Hello everyone, OK here we are
with the ultimate shootout
The Samsung Galaxy S3
versus the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
So...first of all
what do these two siblings have in common.... well
similar look and feel
very similar hardware specs with the Galaxy Note 2
just being bumped in a few key areas. So first off the Samsung Galaxy S3
4.8 inch screen
5.5 on the Galaxy Note 2,
considerably more screen space.
As you can see there, the S3 practically
fits inside the screen size of the Note 2.
The actual thickness,
there is a slight difference
but it's purely about one millimetre thicker
on the Note 2, than on the S3
Not a lot of difference
And again, when you hold the device in your hand you can really feel that
the Galaxy Note 2
has a slight tapered edge
so it sits quite nicely
into the hand, just as the S3 does as well.
The camera.... it's the same in both devices.
Both feature a physical home button although obviously on the Note 2
slightly bigger
and again, your various grilles, slightly bigger again.
Generally everything on the Note 2
has been made a little bit bigger,
although strangely
the power button
hasn't been made very much bigger,
not by a lot.
On the back of the device, things have been moved around slightly.
On the S3 your speaker grille is up at the top here, on the Note 2
it's been moved down to the side.
and flashes have been moved
to opposite sides to one another as well
and you can see the spacing is slightly different
for the flash
and between flash and the camera.
Now personally, I've noticed that the Note 2
when using the flash it's slightly more glare
as it were.
You know when you get a colour cast a lot of the time, from these LED bulbs,
it's more pronounced on the Note 2 than it is on the S3.
So for low light shooting you may very well prefer the Samsung Galaxy S3
on this occasion.
Processor wise
you've got a 1.4 gig quad core processor within the S3
and a 1.6 in the Note 2.
Performance wise, you're not talking about a huge amount of difference,
although
physically when you actually start playing games on it
The Note 2 just feels a little bit more fluid.
You can just feel the frame rate's a little bit higher
and so certain titles I've been playing...
Real Racing 2, for instance,
you can just
feel
the Note 2 is just a tiny bit faster.
However, the Note 2 is a big device.
and as I've said in my full review of the Note 2,
you are going to have problems wearing certain kinds of trousers, certain jackets, depending on how you normally keep your phone in your pockets
you may find the Note 2
means you're going to have to change your wardrobe slightly
or certainly reconfigure and think about which jacket you're going to be wearing because
if your pockets aren't deep enough
this phone can tip out quite easily.
Same with certain pairs of trousers.
Personally, I'm favouring trousers now which have a zip on them.
Other than that, the physical hardware
is pretty much the muchness. If you like the look and feel of the Galaxy S3 then
there's not a lot of difference here in the Note 2
other than the fact that it's bigger.
Software wise, both of these devices are running Jellybean.
So not a lot that you can kind of compare there. If you are one of those people
still waiting for the Jellybean update, don't kick yourself too hard! It's coming.
It is fantastic, it's absolutely wonderful but from a hardware perspective on what
Ice Cream Sandwich offers,
versus Jellybean,
there's not a huge amount in it. You're not suddenly going to find
your games run 20 frames a second faster, or anything like that.
What you have is a few new features and a few extra opportunities
to really make use of your device.
A lot of the Jellybean
coolness as it were, is all software led.
And some of it's not really making a massive difference, it's
how fast
your various screens can redraw
for instance
it's nice but it's not changing the end line functionality of your phone that much.
However, if you have now got Jellybean available on your S3
then honestly
You're not missing out much on the Note 2.
With the Note 2
having this
pen is a boon.
It does allow you to
write on the screen, draw, and so on
and interact with the device in new ways.
However, it doesn't detract away atall from the really, really nice fluid operating that you have
on the Galaxy S3.
And just as a few people have wondered, no, I'm afraid the pen doesn't work on the S3!
Bit of a shame, you have to buy the
special S3 S pen
for that functionality to work.
Really, a lot of it comes down to, what you are looking for in a device.
Now my personal feeling
is that both phones are absolutely fantastic. They are literally
leading their categories.
Samsung Galaxy S3 has easily outsold the iPhone 5 during the same time period
Overall, the specs are substantially better than the iPhone 5.
Bigger screen,
NFC, longer running battery, you name it, we've got it here. Oh, and we still have Google maps, haha!
On the Note 2, you're looking at hardware bump,
but not a massive hardware bump, you have NFC, you have a bigger screen,
you also have a few new things you have to kind of deal with, it's a bigger device,
new cases etcetera...
and you have the boon of the pen, if that is something that means something to you.
But hang on, if you
never would think about using a pen on a phone,
well why would you want to go for the Note 2?
And this is my entire point....
it's about personal choice. Both devices are phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal,
pretty much the cutting edge right now
offering slightly
different things
in a slightly different environment.
If you're a business user or if you're someone that does a lot of art and design and you want to
be able to draw on your screen, or if you want that kind of additional feedback mechanism that the
pen gives you
then you're going to want to go for the Note 2.
If you can get past the size of it. However if you just want a phenomenal, all round smartphone
then you're going to go for the S3.
And if you're a gamer, well, maybe you're going to want the slightly bigger screen,
and a slight increase in frame rate
but it's not enough to say
oh well,
I'm only going to go for the Note 2 because of that.
Both devices are going to do really, really well
and you're going to be chuffed, whatever you've bought.
My personal feeling having both devices sat here...
it's very difficult for me to pick a winner.
I would personally say, if you're looking for a great all rounder
you want the S3.
If you're looking for something unique which
tips the scales in just a few key areas
gaming for instance, the slightly bigger screen which is great for media playback
and crucially the S pen which is really the differentiator here
then you're going to go for the Note 2.
But don't be upset if you've bought
one of the devices
and now you're thinking I should have bought the other one
because actually it doesn't matter.
You have a cracking piece of equipment.
Both phones, both devices,
be it a smartphone or a fablet as the Note 2 tends to be known,
are phenomenal at what they do. Great all rounders.
Be proud
You have the best phones on the market.