Samsung’s Galaxy Note II is now out and available in the UK; a successor to a phone that was mocked for its size, but proved oddly successful.
The handset retains a similar size but has been overhauled in both the design and tech specs departments. Whereas the original Note took style tips from the then-best selling Galaxy SII, the Note II looks very similar to the Galaxy SIII. Finished in a gloss white with silver banding around the edge of the phone, it’s a design that fuses the S3 with the original Note.
Side by side the Note and Note II are very similar in size, despite there being a larger screen on offer in the new model. On paper the Note II is a few millimetres taller and a few thinner in terms of both width and depth. Together there’s little difference, so if you didn’t like the idea of a very big phone before, you still won’t now.
Upping the screen size marginally from 5.3-inches to 5.5-inches but retaining the same size overall means that there’s precious little space around the screen, which makes it gorgeous for playing games and watching video content – it’s basically all screen.
Samsung has kept a similar layout around the handset, with only the 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the phone being moved about a centimetre to the right. The home button has been elongated slightly, but it’s not quite the same shape as on the Galaxy SIII, but the two illuminated touch buttons either side are.
When compared to the Galaxy SIII there’s absolutely no doubt that Samsung wanted to mimic its look and feel with the Note II. The two look very alike with the same Marble White finish and silver band running around the entire device, along with the same silver earpiece grille, front facing camera and sensors. The S3 does have a couple edges over the Note in the design department however, which we feel give it a more premium look and feel, such as the indented and inlayed silver Samsung logo on the back.
We’re big fans of what Samsung has done with the Note II already, although even with a look and feel similar to the Galaxy SIII, we don’t think Samsung will manage to twist the arms of those who just find this sort of size too big for a smartphone.
We’ll be doing a full video review of the Galaxy Note II very soon, so stay tuned.
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