UK Users, a few questions about the Note 2

[Wilkas]

Hey guys, sorry for any duplicate questions that have been asked before and also the reason I'm directing this to UK users is our phones generally have different specs to our American friends. I know you can look stuff up on various review sites but I like to know from people who actually own the phone as benchmarks are inaccurate as the phone settles after a couple of weeks.

Due to breaking my One X I've bought out my contract, had it fixed and decided to sell and get either a One X+ or a Galaxy Note 2. I know everything I need to know about the former but I haven't had a chance to play around with the N2 yet so just need to know a couple of things.

Firstly, powering that quad core processor and huge screen is a pretty decent capacity battery. In the One X you have a power saving core but does the N2's battery last.. approximately how long do you get medium to high internet and app usage?

Is the UI the same as the Galaxy S3 or does something set it apart, also is the screen quality worse, same or better than the S3?

What is the quality of the camera?

Are there apps made especially for it, does it get a lot of support with games and stuff?

What is the build quality like, better than an S3?

What sets it apart from other phones? Many people I know who had the first Note have said they'll never go back to a smaller phone again, what is so special about it?

Thanks in advance for anyone helping and answering a couple of these.

 

[Nelviticus]

I've moved from an S2 so can't compare it to an S3; I've also only had it a few days during which I've been using it a lot more than normal so I can't give a definitive comment on battery life. However even with the over-use I have a LOT more battery left at the end of the day than I did with the S2. I sat playing Major Mayhem for an hour or so last night and it probably used < 10% (at least I think so; I was a bit dazed by the time I stopped!)

Camera's pretty good, nowhere near as good as an SLR but more than adequate for casual snapping. Haven't really tried it out yet.

Not many apps are made specifically for it as it's pretty new, but it's been selling like hot cakes so I expect to see more in the future. That said, there aren't many device-specific things that an app could implement apart from the pen and there aren't many apps that would benefit from a pen, so it'll probably be mostly drawing apps. Apparently Autodesk's SketchBook supports the pen and there are a few others.

Build quality is nice, but it's plastic so it's not going to feel like an iPhone. I don't like the shiny back as that makes it feel too slippy, I much preferred the textured back on the S2. The stylus locks in nicely so isn't likely to fall out but beyond that, it's a rectangular lump so there's not much that can bend/break/snap off.

What sets it apart? Power, stylus, huge screen. But mostly the huge screen. Web browsing scales in enjoyability in direct proportion to screen size.

On the down-side, my times in Solitaire are way off as you have to move the cards further!

 

[MISS DIVA]

I've come from the Note 1 and the difference in battery life is staggering, it just lasts for so much longer.

Its really fast and the s-pen functionality upgrade is very welcome, however I don't like the new shape of the pen so I use my Note 1 pen enclosed in the holder kit (see attached photo)

The smaller width makes it easy to hold and the screen is lovely. I use a case and screen protector as I don't want to damage my "precious"

I love it and I'm expecially pleased that Tmobile give customers the LTE version

 

[MISS DIVA]

Forgot to mention build quality - I'm happy with it, I own the following Samsung phones which are all made from plastic and they are in perfect condition even after being dropped

Apollo, GS2, Galaxy Y and Note 1

Ive also attached some battery stats. I haven't used the phone/internet much as Tmobile didn't initially send me a micro sim - it arrived this afternoon

 

[Wilkas]

Thanks guys, I really can't make my mind up about this phone.. I know it'll be great but I've never liked Touchwiz and not sure I can get away with it after playing with the wifes S3.. I do love the idea of the big screen and the pen and although I'm positive that the One X+ will be the best android phone on the market, I'm bored with the One X & Sense.. the + is just an updated version of the phone I've had.

I remember when it was easy picking a new phone

 

[Bodestone]

I can compare it to the S3 as my colleague has one and the Note2 screen seems much crisper to view, especially from wide angles.

The exynos processor and GPU, while being quick as anything are really efficient.

The camera is a big improvement on the Note 1. The quality is probably about the same as the S3 but it has a few more toys and is quicker to process on HDR mode.

I love the new pen shape and the handwriting recognition is so awesome I have requested my money back on Swiftkey Tablet (it lost split keyboard mode for landscape typing) and write all my messages now.

A fair few pen apps and I've not found a game that is incompatible.

All the best bells and whistles are still available if you replace TouchWiz with another launcher.
I use Go Launcher Ex purely because, for me, Go Calendar has the best home screen widget. Nova offers similar functionality in a much slimmer package and is very quick.

Battery would go a couple of days assuming around 2 hours general browsing and flicking through Flipboard. It's down to a day since I discovered Plague Inc. but that's hardly surprising since it would get several hours play with the screen on constantly and ads rolling.

 

[Wilkas]

That was one of the important things for me Bodestone, I think the S3 screen looks like a piece of crap next to the One X so was hoping the Note would be a little better. Is it easy to replace Touchwiz?

 

[Bodestone]

That was one of the important things for me Bodestone, I think the S3 screen looks like a piece of crap next to the One X so was hoping the Note would be a little better. Is it easy to replace Touchwiz?

It is as simple as downloading an app.
The next time you press the home button it asks which one you want to use and if you want to do so just once or all the time. You can have multiple launchers and mess about with them until you find the one you want.

You can even play with them on your current phone while making up your mind what to get.

The main recommended ones are:
Nova
Go
AWD

There are a plethora of others, there's even a massive list on here somewhere but I went through all of them and narrowed it down to these 3 as possibilities for myself as well.