Looks like the extra-large smartphone craze is here to stay
folks. They’ve now update the Samsung Galaxy Note to a newer version, the 5.7”
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 as described in “Powerful new Note
wields mightier pen skills”, published 10/01/13, CNET Reviews.
Samsung’s strategy to make different smartphones to suit different tastes
is apparently paying off. Samsung even plans to make a flip phone smartphone
called the Samsung Galaxy Folder now called the Samsung Galaxy Golden in the
Fourth Quarter of 2013 as described in my blog article
entitled “Samsung
to launch the Samsung Galaxy Folder phone in Q4 of 2013 - Android improvement
of the Feature phone is the R.I.P.D. resurrected Feature Smartphone”.
Samsung Galaxy Note III –
Bigger smartphone seems to be Growing Strong
Samsung Galaxy Note from Samsung has had quite a history, starting out as
an unusual 5” Samsung Galaxy
Note in 2011 then going through an update in April 2013 to be reincarnated as
the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 as stated in “Samsung Galaxy Note 2
review: The ultimate anti-iPhone”, published April 2013, CNET News.
]
The Specs of the new Samsung Galaxy
Note 3 as described by GSMArena are well worth noting, as it’s really for
three (3) separate versions of the same phablet as these giant behemoths are
called, namely:
1. Samsung
Galaxy Note 3 N9000 with 3G connectivity
2. Samsung
Galaxy Note 3 N9002 with dual SIM card support
3. Samsung
Galaxy Note 3 N9005 with 3G & LTE connectivity
And here’s a summarized list of the specs:
- OS: Android OS, 4.3 (Jelly Bean)
- Processor:
a) Qualcomm
Snapdragon 800 Chipset with Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400(N9005)
b) Exynos
5 Octa 5420 Chipset with Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz
Cortex-A7(N9000)
- GPU:
a) Adreno
330 (N9005)
b) Mali-T628
MP6 (N9000)
- Dimensions: 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm (5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 in)
- Weight: 168 g (5.93 oz)
- Memory Card: MicroSD, up to 64 GB
- Internal Memory: 16/32/64 GB
- RAM: 3 GB RAM
- Display: 5.7 inches (~386 ppi pixel density) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 1080 x 1920 pixels
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0, NFC, Infrared port
- USB: microUSB 3.0
- Rear Facing Camera: 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels
- Front Facing Camera: 2 MP
- Network:
a) GSM
850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
b) HSDPA
(3G) 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
c) 4G
LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600
- Messaging: SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
- Battery: Li-Ion 3200 mAh battery:
a. Stand-by
(2G) - Up to 420 h
b. Talk
time(2G) - Up to 21 h
- Features:
a) Accelerometer
b) Gyroscope
compass
c) Proximity
d) Barometer
e) Thermometer
f) S-Voice
natural language commands and dictation
g) Air
gestures
h) SNS
integration
i)
Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
j)
Dropbox (50 GB storage)
k) TV-out
(via MHL A/V link)
l)
MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player
m) MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC
player
n) Organizer
o) Image/video
editor
p) Document
editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
q) Google
Search, Maps, Gmail,
r) YouTube,
Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa
s) Voice
memo/dial/commands
t) Predictive
text input (Swype)
It’s packed with new features and a new leatherette design. The
Capacitive touch S-Pen Stylus is especially noteworthy as it allows for
additional functionality on the screen. Other than that and a much beefier
Processor, bigger Screen and longer battery life, this is basically a Samsung Galaxy
SIII that got force fed until it got bigger. The Review Video from CNET
explains the features of this phablet, but now why people like it.
Already Samsung has competitors in this oversized smartphone category.
The HTC One Max and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra is the Samsung Galaxy Note III's
main competitors as explained in the article “WHICH
PHABLET IS BEST? HTC ONE MAX VS. GALAXY NOTE 3 VS. SONY XPERIA Z ULTRA”,
published October 17, 2013 By AJ Dellinger, DigitalTrends. The comparison chart
below should help you to make up your mind as to which phablet is more to your
liking:
Samsung Galaxy Note III -
Phablets are the new smartphone Tablet
Given the specs and the functionality of the Samsung Galaxy Note III, it
fills a niche where smaller smartphones fail to tread and 7” Tablet just pick
up as stated in my Geezam blog article
entitled “The
Two Towers of Tablets, 7” Amazon Kindle Fire and 7.9” Apple iPad are the Global
Tablet size of Choice”.
It’s both a Tablet and a smartphone. Still, I’m betting this trend that
started in 2011 won’t last long, as Wearable computers in the form of
smartwatches and AR (Augmented Reality) smartphones such as the Google Glass,
albeit better, less geeky designs are needed according to Researcher On Device
as stated in my blog article
entitled “On
Device Research Survey indicates Smartwatches are set to be the next must-have
Gadget - Improved Design and battery Life needed to make them less Frozen in
the past”.
Evidence of this can be seen in the Table-like nature of these oversized
smartphones. Great for doing Tablet Centric work, they not so great for making
phone calls in Public, albeit Video Calling or “skyping” may be the alternative
for those who get these products. My prediction is that they’ll eventually
merge into the Tablet market, with phone Calling being replaced by Video
Calling as 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) spread nationwide in the US of A.
Despite all this, the fact that the Samsung Galaxy Note III has
competition mean that the Trend of phablets is being artificially prolonged,
despite any strong evidence that they are particularly preferred in any way
more that regular sized 5” or smaller smartphones. So take my advice. If you
like the Samsung Galaxy Note III or any of the other variants on the theme
being served up such as the HTC One Max and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, then go
ahead and get one.
Just remember for the price you’ll get more than just a jumbo sized
smartphone, you also get a Tablet that’s packing an intelligent Stylus. Also get
ready for stares from friends and would-be thieves as you pretend to make a
call and use it in the Wild!
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