If I had an S3, I'd probably wait as well. The S3 is a great phone. I had to upgrade because I sold my iPhone 4 to get the 5, only to return it.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Galaxy Note 2 - Absolutely Amazing
- Thread starter KnightMan
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
That's what I'm thinking. I love my S3, and the upgrade to the Note 2 would be incremental compared to the leap to the S4. Plus there was a rumor about a family of Note devices coming at either MWC, or CES. I'll probably wait, but the Note II is very tempting.
Do you really need the bigger screen but at the same resolution as your S3, do you want to put up with a bigger size phone, thats what i'd ask myself. If i had an S3 i would'nt get a Note 2 i'd wait.
Need vs. want sure, and the S-Pen is what I like about the Note II. But seeing as the S3 is still Samsungs flagship phone, I'm definitely going to wait.
Try this app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eikatou0.appspot.home2shortcut
If that doesn't work, back when I used an S3, I remapped the buttons in some file with a mod on XDA. Try finding it, there may be one for the Note 2 as well.
Thanks but app doesn't work. Installs fine, but doesn't do anything. Maybe I need to reboot. But it doesn't offer the setting I was looking for.
I went ahead and replace the touchwiz launcher with the GO launcher since I used it in the past. Will see I can change the home button setting later.
Galaxy Note II just surpassed 5 million moved: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/25/samsung-galaxy-note-ii-5-million-sold/
I'm really amazed how well these devices are doing. But then again, they really excel in media consumption, taking notes, battery, etc. Do you guys think the S-pen functionality should also be incorporated into the Galaxy S4? That would likely reduce the number of Notes sold, especially if the S4 is even larger in size, but perhaps the increase in sales of the S4 could counterbalance that.
There's one more thing you can try.
Buy this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=grandmastersoftware.togglerecentapps and use it with Home2 Shortcut to try and assign double tap to home button for multitask/the app switcher.
I'm not sure if it'll work (for the Note 2 at least) but if it doesn't you can take advantage of the Play Store's 15 minute refund policy.
I'm of the opinion the Galaxy S line should remain a sub-5" smartphone while the Note line can continue to be that phone/tablet hybrid above-5". This makes the most sense to me and gives a clear delineation to what both lines represent. They'd cannibalize themselves, wouldn't they, if they added the S-pen to the Galaxy S line and made them nearly as big as the Note line?
Who knows.
Oddly, I have no interest in either device. I'm sure I'll still get pretty excited once S4 rumors and the event start rolling around. In many ways, I'm more excited about the S4 than I am about what will likely be the iPhone 5S.
I wish Samsung would go back to capacitive buttons. I really hate the home button of the S3.
Perhaps they could make a compromise between the two devices and bring the best of both worlds. It would be great if the Galaxy S4 had a > 3000 mAh battery.
That was overly complicated and pointless. Kinda funny when the poor guy wasted a minute just to scroll down to the 'T'.
Actually it's the opposite of what I wanted. I want to customize my home button; Not to avoid using it. I don't mind holding onto the home button to activate a function.
Check out the top part of my reply at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=34647853&postcount=24
I've got freakishly big hand to match my feet, so I was pretty interested in the Note 2. I bought one this weekend off contract. Figure I can sell it if I don't like it.
Likes
-huge screen. No more squinting!
-speed. It's very fast relative to my S3 and my older 4S. It feels about the same ad my 5.
Dislikes
-size. Fits in the breast pocket of my sport coat and my back pocket of jeans (while walking) but that's it. I'm fully a BT user though so other than portability I can live with this.
-screen colors. OK for normal use, but contrast is very bad and saturation is way, way off. Honestly, this is a huge step back from every smartphone I've used in the past 3 years. My third gen iPod touch looked better.
Sidebar - pen input
I'm not sold on their implementation of a stylus yet. The stylus is so small it negates any advantages it could otherwise offer. Looking in the Play store for a note-taking app that will really let me test this out. Right now the pen feels like a gimmick and not a tool. This is the one potential deal-breaker to me. I could live with all other shortcomings but not having a useful stylus negates the premise of carrying a hybrid in the first place.
I am forcing myself to use this exclusively this week and will report back after.
Likes
-huge screen. No more squinting!
-speed. It's very fast relative to my S3 and my older 4S. It feels about the same ad my 5.
Dislikes
-size. Fits in the breast pocket of my sport coat and my back pocket of jeans (while walking) but that's it. I'm fully a BT user though so other than portability I can live with this.
-screen colors. OK for normal use, but contrast is very bad and saturation is way, way off. Honestly, this is a huge step back from every smartphone I've used in the past 3 years. My third gen iPod touch looked better.
Sidebar - pen input
I'm not sold on their implementation of a stylus yet. The stylus is so small it negates any advantages it could otherwise offer. Looking in the Play store for a note-taking app that will really let me test this out. Right now the pen feels like a gimmick and not a tool. This is the one potential deal-breaker to me. I could live with all other shortcomings but not having a useful stylus negates the premise of carrying a hybrid in the first place.
I am forcing myself to use this exclusively this week and will report back after.
Wow. I would've thought customizing my home button would be much easier like going into my settings and selecting the function/app.
Didn't realize it involves rooting my phone and modifying 'keylayout' file.
----------
Yeah. The colors are over-saturated on the Note 2. The reds and orange colors make my eye bleed. Prefer the IPS screens on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5.
Also, did you notice ghosting when scrolling through text really fast? Very noticeable and jarring to me because of the oversatured and high contrast AMOLED screen on the Note 2.
I dunno if I'm just a weakling or not, but I have a Note 1, and gave up on it, my hands actually began to hurt after using if for a few months.
I don't think screens need to be as narrow as the iPhone's, but I know after a few months of stretching my right thumb all the time to navigate web pages began to cause me physical pain.
I was also constantly shifting the phone in my hand to reach items on the screen, and as a result, dropped it multiple times, and it got pretty beat up as a result. Cases made it too big and bulky to carry unobtrusively
I got an S3, and have nearly the same experience, but no hand pain, easier to pocket, etc...
I don't think screens need to be as narrow as the iPhone's, but I know after a few months of stretching my right thumb all the time to navigate web pages began to cause me physical pain.
I was also constantly shifting the phone in my hand to reach items on the screen, and as a result, dropped it multiple times, and it got pretty beat up as a result. Cases made it too big and bulky to carry unobtrusively
I got an S3, and have nearly the same experience, but no hand pain, easier to pocket, etc...
Reds and Oranges are terrible, skin tones look very artificial, but blues and greens aren't great either. Really, I am starting to wonder if this is fixable via a software update or similar? I don't think its the screen itself (maybe, but my S3 doesn't look this bad). But not a great phone if color matching is your goal.
Haven't seen any ghosting yet but I've only been using it a few days. I'll try to watch for that.
Still looking for a good note-taking app that supports the stylus/pen input. Any recommendations?
Well, maybe more of a "can't have your cake and eat it too" situation really than a pure contradiction.
The size of the screen makes the text very readable even to someone with less-than-stellar eyesight like me. I don't find myself looking under the lenses of my glasses or pulling the phone closer/further from my face to see things like I have with my iPhone 5. And this is without really pumping up font size that much. For text, its great, which is why I give it a pro there.
But to get this benefit requires a larger screen and, therefore, a larger device. A larger device isn't as discreet as smaller phones. I can operate it one-handed, but its a stretch (literally) to do so. Its really meant for two-handed use, which is evidenced by their inclusion of a stylus (unless you hold it in your mouth I guess?). That was their intended use-case scenario. The phone is HUGE. Its not discreet...you aren't going to glance at this without someone seeing you pulling out a mini-tablet. Its conspicuously large. As such, it only fits in one or two pockets. If I wear shorts, I'm sure I'll need either a belt holster or cargo pockets. But there's no getting around this "con" to get to the above "pro."
Regardless, as I stated, I can live with this I think as I'm not going to be holding it up to my face to talk anyways. That's why I have a BT headset. Although I am having a slight issue with voice dialing....could be my headset, not sure yet. Its only working about 2/3 of the time.
I think you misunderstood me. This is what I was directing you towards:
"Check out this video: http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2014178
I think he showed a app that lets you do this."
----------
Try Settings -> Display -> Natural or Movie.
Quoting from http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/50-samsung-galaxy-note-2-tips-and-tricks:
----------
Try Papyrus.
Make no mistake, I'm a hard core Apple enthusiast & shareholder. Since 1991 I've literally spent tens of thousands of dollars on Apple gear, a few times over. PowerBooks, Quadras, MacBooks, Mac Pros, MBA's, MBP's, iPhones, iPads & iPods.
My point? After all these terrific experiences, I must say my Galaxy Note II continues to impress me day after day. When one focuses on taking advantage of everything this well engineered device can do, suddenly being a bit on the large size becomes the last thing you care about.
I have never owned a smartphone that is as fast & fun as this one. The camera is a joy, the battery life is simply mind boggling. The huge feature set of capabilities is amazing.
I've always believed in giving credit where credit is due, and Samsung has earned big praise for this milestone in the history of smartphones.
My brother wanted to see if the Note II fit in his jeans pocket (it did), and on its way out he dropped it on my tile floor. -_____- The screen cracked but not nearly as bad as I dreaded when I heard it drop. It's currently on its way to Samsung today, so I had to go back to my old iPhone 4. It feels like a child's phone now lol.
+1
Had the chance to use a lumia 920 for a few days and after using the note 2 previously it felt like I was hamstrung. Almost like I had a dumb phone. Gorgeous hardware, slick UI, but it felt so limiting. I feel like there isn't anything the note 2 can hold you back from.
The AT&T smart wifi app is the reason for the weird wifi issue I have.
I turn it off after experience the weird wifi issue at work again. After turning the smart wifi app off, everything is working correctly again.
The AT&T smart wifi app likes to turn off my wifi and connect to wifi for me even though I'm connected to a wifi access point.
Thanks for the tip.
----------
I think the Note 2 has amazing battery life and the camera is really good and amazing fast in taking shots. Still want to take advantage of the s-pen.
However, I can't say I'm super please with it.
Still, it's the best and faster Android device I've own.
Contrast is bad? I assume you're talking about the reproduction of whites... because the deep blacks are probably the best I've ever seen on a phone. Also under Settings -> Display -> Screen Mode you can reduce the saturation.