Test: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 - Fredzone

The Galaxy Note 2 is a bit of a smartphone in September. It must be said, mobile enjoying a 5.5-inch screen does not necessarily run the streets and when we know, in addition, that the first model has met with some success, of course we understand why his successor sunk as much ink. But in fact, if you follow me on Twitter, you may know that Samsung was the extreme kindness to lend me a copy of Note 2 story that I can see what’s going on. Very nice of them, so you’ll be able to find a little down the full review of this mobile extraordinary.

But before I begin, I would like to emphasize one point: what follows is not a technical test. My goal is primarily to give you my impressions and put myself in the role of a user.

Specifications

As always, we will obviously start by recalling the specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. I know this is the least funny part, but it is still necessary to remember that we’re talking about.

Galaxy Note 2 and embarks a Super AMOLED HD screen 5.5 inch with a resolution of 1280 x 720, a treatment Gorilla Glass 2, a quad core processor clocked at 1.6 GHz 2GB RAM between 16GB and 64GB of storage space depending on the model, a port microSD card , an 8 megapixel sensor with autofocus and LED flash, a second sensor 1.9 megapixel front, WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n (2.4 and 5 GHz) , Bluetooth 4.0, an NFC chip and a chip aGPS.

Besides that, it also includes various sensors, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a digital compass, a barometer and a stylus will allow us to interact with other platform. It also returns a little lower. Then there is also the huge battery Note 2 a battery of 3100 mAh which makes this smartphone one of the most autonomous of the whole market. I also confess that I had some concerns given the processor and the terminal screen, but these were absolutely unfounded. From this side, you can actually say that Note 2 is an exceptional device.

All this in a telephone with impressive dimensions (80.5 x 151.1 x 9.4 mm) but that does not weigh so heavy as you might think (182.5 grams ) . Oh and clarification, the Galaxy Note 2 runs Jelly Bean and we can say that this is still a very valuable asset.

Package, Design & Usability

We now proceed to the package Note 2. No big surprise here is the Samsung and there is therefore similar to that of all other products of the company box. Same also for its content. Apart from the mobile, it will thus right to USB sync and charging charger and the hand free kit . I obviously pass on the usual documentation that does not interest many people and is rarely consulted.

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is simply huge and very impressive . But where there is the most surprising is when taken in hand. The Note 2 is not only huge, it is also very light and it is quite logical, since Samsung has once again opted for a plastic shell. So beware of all-yourself because it is not “cheap” either. One can even say that it benefits finishes copies.

So, what can we say of this Note 2? The screen, for starters, is simply enormous. Okay, it has already been said but I think it deserves to be repeat again. On top of this screen, the first sensor and can be found all usual sensors (including ambient light) . Also in this area, we also have the first speaker accompanied by the logo of the manufacturer. Same configuration as the Galaxy S3, so. Lower and below the screen, we can get your hands on a physical button used for a lot of things (return to the home screen, access to multitasking, access S Voice) . The latter is framed by two hover buttons to access the context menu and to the previous screen. For this last button, it should also be clear that it is not only because it will be also possible to use it to activate the multi-windowed mode. Also

We’ll talk about it a little further.

the back of the device, the main sensor and LED flash and a second speaker can be found. At the bottom, on the left corner, we can also get their hands on the pen that accompanies the terminal. If my memory does not fail me, this is exactly the same stylus as the Galaxy Note 10.1 (you can find the test it by clicking on this link) . It is rather light and it has a button on its base to launch different commands (screen capture, launch S Note and so on) .

On the bottom, we USB terminal , a port that will allow us to synchronize our computer or charging. The standby button is meanwhile on the right portion of Note 2, dedicated volume control buttons themselves being deported from the other side and then on the left edge. Above, we obviously have the headphone jack. To access the microSD slot and SIM card slot, it is necessary remove the casing of the device . Further note that to change the SIM card, it will be essential to remove the battery from its housing. Fortunately, we do not have this problem for the microSD port, it is perfectly accessible.

much for this overview of the Galaxy Note 2. So that you can see in real life, I made a first video lasts just over 18 minutes . All with his first startup and configuration wizard.

Performance & Capture Photo / Video

‘s time to talk about the performance of the Galaxy Note 2. As usual, I relied on four applications of benchmarking to evaluate its raw performance BenchmarkPi Quadrant Linpack And3DBench . So here are the scores for the last terminal Samsung

• BenchmarkPi: 326

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• Quadrant: 5587

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• Linpack: 154 315

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• And3DBench: 7675

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What can we conclude? Just as Note 2 is the most powerful that I have ever tested to date mobile terminal. It is more powerful than Galaxy S3 more powerful than Galaxy Note 10.1 and I even think it would be hard to find at the present time, more fast.

A very impressive result so. In any event, the Galaxy Note 2 is a flow foolproof, including fun when playing with the multi-windowed mode. You can watch movies in 1080p play the latest games released on Google Play and juggle together with twenty other applications without he does not stumble. It’s obviously very nice, especially since it should be able to run without any problems all the headlines that come out in the coming months on Android.

And then screen? I do not talk enough in my tests, it is a fact. What I can tell you about the screen Note 2 is that it is really remarkable with very black blacks and more defined colors. Note also that snooping in mobile settings, it is possible to set different moods, different sets of colors and everyone should therefore find his account.

Regarding capturing photos and recording videos, the Note 2 is doing quite well, but the result is nothing revolutionary either. When the light is missing, we are left with a very noisy image . The close-ups are also quite delicate. Below a certain distance, the autofocus seems to be unable to focus. This may be an impression, but it seems to me that the Galaxy S3 to better performance on this point.

So that you can better account for the recording quality of the Galaxy Note 2, I’ve prepared a short video with some scenes shot during the week.

Platform & Wrapper

We come to the larger pieces, namely the operation of the platform. At first glance, one is faced with the same environment on the Galaxy S3 even though it runs on Ice Cream Sandwich and the second advantage for its Jelly Bean. All thanks (or “because” it all depends on your point of view) overlay Samsung. However, this is not why we do not take advantage of all the benefits of the latest version of the platform. And most significant, in my view, it is obviously Google Now .

Google Now that arises as a kind of omnipresent and omnipotent personal assistant. Integrated directly into the Google search tool (and through the associated widget) , it allows us to quickly access a ton of information varies according to several criteria. Based on our location, it will thus be able to show us an inset with weather . Similarly, it may also indicate traffic conditions or even display our various appointments of the day . These are of course only examples among many others because it is more capable of learning depending on how you use your device. To be honest, it’s almost scary at times. Big Brother is watching you , as they say. A very nice tool, then, but that has not totally convinced me so far. Rather logical, since I only had two hands Note that for a week and Now therefore did not have the opportunity to get to know me.

Also in the range of practical and useful tools, but on the side of Samsung this time, we also have S Voice . S Voice is actually the personal voice assistant Samsung and which can be accessed by pressing twice on the physical button below the screen. Just like Siri, but better. The guy actually supports more voice commands and it has the merit of being completely controllable by voice . No need to actually press the button each time to give him further instructions. Note-for-all as it is possible to do the same with Siri, but only through the “jailbreak” box.

Then there S Note which is in the form of a dedicated tool memos. A truly comprehensive tool which also incorporates several different models. We can therefore from a memo stupid text-based or create altogether a birthday card, while playing with the stylus, inserting media (photos, videos, maps ) or even sticky notes Voice over everything pretty small world. Speaking of which, we also know that the pen is a formidable precision. The latter is very sensitive to pressure levels and should delight all those who love doodling or taking notes regularly.

Other applications installed natively on the Note 2, we can also mention the S Calendar (agenda) , Music Hub (streaming music) FM Radio (the … … fm radio) Hub (ebooks) or Suggest S (suggested applications) .

There are also many optimizations made by the environment. Regarding the stylus, many things are possible. When the withdraw of its housing, it will be automatically redirected to the home screen specially optimized for the latter, a home screen on which found a great widget devoted to S Note and a series of icons pointing to applications that take full advantage of it. Icons which will also be integrated in the center of notifications of the platform in a dedicated insert. Casually, it is rather convenient.

Similarly, we can also mention Shortcuts . Specifically, this is to assign certain tasks or designs for certain applications. The user is completely free to choose, it may well involve the Twitter application to a beautiful “T”. Then from the home screen, simply press the pen button and draw a line from the bottom to the top to bring up a small window in which we will have to draw the symbol of our choice. If you decide to draw a “T”, then the terminal directly launch our good old Twitter. As prevent you away, it is a blow to take, especially to show the damn window.

And that’s not all because the pen can also allow us to make screenshots! To do so, simply press the button and ask her mine for a few seconds on the screen without moving. Practice, much like the quick note you can bring up by pressing the button on the stylus and tapping twice on the screen.

It is not finished. Besides that, there are also two very useful functions: flying window and multi-windowed mode . The first is simply to reduce application (such as video player) in a small window that flying is then possible to move on the screen. Exactly as found on the Sony Xperia Tablet S with widgétisables applications. On a 5.5 inch screen, it is really very useful and comfortable.

Same course for multi-windowed mode which you can enjoy with the latest update deployed by Samsung. And attention because its operation has nothing to do with what we found on the Note 10.1. In fact, to access the multi-windowed mode, you must start by launching an application (any) and then press a few seconds on the touch pad, which is to the right of the button to return to the home screen. Yes, the arrow is exactly that. With this manipulation, we will make it appear on the left side of the screen a dock with multiple applications. It will then suffice to support and hold the icon of your choice and move to the right to split the screen in two and to put our applications in one side of the other.

There are better. Between the two applications, we also find a horizontal separator will it be possible to move the screen to enlarge or reduce the space occupied by each window. Really convenient and also very playful. Moreover, by placing the finger on the separator, it will also bring two buttons respectively allow us to reverse the order of the windows or to leave full-screen mode.

And as you say frankly, multi-windowed mode is just great, it is even much better thought on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and both say that this is typically the kind of function you might use daily . Moreover, to show you how it runs, I’ve prepared a third video. And be careful, because it also includes everything you just saw and it lasts long enough (a little less than 40 minutes) .

Conclusion

Before concluding and give you my opinion on the Galaxy Note 2, it remains to discuss autonomy. I have already mentioned at the beginning of this article, I was pleasantly surprised by its performance in this area. Very practical for use standard (web, social networks, bad piggies and so on) , the Note 2 managed to hold one day and thirteen hours in a row . I said all de same as 3G was active, as well as WiFi and geo-location. In addition, this measurement was performed without activating the energy saver and hence a default configuration. In my opinion, paying attention and playing it fine, it must be more than two days of autonomy.

It is simply remarkable. Especially with such a fast processor, especially with such a large screen. Just awesome.

And now, I think. Clearly, the Galaxy Note 2 is a success It is not perfect, it is true -., and the biggest complaint you can contact him finally at the level of the materials used or even the location of the SIM / microSD card – but it is undoubtedly one of the best smartphones of the moment. Especially with the added functions by teams from Samsung, as very well thought out multi-windowed mode.

But now, he must also know is that the Note 2 does not necessarily suit all users. In fact, its main strength is also its main weakness. And you can see, I obviously referring to his screen . A beautiful screen for videos, awesome for gaming, comfortable for browsing the web, but is not necessarily suitable for all uses . And when you run in the rain and you need to take a call, I can assure you it will be better to think to take the headset with you. The thing is, in fact, is that the mobile is so big, so cumbersome, we always afraid to break down when taken in hand. Almost as if he could slip through our fingers every time.

That said, it should be noted that Samsung has made a lot of efforts in that direction. In fact, the manufacturer has built a set of tools rather well designed and allow us to use the phone with one hand . We think in particular the virtual keyboard that can shrink and position to the left or right of the screen. Pretty clever, but it does eventually change the background of the problem and the question is therefore whether have need such a large screen.

And that is ultimately the only question that really matters.

Finally, if you want to see more photos of the beast, know that you’ll find everything you need on my Google+ or on my Facebook. Also, be aware that all of my test videos are disponiblessur my YouTube channel.

And a big thank you to Samsung as well as Arnaud to finish