Galaxy Note II Or Iphone 5 ??

[Kceb83]

I just bought the note II to replace my iphone 5. Once it arrives Monday I will be returning the iphone. No matter how much I wanted to become excited about the iPhone 5, it just felt stale as an upgrade from my 4s. It is no doubt a great phone but I really wanted a bigger screen.

 

[Dmaynard83]

I think if you need a big phone then get the note.

It will be interesting to see how benchmarks will turn out as its using a 1.6GHz processor. One would think the note should outperform the i5 because it is bigger - but that wasn't the case with the s3 so we will see.

 

[Dreshyne2g]

This may be food for thought. I had the galaxy s3 it's a awesome phone. I now have a iPhone 5. The reason not because I think the iPhone is better. It's because Samsung has very weak antennas. I went through two s3's. I couldn't use it at home without dropping calls. My wife got the iPhone 5 and she had a perfect strong signal. What good is a phone if it can't be a phone. I now have a iPhone 5 and get a great signal.

 

[Androidfan1x]

it's just a matter of what OS do you like
ios? iphone of course
android? note 2 if you like big, s3 if you like smaller, motorola has something like "maxx hd" if you like long battery,...

 

[nick_elt]

Well i have just bought a note 2 after 4 1/2 years of iphone. I still think osx is miles ahead of windows (for my uses) and i love my new ipad but after all these years i am just bored with the iphone(ui mainly) and want change. The note 2 looks like a beast and all user reviews from owners are that at first you look at it and you think its huge, after a while of usage you couldnt go back. So here goes.. I pick it up 2moro

Well had it for the weekend and absolutely love the device. Its in my opinion the best phone ever. Even after the first day I was used to the size and as soon as I put it in my pocket I didnt notice it. I also thought I wouldnt use the s pen much but its more than the average stylus, its frikken awesome.

Happy note 2 customer here, will recommend the phone to anyone who listens! So glad I returned the iphone 5 even tho I have been so pro apple the last few years.

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I think if you need a big phone then get the note.

It will be interesting to see how benchmarks will turn out as its using a 1.6GHz processor. One would think the note should outperform the i5 because it is bigger - but that wasn't the case with the s3 so we will see.

I dont think its about need, i cant say I NEEDED a larger phone than the iphone, but now I dont think I could go back

 

[PBz]

How does image quality (not specs) of the Note 2 camera compare to that of the 4S/5? The 4S takes amazing pictures but I am not that impressed with the 5 after using raw Jelly Bean on a Nexus 7. Thanks.

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Also, is there a PhotoStream equivalent on Android & not Dropbox?

 

[coldmack]

Drag-and-drop copying does not work on Macs at the moment - Google's "Android File Transfer" program for Mac is currently broken on some (if not all) Android 4.x phones. Not clear if this is a problem with Android 4.x, Samsung, or OS X, but I can confirm that it doesn't work between my Note 2 and either Lion or Mountain Lion - and my Googling suggests that the problem is universal.

Using 'camera mode' doesn't work either - iPhoto sees the phone but won't transfer files correctly.

Samsung do their own Sync program ('Kies') which sort-of works, but is clunky and tempramental - but it will sync music (sort of).

Older versions of Android supported 'USB Mass Storage Mode' which worked with anything, but in recent versions they've completely replaced this with 'Media Transfer Protocol' which Windows does natively but required the Android File Transfer program on Mac.

The saving graces are:

1. Syncing files over the wire is so last year - there are all sorts of cloud-based options.

2. The Note II takes a Micro-SD memory card which you can physically plug in to a mac via a USB adapter & drag files to it (I haven't tried it yet but I don't think there's any way they could have messed that up).

I think that is a Samsung issue(Nexus line excluded) as my friend is always mounting his Sony Xperia Play and HTC Droid Incredible 4G to his Mac with no issue. I think she is still on Lion, but I could be wrong.

I'd personally would go for the Note 2 as I find Wacom digitzer to be really useful for note taking. I sort of broke my rule(old school Apple and Nokia fan) and got myself the Android Thinkpad Tablet as it was $260 new for a 16gb and I really like the digtizer for it. Yeah, it quality is a bit lower than was Samsung offers, but still really nice for note taking. Really, a more useful business device for my needs vs the iPad 1 it just replaced all because of the digital pen it comes with. I am sure the Galaxy Note II would be even better with it's highly regarded Wacom pen. Now the only thing missing is Paper for digitized enabled Android devices and I'd be fully set.

 

[theluggage]

I think that is a Samsung issue(Nexus line excluded) as my friend is always mounting his Sony Xperia Play and HTC Droid Incredible 4G to his Mac with no issue.

Yep - I think Samsung has 'improved' the Media Transfer Protocol on the S series. However, earlier this year I tried to connect to a friend's Nexus and the USB Disk Mode feature (which let you connect to a Mac as a disc drive with no extra software) was gone - but Android File Transfer did work with that.

At least Samsung do produce their own sync software for Mac.

I've found the pen quite impressive for some things - I'll have to see how it goes longer term (I'm not sure if it learns your handwriting, but it helps if you get used to using it) - but it does need the huge screen to be useful.

 

[coldmack]

Yep - I think Samsung has 'improved' the Media Transfer Protocol on the S series. However, earlier this year I tried to connect to a friend's Nexus and the USB Disk Mode feature (which let you connect to a Mac as a disc drive with no extra software) was gone - but Android File Transfer did work with that.

At least Samsung do produce their own sync software for Mac.

I've found the pen quite impressive for some things - I'll have to see how it goes longer term (I'm not sure if it learns your handwriting, but it helps if you get used to using it) - but it does need the huge screen to be useful.

My Thinkpad with 4.0 also works as mass storage on my OSX devices. As for the pen learning, I can't say for Samsung, but my Lenovo TPT, and I'm told HTC Flyer line also does not learn. Only thing really missing is Paper, which would be amazing for note taking and drawing, though Papyrus is getting there.

 

[auero]

I think if you need a big phone then get the note.

It will be interesting to see how benchmarks will turn out as its using a 1.6GHz processor. One would think the note should outperform the i5 because it is bigger - but that wasn't the case with the s3 so we will see.

The iPhone 5 does not outperform the S3. These early reports were running ICS. It scored ~1750-1800 on geekbench using jellybean. The Note has been benchmarked already as well. With no surprise, it scores double of the S3 on the quadrant. The geekbench score on the Note II was ~1950-2000. I'm sure this will improve with a new rom.

http://www.fonearena.com/blog/55801...ks-quad-core-exynos-cpu-and-mali-400-gpu.html

 

[maflynn]

I don't know, the note II and the iPhone 5 seem to be aiming at two different phone users. The Note II is for folks who want a large display and some phone functionality and the iPhone is smaller and works well for those folks who want phone, apps and what note and the ability to easily carry it (in your pocket and what not).

I'm not a fan of the Note (and Note II) just because of its size