Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Review

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has an amazing 5.5” display, and could be the perfect phone for big hands.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 review: bigger, more powerful and to give rivals a run for their money

Samsung says that the Galaxy Note 2 has the best of both worlds – a big display and top-tier hardware in the same body. So, if you like playing games, reading books and magazines and watching films, this phone is just made for you.

Galaxy Note 2

Apps like Google Play magazines and Google Play books are great, they use the screen to its full, and you feel like you’re using the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 to its full extent; it’s as good as e-book gadgets and smaller tablets.

The 1.6GHz quad-core chip will delight gamers no end. It doesn’t have a control pad like on handhelds, but its display is larger than those on devices like the PlayStation Vita.

Unfortunately, the 1,290×720 HD display isn’t as good as it could be, as images sometimes appear faint and washed out, and not as sharp as those on the Samsung Galaxy S3. This screen is good for reading, though.

One of the best things about the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is the S-Pen stylus, which is just brilliant. If you can do it on pen and paper, you can do it faster and better on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. S-Pen makes texting easier, too, as the Note 2 is good at recognising what you write on the screen.

The first Samsung Galaxy Note 2 had a 5.3” display, and while the Galaxy Note 2 has a bigger screen, the overall size and shape of the device is pretty much the same, except that the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is a bit taller and narrower.

When you put the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 against other handsets, it is pretty big, even compared to the Galaxy S3 and its 4.8” display.

While most people will need two hands to use the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, you can use one hand if you move the keyboard over to one side of the device – go to the Settings option and take it from there.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has an 8MP rear camera, as well as NFC, which means you can send photos straight to other Android devices.

While the Samsung Galaxy Note 2’s speaker is louder than a lot of other phones, it’s quality isn’t as good as you might expect, which is a shame.

The battery should give you around seven hours of usage, so you can do a combo of streaming movies, surfing and gaming during a medium haul flight. Phew!

The Galaxy Note 2 works on Jelly Bean 4.1, and you can expect regular updates to new Android OS versions as they come out.

One big disappointment is the scanty 16GB of internal storage.  You’ll be pleased to know that you can get an SD card for a further 64GB of space.

If your hands are larger than average, or you’re comfortable using both, then you will love the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, as it demonstrates how bigger really can be better sometimes.