Samsung Galaxy Note III is an excellent alternative to the Apple iPhone - Phablet competition from the HTC One Max and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra signals long lasting trend

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”.

That phone isn’t a surety, but the Dual-SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) 3.3” Dual-Screen Samsung Hennessy SCH W789, the second such flip feature phone based on this concept of a feature phone smartphone is, at least for the Chinese and South Korean market as explained in my blog article entitled “Samsung launches the Dual-SIM 3.3” Dual-Screen Samsung Hennessy SCH W789 in China - The Samsung Galaxy Folder’s is Bounti Killa’s It’s a Party who sips on Hennessy”.

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.

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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:

1. OS: Android OS, 4.3 (Jelly Bean)
2. 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)

3. GPU:

a)      Adreno 330 (N9005)

b)      Mali-T628 MP6 (N9000)

4. Dimensions: 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm (5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 in)
5. Weight: 168 g (5.93 oz)
6. Memory Card: MicroSD, up to 64 GB
7. Internal Memory: 16/32/64 GB
8. RAM: 3 GB RAM
9. Display: 5.7 inches (~386 ppi pixel density) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 1080 x 1920 pixels
10. Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0, NFC, Infrared port
11. USB: microUSB 3.0
12. Rear Facing Camera: 13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels
13. Front Facing Camera: 2 MP
14. Network:

a)      GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

b)      HSDPA (3G) 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

c)      4G LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600

15. Messaging: SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS

16. Battery: Li-Ion 3200 mAh battery:

a.       Stand-by (2G) - Up to 420 h 

b.      Talk time(2G) - Up to 21 h

17. 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.

Samsung Galaxy Note III – Competitors are Barbarians at the Gate

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.

That’ll mean less persons putting these obnoxious bricks to their ears and more persons wearing a wireless Bluetooth headset or even a device looking like a Google Glass or smartphone synchronized to their phablet to take calls without having to back out this chopping board of a smartphone in Public. After all, it not just the looks that are killer; the phone’s value and size make it an easy target for purse snatching thieves hoping to grab a device quick and resell it. 

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!