Galaxy Note 2 - Absolutely Amazing

michaeljohn said:

Dont hold it side by side with an iPhone 5 or you will be disappointed you switched. I played with a Note 2 again today trying to decide if I really want one but I am just spoiled by the 5's display. Having all Android phones in the past I never paid much attention but side by side is an eye opener. The Note is darker, even at full brightness and the whites are nowhere near as crisp and clean. Its also very over saturated making skin tones look too orange. The camera on the Note was also a disappointment compared to my 5 when I shot the same items around the store. Still, I love the size of the screen and do miss some of the features of TW, so I am still undecided. Never thought I would say this but I am really liking the iPhone. So we will see what happens when the Note comes to Verizon.

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This is the exact reason why they note is out of the running for my next phone. I held it up to an Optimus G and remembered instantly why I love LCD displays and hate SAMOLED. It's too bad because the Note 2 is really nice. But for a screen buff like me it's a no go unfortunately.

I don't understand what you guys don't like about the screen on the Note? It's gorgeous. I'm not keeping mine because it's just too huge for me, but I don't blame anyone that gets it as it's pretty incredible.

spinedoc77 said:

I don't understand what you guys don't like about the screen on the Note? It's gorgeous. I'm not keeping mine because it's just too huge for me, but I don't blame anyone that gets it as it's pretty incredible.

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Most people don't notice or done care. But there is a clear difference between a LCD screen and a AMOLED screen.

Go to a store and hold the note, note 2, S3, moto droid razr, etc next to and iPhone, HTC one x, LG Optimus G.

Pull up a page you frequent on both, oh I don't know macrumors is a perfect example

Turn the brightness up on both and you will see the LCD screens are actually white, much brighter and much sharper. Colors are also more natural.

It is because of the sub pixel arrangement.

I hope Samsung switches to LCD but who knows if they will because they are selling millions and millions and millions.

THE JUICEMAN said:

Most people don't notice or done care. But there is a clear difference between a LCD screen and a AMOLED screen.

Go to a store and hold the note, note 2, S3, moto droid razr, etc next to and iPhone, HTC one x, LG Optimus G.

Pull up a page you frequent on both, oh I don't know macrumors is a perfect example

Turn the brightness up on both and you will see the LCD screens are actually white, much brighter and much sharper. Colors are also more natural.

It is because of the sub pixel arrangement.

I hope Samsung switches to LCD but who knows if they will because they are selling millions and millions and millions.

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This is why I'm ordering a Nexus 4 (stunning LCD display) and not going the Sammy way with the Note 2 or SG3

THE JUICEMAN said:

Most people don't notice or done care. But there is a clear difference between a LCD screen and a AMOLED screen.

Go to a store and hold the note, note 2, S3, moto droid razr, etc next to and iPhone, HTC one x, LG Optimus G.

Pull up a page you frequent on both, oh I don't know macrumors is a perfect example

Turn the brightness up on both and you will see the LCD screens are actually white, much brighter and much sharper. Colors are also more natural.

It is because of the sub pixel arrangement.

I hope Samsung switches to LCD but who knows if they will because they are selling millions and millions and millions.

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I'm holding my Note 2 against my iphone 4s right now. The Samsung is actually much more vibrant, the iphone has a very cold bluish hue to it. The iphone is sharper though but it may be because of the resolution versus screen size, while the Samsung seems a bit on the cartoonish side with its color saturation, but for me that's a positive. The Note screen looks much nicer IMO, but I can see the difference you are talking about.

spinedoc77 said:

I'm holding my Note 2 against my iphone 4s right now. The Samsung is actually much more vibrant, the iphone has a very cold bluish hue to it. The iphone is sharper though but it may be because of the resolution versus screen size, while the Samsung seems a bit on the cartoonish side with its color saturation, but for me that's a positive. The Note screen looks much nicer IMO, but I can see the difference you are talking about.

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Yeah it's all personally preference. I do like the note 2 screen for some things and not for others.

spinedoc77 said:

I'm holding my Note 2 against my iphone 4s right now. The Samsung is actually much more vibrant, the iphone has a very cold bluish hue to it. The iphone is sharper though but it may be because of the resolution versus screen size, while the Samsung seems a bit on the cartoonish side with its color saturation, but for me that's a positive. The Note screen looks much nicer IMO, but I can see the difference you are talking about.

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The iPhone display only looks blueish because of the over saturation and too much contrast on the Note which is typical is Amoled displays. Doing photo and video work for a living, I can appreciate the truer colors on the iPhone. I love the size of the Note and had the first one but I couldn't stand the way it made my photos look. Skin tones were too orange and it was just far too saturated which was one reason I returned it.

michaeljohn said:

The iPhone display only looks blueish because of the over saturation and too much contrast on the Note which is typical is Amoled displays. Doing photo and video work for a living, I can appreciate the truer colors on the iPhone. I love the size of the Note and had the first one but I couldn't stand the way it made my photos look. Skin tones were too orange and it was just far too saturated which was one reason I returned it.

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How many people actually do video and photo work on their smartphones?
I get that your eyes may be more in tune cause you do this type of work but for the masses the Note II screen is great.

OceanView said:

How many people actually do video and photo work on their smartphones?

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Not many at all but the Note could be a fantastic device to show your work to clients. Thats what I had intended to use it for. However, the dimness of the screen combined with the over saturation and contrast issues make it a sub par choice for that. I have the iPad mini for that now.

People talking about the note display, I think its really good. Ppi isnt an issue. Colors can be desaturated by using one of the 4 different screen modes. Ive never seen contrast this good on an iphone! Loving the device so far, people who arent sure about the display go try one out. Iphone feels like a toy after using this. I was hoping for a bigger screen in the iphone 5 than it has, and better specs on the note 2 sealed the deal over the galaxy s3.

Zwhaler said:

People talking about the note display, I think its really good. Ppi isnt an issue. Colors can be desaturated by using one of the 4 different screen modes.

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Those modes dont change the color spectrum. All they do is lighten or darken the display.

This thing is a beast. Not sure I could kill the battery if I tried.

michaeljohn said:

Those modes dont change the color spectrum. All they do is lighten or darken the display.

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They clearly change the color saturation. Brightness is a separate adjustment.

One clear statement : At 2007 Steve Jobs said that we dont need pen or stylus or some stuff , thats why I hate the phones with stylus or pens or some sort.No mater what they say still the Iphone 5 is much much better for me.

I had a difficult time going back and forth due to the screen at first as well because I preferred the IPS screen. Ultimately Expandable storage, LTE, 5.5" screen, SPen features > Limited 16gb storage, HSPA+, 4.45" screen (due to on screen buttons).

A couple other things I didn't like was the comments about the speaker volume/quality of the Nexus and also not being able to hear it loudly due to the speaker location and flat lay on back design. Just decent camera (compared to the Galaxy Nexus, its a lot better, but that's not saying much if you're comparing it to the Galaxy Nexus).

The screen is definitely better on the Nexus but overall, the Note II is the total package. I like the endless possibilities with the Note while I feel I somewhat restricted with the Nexus.

I also adjusted my display to natural mode and like it quite a bit.

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Zwhaler said:

They clearly change the color saturation. Brightness is a separate adjustment.

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Yes, I noticed this as well.

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serkan said:

One clear statement : At 2007 Steve Jobs said that we dont need pen or stylus or some stuff , thats why I hate the phones with stylus or pens or some sort.No mater what they say still the Iphone 5 is much much better for me.

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That's why apple is suing Samsung for using a stylus.

They also said the iPhone is the perfect screen size for one handed use.

BoxerGT2.5 said:

This thing is a beast. Not sure I could kill the battery if I tried.

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After 12 hour shift I still have 43% left! Browsing, Texting and Streaming Audio.

THE JUICEMAN said:

This is the exact reason why they note is out of the running for my next phone. I held it up to an Optimus G and remembered instantly why I love LCD displays and hate SAMOLED. It's too bad because the Note 2 is really nice. But for a screen buff like me it's a no go unfortunately.

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Really? I can't stand LCD displays because they suck for watching videos/showing pictures. LCD displays show blacks as greys instead of true blacks that AMOLED screens do. I love AMOLED screens because of this.

Agree with the above comment about screens. There is a huge difference in realism between them. Side by side LCD is way brighter, sure, but in actually using this device I found myself dimming it down despite the HD AMOLED being less bright to start. It appears to be a really high quality screen. I also hold the device further away from my face which more than makes up for the lower pixel density. Even holding it at the same spot I don't see any real world visual degredation from having less DPI than a retina display. Google earth looks fantastic on this device, better than on an iPhone and way better than Apple's Maps, which doesn't even deserve to be a part of this discussion. The upside to the Note 2 not having a 1080p screen is ... battery life!!!

My initial impressions: After using Iphone since the iPhone 3G, I was ready for something new. Android for the first time exceeds iOS in my opinion on these devices with the specs to match (Note 2). The S pen works really well and I'm amazed by voice recognition. I could have entered in this entire response using my voice, but I'm sitting on my computer right now. I love being able to place widgets in my home screens, such as a widget that automatically tells me how many minutes it will take to drive home with traffic, wherever I am (simply program in your home address). The only thing that I don't like is in the music player app (great otherwise), I can't seem to jump directly from a song that's playing into the album to pick other songs from the album like on an iPod.
Speaker quality is LOUD!!! Finally a real usable speaker in a phone.
The Note 2 is like a computer/web device (among many others things), with the phone being just one of the small features, whereas other smart phones are primarily phones with some web features but they are not emphasized the way they are on the Note 2 , or Galaxy S3 for that matter.

SomeDudeAsking said:

Really? I can't stand LCD displays because they suck for watching videos/showing pictures. LCD displays show blacks as greys instead of true blacks that AMOLED screens do. I love AMOLED screens because of this.

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I would agree with you but from what I have seen and the countless reviews I have read it seems that LCD screens have caught up in the areas of color and blacks. AMOLED screens still have the advantage here but it is only a slight one.

I'll take the true whites, more acurate colors and sharpness before over saturated colors, slightly deeper blacks and slight grainy text (better in the note2 than s3) all day.

Like I said its all personal preference and the N2 screen still looks really great.

THE JUICEMAN said:

I would agree with you but from what I have seen and the countless reviews I have read it seems that LCD screens have caught up in the areas of color and blacks. AMOLED screens still have the advantage here but it is only a slight one.

I'll take the true whites, more acurate colors and sharpness before over saturated colors, slightly deeper blacks and slight grainy text (better in the note2 than s3) all day.

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If I had to choose, I would choose LCD over AMOLED, but there is no phone that I know of with LCD plus all of the features I want (at least 32gb internal storage, microSD slot, removable battery, 1280x720 screen resolution).

- The first of the Androids I considered, the Sony Xperia S, has 32gb internal storage, but no microSD slot, and a non-removable battery.
- The HTC One X has the same problems as the Sony Xperia S. The HTC One X+ does have 64gb internal storage, but still no microSD slot, and a non-removable battery.
- The Samsung Galaxy S III has a microSD slot and a removable battery, but its screen has Pentile.
- The Nexus 4, while having an LCD screen, has only 8/16gb internal storage, no microSD slot, no removable battery, and has the oddball 1280x768 resolution.

So at the moment the Galaxy Note II is on the top of my list. While it is AMOLED, it doesn't have Pentile. The only issue is that the 32gb/64gb variants are still not available (outside of Korea).

IO01 said:

So at the moment the Galaxy Note II is on the top of my list. While it is AMOLED, it doesn't have Pentile. The only issue is that the 32gb/64gb variants are still not available (outside of Korea).

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I was concerned about this too, but decided its much better to get the 16GB and order a 64GB microSD (got mine for $49.99, they're going for around $60 on Amazon).

IO01 said:

So at the moment the Galaxy Note II is on the top of my list. While it is AMOLED, it doesn't have Pentile. The only issue is that the 32gb/64gb variants are still not available (outside of Korea).

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Pretty much my thought process (except for the Sony) when deciding on phones. I've always purchased 32gb phone but I picked up a 64gb card as well so can easily deal with 16. The other thing I wanted was LTE due to great ATT coverage in my area and better data plan over 3G.

IO01 said:

If I had to choose, I would choose LCD over AMOLED, but there is no phone that I know of with LCD plus all of the features I want (at least 32gb internal storage, microSD slot, removable battery, 1280x720 screen resolution).

- The first of the Androids I considered, the Sony Xperia S, has 32gb internal storage, but no microSD slot, and a non-removable battery.
- The HTC One X has the same problems as the Sony Xperia S. The HTC One X+ does have 64gb internal storage, but still no microSD slot, and a non-removable battery.
- The Samsung Galaxy S III has a microSD slot and a removable battery, but its screen has Pentile.
- The Nexus 4, while having an LCD screen, has only 8/16gb internal storage, no microSD slot, no removable battery, and has the oddball 1280x768 resolution.

So at the moment the Galaxy Note II is on the top of my list. While it is AMOLED, it doesn't have Pentile. The only issue is that the 32gb/64gb variants are still not available (outside of Korea).

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You make a very excellent argument. I think it all comes down to assigning value. You place a high value on those things and I place a high value on stock android, fast updates, screen quality etc.

I do have excellent LTE coverage as well but I am on wifi all day so it makes me wonder if I need it.

I reserve the right to change my mind at any time lol

I switched

I made the switch to the Note 2 on Saturday. Returned my iPhone 5 to the Apple store and picked up a Note 2 from AT&T store.

First impressions are that

a) it doesn't feel as huge in my hand as I thought it would and I even have small hands
b) so much customization is available. I am constantly finding new things and rearranging things just the way I like them.
c) the S-Pen is really handy. I found myself responding to text messages by writing them instead of typing.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with it. I do miss not being able to stream and control my Apple TV, but I have an iPad for that anyway. But other than that, there's not much else I can't do with it that I could do before with the iPhone.

IO01 said:

If I had to choose, I would choose LCD over AMOLED, but there is no phone that I know of with LCD plus all of the features I want (at least 32gb internal storage, microSD slot, removable battery, 1280x720 screen resolution).

- The first of the Androids I considered, the Sony Xperia S, has 32gb internal storage, but no microSD slot, and a non-removable battery.
- The HTC One X has the same problems as the Sony Xperia S. The HTC One X+ does have 64gb internal storage, but still no microSD slot, and a non-removable battery.
- The Samsung Galaxy S III has a microSD slot and a removable battery, but its screen has Pentile.
- The Nexus 4, while having an LCD screen, has only 8/16gb internal storage, no microSD slot, no removable battery, and has the oddball 1280x768 resolution.

So at the moment the Galaxy Note II is on the top of my list. While it is AMOLED, it doesn't have Pentile. The only issue is that the 32gb/64gb variants are still not available (outside of Korea).

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The HTC Droid DNA they are announcing tomorrow has an LCD-3 screen with a 1080p display at 440ppi with an arguably better processor than the Note 2 and its expected to be $100 cheaper too. No removable battery but will have everything else you want. Hope you are on Verizon