Galaxy Note Review! [White][Original]

Over on my last trip to South Korea, I got to play with the original Korean version of Galaxy Note white version for quite a bit.  The Korean version of Galaxy Note comes packed with goodies like Samsung Exynos 1.5Ghz processor and LTE on Korean telecom networks LG U+ and SK Telecom’s 4G LTE.

By the time this Galaxy Note arrives “subsidized” to U.S. carriers like Sprint and AT&T, you will likely to see many of the features missing like the dual-core 1.5Ghz Exynos processor (probably replaced with Qualcomm which is much slower) and no center button.

Who knows, they might keep the original specs but man, the Galaxy Note I tried in South Korea was super-fast, great screen, and best of all, you can actually take notes with its pressure-sensing multi-touch screen!

The Galaxy Note is indeed a bit bigger on your hands than a typical smartphone as it has a whopping 5.3-inch screen coupled with the most resolution on a smartphone yet, 1280×800 pixels.

I also got to try Galaxy Nexus on the same day but the experience isn’t the same with the Nexus, Galaxy Note has a better, brighter screen with faster hardware that’s noticeably faster than the Galaxy Nexus.

Of course, for those of you in the U.S., you might be lucky to pick up one of these early next year as U.S. carriers are getting ready to launch the Galaxy Note.   Let me add though that you are likely to receive a watered-down version of the original Galaxy Note.  For those of you on AT&T or T-Mobile, you can pick up an “unlocked”, international version of Galaxy Note on Amazon.  It’s definitely worth it over the locked-down U.S. versions plus you get the center physical button.

I’ve seen this happen with the Galaxy S2 series, the original, unlocked international version of Galaxy S2 is the best Galaxy S2 in my opinion as it comes SIM-unlocked with a bunch of more support from ROM developers as its been released months earlier to the market.

My only complain is that Samsung makes these beautiful smartphones, only to water them down when launching them in the U.S.  This is also due to patent wars that Apple and Samsung are waging on right now, that’s why U.S. versions lose the center physical button while everyone else in the world get it.

You can get the Unlocked White Galaxy Note on Amazon for $699.

The Galaxy Note might have a big 5.3-inch screen but it’s rather thin so it might not be so bad when you put it in your pocket.

This white version of Galaxy Note is already available in South Korea for LG U+, when will we get it here in the U.S.?  Most likely another 6 months, that’s probably June 2012.  

The rather large screen comes in handy when displaying all your apps, you can literally see all of your apps in one screen.

The highlight of this Galaxy Note device is definitely its note taking feature like its name.  The Galaxy Note can take better notes that any other smartphone/tablet device I tried.  Mainly, the Galaxy Note comes with a built-in stylus that’s pressure sensitive so you get a full “life-like” note taking experience.

I think this feature is what sold me on the Galaxy Note, this is something I always wanted to do, take freestyle notes on my smartphone so I can jot them down whenever ideas pop up.  And no, I can sorta take notes on my 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab but I can’t really take my tablet everywhere with me plus the Galaxy Tab 10.1 isn’t made for taking notes nor is it pressure-sensitive.

Many of you might not be sold yet on the Galaxy Note but believe me, I was all for a Galaxy Nexus until I compared both hands-on.

In my opinion, the Galaxy Note is going to be the next big successor to Galaxy S2 series.  It’s definitely going to be a great smartphone for students so they can take notes on their phone or send funny messages to their friends.

The verdict?

Galaxy Note is the best smartphone hands-down in my opinion, faster than Galaxy S2 with note-taking feature.  If you don’t need a small smartphone, get the Galaxy Note as its large 5.3-inch screen is great for viewing websites and Netflix.  Lastly, the phone comes with a whopping 2500mAh battery, which should last you a full 2 days of browsing.

Don’t want to wait for water-down, subsidized versions of Galaxy Note on U.S. carriers?

If you are on AT&T or T-Mobile, go ahead and get the unlocked version of Galaxy Note, available on Amazon for around $650.  I think this is definitely worth it, especially if you consider you don’t have to be binded to another 2 year contract (will cost you more for the phone in the long run) and you can use it in another country.
*Note – The unlocked version of Galaxy Note comes with dual-core 1.4Ghz Exynos processor instead of dual-core 1.5Ghz but should still be fairly similar to the original Korean version I reviewed in this post.

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Max Lee

Max Lee is the founder of HighOnAndroid.com. Max makes Android tutorials and review videos for people who want to get high on Android over at his YouTube channel and Korean YouTube channel.