Went to test Samsung Galaxy Note today at Vivo City. Most of the other reviews tell you the surface basic stuff like specs etc. Mine is more in depth and critical.
Note is different in 2 aspects: size and pen.
Size
Size wise, it's big but yet light. Can put in my work pants easily. Resolution is good but not as good as retina display of iPhone 4s (btw Siri don't understand Singapore accent even if I speak perfect English). Still it's good enough for my standards. The big screen will suck battery life though, so either bring portable charger or reduce screen brightness.
Pen - surprisingly, it's precise and you can write properly with it, unlike the stylus and iPad combo. Good for business and taking notes. Not as unprofessional as typing or writing with fingers during a meeting.
Also, the writing to text conversion is surprisingly accurate. Need to keep pressing the spacebar or draw strokes to the right for space though. If they can use dictionary to automatically predict when words are completed will be great.
Some flaws:
1. Screen rotation - changing orientation takes 4 to 5 seconds!! I tried with my iPad it only takes about half a second.
2. Camera snaps the pic about 1 second after you click. iPhone is instantaneous, so iPhone is better if you want to use the phone as a camera.
3. Pen inserts from below. Should be better if it's from the top. Strange design decision.
Others
Another thing is that now ios 5 has a task list that syncs to office outlook. Gingerbread doesn't have.
I didn't try the network as the display set don't have sim card inserted, but no matter how fast the phone itself is, there's no point in singapore as 3G network is very very slow anyway, if it works at all. Especially using starhub in the CBD area.
Selecting individual text is now easier as you can scroll cursor around after tapping, like iOS.
That's all I have from my limited time testing it. Only came up with 3 flaws, which speaks very well of it,as I am a tough reviewer.
I will probably buy 1 in jan to replace my dell streak which dell discontinued and refused to give any more updates (and Michael dell criticized android - after I bought the product). Threw away my dell streak yesterday after dell refused to honor the warranty agreement and repair my charging port after 10 months of use, and the service lady told me its not covered under warranty as the port is linked to the motherboard which is "expensive to replace".
Didnt bother to quarrel with them as they are not the decision makers in the organisation and didnt want to waste my precious time. Don't think I will buy dell products again for as long as I live and has also started to share this with my colleagues. Thinking if I should post this experience on Facebook.
