called the manufacturer for my headset and they said they are having compatibility issues with my headset when paired with the Note 3, the GS4

I waited for the note 3 as didn't see the point in note 2 for the extras it offered.
Anyway. ... Now 3 feels slimmer much better for one hand operation.
Much faster and fluid in use
Superb battery lasts the day with heavy use
Spen is at another level with the features
The multiwindow is propper multitasking... open as many apps at the same time just like your laptop
Screen is great outdoors. .. and very easy to see
Signal and call quality is improved.
Speaker is fine if you remember is a phone and not hifi system.
Camera quality during night is shiiiitty... That's the only downside for me.
Git it rooted running custom firmware and really customised it to my heart content.
Really enjoying the phone. It is the best that's of there for sure. .. and defo worth the upgrade.
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slhawkins said:
My advice - is to learn all of the S-features first before deciding not to bother with them. That way you know what the phone is capable of, instead of finding out 6 months down the road that one of the features was something you would have been using every day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any videos or threads on it?
What are some good featurs?
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Considering Note 3 for upgrade

I am coming from a Samsung Galaxy S3. I am due for an AT&T upgrade early July. I was really leaning towards the new Galaxy S5 but then I saw that I could get a Note 3 for the same price. I am really torn. The advantages I see with the Note 3 are:
---32 GB hard drive space vs 16 GB in S5
---3 GB ram vs the 2 GB that the S5 has
---larger screen
---bottom speaker (which I personally prefer to rear speakers)
The advantages I see for the Galaxy S5 are:
---a better camera (though I would love to hear just how much better)
---easier to handle with one hand
---water resistance
---apparently a screen that is brighter and slightly more accurate
I would like to hear from those who have had both and would like to elaborate or mention more advantages with either device. Thanks!

First it's about size difference. If you dislike a big phone you better don't buy a note. Everything else is a lot better on the note!!! For the same price and if the size is ok for u I would even prefer the note over the s5.

I went to an AT&T store yesterday and messed with a Note 3 for a while. The screen is humongous but the Galaxy S5 isn't too far from the same size with a much smaller screen.
I've liked everything about my Galaxy S3 except battery life (I now have a 3500 mah battery) and heating issues when doing gaming with, for example, Minecraft, even at its lowest graphical setting. I just can't game for more than 15-20 minutes on this phone without it getting extremely hot. Screen temperatures easily reach 100 within that time span.
Yesterday, I played Dead Trigger on the Note 3 for about 15 minutes. The phone did get quite warm on the screen side opposite the camera. It wasn't as bad as my S3 but it was a tad disappointing. Unfortunately the S5 next to it didn't have Dead Trigger on it and so I couldn't do a "heat" comparison.
BTW, hearing a lot about GPS issues and some suggesting not to upgrade to KitKat. Has the GPS issue been fixed without me having to run a custom ROM?
Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

Capa1970 said:
I went to an AT&T store yesterday and messed with a Note 3 for a while. The screen is humongous but the Galaxy S5 isn't too far from the same size with a much smaller screen.
I've liked everything about my Galaxy S3 except battery life (I now have a 3500 mah battery) and heating issues when doing gaming with, for example, Minecraft, even at its lowest graphical setting. I just can't game for more than 15-20 minutes on this phone without it getting extremely hot. Screen temperatures easily reach 100 within that time span.
Yesterday, I played Dead Trigger on the Note 3 for about 15 minutes. The phone did get quite warm on the screen side opposite the camera. It wasn't as bad as my S3 but it was a tad disappointing. Unfortunately the S5 next to it didn't have Dead Trigger on it and so I couldn't do a "heat" comparison.
BTW, hearing a lot about GPS issues and some suggesting not to upgrade to KitKat. Has the GPS issue been fixed without me having to run a custom ROM?
Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any GPS issues on the Note 3, but I wouldn't base your decision on the GPS anyway since it's a problem which can be fixed. Like I said before it's about your preference. Try to focus on the things you really need/want to see on your device and look also for different Android phones. There are so many good devices on the market and if you can wait there will be some more beasts coming in the next couple of months!!! Me personally god used to the size and smaller devices feel like toys when I use them.
From what I heard you need a better battery life and good gaming and over all performance. Something else?(music, camera)

Thanks for the reply. Battery life, no exaggerated heat when gaming, camera, very good speakers, and removable battery are the most important things to me. I absolutely love the HTC M8 but the camera and non-removable battery kill it for me. I would really love to have front speakers, but the other candidate, Sony Z2, has bezels too big for my taste.
I am waiting on more information on the LG G3 and this Galaxy Prime that I keep on hearing about. As mentioned earlier, I am due for an upgrade in early July and so I have time to really think about things but I like doing my research months in advance instead of last second.
I mentioned to my brother that I was considering the Note 3 and he said that is has reception issues---dropped calls, weak signal, etc. I googled it and there were some threads on the subject. Any comments on this potential issue?

Weak signals and dropped calls would be a network issue not really a handset issue
I came from a s3 to a note 3 and I'll never look back anything smaller feels miniscule now initially took time to adjust to the size of the screen but now I can't see me ever using a smaller device
Battery has served me well get a full day out of it no problem
You won't find a phone that won't heat up while gaming it's impossible to cool a device operating at full power without some sort of cooling mechanics other than heatsinks
Phone will take anything you throw at it and then some
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I own both. (I'm using my S5 as a glorified mp3 player these days, as the screen is too small for me.) Much prefer the Note 3.
The camera on the S5 is in no significant way better than that on the Note 3. I'm an actual photographer so I haven't used any of the filters, and I set everything manually, but in term of picture quality, both are rubbish in low light. In bright light they're near equal.
In terms of screen the S5 is smaller with a higher pixel density. You can only see it when you're about 2cm away from your screen. The colours are slightly more saturated on the S5. (That's a matter of preference, I prefer somewhat more normal colours. Mainly because I can't stand the ghastly Touchwiz colours on the S5.)
Each phone heats up whilst gaming. That's what happens when the plastic case serves as the heatsink without any other fan or coolant. Particularly if you're holding it. The more powerful the device, the more it heats up.
I have no issues with GPS on KitKat. It locks quickly, is stable and has no satelite loss. Call reception is also fine, any drops in signal is entirely due to the sometimes hilariously bad coverage of my provider. (I've nagged them about that. Repeatedly. In person, at their HQ, to the network manager. No luck.)
The S5 is a bit better at handling drops and bumps. The Note 3 is a bit more fragile, so if you lead an active lifestyle or you're clumsy, consider a case.
If you have the time, I would indeed suggest waiting for the S5 Prime before making your choice. http://www.sammobile.com/2014/05/09...ith-qhd-display-snapdragon-805-android-4-4-3/

ShadowLea said:
I own both. (I'm using my S5 as a glorified mp3 player these days, as the screen is too small for me.) Much prefer the Note 3.
The camera on the S5 is in no significant way better than that on the Note 3. I'm an actual photographer so I haven't used any of the filters, and I set everything manually, but in term of picture quality, both are rubbish in low light. In bright light they're near equal.
In terms of screen the S5 is smaller with a higher pixel density. You can only see it when you're about 2cm away from your screen. The colours are slightly more saturated on the S5. (That's a matter of preference, I prefer somewhat more normal colours. Mainly because I can't stand the ghastly Touchwiz colours on the S5.)
Each phone heats up whilst gaming. That's what happens when the plastic case serves as the heatsink without any other fan or coolant. Particularly if you're holding it. The more powerful the device, the more it heats up.
I have no issues with GPS on KitKat. It locks quickly, is stable and has no satelite loss. Call reception is also fine, any drops in signal is entirely due to the sometimes hilariously bad coverage of my provider. (I've nagged them about that. Repeatedly. In person, at their HQ, to the network manager. No luck.)
The S5 is a bit better at handling drops and bumps. The Note 3 is a bit more fragile, so if you lead an active lifestyle or you're clumsy, consider a case.
If you have the time, I would indeed suggest waiting for the S5 Prime before making your choice. http://www.sammobile.com/2014/05/09...ith-qhd-display-snapdragon-805-android-4-4-3/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is exactly how I compare the two devices just a lot more detailed lol.
In September/October should be the note 4 release and if I wouldn't have the note 3 now I would definitely wait. (I will probably still upgrade cause of my cell phone interest/addiction)

Guys, thanks for the replies and, Shadow Lea, thanks for the detailed comparison! I'm sure that it is close, but which one would you say has better battery life?

Capa1970 said:
Guys, thanks for the replies and, Shadow Lea, thanks for the detailed comparison! I'm sure that it is close, but which one would you say has better battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I myself have always found the note series vs the s series that the note had way better battery life and camera wise your photos will about the same but since you due in July wait for note 4 or the s5 prime
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Capa1970 said:
Guys, thanks for the replies and, Shadow Lea, thanks for the detailed comparison! I'm sure that it is close, but which one would you say has better battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say they're fairly even matched. The S5 is smaller, but has a smaller battery. I do feel my Note 3 lasts a bit longer, but maybe because I put more effort into extending the batterylife.

I am seeking some clarity. Exactly which Snapdragon 800 chipset is in the AT&T Galaxy Note 3? This article assumes that it is the variant with ram clocked at 933 MHz and the GPU at 550 MHz:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/snapdragon-801-performance-xperia-z2,3777-3.html
However, I've seen articles that have the ram at 800 MHz and the GPU at 450 MHz. Which is correct?

Don't buy the current S5 as Samsung is going to release a better version of it with a better chipset and more RAM and Quad HD display. The Note 3 is just as good for photos, has the S-Pen, speakers at the bottom as stated before, 128 GB Micro SD slot, same screen resolution, more RAM, and almost the same processor speed. W/ the S5, you're just getting features the Note 3 will get sometime later in the year, waterproofing (case can solve that w/ good research), and an easier device to carry around. People joke about my Note 3 a bit saying it's too big, but I honestly don't care because most people use that crappy iPhone 4S or something miniscule.

IMO just wait for the Note 4 right now.

First off - prefer the Note 3 because of the larger screen, however one thing that the others haven't mentioned is that the S5 comes with Kitkat which has restricted access to the SD card. The note 3 might still come with android 4.3 (if you are lucky) which allowed full access to the SD card. Obviously if you don't use the SD card than this is of no interest however if you do then, to me, this is a really important issue. Fortunately I jusy got my phone on a two year contract so I have at least 19 months before I have to worry! (as long as I don't press the firmware upgrade button by mistake!) Hope Google put something better in place in android 4.5 or android 5 or reverse this stupid decision.

What restriction r u talking about? I'm on kk.
@op if you get the chance compare it hands on. I heard a lot of people disliking the size of a note!!! It is most important that u like your phone and feel comfortable or else u regret spending money on it and start threats about strange issues u have in the forum Good luck with your decision. And as I said before at least wait for the note 4 if the screen size isn't a problem.

Google kitkat sd card issues tons of complaints. Someone has even started a petition. Although you can save your photos and music to the sd card all apps must save to a single app specific directory and are not allowed to write to other directories. E.g.take a photo with your phone them try and edit it with another programme. Because you aren't allowed to save it to the original directory you will end up with two copies in different locations. Also when you uninstall an app any data on the sd card will be deleted! Right pain in the ...neck!
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Barneyabz said:
Google kitkat sd card issues tons of complaints. Someone has even started a petition. Although you can save your photos and music to the sd card all apps must save to a single app specific directory and are not allowed to write to other directories. E.g.take a photo with your phone them try and edit it with another programme. Because you aren't allowed to save it to the original directory you will end up with two copies in different locations. Also when you uninstall an app any data on the sd card will be deleted! Right pain in the ...neck!
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously the SD card issue isn't a big deal. The only problem is for old apps. But if you're using a new device, you should download apps that are optimized for your OS instead of running old apps anyways.
If the developer didn't bother with an update for a big permission change then obviously it's a sign that you should find a new app because If the app was like a banking app or something related to work, and they didn't update to 4.4 permissions, then how would you rely on them when a huge exploit for the app is released which leaked all your passwords and vital information?
Rooting allows for you to bypass this, but in all honesty, the play store is filled with new apps that always get updated weekly (especially File sharing apps) and you should use those instead. I understand not everyone can do this, but by choosing to buy a 4.4 device (even if you did an update you should have read up about changes), you automatically assume 4.4 features to be what you will live with.

It's ok. I bought a 4.3 device and read about the changes in 4.4 so I haven't updated. Personally I wanted my phone and next tablet to replace a Windows PC. Android 4.4 won't work for me. So I'll stay on 4.3 until warranty is up then upgrade and root. Next tablet will be a windows 8 not android.
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Barneyabz said:
It's ok. I bought a 4.3 device and read about the changes in 4.4 so I haven't updated. Personally I wanted my phone and next tablet to replace a Windows PC. Android 4.4 won't work for me. So I'll stay on 4.3 until warranty is up then upgrade and root. Next tablet will be a windows 8 not android.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would definitely wait with win 8 tablets. The most r crap and the good ones r waaaay 2 overpriced. Know the win cycle one software good one bad... Windows 7 was good Vista bad XP good... Think about it