Note I and Note II - narrower screen worse for ebook reading?

[annk]

I have the Note I, which I think is great for ebooks. I use it quite a bit to read in situations where the iPad is just too big to easily pull out (crowded busses etc).

I'm interested in upgrading to the Note II, but the fact that it's a little narrower makes me wonder if the ebook experience will be worse. Anyone out there who's upgraded, and who uses the phone to read books? I'd love to hear your opinion.

 

[Beeplance]

Why not stay with your Note 1? And I think the tiny bit of narrowness shouldn't affect much of the reading. Then again, may have different preference from you.

Maybe you should head down to a store to see for yourself if the difference is that apparent. It's quite hard for people to describe their experience to you, better for you to see first-hand.

 

[annk]

Why not stay with your Note 1? And I think the tiny bit of narrowness shouldn't affect much of the reading. Then again, may have different preference from you.

Whether or not I stay with the Note I will depend on the answer to the question I've asked.

Maybe you should head down to a store to see for yourself if the difference is that apparent. It's quite hard for people to describe their experience to you, better for you to see first-hand.

I will of course check it out for myself, but there's a difference between holding something in a store and using it for a week or so for a specific function, in various situations (= reading ebooks). Holding it in a store won't answer my question. So I posted to see if anyone who has upgraded has any thoughts on the difference in the reading experience.

 

[J.Appleseed]

Samsung Galaxy Note has really caught my heart. I saw it from an Asian drama (I guess they’re promoting the product as it was newly released in Korea.) and I was surprised by its size as the girl holding it. So I researched some of its reviews about eBook and some people say that it is great to be an eBook reader but some aren’t.

Gnote user here, I have the original one. My sister has the Note II but I think neither are suited to read books on. I prefer my iPad for that because in my opinion, 5.3" or 5.5" is still too small to read a book on. Don't get me wrong; for basic and short reading, e.g. a web article, it's great but for long books (of which I tend to read about a hundred pages at once) it's not.

 

[Oohara]

I do a ton of reading on my Note 2. To me this is a perfect reading device, even better than a tablet because it's so light to hold for extended periods of time. Also the screen is very crisp, and scrolling and page turning is very smooth.

Now, I haven't used the Note 1 beyond trying it out a bit in shops, but what I noticed immediately when I got the Note 2 was that the more narrow form factor made it much more comfortable to hold than the Note 1. It's a small difference when measured, but a big difference for the hand. And to me, for reading, the device being comfortable to hold is more important than having a few millimetres wider reading surface.

I'd definitely recommend the Note 2 for reading. Also because it's a totally bitchin device in general. I really don't think you'll end up missing that extra width very much at all.

Oh, and protip: SmartStay actually works like a charm and keeps the screen from dimming down after a while, so as long as you're looking at the page, you won't have to tap to keep the screen on. It's a small detail but one I've really come to love, not sure the Note 1 ever got that one?

 

[J.Appleseed]

Oh, and protip: SmartStay actually works like a charm and keeps the screen from dimming down after a while, so as long as you're looking at the page, you won't have to tap to keep the screen on. It's a small detail but one I've really come to love, not sure the Note 1 ever got that one?

My original Note has the exact same features the Note II has since it got the Android 4.1.2 update

 

[Kashsystems]

If you can hold out wait for a note 3, rumor has it, it will be closer to 6 inches. Which is the same size of a Kindle. I have a S4 and honestly I don't like it that much for reading. I prefer my old school Kindle for that and for pdf I either use my iPad mini or Kindle Fire depending on who has what in the household at the time.