Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Review

About two weeks ago I got my first Android device: a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (hereafter referred to as the Note). Having been an iOS user for the past 4.5 years, I thought I'd share my impressions thus far for anyone interested in this phone or, for any iOS users who may be considering a switch to Android. I'll admit beforehand that most of this review focuses on the negative aspects of the phone and OS. There are plenty of "reviews" and videos documenting the perks of the Note, but few have honestly discussed any drawbacks aside from its physical size. I'm discovering all sorts of things about this phone so this is gonna be a quick and dirty list that may or may not get cleaned up.

S-PEN
It doesn't work on the Menu or Back buttons despite those buttons being touch-activated, but Samsung does include some gestures that you're supposed to write while holding the button on the side of the pen which mimic tapping of the Menu or Back buttons. I wish they had included a gesture to mimic the pressing of the Home button too. I also wish the S-pen's button wasn't so close to its tip. Side note, the cheapo stylus I bought last year for my iPhone 4 works a heck of a lot better on the Note - and in some ways, even better than the S-pen.

I spent part of this morning playing around with the S-pen, and overall, it feels a little gimmicky. When you bring up a text-entry field while the pen is out, the keyboard is replaced by a small writing area. While it seemed like I could write a little faster than I could type, using the pen resulted in far more errors. Whether I'm writing or drawing, the big problem is that I can't do either very well unless my forearm (or at least my wrist) is resting on a stationary surface. If you're comfortable using a small notepad, this shouldn't be a problem.

The other issue with the S-pen is that it's not as sensitive at scrolling or tapping objects as a finger or a cheap iOS stylus. Holding the pen near the edge of a window will make the screen scroll automatically - if the app supports it.

SIZE AND SHAPE
Compared to my iPhone, something (besides the size) has felt odd about the Note ever since I got it. It turns out, while the Note is bigger in every dimension, it actually offers less 'dead space' to grab between the bottom of the screen and the bottom of the phone itself. I think this is referred to as the lower bezel (assuming the bezel is the glass-covered area surrounding the screen where it's safe to touch without activating anything). The iPhone's lower bezel is actually twice as long. This by itself would take some getting used to, but to make matters worse, the Note's lower bezel contains a home button and two 'soft' buttons (Menu and Back). What I'm saying is, there's basically no way to grasp or hold the Note by pinching the lower bezel like I sometimes do with the iPhone. In my opinion, that alone would make this a two-handed device even if it was identical in size to the iPhone. I'm curious if this is the norm for most Android phones. One lifesaver is the $20 Verizon case I finally got for it. The case has a triangle-shaped kickstand that folds out, which coincidentally, serves as a sort of makeshift trigger guard. It's just something extra to help stabilize the phone in your hand but you'd be surprised just how much it helps.

I've been very critical of Apple's decision to make the iPhone 5 only a half-inch taller while maintaining the same width, but now I understand why they were afraid to go any bigger. That's not to excuse their refusal to offer the device in other sizes. Samsung makes a very good argument that peoples' hands are different sizes and that we all use our devices differently, therefore, it only makes sense to give people a variety. Having owned both at one point, I feel that the iPad (as well as the iPad Mini) is just a bigger version of the iPod Touch. So it seems hypocritical to me that Apple would offer that device in three different sizes while making the iPhone a one-size-fits-all deal.

Having gotten that out of the way, I must admit that if I needed no other evidence that the Note is a two-handed device, there's no better proof than the email app. No matter what kind of hackery you engage in or settings you change, there's no way to delete an email while using the Note with one hand (unless you have massive hands). The delete button is way up at the top of the screen, making it unreachable with one hand while holding it in a secure fashion. I searched the Menu for a delete option but no such luck.

While the two-handed requirement isn't a deal-breaker for me, I could possibly see this being a problem for others. To be fair though, most of the criticism leveled at the Note's size is related to making phone calls, which in my opinion, is just ridiculous. Consider for example, the size of your average landline or cordless phone. How many times have you heard someone complain about those things being too big to hold against the side of their head? The areas where size presents a challenge is stuffing it into/retrieving it from a pocket and generally navigating and typing with one hand.

APP STORE
Being a gadget geek, I've read more than a few articles regarding the open nature of Android and the differences between Google Play and Apple's App store. While there's certainly a lot of hyperbole on both sides, you can tell from the get-go that Google's app store isn't policed nearly as well as Apple's store. I guess that's the price you pay for free choice.

Overall, there seems to be a lot more duds and garbage in Google Play. Indeed, initial impressions will lead you to believe that 99% of Android users are interested only in free, crappy games. If you've been using iOS for any serious length of time, exercise caution and go in with the understanding that you're pretty much on your own. Just remember, there's no such thing as a free lunch. If an app costs $0, odds are, that's exactly what it's worth. BTW, I hope you don't mind ads in your apps.

Another item regarding apps is app stores. Apparently, both Amazon and Samsung have their own app stores in addition to Google Play. I haven't really had a chance to check them out though.

Finally, one thing I quickly discovered is that many of the iPhone apps on which I came to rely heavily upon are exclusive to iOS. One of the first things I did with the Note was search for Android versions of my most-used iOS apps. Aside from apps tied to services like Netflix, Rhapsody or Dropbox, not many of my favorites are available for Android. So much so that I'm still toting the deactivated iPhone around. Rule of thumb: if the developer of your favorite iOS app hasn't gotten around to creating a version for the laptop/desktop, they probably haven't bothered making one for Android either.

KEYBOARD
Between the number row and the predictive text row, the keyboard winds up taking up so much vertical space in landscape mode that it leaves little to no area onscreen to see what you're typing. This is a pretty significant issue, considering the size of the screen. Adjusting the global font size in Settings doesn't seem to have any effect on the size of the keyboard buttons and there's definitely no option to hide the number row on one of the keyboard's secondary pages. You do have the option to hide the predictive text row, but I've become too dependent on it to part with it. Additionally, the Note doesn't automatically add punctuation as you type - that's where the predictive text row proves most useful.

Some people have suggested trying a third-party keyboard, but the screenshots of all the ones I've looked at included a number row as well. Others have suggested rooting the phone as a possible solution. From what I've heard though, Verizon and Samsung don't take kindly to rooting and they attempt to erect roadblocks to the practice. That cat and mouse BS that Apple pulls on jailbreakers is the main reason I switched to Android in the first place, so I doubt I'll be heading down that road anytime soon.

Another issue I'm having with the keyboard is trying to get the hang of how to highlight text and insert the cursor at various points in existing text (it seems especially difficult to put the cursor at the beginning of a sentence). Also, the option to highlight and copy text (i.e. on a webpage or in an email) seems to be hit or miss.

EMAIL
I've had some issues in which Yahoo email quit syncing. I tried removing the account from the stock email app and instead use Yahoo's own Mail app from the Google Play store, but as was the case with the iOS version, Yahoo's app is garbage. Upon re-installing my Yahoo account within the stock mail app, I got a message from Verizon informing me that my Yahoo account has been successfully set up through vzw.com/sync. I'm not sure how or why Verizon interacts with my Yahoo mail account but it's a little worrisome from a privacy standpoint. With iOS, I was never given the impression that the carrier interacted in any way with the online services I used - short of providing the infrastructure necessary to move data back and forth - and that's the way it should be.

Another peeve, Gmail requires its own separate app. For the life of me, I can't understand why the stock email app (a Google product) can't handle Gmail (another Google product). Additionally, if you wish to make use of the feature to only be notified of new messages from priority senders, you must set it up on both the stock Mail app and the Gmail app.

WEB BROWSERS
One of the first things I did was look for a different browser. I figured Firefox would be great since it could sync my desktop's bookmarks, but it seemed to have trouble playing videos (even non-Flash videos). I tried, and was very content with Chrome, until they issued an update that left fonts looking blurry. At the moment I'm using Dolphin browser and I can see why it's had 10 million downloads.

SETUP
The only problem I experienced during setup and activation was related to Verizon's contacts backup service called Backup Assistant Plus. In 2011, I upgraded from a flip phone (whose address book was being synced with Backup Assistant) to an iPhone 4. Apparently, the iPhone's address book never got synced with Backup Assistant over the last two years and many of the entries were out of date. Once I decided to go with Android, I made sure to export my contacts from iCloud to Gmail and everything got transferred to the Note without issue. Then I made the mistake of syncing the Note with Verizon Backup Assistant - which added a bunch of outdated crap to the Note's address book. What a nightmare.

BATTERY
As I said before, I'm new to Android so there may be a few power-saving options and settings which need to be tweaked, but so far I'm not particularly impressed by the Note's battery life. It's right on par with what I got on the iPhone. Granted, the Note's screen is about 1.5 times the size of the iPhone's, but the battery is also about twice as big. One advantage though is that the included charger has a 2 amp output and gets the battery back up to 80% pretty quickly.

ACCESSORIES
The protective flip cover case from Samsung is overpriced. There's no cut-out for either the volume rocker or the notification LED and the cover makes the Note unwieldy when flipped back. Also, the cover makes it difficult to use the rear camera.

I was able to pair the Note with an Apple trackpad, though discovery took much longer than normal. My Samsung bluetooth earpiece paired and worked without issue.

There is one off-brand bluetooth accessory that I never could pair with the phone. It's a 30-pin dongle that plugs into any powered iPhone dock you have connected to a stereo. It allows you to play audio from any bluetooth 2.0 device through the iPhone dock and out to the stereo. Aside from it failing to automatically reconnect, the thing has worked pretty well with my iPhone, but the Note can't even detect it.

The clicker on the iPhone's earbuds can pause music on the Note but the volume buttons don't affect volume. I'm not sure if the earbuds' microphone works with the Note either. And on that subject, considering that this phone retails for $300 (WITH a two-year contract), the least Samsung could do is toss in a pair of cheap earbuds or maybe one of those crappy flip cover cases.

MULTIMEDIA
One thing that I really miss about the iPhone is the integration with iTunes. I've yet to find anything for either Mac or PC that works as well at syncing with the Note. Transferring music and videos to the Note is basically a drag and drop affair. There are options for syncing a pre-defined list of files (wirelessly, even) between a computer and the Note but I haven't found anything that will sync my iTunes playlists - particularly smart playlists and play counts. So far I can't even find an Android-equivalent of iTunes with the features that I need.

Although an optional 64 GB memory card would supply more than enough space on the Note for my entire music collection, my car's lack of bluetooth input, combined with the physical size of the phone, makes it more likely that my old iPod will come out of retirement rather than the Note becoming my primary music player.

SUMMARY
There are some things about the Note (and Android) that are pretty annoying, but overall, I can't think of any other phone currently available that I'd be willing to exchange it for if given the opportunity.

As far as things I would change:
I'd definitely shrink the landscape keyboard (as is, it's essentially useless).
I'd give the battery cover a hinge and include a standalone charger for use with a spare battery.
A MacBook-like magnetic charger plug would be nice (I absolutely hate micro-USB connectors).
Do something (I'm not sure what) about the Menu and Back touch keys. If they're to be kept touch-activated, then at the very least, the S-pen should be capable of interacting with them.
I'd try to make the overall experience feel less like a large-print smartphone designed for the visually-impaired and more like using a tablet.

One more side note. If you're a jailbroken iOS device user who is considering a move to Android, get familiar with the subject of rooting and flashing ROMs, etc. While stock Android is definitely more open and customizable than stock iOS, it's a far cry from the level of customization available to jailbroken iOS devices. As I alluded to earlier, if this is a road you're willing to travel, more power to you, just don't expect rooting an Android device to be any less of a headache than jailbreaking an iOS device. The claims of being able to easily root just about any device and use it on just about any network are BS. Unless you plan to use a true Nexus device on any other carrier but Verizon, you're almost guaranteed to encounter resistance of some sort. And if you've grown accustomed to receiving at least something on your device whenever Apple releases an iOS update, you may want to think twice about switching. Android updates are very dependent upon the whims of both your carrier and device manufacturer. The flip side of that coin is, if your older Android device does get the green light to receive an update, you're more likely to get the 'whole' update, rather than crippled versions like Apple releases to its barely one-year-old devices.

So there you go. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2. It's essentially a small tablet that can also make phone calls. If you value one-handed usability more than having extra screen real estate, then this phone is probably not for you. It's not for everyone, but neither is the iPhone.