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Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 Hardware Review
Review by Naked Crook - TNO Administrator
Now, as most of you people know...I am what, what could be described as, a technophile. In case you are unsure what a technophile is, it is someone who openly embraces technology, or someone who enjoys using technology.
With that said, I must say, when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy Note...call me a techno predator. NBC Dateline would be well within its right to do a segment on me.
As most of you know, I have recently purchased the Samsung Galaxy Note to replace my iPhone 4...and I must say, that in just about every measurable sense, the Galaxy Note is far superior. I have had many types of phones, used many more, and none have had this much of a positive effect on me like the Galaxy Note has.
Now, of course, nothing is perfect. The Galaxy Note does have its flaws, which I will detail in the interest of fairness. However, in the interest of fairness, I can only write so much about so little.
Table of Contents:
- General Specifications
- Galaxy Note N7000 vs Galaxy Note i717
- Galaxy Note N7000 vs Everyone Else
- Using The Device (Pros and Cons)
- Rooting + Customization
- Final Thoughts
[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]General Specifications[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]
The Galaxy Note has some VERY impressive specs for a phone. Here is the basic rundown: - 5.3 inch Screen Size
- 1024 MB of RAM (808 MB useable - the rest is reserved by The Kernel)
- Dual-Core 1.4 Ghz Exynos ARM processor
- 16 or 32 GB internal storage (I have the 16 GB - 32 GB no longer manufactured)
- External SDHC card up to 32 GB additional
- Support for multiple wireless standards including 2G, 3G, HSPA+ (4G), Bluetooth 3.0, Wireless-N
- Built-in FM Tuner
- 1280 x 800 16:10 screen resolution (720p)
- Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
- Corning Gorilla Glass
- GPS
- 8 MP Rear Camera and 2 MP front Camera
- Rear facing LED flash (can be used as a flashlight)
- 2 touch buttons and 1 physical home button
- Upgradeable to 4.0.4 ICS
- 2500 mAh Battery (Expandable yp to 5000 mAh with separate purchase)
- S-Pen
[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]Galaxy Note N7000 vs Galaxy Note i717[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]
The version of the phone that I got was the Galaxy Note N7000, otherwise known as the international version. The Galaxy Note i717, also known as the North American Version, has slightly different specs. While the majority of the specs remain largely the same, the ones listed below are the ones that are different.
Specs highlighted in green are better on the i717 North American version while specs in yellow are better on the N7000 International Version. Specs listed in blue are pretty much different, but have no foreseeable hit on performance for the phone.
- 1024 MB of RAM (736 MB useable - the rest is reserved by The Kernel)
- LTE Support
- 4 touch buttons, no physical home button.
- Dual-Core 1.5 Snapdragon processor
- Only 16 GB of internal storage (no 32 GB option)
You can see that the North American i717 has specs that are actually lower than the N7000 International version.
As you can see, there is less ram that the system can use, which can make a huge impact on performance. The i717 demands more Kernel memory than the International version. The reason for this is unknown...but I have compared my N7000 to a i717 display model, and I have verified this to be the case.
The i717, however, has LTE support, which is the fastest mobile internet available. The N7000 is only capable of HSPA+, at best. HSPA+ is one step down from LTE.
For basis of comparison, the maximum theoretical speed of HSPA+ is 21 MegaBytes per Second (which means you could download a 100 MB file in less than 5 seconds)
LTE, on the other hand, boasts a maximum theoretical speed of 37.5 MegaBytes per Second. You are looking at roughly 2.67 seconds for a 100 MB file. LTE is pretty much twice as fast. However, LTE deployment is sketchy at best, as it cannot operate on the same 2.4 Ghz spectrum as 3G. THis means that an entirely new coast to coast wireless network is needed to support LTE...and that shit ain't cheap.
The main reason why the i717 supports LTE and the N7000 does not, is because of the Snapdragon processor on the i717. The Exynos processor in the N7000 is not compatible with LTE frequencies. So...how is the Snapdragon processor, a chip that supports LTE and has a higher clock speed, WORSE than the Exynos? Very simple; The Snapdragon process has less graphics acceleration than the Exynos, which means while the Exynos has a dedicated architecture doing 3D and 2D animations, the Snapdragon has to do it all by itself. This basically means the Exynos can focus exclusively on arithemetic logic. The Snapdragon just has more to do, which slows it down...but up to 4 times. Yes, that is correct...the 1.4 Ghz Exynos is 4 times faster than the 1.5 Ghz Snapdragon.
Don't let clock speeds fool you.
[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]Galaxy Note N7000 vs Everyone Else[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]
I could sit here ALL DAY comparing the Galaxy Note N7000 to every smart phone on the block. I could pit it up against the HTC One X, or the HTC Desire, The Motorola Droid, or other Samsung Smartphones for that matter.
BUT...there is really only Two Devices which I need to compare to the Galaxy Note N7000
The iPhone 4S and the iPad 3
First and foremost...lets lay down the facts when it comes to the iPhone and the iPad - No flash support
- Restrictive development process
- Closed architecture
- No LTE or HSPA+ support (stuck on the slow and over-populated 3G network)
- iTunes dependency, no support for MP3s
- incredibly restrictive customization (wallpaper changing wasn't even an option until iOS 3)
- No widgets
- Cannot change launcher or home screen to personal preference
- Jailbreaking becomes much harder with each generation of iOS
- No expandable storage
Now, consider the specs of the iPhone 4S:
- 512 MB of RAM on the iPhone 4S (350 MB useable - the rest is reserved by The Kernel)
- Dual Core 1.0 Ghz A5 Processor
- 16 GB or 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage
- Low end 1432 mAh battery
- 3.5 inch 16:9 Retina Display screen at 640 x 960
And the iPad:
- 1 GB of Ram (unknown amount reserved by the Kernel)
- Dual Core 1.0 Ghz A5 Processor
- 16 GB or 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage
- High end 11 560 mAh battery
- 9.7 inch 4:3 Retina Display screen at 1536 x 2048
While it may ring true that the iPhone 4S and iPad 3 beat the Galaxy Note N7000 in several departments, the fact of the matter is, there are far more cons to using an Apple device. the iPhone is too small, and the iPad to big and clumsy for the average hand. Limited customization (without jailbreak) leaves everyone with identical looking phones and devices.
While the iPhone and iPad have the Apple App Store, the Galaxy Note N7000 has the Android Market, as well as third party markets that offer their own type of apps.
[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]Using The Device[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]
I am going to talk about the N7000 and my experience using it. When I first started up the device, I was treated to a virgin phone, totally unoptimized, unopened, without any updates. I was still running 2.3.6 Gingerbread at this point...so the firs thing I did was upgrade to ICS.
The updates took about an hour to do using only Wifi. keep in mind that I had not put my SIM card into my new phone yet.
The ICS update did not take very long to install, and once it was installed, I could instantly see the performance increase. The device was faster, sharper, crisper, and smoother. ICS was taking full advantage of the dedicated acceleration of my chipset...and it was very clear.
I ran a few test, playing a few games (Crime City and Modern War) and the games was FAST! How fast? Well...the FPS was far above normal, meaning the processor and graphics chip were moving the game faster than 30 FPS. Very smooth game play.
After about 2 hours of this, I decided to get a new SIM card that supported HSPA+. Now, I could not use the SIM card in my iPhone because the iPhone uses Micro SIM cards as opposed to standard SIM cards. This meant I needed to go to my carrier and pay 10 bucks for a new SIM card that supported HSPA+.
After I got my Phone connected to the network, I b egan to test the HSPA+ and I was VERY impressed by the speed...it was AMAZING! SO far, this phone was blazing fast, and showed no signs of stopping.
I played with the phone, installed some of my favorite apps, installed a new launcher, and customized the UI. I had a lot of fun doing this, trying all the neat little things the phone had to offer. The last thing I did, however, was root the device. This process only took about 5 minutes, and was very simple.
After rooting the device, a whole new level of customization was open to me. I could overclock my CPU to more performance, under clock it for more battery life, install illegal apps that I downloaded...you name it. I am still in the process of customizing this phone...and I am loving every second of it.
Using the Phone can be tricky however. Coming from a tiny iPhone to a mammoth like the Galaxy Note N7000 is a big step. One handed operation of this device can be tough. I have larger hands, so it is easier for me, but one handed operation of this device is not easy if you are a girl, or a guy with smaller hands. However, there is an option that allows the user to squish all of the on-screen keys to one side of the screen, which makes it a bit easier...but only by so much. To be honest...I would recommend that two hands always be used for the Galaxy Note, and one hand if you are reading an article, without doing much navigation or interaction.
The Battery life on this phone is great. Using my Galaxy Note on HSPA+, with 100% screen brightness, and moderate to heavy use, I got about 6 to 7 hours of use, and I began to charge the phone at 15% so I still had about another 30 minutes of use left.
I have not done much with the S-Pen except take a few pictures of my cat and draw beards and horns on him. However, the S-Pen is pretty crisp and smooth...defiantly something I could find use for.
Oh...one final thing...I did not have to sync ANY music to my N7000. Since Android supports MP3 as a file format, I can just copy all my songs over to an external SDHC card using wifi or USB and walk right out the door in a few seconds.
When I had my iPhone...I NEVER paid for my music. All of my music was ripped from YouTube and stored on my PC as an MP3. Typically, when I synced my iPhone to put 1 song on, I run the risk of deleting all my apps if the improper library is selected, I run the risk of having to wait an hour for the iPhone to do one of its random FULL backups, or, the song fails to convert correctly, and I cannot use the song. iTunes syncing was such a pain in the ass.
Now, with Android, I can copy my MP3s using wifi, taking substantially less time and effort to do it, and walk out the door.
Another fun thing I did was I hooked up an USB-to-HDMI adapter and plugged my N7000 into my TV. I then paired a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard to the device and I literally had an all-in-one mobile entertainment center. I could watch YouTube videos, brosw the net, read things, listen to music, and use the full functionality of my phone...on my big-screen TV.
Ohhh...and the Galaxy Note N7000 has an FM Tuner...so I can intercept FM radio stations...can the iPhone do that? In fact...how many phones can do that?
[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]Rooting + Customization[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]
How I LOVE to root my devices. Rooting gives me FULL control of the device, letting me do whatever I want. Rooting enhances the already vast level of customization available on Android...it is something that MUST be done. There is not much to say otherwise. With a rooted phone, I can overclock, underclock, change system settings, remove manufacturer apps, install cracked apps, install custom ROMs, discontinue needless system services to increase performance, and even change the boot logo. All in all...if you love customization...root your device.
[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]Final Thoughts[DIVIDE][/DIVIDE]
I love my Galaxy Note. It is the best phone I have ever used. I look at it sitting on my desk, and I think about how much more performance can I squeeze out of this phone, or what cool apps can I get, or what kind of GUI mods can I do next?
As a Programmer...my Galaxy Note N7000 is my playground...and on this playground...I am God. I can do whatever I want. There is no app that can't be written, no customization too out of this world to apply. There are literally thousands of GUI skins for every aspect of the system...from the keyboard, to the interface itself.
Sometimes, I do wish I was able to get my hands on the 32 GB version...but I am just as happy with the 16 GB.
Now...what it all boils down to...do I recommend this phone? I don't know. I have had mixed reactions...but generally speaking, if you like large devices, that can act as a phone and a tablet and/or as an all-in-one entertainment center and/or as an excellent development platform for apps and/or a device that has seemingly endless potential...then yeah...go for it...100 times yes...go for it.
However...if you are the kind of person who wants a more compact phone...I would think twice about The Galaxy Note N7000. This may not be your thing.
To me...the Galaxy Note N7000 is a special device. There is no other device like it. This device is for particular people with very particular needs and wants. This phone is for the picky.
This phone gets 5 out of 5 dancing Michael Jacksons!
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Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 - Product Review
09-05-2012
Linear Mode
