Samsung Galaxy Note II

Available now
29th August 2012

One of the surprise hits over the past year or so has been the Samsung Galaxy Note, a device that sits half-way between a tablet and a mobile phone. Now, Samsung have announced the Samsung Galaxy Note II which takes the original design and gives it a complete refresh.

The two features that made the original Galaxy Note a success are still here. The large touchscreen has grown to 5.5" in size (from 5.3") and the stylus is still here which allows for more complex interaction and content creation, something that it is almost unique to the Galaxy Note range. And it is a much better looking handset as well, sharing the same styling cues as the new Samsung Galaxy S III.

The Galaxy Note II is a hugely powerful device. Inside is a quad-core 1.6GHz processor with 2GB of RAM, plus either 16, 32 or 64GB of memory plus a microSD slot. The display is a 5.5" 720 x 1280 pixel panel. On the back is an 8 megapixel camera with HD video recording plus a 1.9 megapixel camera on the front.

The operating system is Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" plus numerous Samsung enhancements, especially for pen support. As with all other Android smartphones there is WiFi, 3G and Bluetooth connectivity, and the Galaxy Note II supports HSPA+ downloads of up to 21 Mbps or LTE downloads of up to 100 Mbps.

Enterprise applications are also supported, including various mobile device management (MDM) tools, VPN support and on-device encryption. Given the powerful features of the Galaxy Note II, it could well be a good substitute for a laptop for some corporate users, except you can expect this device to cost around the same as a laptop to buy.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II also supports NFC, plus GLONASS as well as GPS positioning systems. It is also packed with sensors including a barometer, compass, gyro and proximity sensors.

Inside is a large 3100 mAh battery, and the whole unit comes in at a hefty 180 grams and measures 151 x 81 x 9.4mm. It manages to avoid the slabby look of its predecessor and instead comes in an attractive curved design in either marble white or titanium grey colour schemes.

Samsung say that the Galaxy Note II should start shipping in certain countries worldwide from October onwards. There's no word on pricing, but we would expect it to be roughly €700 in retailers, depending on specification at launch.

Overall, Samsung probably have a winner here. The only two questions are: can you afford it, and are your pockets big enough to carry it?

Samsung Galaxy Note II promo video

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