Which Samsung phablet device is the ideal purchase for consumers? We pit the Galaxy Note againts the Galaxy Note 2 to see which is better.
For the design and dispaly, the first Galaxy Note has a 5.3 inches HD Super AMOLED display, with a resolution of 800x1280pixels and 285ppi. Its dimensions are 146.9x83x9.7 mm, and weighs 178 grams.
The Galaxy Note 2 on the other hand has a bigger display of 5.5 inches, but instead of increasing the resolution and pixel density on this HD Super AMOLED Plus, Samsung opted for 720x1280 pixels and 267ppi. It is 2 grams heavier than its predecessor and its dimensions are 151.1×80.5×9.4 mm.
In terms of hardware and OS, the dual-core Exynos processor clocked at 1.4GHz from the Galaxy Note was replaced with a 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos 4412 processor on the Note 2. The original Galaxy Note had a Mali 400MP GPU, while the Note 2 comes with a better Mali 400 MP4 GPU, which has the advantage over its predecessor.
The Samsung Galaxy Note has a 16/32GB of internal storage, supporting MicroSD card slots for expanding the 16GB variant of internal storage up to 32GB. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has three variants of internal memories: 16/32GB expandable up to 64GB, plus a 64GB variant.
The Galaxy Note has 1 GB of RAM and runs on the Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) OS, which was upgraded to the 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) version.
Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 doubled the RAM to improve its performance, and runs on the Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean) OS, which is upgradable to the 4.4.2 (KitKat) version.
For battery usage and camera specs, the Galaxy Note has a battery with the capacity of 2,500mAh, while the Galaxy Note 2 is equipped with a 3,100mAh battery.
Both Samsung smartphones have rear cameras of 8MP and they are capable of recording 1080p@24-30fps. However, the front camera on the Note 2 has been downgraded from 2MP to 1.9MP.
The Samsung Galaxy Note supports 4G LTE and HSPA+, features that can be found on the Galaxy Note 2 as well. But Samsung increased Note’s speed connectivity.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 16GB variant cost $215 on amazon.com, while the Galaxy Note 2 costs $386 on the same website.
Which Samsung phablet is better? Sound off in the comments section below.