The Galaxy Note looked like it didn’t belong in either the smartphone or tablet category when Samsung released it last year, but somewhat surprisingly, the niche product has found its own category as a "phablet," and it’s a category with a pretty significant following. Then again, if you want a smartphone with a mahussive display, the Note is one of the only ones available in excess of 5-inches, and if the iPhone 5, with it’s marginal screen enlargement, hasn’t taken your fancy, you’ll probably have had your eyes peeled for the Galaxy Note II for a long while now.
If you also see the Galaxy S III’s size to still be rather tame, I’d say the Galaxy Note II is built for you, and having been announced last month, South Korea-based Samsung has announced it’ll be available to consumers from 1st October.
Unlike the majority of electronics companies, Samsung doesn’t release its devices initially to the United States, instead focusing on much of Europe, and this has its obvious problems. The Google Galaxy Nexus, which was manufactured by Samsung, took an age to hit the States, and considering it was the first to ship with Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0), it became a particularly frustrating wait.
Samsung hasn’t yet revealed how much the new device will cost in the UK just yet, but it will be available from the company’s own retail store based at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford City. Meanwhile, some carriers have indicated how much the Galaxy Note II will cost, with Phones4U offering it for £31 a month over two years, with £150 payment for the handset.
SIM-free, expect the 16GB model to ship for £530, which is, might I add, £1 more than the iPhone 5. Still, you get plenty of bite for your buck, and as well as packing Android Jelly Bean (4.1), you’re treated to a 1.6GHz quad-core processor, HSPA+ and an eye-watering 2GB of RAM. The 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD is marginally larger than that of its predecessor, and although the iPhone 5 is being lauded as the fastest on the smartphone market, I don’t think the Samsung Galaxy Note II will be found wanting in any department.
Does the Galaxy Note II take your fancy, or is it a little too large for your life?
(via TechRadar)
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