Samsung is working on the second generation of the Tab S - Galaxy Tab S General

It took longer than I thought it would considering its Samsung but I read an article announcing their working on a second generation of the tab s. There wasn't much info nor were there any specs so I didn't post the link. Hopefully this one will fix all the minor issues. Considering what the original was this new one should be the top dog for awhile. Has anyone heard any other info?
Moto X 2014

Yes. Article in Android Authority. 9.x" and 8.0" Tab S2

They're gonna be 4:3 ratio which sucks for media.

Sigh, please be a rumor with this 4:3 crap! What are we reverting to a simpler time?
Grrrrrrrr!

4:3 is very good for everything else besides watching movies, but I guess if you use your tablet for watching movies mostly then yeah it's going to suck.
What I want is better speakers (probably not gonna happen) and I want less air gap between the glass and screen to make the screen look even better.

Better speakers would definitely be nice but I'm not sure how good they'd be in a slim casing. New tab will most likely get the toned down tw. I couldn't wait to root and get rid of tw, its the #1 that keeps me away from Samsung phones. I love the note 4...
Moto X 2014

Im pretty sure its going to have the new exynos chip. Like the ones made in korea that had a tad newer chip then the ones we have now. And probably a fix on the overheating issue.

DUHAsianSKILLZ said:
Im pretty sure its going to have the new exynos chip. Like the ones made in korea that had a tad newer chip then the ones we have now. And probably a fix on the overheating issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 on the over heat issues, been having it all day(playing hearthstone)

I'm very happy with my 10.5 and looking forward to 5.0.1. It helped reduce lag on my note 4 considerably - its virtually non existent now, and the battery life is better so I can't wait to receive it on my current tab s - hoping it will kill the lag. I don't think I'll upgrade this time round to be honest. It all works well (side sync and throw to my samsung UHD TV works a treat).

Ok, perhaps it would be a change of pace having a smaller screen but.... I really hope they offer this tablet in 32 or 64gb (128, yeah right) this time and kill 16gb once and for all.
No tablet should have 16gb in 2015. I paid extra to buy the 32gb 10.5S just on principle.
Here are some leaked specs....rumored.
http://www.sammobile.com/2015/02/19...y-tab-s-2-8-inch-and-9-7-inch-specifications/

I think 4:3 would be an improvement. As some others have said, 16:10 is good for movies. For everything else 4:3 is better.

I think I'd actually prefer 3:2, but either that or 4:3 would make me upgrade from my Tab Pro 10.1. I can't really get used to 16:10, it only feels right when watching movies.

I felt the same way. I would absolutely positively never use a device with 4:3 aspect ratio.
Then I got a nexus 9. Figured I would hate it. But I found that movies were actually fine on it. It is more a psychological thing about unused screen space I think, because I found it no more distracting than 2.35:1 aspect ratio on 16:9.
But what made me really love it was having books, magazines, textbooks and comic books fill the screen completely. Very comfortable if one does a lot of reading.
And the strangest thing: I found myself surfing the web in portrait! Caught myself one day... though...whoa...when did I start doing that? Didn't even think about it. Its strange but 4:3 makes a web page feel like you are reading a book.
As a disclaimer, before someone gets on my case for daring to mention the nexus 9 on a Tab S forum: I own a Tab S 8.4 and a Tab S 10.5 so I do have a basis for comparison.
And for what its worth, I still watch most movies on the Tab S because the Amoled screen is unparalleled for movie watching.
A new 4:3 Tab S with Amoled I think I would be a remarkably versatile tablet and in retrospect I think I would be fine with the idea.

I disagree. Tablets are more for media consumption than anything else and 16:9 is the standard so anything closer to that would be better for me. I owned ipads and would upgrade every year up until the ipad air with I owned for a week and returned it. The black bars watching movies made the 9.7" screen feel a little bigger than my note 3! Switched to a note 10.1 2014 and it was so much more immersive because the video occupied more of the screen. On flights all the ipad people I sit beside usually ask about my tablet and the fact that the video looks so much bigger on my device than theirs, so I'm hoping the new device will be 16:10 and include an SPen, as it is so much more useful on a tablet than on a note device.

Digital Man said:
But what made me really love it was having books, magazines, textbooks and comic books fill the screen completely. Very comfortable if one does a lot of reading.
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Regarding comics, the resolution used by Comixology digital comics is 1988 x 3056 which is quite a bit closer to 16:10 than 4:3.

The thing with movies is depends on the software you can just zoom in and fill up the screen. Sure you are not getting the whole movie frame and not seeing the movie as the director intended, but nobody intended you to watch their movies on a little phone or tablet either [emoji20]
on the other hand, with non movies stuff things feel more proportional on a 4:3 screen. If you're browsing the web, in landscape you have wide space horizontally that may be unused and at the same time you see less of a page vertically and have to scroll down more to read. In portrait it's too narrow and text maybe too small.
With apps like Gmail or tapatalk where you have a split pane in landscape mode, again it is too wide horizontally so the space is a bit wasted but too short vertically so you see fewer messages. In portrait mode, split pane is just too narrow and awkward so they end up using a pull out drawer design instead. Thus you have basically turned your tablet into a giant phone. Take the on screen keyboard. On the 4:3 screen, it has roughly square keys like a real keyboard, as opposed to rectangular keys like the infamous chiclet keyboard on the IBM junior. (In dating myself lol)
When I moved from iPad to android tablet first thing I noticed was most apps are just phone apps on a big screen and not really taking advantage of a large screen. I think 16:10 has something to do with it. If you look at lollipop, Google didn't even bother to do anything different on tablet. The settings app for example doesn't even fill up the screen.
Of course a great deal depends on your use mix, but I think some people just reflexively hate 4:3 because Apple uses it and they haven't had much experience with it.

I'm going yikes at the choice of the 5433. My feeling was always that we got shortchanged in getting a 5420 after SGS5 released with a newer version. I can see myself passing to wait for a Snapdragon 810/Exynos 7420 processor so that my tablet is not outclassed by my phone.
As to the 4:3 vs 16:9, I'll try anything once. Sadly, post Nexus 9, I can see a world where 16:9 tablets cease to exist (apple has a majority of the tablet market in the 4:3 factor so other than Google's insistance, as a competitor, that's the way the world will work.
I got a Dell Venue 7840 (because I will try anything once). I can feel the speed bump. It doesn't impress me otherwise relative to the Tab S (screen is same to slightly worse, dimensions are within 10% on thickness and 2% of length/width and it weighs more. Post having that and playing at the store with a Nexus 9, I feel like samsung could take the tab s, do nothing but replace the processor and have a 2015 flagship.

My concern is that the rumor mill says the battery will be only 3800mah. My T705 has 4600. Battery efficiencies are always improving, so Samsung should be striving for as big a battery as possible, not just rely on newer chips and a lower resolution screen to save power. Better, bigger batteries are super important for all mobile devices. Just getting by is a mistake. Do you get that Samsung?

Itchiee said:
Here are some leaked specs....rumored.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sure am hoping the Tab S 2 leaked specs are indeed just made up for clickbait! The screen - the one outstanding feature of the original Tab S and the main reason people (inc. me) bought it - sounds like it will be far worse. It will be shrunk, have a worse resolution and a 100% media-hostile 4:3 aspect ratio.
Having used my Tab S (with CyanogenMod of course) for a while now, I'm convinced that the quality of the screen is the most important aspect of a tablet (far more so than CPU/GPU/RAM specs) and if Samsung make the screen worse like the leaks claim, then they're not onto a winner in my books.

rklrkl said:
I sure am hoping the Tab S 2 leaked specs are indeed just made up for clickbait! The screen - the one outstanding feature of the original Tab S and the main reason people (inc. me) bought it - sounds like it will be far worse. It will be shrunk, have a worse resolution and a 100% media-hostile 4:3 aspect ratio.
Having used my Tab S (with CyanogenMod of course) for a while now, I'm convinced that the quality of the screen is the most important aspect of a tablet (far more so than CPU/GPU/RAM specs) and if Samsung make the screen worse like the leaks claim, then they're not onto a winner in my books.
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Click to collapse
I've learned not to pay leaks any mind especially when it comes to samsung. They've hurt a lot of feelings over the years with expectations. They know they hit a hr with the tab s display it would be a shame and a death sentence to lose a products main feature.
Moto X 2014

Related

Ipad to a Nook

So the others day I made the plunge from an ipad to the Nook Color. So far im pretty impressed, being the huge gadget junkie that I am. With that being said of course I have a few complaints.
1. Android tablets lack polish. Things on the ipad that just worked seem to require solutions on the nook. I do understand that I'm using a hacked device so i take that into consideration but playing decent quality youtube should be a know brainer
2. The speaker is bad. I know this is intended to be an ebook reader but my kindle is louder, no excuse.
On to the stuff I love.
1. 7" is the perfect size for a tablet, apple should take note.
2. The keyboard is amazing and it will allow you to add words to the built in dictionary. Apple clearly dropped the ball on this.
3. The screen is great, nice and crisp. It's been a joy to read on.
4. The potential, I've grown sick of waiting on apple to add simple features. Android is a blessing. I'm looking forward to new roms and froyo in the near future.
Sent from my Nook Color using XDA App
I agree the 7" is perfect size for a tab. Walkin around with a 10" tab looks retarded.
Missing #5 You saved a boatload of money by choosing Geico (NC)
I have a 10 inch iPad and a 4 inch Galaxy S Vibrant phone. And now a 7 inch Nook Color that fills the gap inbetween.
My list of issues with the Nook.
1. Slower.
Browsing the web, market place, and some other apps feels much slower on the NC than the iPad, even slower than my Vibrant. This is rooted with Dolphin HD. It's acceptable, but wish it could be quicker. And I expect Android 2.2 will help alot (I'm using a custom Android 2.2 ROM on my Vibrant).
2. Screen is tacky.
The screen feels rough or tacky. It's not very smooth at all. Makes pinching and scrolling a little more awkward than it should be. Wish it was smoother, I suppose it will get a little smoother over time. But I don't think it'll ever feel as smooth as the iPad or Vibrant did out of the box. I guess this is some coating on the phone to make reading easier? I might have to try out a screen shield to see if they can offer a smoother finger gliding experience.
3. Battery life.
Battery life is very poor compared to the iPad (probably average for an Android device). With the iPad I never even think about the battery, I always have plenty. But with my Android phone and NookColor, battery is a constant worry and I need to keep the charger on hand.
This items are both good and bad at the same time.
1. Heavy/Sturdy.
It's heavier than I expected. I read it's heavier than the Galaxy Tab and Archos 70. However it also has a very solid sturdy feeling.
2. Ugly/Comfortable.
The bevel is ugly, mostly because of that hideous loop at the bottom. Also that loop makes accessing the microSD slot more difficult than it should be. Also not a fan of the rounded raised bevel around the screen. However the rounded edges and the rubber back do make it comfortable to hold.
What I like about the Nook over the iPad.
1. It's Android.
I'm not an Apple fan. I've really tried my best to avoid buying any Apple products because I don't like the walled garden, locked down, controlling nature of Apple products. Having an Android tablet means I have much greater freedom to what I want with the OS and apps. I imagine there will be some nice custom ROMs I'll be able to install on the Nook some day that will improve the speed issues I have now and add a lot more features.
2. Screen looks great.
While I don't like the feel of the screen, I do love how it looks. It's definitely not better than the iPad, however it's one of the best on an Android tablet. I imagine only the Galaxy Tab equals or betters it. Looks good from any angle.
3. Price.
I think the iPad is a very quality piece of hardware with very polished software and certainly worth the $500 I spent. But the Nook Color is probably even more impressive for what you get at half the price.
Having owned an ipad until last week and currently own two android devices (captivate and nookcolor)
Here are my observations
-Book apps are not that far from each other but the children books score a big thumbs up for nookcolor (not really important for me since i don't have any kids)
-Magazine apps on ipad are much better laid out and more fluid than magazines on nookcolor (ie. car and driver). Also it's currently free on ipad whereas nookcolor requires subscription
-In general, better selection of apps for ipad than nook (nook doesn't have apps and lack of scalable andoird apps for big screens really shows). Ipad has been out for a while and hopefully with the numerous tablet sized android devices flooding the market will rectify this issue
Here is one thing that nookcolor really outshines ipad.
multitasking, multitasking, multitasking
When the apps are parked in the task manager, most apps will restart when you try to access them again. I've also experienced issues with resource management on ipad trying to open PDF documents (1~2MBs in size) even when i had less than five app running (or inactively running) in task manager.
Overall i'm enjoying the form factor of nookcolor for everyday usage and hope that 2.2/2.3 release will bring some more performance to the device. Device isn't slow by any mean and nook ui may deceive consumers as being sluggish but rooted and running adw for launcher makes the device fly.
Okay so playing video kind of sucks and the youtube app doesn't play hd. Just a thought
Sent from my nook color using XDA App
As far as the screen goes, it is better than the ipad for viewing. From my understanding there are 3 layers to the screen to give it good viewing angles and better viewing for reading. The resolution is also great, similar to ipad but on a smaller screen and better pixel density. Better than the Galaxy Tab resolution.
I have a matte screen protector on mine that I purchased from ebay and it makes the screen really smooth and not the sticky feel you get from stock screen. Although, I heard that it does smooth out over time.
Multitasking is great on the NC compared to Ipad and probably due to the 512 vs 256 ram on the memory. The ipad is slicker looking but you also pay more. Speed wise, all we need is a custom kernel and I am sure we can get this thing 1 or 1.2ghz. And the custom ROM with optimization will make this a lot more fluid.
I love the portability with 7" screen and it is heavier than Galaxy tab but feels sturdier.
wendellc said:
The resolution is also great, similar to ipad but on a smaller screen and better pixel density. Better than the Galaxy Tab resolution.
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Click to collapse
The NOOK and the Galaxy Tab has the same screen resolution, I have both if them. However the Tab seems to scale its interface making every app slightly larger, making them have less usable space. I prefere the NOOKs unscaled interface.
Sent from my NOOK Color using XDA App
Tacky Screen
For those complaining about the screen being tacky, I noticed that myself initially (compared to my Droid X). However, it now no longer seems tacky, so either my fingers have worn off from playing with it LOL, or it comes with some sort of initial coating that wears off with use.
jaydon34 said:
So the others day I made the plunge from an ipad to the Nook Color. So far im pretty impressed, being the huge gadget junkie that I am. With that being said of course I have a few complaints.
1. Android tablets lack polish. Things on the ipad that just worked seem to require solutions on the nook. I do understand that I'm using a hacked device so i take that into consideration but playing decent quality youtube should be a know brainer
2. The speaker is bad. I know this is intended to be an ebook reader but my kindle is louder, no excuse.
On to the stuff I love.
1. 7" is the perfect size for a tablet, apple should take note.
2. The keyboard is amazing and it will allow you to add words to the built in dictionary. Apple clearly dropped the ball on this.
3. The screen is great, nice and crisp. It's been a joy to read on.
4. The potential, I've grown sick of waiting on apple to add simple features. Android is a blessing. I'm looking forward to new roms and froyo in the near future.
Sent from my Nook Color using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watch the 7" comment, which I totally agree with, as you'll have 10" mavens swoop in claiming that 10" is better for video(yeah right), and another smaller subset claiming that 10" is better for reading some technical documents. I've never had a problem with video watching on 7" nor with tech doc reading on a 7".
YouTube: best experience that I've had with video playback on Android devices so far has been with the lowly Augen GT78 sporting a Telechips TCC8902 ARM11 CPU which apparently had an AWESOMELY superior hw video codec support to just about ANY other ARM SoC available, although Tegra 2 doesn't seem to be doing so badly, yet could apparently, use some further driver updates to better support it's video playback capabilities.
Beyond that, yep basic Android UI is pretty "rough" for Tablets, and is why I presume that many manufacturers attempt to slap on a custom UI of some sort although they haven't had much luck so far(I'm looking at you TapnCrap) beyond specialized book reader front ends, e.g. Nook Color, Pandigital Novel, and Cruz Reader.
All this said I still haven't gotten around to picking up a NC yet, as I'm still kind of waiting to see what pops up next year, but may break down next week and just buy one as the gTab(10") is a bit much for comfortable portability and use as a reader... plus the NC has a WAY better screen from what I could tell playing around with a demo unit at B&N the other week...
cutterjohn said:
Watch the 7" comment, which I totally agree with, as you'll have 10" mavens swoop in claiming that 10" is better for video(yeah right), and another smaller subset claiming that 10" is better for reading some technical documents. I've never had a problem with video watching on 7" nor with tech doc reading on a 7".
YouTube: best experience that I've had with video playback on Android devices so far has been with the lowly Augen GT78 sporting a Telechips TCC8902 ARM11 CPU which apparently had an AWESOMELY superior hw video codec support to just about ANY other ARM SoC available, although Tegra 2 doesn't seem to be doing so badly, yet could apparently, use some further driver updates to better support it's video playback capabilities.
Beyond that, yep basic Android UI is pretty "rough" for Tablets, and is why I presume that many manufacturers attempt to slap on a custom UI of some sort although they haven't had much luck so far(I'm looking at you TapnCrap) beyond specialized book reader front ends, e.g. Nook Color, Pandigital Novel, and Cruz Reader.
All this said I still haven't gotten around to picking up a NC yet, as I'm still kind of waiting to see what pops up next year, but may break down next week and just buy one as the gTab(10") is a bit much for comfortable portability and use as a reader... plus the NC has a WAY better screen from what I could tell playing around with a demo unit at B&N the other week...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other thing to note about ipad is the aspect ratio
I'm so used to seeing widescreen ratio on both tv and pc that when i was watching hulu on ipad, it was somewhat akward
I have to agree with many points of this discussion. I went from an ipad to a rooted NC and am very happy.
1. Love the size, Ive always felt the ipad was too big. I sure ipad 2 will be smaller.
2. I connect alot easier to public wifi, especially when there is a sign in screen. My ipad always had trouble with those.
3. Screen is nice, but sometimes a little too sensitive I think. Opens apps when scrolling through them for example.
4. Love using Google services, Google Talk, Gmail, and live wallpaper. And get latest Google Maps and navigation. Apple always tried to lock them out.
My wishes.
1. Froyo to enable beach live wallpaper. Coming soon, I hope...
2. Microphone. Can one be added on via 3.5mm jack? Would love to make sip calls, but no dice so far.
3. Static wifi, that doesnt sleep. Or at least the option to turn it on and off.
Benny1234 said:
3. Static wifi, that doesnt sleep. Or at least the option to turn it on and off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wvcachi said:
1. How do I keep wifi from turning off when the screen goes to sleep?
- download Spare Parts from the market and set wifi sleep policy to never.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope that helps.
i agree with most observations comparing an iPad to NC.
I have both right now, and I definitely think when compared to iOS Android lacks polish and is behind in terms of apps.
10 characters
For the most part the apps are almost the same for what I do. Apple just really has a nice way of dummy proofing products with the exception of flash everything works right out the box.
Sent from my Nook Color

Question for Galaxy Note + S2 owners

I am thinking about upgrading from S2, can someone with both phones compare - what advantages (if any ) / disadvantages Note has over S2 ?
Obviously Note has bigger screen - but screen aside - did you notice any other area where Note triumphs S2 ? (GPS, wifi, battery life with screen turned on, sound quality, camera, sotware issues...) How about heat problems ? S2 can get pretty hot under high workload, is Note any better ? (afaik it basically runs the same chip just clocked higher which makes me wondering)
Also regarding the screen - are the colors / brightness / outdoor visibility etc. the same and the difference is only in size / resolution / ppi ? And finally: is there someone who tried both and actually preferred S2 ?
They're almost the same. For me the major difference is battery life and spen ... I love to sketch. So I switched. Battery is superb.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
I don't own either, but from what I've seen the battery is way better on the Note than basically any other Android phone. Colors will be slightly less vibrant because it's not a SAMOLED+ display, it's just SAMOLED. But honestly, who cares? It's 720p!
Yumunum said:
I don't own either, but from what I've seen the battery is way better on the Note than basically any other Android phone. Colors will be slightly less vibrant because it's not a SAMOLED+ display, it's just SAMOLED. But honestly, who cares? It's 720p!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The colors are amazing. I find them just as vibrant as the S2. The only real difference is the pentile display, but the dpi is so high you can't even tell. I find the screen to be far more useful than the S2 with the extra size and resolution.
Battery life wasn't great at first but once I turned off latitude and froze a few samsung apps it got MUCH better. Oh, and using minimum brightness is a major factor too. I wasn't too happy about turning the brightness down but after a day you don't notice it. I just have a widget on the desktop so I can quickly turn up the brightness if I need to.
After using the phone for a bit more, the Note is better in some ares:
-GLONASS satellite system allows it very fast lock in and response, although its not as precise as GPS, maybe 5-10ft off, but realky isn't an issue at all.
-Better PPI, but can see grains if eyes 6" from the screen.
-Screen is slightly brighter.
Cons: Can't operate it one handed at all due to size.
Sound quality is the same, not bad but not great. Same camera I think. Both can get pretty warm, but a case helps.
battery life: qualitatively it seems note lasts longer.
sound quality: equally good but note louder esp on speaker.
heat: i suppose any phone will heat up under stress e.g. video, charging but by and large i have never felt much heat from either.
camera: this is one area note is better than S2. S2 had weird pink hues but this is less noticeable in note. the screen seems to respond better in camera mode for note too.
in short, unless size and portability are major concerns, note is a better get. hope this helps!
comrad said:
I am thinking about upgrading from S2, can someone with both phones compare - what advantages (if any ) / disadvantages Note has over S2 ?
Obviously Note has bigger screen - but screen aside - did you notice any other area where Note triumphs S2 ? (GPS, wifi, battery life with screen turned on, sound quality, camera, sotware issues...) How about heat problems ? S2 can get pretty hot under high workload, is Note any better ? (afaik it basically runs the same chip just clocked higher which makes me wondering)
Also regarding the screen - are the colors / brightness / outdoor visibility etc. the same and the difference is only in size / resolution / ppi ? And finally: is there someone who tried both and actually preferred S2 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Allrighty.
I currently own both, and can help you out with answering a few things.
I'll start off with something that I haven't seen many if any even, touch base on:
Typing is a dream. I used the stock Gingerbread keyboard on my Galaxy SII as it was the most comfortable one for me, but found it a tad cramped at times and landscape was just too wide to type anything on naturally. On the Note using the same keyboard, I personally had fewer mistakes and found that my typing speed had stayed near dead on to my thumbing on the smaller brother. I'd say it hits that sweet spot for completely comfortable portrait typing.
The sound quality in call is right on par with that of the GSII, dare I say even a little bit better. In any of the time I've spent talking on it, I haven't had an issue and it's clear on the other end.
Battery life is most certainly better. It's not worlds better, but I have no worries that I won't kill my battery come the end of my day and get home, whereas there were days were I was cutting it too close for comfort on the GSII. I'm a light to moderate user, with locally stored music playback anywhere from 1-7 hours, screen on time around 3-4 hours, bluetooth always on (for MBW-150), and no wifi every day.
I've found the software for the camera to be improved. It's not Nexus-fast in terms of snapping off a photo, but it's easily much faster at taking a photo on the Note than the GSII. Image quality and detail is on par with the GSII's snapper.
The Note is the same as the SII in terms of heat. That hasn't changed, but this is only if you're actually working it by playing games or watching HD video. Likewise, it stays cool with regular use, as does the SII.
Screen saturation is almost that of the SII's screen, but not enough to fret about. I've found the colour on the Note's screen to be a touch warmer, but that could very well be because it's a newer screen with less on time than my GSII. Outdoor visibility isn't an issue, at my usual screen brightness of 25% I have no problems making out what's on the screen throughout the day, even in near direct sunlight. This was the same case with it's smaller sibling, so no real differences here.
As a note about the Note's screen (pardon the pun), the screen is fantastic. Flat out. Text, images, and video are easily more crisp and enjoyable to view on the Note than the SII. Because of the high pixel density, you can't even make out the sup pixels while reading unless you bring the phone less than 6" away from your face and even then it's difficult.
I absolutely love my Note. Everyone I've showed it to has had the same reaction: "Wow. It huge!". So it most certainly stands out if that might matter to you. There are times where I miss the GSII for it's size and general 'feel'. It's definitely been tamed and feels a touch more responsive while moving through the OS, and the light weight was always a plus. There have been times where my hand was slightly fatigued from holding the Note, but again this really is a two handed device.
To sum it all up, I bought my Galaxy SII in August. I just got my Note about a week ago, never handling or seeing one in real life and I feel it was a worthy enough upgrade. My reasoning is of course biased for my wants in the device, but chances are if you're looking into getting this device, you'll surely be impressed.
It is interesting to see different experiences with SGS2 and Note. I own both, and here is my quick comparison.
Screen - I like the bigger format ( I love the bigger format) but the screen is not as bright as SGS2. White is little bit grayish. Colors are pretty much same, I don't see the problem with RGB or pentile display. So Note: 1 point.
Sound - I absolutely love the sound, all notifications are louder, in call volume louder, speaker louder and more bass. Note: 1 point
Wi Fi signal: I tested SGS2, Note, Galaxy Tab and my wife's Iphone 4G wifi signal strength in my house, I have latest Linksys router, super fast cable internet with latest modem capable up to 100 mbps, in real I am getting 54 mbps. Note performed worst of all of them. Around 16 mbps versus 22 for SGS 2 and iPhone. Very dissapointed with wi fi signal strength as well, loosing signal in places where SGS2 and iPhone still works ok. Note: 0 points, SGS 2 : 1 point.
Camera: oh boy, much much worse than SGS 2, I couldn't believe how bad this camera is. I will post later side by side pictures from both phones with same settings, you will be surprised. Not focusing as quickly as SGS2, white balance off, takes ages refocusing between light area and dark area, etc... SGS 2: 1 more point here.
Stylus: since SGS2 doesn't have it, Note gets 1 more point here, because I find this feature very useful for my business and it was one of the main reasons I bought this phone. (screen and Stylus)
Scrolling between home screens is little bit laggy, much more noticeable than SGS2. Stock browser scrolling is jerky, not iphone smooth as SGS2. Wake up screen delay is 1.5 sec from pressing any button ( home or power) compared to almost instant screen on with SGS2.
Both phones running stock firmware, SGS2 is on UK unbranded 2.3.4 rooted, Note is on 2.3.6. German firmware not rooted.(yet)
Using it on USA AT&T carrier. Phone signal more less same,somewhere SGS2 performs better, somewhere Note has better signal, but I am satisfied with both phones performances.
Overall I prefer Note right now, it may be because of it's novelty versus my "old" SGS2, but it will be very hard for me to go to smaller size screen phone after using Note. Probably the best phone I ever had so far. I bought Note without seeing it in real from Amazon.de and I am not dissapointed with the purchase.
enjoy it, life is short.
Well thanks everyone, my general impressions from what has been said are:
1.) Screen is much better
2.) Battery is much better
3.) Pen is a potential advantage (I almost forgot about the pen)
4.) Experience with remaining features can vary (probably due to manufacturing differences ?) but overall they are all more or less comparable to Galaxy S2
5.) With one exception being GPS, at least based on this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=arOYNNux_mg
it seems the Note's GPS should be quite superior (it may be the best GPS in any phone yet ?)
So if screen, battery life and GPS are improved over S2 then it's probably good enough for me. However it would be much cleaner cut if there would be more horsepower under the hood as well I'd love some faster CPU, 32GB of storage and faster stock sd cards. (Actually I'd love to see some SSD on it You can put SSD into a netbook so why not to a phone ? )
Also one thing I would probably prefer is to have 16:9 (720 height instead of 800) display and about 4.8 - 5" big, slightly more portable and less funny looking while making a call. Maybe they've opted for Note's aspect ratio as to give better support for note taking ?
ive had my galaxy note for a month. just picked up a free galaxy s2 today on vodafone AU's $29 cap. personally, i think i'll stick with the note. everything about the note is just more convenient for me. bigger screen makes portrait keyboard awesome, higher res makes everything look better. battery life is only better on the note with gaming and video watching, both are on par for web browsing battery life due to the weakness of samoled.
gps is much much better on my galaxy note. locks down fairly well when im indoors whilst the s2 cant even lock after running it for half an hour in navigation mode.
as for the screen ratio, samsung havent made a phone that uses 16:9 screen ratio for a fair while (if they have made any at all, cant seem to think of any). the slightly wider/taller (depending on how you look at it) makes portrait keyboard useful, but i must agree, the extra pixels are wasted on videos. if you want a 16:9 screen ratio, look towards the lg nitro hd and galaxy nexus.
one thing the galaxy nexus has that these phones dont seem to have is the correct positioning of the 3.5mm socket. the galaxy nexus has it positioned on the bottom, like my old n900. this is the perfect place for the socket since it means you can pull your phone out of your pocket when headphones are plugged in and it will be the right way up. it also means if youre plugging it into anything in your car, it wont have any silly cables coming out the top. its one of those little things that are nice and much appreciated. but im digressing a bit here.
overall, the phones will be similar, with the screen being the main difference and the unique advantage of the note will be the S pen. but that may be a bit of a downer in terms of update speed. for the galaxy s2, all samsung need to do is refine the experience, add touchwiz, and its all ready. for the note, they need to add touchwiz and then modify the S-Pen apps to run correctly as well. shouldnt delay the release of ICS for the note by too much considering samsung should have gained experience with ICS when working with the galaxy nexus, but its still a bit of a delay.
and i dont think SSDs will be needed on phones for a fair while. honestly, when will you need a read speed faster than 20mb/s? or a write speed faster than that? its only really useful when transferring files to and from a PC, but as to actual device usage, it has little impact. videos are encoded at what? 17mbps? thats still only 2-3mb/s of write speed needed. theres very little on the device that could take advantage of the added speed of an SSD. its just something that will drive up the product cost with very little benefit in realworld usage. apps load quickly enough so i dont think samsung would bother to consider an SSD for phones anytime soon.
Souai said:
and i dont think SSDs will be needed on phones for a fair while. honestly, when will you need a read speed faster than 20mb/s? or a write speed faster than that? its only really useful when transferring files to and from a PC, but as to actual device usage, it has little impact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Faster than 20MB/s - yes it's mainly for data transfer. But note also that while most android apps are small, some (especially games which can have couple of hundreds of MBs) should benefit from faster storage. And if you bench seq. write speed of S2 it's nowhere near to 20MB/s. It's more like 5-7MB/s - very slow for large data transfers (I don't know if Galaxy Note is any better). The internal memory of S2 is of course optimized for fast random reads/writes rather then seq. speeds. But if we can have high capacity USB3 sticks with read / write speeds above 100 MB/s and still very good random read/write speeds (e.g. 64GB flash for about 100€) then maybe to have phone with 32GB-64GB internal memory and 50/30MB/s and USB3 etc. could be done for similar price (which would be very fine with me).
Note seems to be well suited for video playback but with typical 720p movie at about 5GB I find the 12GB internal + 32GB external SD cards quite limiting in capacity as well as in transfer speeds (esp. considering that I need permanently at least 16GB for my music collection and lot's of free space for 1080p video recording) Surprisingly most netbooks have comparable RAM capacity and CPU speeds (at least for non floating point tasks) to those of highend smartphones, yet the storage capacity and seq. transfer speeds on netbooks is order of magnitudes higher.
I got it today ! It's very big AND unfortunately the side panel has annoying squeaking problem. It's only on one place - below the volume button, exactly where I tend to leave my fingers. Anyone else with the same problem ? Never had any squeaking problems on SGS2.
Is there a possibility that the back cover has not been clicked in place properly? I get squeaking too when that happens.
I have both phones.
When I got the Note I wanted to sell the S2, even had a buyer for it.
But after I used the Note for a day I start to have serious second thoughts.
The S2 is so much smoother ... Honestly, in this respect the Note is much closer to SG1 than SG2.
Hey mates
I have both of these phones myself, and I'm just wondering is there any possibilities to move memos from SGS2 to note??
Chagrim said:
Hey mates
I have both of these phones myself, and I'm just wondering is there any possibilities to move memos from SGS2 to note??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the backup feature on the PC, with syncing them to google, with the option to back them up with MyBackup, there are a lot of options Probably the easiest would be go into the options of your SGS2 Memo app and sync it to google, and then just redownload them on the Note. I like everything OTA. I dislike having to plug everything in to get stuff done.
zkyevolved said:
With the backup feature on the PC, with syncing them to google, with the option to back them up with MyBackup, there are a lot of options Probably the easiest would be go into the options of your SGS2 Memo app and sync it to google, and then just redownload them on the Note. I like everything OTA. I dislike having to plug everything in to get stuff done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, now I feel myself really dumb! Thanks for that
holgalee said:
Is there a possibility that the back cover has not been clicked in place properly? I get squeaking too when that happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not possible because I tripplechecked (by removing and putting back) the cover prior to asking here.
But there is more to Note than that: I saw videos of Note compared to S2 etc. on youtube I saw pictures in reviews etc. but nothing could prepare me to how big it actually is in real. I will be probably in minority here but I can't avoid thinking that it's actually too big - for calling it a phone at least. At the same time I could live with larger screen and res than S2 (mostly for comfortable video watching) So I think if I could spec and ideal phone for me, based on interpolation between S2 and Note it would have display comparable to Galaxy Nexus (1280x720 ~ 4.7" - 4.8", 120g - 140g) that should be a perfect balance between display usefulness and overall portability. Too bad they've crippled Nexus with missing SD slot and missing flash support. Hope that Galaxy S3 will hit it all right (I already can't wait ) Btw any chance Note's awesome GPS making it to other Samsung phones ? (can it be put to any phone regardless of it's size ?) As far as GPS goes the difference is stunning (basically a toy like implementation vs. state of the art awesomeness)
Now I have hard time deciding what to do with Note: I should probably return it but then the screen is so awesome that it's very tough to just return it, even when I don't need it Btw about the screen and pentile vs. non-pentile debate: there were only few occasions when I noticed there was some grain on the Note without looking for it, e.g. the red birds in Angry Birds Rio and orange balloon in Samsung demo video (from 0:36) On galaxy2 I never noticed any grain (even when looking for it), so yes Superamoled Plus would be even nicer but for 99% of practical cases it doesn't matter to me.
Where are those comparsion photos that someone mentioned. Has anyone had the camera perform poorly?
I own both, well I gave the S2 to the missus when I got the Note.
The Note is equivalent too, or better then the S2 in everything. I would find it impossible to have an S2 as my main phone now after having used the Note for almost a month.
You will hear a lot of negativity about the size of the Note, I kept hearing it is too big, it is uncomfortable to carry etc etc. Nonsense. It took me a day (max) to get use to the size, it fits in all my pockets comfortably and is very portable. Dare I say it I think it could even be a tad bigger, maybe 5.5" All other phones now seem tiny to me, and this has become the standard. I don't think I will be able to go back to a small(er) phone after using this.
I have found the camera and video recording similar to the S2. GPS on the Note is amazing, I get a lock in seconds, it beats every other satnav/phone I have ever owned. The screen... wow. One month on and it still impresses me. Games, Videos, Satnav, Internet Browsing even Ebook reading is all a joy on the Note, it is the ultimate all in one device imo.

[Q] Is this thing too big? Any regrets?

I was very excited about this phone when AT&T announced that they would be adding it to their lineup but now I'm starting to have some reservations because of its size. I've seen some videos on youtube comparing the size to the SGS II, Nexus, Skyrocket, etc. It looks freaken huge.
I know the HW wise the AT&T version and the European version are different. I don't care about that, I only care about the size. Does anyone find the phone to be too cumbersome or bulky?
deeken said:
I was very excited about this phone when AT&T announced that they would be adding it to their lineup but now I'm starting to have some reservations because of its size. I've seen some videos on youtube comparing the size to the SGS II, Nexus, Skyrocket, etc. It looks freaken huge.
I know the HW wise the AT&T version and the European version are different. I don't care about that, I only care about the size. Does anyone find the phone to be too cumbersome or bulky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my honest opinion, no. It's big, no doubt about that, but I have never felt that it's too big. I have slightly larger hands than normal, but many of my friends have tried it and none of them complained about it being too big to hold. My girlfriend on the other hand can't even hold it in one hand, so it's probably not a good phone for people with small hands.
It's thin so it goes down into my normal sized jeans pockets without any problem.
My recommendation: If you have normal sized hands and pockets, buy it, you won't regret it.
i find the size to be perfect, in fact, i would happily go up to 5.5inch or even 5.7 if they made it! after a day, you wont notice any difference and you'll wonder why you never had a huge screen phone before (because no-one made one, but thats not the point).
deeken said:
I was very excited about this phone when AT&T announced that they would be adding it to their lineup but now I'm starting to have some reservations because of its size. I've seen some videos on youtube comparing the size to the SGS II, Nexus, Skyrocket, etc. It looks freaken huge.
I know the HW wise the AT&T version and the European version are different. I don't care about that, I only care about the size. Does anyone find the phone to be too cumbersome or bulky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way to find out is to try it out your self. I remember thinking my sgs2 was too big until I actually held it. But it does boil down to personal preferences. Also I don't think anyone here will tell you it's too big(It's NOTE FORUM)
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Akerskuuug said:
My girlfriend on the other hand can't even hold it in one hand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, that can't be a bad thing
Sorry couldn't resist above comment.... On a serious Note (pun intended), you will probably get used to the handset within a couple of days after seeing everything on a larger screen and then wonder how you got by all this time with smaller screens.
Just to be clear the screen size is 5.3 inches but the phone from top to bottom is 5.8 inches correct?
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
yeap that's correct. I had doubts Note would be too big for me but after i get used to the large screen now i'm really happy with dimensions. It's big but not bulky and heavy. It's actually very light and slim. I didn't know that galaxy tab 7" plus has phone capability on honeycomband os. I thought to myself after i learnt it today if 7" would be even better. But i checked the technical spesifications and learnt that it is twice heavy (360g) with lower cpu power (1.2 GHz) and wider chasis around screen. So i'm pretty happy with weight and dimensions for now. Just longing for ICS official release to take full benefit of the hardware and use tablet mode like HC software wise.
I was using S2 and when Note launched , I thought what the hell is this ?
thought it's too big! one day I was shopping with me mate, he after the Note and he got it.
putting my S2 aside his newly acquired Note, My S2 was like a toy and was amazed by how much the screen looks better than my S2 .
Then we go back to the shop to get myself a Note as well.
Its big, obviously but after 3 days of use, I found the size is perfect.
except for sometimes one hand operation is virtually impossible.
it is awkward at best as a one handed since you can't reach the far Corners or the other edge of the screen. but outside of that it's fantastic
I just received my white note literally 2 hours ago and when I opened the box and first saw it sitting there I said out loud "wow"
I played with it for an hour and then put it on charge, while i do some work I need to do
I have since made and received 3 or 4 calls and I am used to it already and I do not consider it too big. But I am a person who always considered phone screens to be too small for anything useful, and until this phone haven't been motivated to change my HTC Touch HD. yeah I know sort of out of the arc.
Also I was considering buying a tablet, purely for aeroplanes and trains as to use my 18.4 inch laptop in a plane etc is a bit inconvenient. (but needed for how I use it generally). now i shall no longer buy a tablet as even with my short play i can see it can do what i was considering a tablet for.
But you really need to go and hold one and try it for yourself as other peoples and my opinion is always going to be from our perspective, which may not suite yours
seeya Ian
p.s the call quality was superb just like a phone should be and as far as I remember better than all my other phones
Thanks for the opinion guys. I'm getting real excited about it now. Only a few more days before we can pre-order. I know the specs aren't the same but I hope the AT&T version performs just as good as the international.
I was like you and had some concerns about the size, but I ordered the international version anyway. I've had it for about a week now and I find the size to be a non factor.
I have small hands. I can still use the phone with one hand with some maneuvering, but I don't find it too distracting. Sometimes the bottom of my thumb joint hits the applications button by accident when I try to reach for something in the far left top corner but I learned to adjust to it.
I love the phone and its size. I got used to it very quickly and don't even think about it now. It fits fine in all my pant pockets. The screen is beautiful and makes reading, watching videos such a joy. I don't think I'll be able to go back to a phone with anything less than 5" now.
It's just a wonderful phone.
Had the Galaxy Note for 4 days and it gets smaller by the day.
I'm on my second day with the Note, and am still adjusting to the size. By no means do I regret getting it, but it does mean that I need to walk a bit more carefully with it in my front jeans pocket (yes, they're a rather slim pair). I wouldn't dare sit with it in that pocket.
This is the first phone that can legitimately replace 98+% of my need for a laptop on-the-go, so I'll gladly live with that sacrifice.
Was doubting the purchase until I first inserted the battery, oh the gorgeous screen!
Nope, its the perfect size (this is 3 months into owning one).
Best phone I've ever had. (and I've had quite a few)
Seems large at first, but now! Now I get my iphone friends asking to see videos on my phone-"cause it looks better"
Size you get used to!
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
Yeah it was BIG the first time ... now everything else is just too small
lol
On a serious "note" .... The 5.3' Screen size is amazing. So much on screen real estate for browsing, gaming drawing. There is a reason Samsung is selling so many Galaxy Notes. I was just typing something on my iPhone 3GS (Which i use for iPod purposes in the car) and damn that screen felt like a calculator hahah ...
deeken said:
I was very excited about this phone when AT&T announced that they would be adding it to their lineup but now I'm starting to have some reservations because of its size. I've seen some videos on youtube comparing the size to the SGS II, Nexus, Skyrocket, etc. It looks freaken huge.
I know the HW wise the AT&T version and the European version are different. I don't care about that, I only care about the size. Does anyone find the phone to be too cumbersome or bulky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can always check out the device when it stocks arrive, Initially I thought it was very big for a mobile phone but after testing out the dummy phone I found that its actually a perfect size for a mobile phone for either landscape or portrait use.. I use it mainly in portrait. Also going back to a smaller phone might be hard for me which Im going to do eventually.
hackerboi said:
Yeah it was BIG the first time ... now everything else is just too small
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 jajajaja
Galaxy Note it's not too big, the other phones are too small. Screen size on the phones have been increasing for years. I remember my Nokia with a 2" 176x220 screen, and thinking that you can really read some text there (previous phones had monocrome, 2 text lines screen). Then it went to 3.5" screens (the same as the iPhone, jajaja, it has the same size I had in 2006).
I remember the times when people said that 4" was too big, and now only the iPhone has a screen below 4" (and it will be solved on the iPhone 5). So 4.3-4.5" is normal for many people. 5.3 just makes it better, more glass and more pixels to work with. I can type in portrait mode without pressing 4 keys at the same time. Playing a 720p video on this screen impresses everyone.

The tab s is a beast!

My old tablet was a note 10.1 2014 which was heavy, somewhat slow and had a washed out screen when viewed on the sides. The tab s on the other hand is extremely light weight, fluid and virtually lag free (if you use Nova launcher)!! I can't believe Samsung did such a poor job of updating their previous flagship. These two tablets have virtually the same specs but the experience on the note was just painful because you always knew it could do more. Even opening the keyboard and typing on it was kinda slow.
I have no idea what Samsung is doing releasing these many tables to flood the market and I guess they're borrowing a page or two from apples playback regarding planned obsolescence for their hardware.
This is the best tablet experience I have ever had on Android and I have used both the nexus 7s, note 10.1 2014 and the nexus 10. Speed is on per with the note 3 which is a beast of an android.
yeah ive seen the 2014 edition as well as the tab pro tablets ive always noticed the screens are kinda washed out or im just used to super amoled on my notes lol
kingofthebraves said:
My old tablet was a note 10.1 2014 which was heavy, somewhat slow and had a washed out screen when viewed on the sides. The tab s on the other hand is extremely light weight, fluid and virtually lag free (if you use Nova launcher)!! I can't believe Samsung did such a poor job of updating their previous flagship. These two tablets have virtually the same specs but the experience on the note was just painful because you always knew it could do more. Even opening the keyboard and typing on it was kinda slow.
I have no idea what Samsung is doing releasing these many tables to flood the market and I guess they're borrowing a page or two from apples playback regarding planned obsolescence for their hardware.
This is the best tablet experience I have ever had on Android and I have used both the nexus 7s, note 10.1 2014 and the nexus 10. Speed is on per with the note 3 which is a beast of an android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree completely. I will also add that there was a hardware bluetooth issue, because the same bluetooth keyboard that would constantly disconnect on the Note 2014 now works without issue on the Tab S. I had made modifications to my Note and it ran great and battery life was good, but the Tab S is just better, in every way. The ONLY thing I miss is the S Pen and I wish they would just release all their products with an S Pen, because with their track record, I'm preparing myself to be pissed when in a couple months they announce the Note S (I assume around the time they release the Note 4) [emoji35]
toyanucci said:
I agree completely. I will also add that there was a hardware bluetooth issue, because the same bluetooth keyboard that would constantly disconnect on the Note 2014 now works without issue on the Tab S. I had made modifications to my Note and it ran great and battery life was good, but the Tab S is just better, in every way. The ONLY thing I miss is the S Pen and I wish they would just release all their products with an S Pen, because with their track record, I'm preparing myself to be pissed when in a couple months they announce the Note S (I assume around the time they release the Note 4) [emoji35]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know you can just buy an s-pen....right?
12MaNy said:
You know you can just buy an s-pen....right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't work like that. The S Pen works with the wacom digitizer which is built into the screen of Note devices. The Tab S doesn't have th3 wacom digitizer so no, the S Pen won't work with it (the one from my Note 3 doesn't work with it for example).
The N10.1-14, Pro's, and Tab S' are the same devices repackaged. They're all using the same SoC's, core UI (TW 4.4 with or w/o M-UX), and h/w components. Exceptions being form factor, LCD vs. AMOLED, USB 3.0 on 12" tablets, finger print reader on the S'. Therefore saying "OMG! What a difference!", either positive or negative, doesn't really jive with reality. I've always been kind of LCD vs. AMOLED agnostic. AMOLED colors tend to be more blown out (which I actually like), blacks and contrast speak for themselves, but white's are always blueish. LCD displays tend to be brighter, colors are less vivid and separated, blacks and contrast weaker, with truer whites. Counting Apple's devices LCD still outsells AMOLED 4:1.
AMOLED sucks battery on whites and kicks butt on darker colors. Most productivity apps have white backgrounds which is definitely going to be a problem for productivity users. As will browsing and using the Tab S as a reader.
As for Samsung's LCD QHD tablet displays, they are the best LCD displays currently available and by no means deficient. To each their own...
BarryH_GEG said:
The N10.1-14, Pro's, and Tab S' are the same devices repackaged. They're all using the same SoC's, core UI (TW 4.4 with or w/o M-UX), and h/w components. Exceptions being form factor, LCD vs. AMOLED, USB 3.0 on 12" tablets, finger print reader on the S'. Therefore saying "OMG! What a difference!", either positive or negative, doesn't really jive with reality. I've always been kind of LCD vs. AMOLED agnostic. AMOLED colors tend to be more blown out (which I actually like), blacks and contrast speak for themselves, but white's are always blueish. LCD displays tend to be brighter, colors are less vivid and separated, blacks and contrast weaker, with truer whites. Counting Apple's devices LCD still outsells AMOLED 4:1.
AMOLED sucks battery on whites and kicks butt on darker colors. Most productivity apps have white backgrounds which is definitely going to be a problem for productivity users. As will browsing and using the Tab S as a reader.
As for Samsung's LCD QHD tablet displays, they are the best LCD displays currently available and by no means deficient. To each their own...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had both, and the difference in battery life is more than a couple hours doing the same tasks. I didn't comment on the snappiness because your right, it's all the same internals however the software is tweaked differently which makes a difference as well.
My tablets are for web browsing and media consumption and for that I usually get by without any lags or jerkiness WITH power saving on. I posted in the battery life thread and you'll notice my even shots have power saving on as I don't really game anymore much less on my tablet. Either way, I've seen real world improvements but I understand your core point.
I also disagree that amoled whites are blueish, my note 3 and tab s have the truest whites of all my devices including my macbook pro to the point where I use them at about 20% brightness indoors, often times even less because over that the whites hurt my eyes. And this also has me thinking if the battery life test you posted was with brightness at 100% as with my tab s I get about 1 hour and 15 minutes per 10% battery while browsing so I'm not sure what they did to get those results.
toyanucci said:
I've had both, and the difference in battery life is more than a couple hours doing the same tasks. I didn't comment on the snappiness because your right, it's all the same internals however the software is tweaked differently which makes a difference as well.
My tablets are for web browsing and media consumption and for that I usually get by without any lags or jerkiness WITH power saving on. I posted in the battery life thread and you'll notice my even shots have power saving on as I don't really game anymore much less on my tablet. Either way, I've seen real world improvements but I understand your core point.
I also disagree that amoled whites are blueish, my note 3 and tab s have the truest whites of all my devices including my macbook pro to the point where I use them at about 20% brightness indoors, often times even less because over that the whites hurt my eyes. And this also has me thinking if the battery life test you posted was with brightness at 100% as with my tab s I get about 1 hour and 15 minutes per 10% battery while browsing so I'm not sure what they did to get those results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't post to make anyone with a Tab S like it less. I really like the design, accessories, and larger display on the 10.5. But people can get "deals" on the Pro's and N10.1-14 that makes them worth considering (for some). I'm a 10" fan so have no interest in the 8.4 but a Pro 8.4 can be had at Best Buy for $229 which makes it pretty compelling; especially since it's S-800. Point being there's lots to like about the S' but their release didn't instantly make the Note/Pro's cow dung.
The white point average (closest to 6,500K is better) for the devices we're talking about is:
Note 3 - 7,126
Note 10.1 - 2014 - 6,821
Tab S 10.5 - 6,516
Tab S 8.4 - 6,295
IPad Air - 7,377
So the N10.1-14 does better on whites than all but the 10.5 Tab S and with a much smaller margin the S 8.4.
If you're interested, here are the links showing the detailed results for the Tab S and N10.1-14. There's no question the S' results are better (with the exception of brightness) but, for an LCD display, Samsung did a good job with their QHD panels. But let's face it, people judge displays based on what looks best to them and that's more important than statistics.
N10.1-14 - http://www.anandtech.com/show/7378/samsung-galaxy-note-101-2014-edition-review/3
Tab S' - http://www.anandtech.com/show/8197/samsung-galaxy-tab-s-review-105-84inch/2
BarryH_GEG said:
The N10.1-14, Pro's, and Tab S' are the same devices repackaged. They're all using the same SoC's, core UI (TW 4.4 with or w/o M-UX), and h/w components. Exceptions being form factor, LCD vs. AMOLED, USB 3.0 on 12" tablets, finger print reader on the S'. Therefore saying "OMG! What a difference!", either positive or negative, doesn't really jive with reality. I've always been kind of LCD vs. AMOLED agnostic. AMOLED colors tend to be more blown out (which I actually like), blacks and contrast speak for themselves, but white's are always blueish. LCD displays tend to be brighter, colors are less vivid and separated, blacks and contrast weaker, with truer whites. Counting Apple's devices LCD still outsells AMOLED 4:1.
AMOLED sucks battery on whites and kicks butt on darker colors. Most productivity apps have white backgrounds which is definitely going to be a problem for productivity users. As will browsing and using the Tab S as a reader.
As for Samsung's LCD QHD tablet displays, they are the best LCD displays currently available and by no means deficient. To each their own...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same device indeed but the performance on responsive was on the software is staggering. My note was running a custom room with everything tweaked and it still cannot open a keyboard without a split second lag or two. Everything was always one step behind and never instantaneous. The tab s is the only Android device that made me feel it was on par with the iPad in fluidity and that's high praise.
BarryH_GEG said:
I didn't post to make anyone with a Tab S like it less. I really like the design, accessories, and larger display on the 10.5. But people can get "deals" on the Pro's and N10.1-14 that makes them worth considering (for some). I'm a 10" fan so have no interest in the 8.4 but a Pro 8.4 can be had at Best Buy for $229 which makes it pretty compelling; especially since it's S-800. Point being there's lots to like about the S' but their release didn't instantly make the Note/Pro's cow dung.
The white point average (closest to 6,500K is better) for the devices we're talking about is:
Note 3 - 7,126
Note 10.1 - 2014 - 6,821
Tab S 10.5 - 6,516
Tab S 8.4 - 6,295
IPad Air - 7,377
So the N10.1-14 does better on whites than all but the 10.5 Tab S and with a much smaller margin the S 8.4.
If you're interested, here are the links showing the detailed results for the Tab S and N10.1-14. There's no question the S' results are better (with the exception of brightness) but, for an LCD display, Samsung did a good job with their QHD panels. But let's face it, people judge displays based on what looks best to them and that's more important than statistics.
N10.1-14 - http://www.anandtech.com/show/7378/samsung-galaxy-note-101-2014-edition-review/3
Tab S' - http://www.anandtech.com/show/8197/samsung-galaxy-tab-s-review-105-84inch/2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, theres 1 thing I don't like about the Tab S display. In movies human skin has an orange tint which I can't get used to, I'm awaiting a custom kernel that allows synapse color editing as it's the only one that allows for negative values, all other screen editing apps only allow you to add, not minus.
kingofthebraves said:
Same device indeed but the performance on responsive was on the software is staggering.
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Click to collapse
You realize there's six pages of counter opinion about performance and lag in this thread with folks coming from Note's and Pro's saying it's noticeably worse on the S? Not challenging you (I'm actually fairly lag tolerant as long as it's not in-app) but either the binning in 5420 got you a chip with super powers or people are having very different experiences.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/disappointed-tab-s-t2803856
BarryH_GEG said:
You realize there's six pages of counter opinion about performance and lag in this thread with folks coming from Note's and Pro's saying it's noticeably worse on the S? Not challenging you (I'm actually fairly lag tolerant as long as it's not in-app) but either the binning in 5420 got you a chip with super powers or people are having very different experiences.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/disappointed-tab-s-t2803856
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Click to collapse
Lol to each his own. I setup my androids pretty much the same way so the basis for my comparisons are the same. I'm using the Lte variant BTW running on 800, I'm pretty sure most people are on the WiFi only model, perhaps a reasons for the discrepancy?
toyanucci said:
Hey, theres 1 thing I don't like about the Tab S display. In movies human skin has an orange tint which I can't get used to, I'm awaiting a custom kernel that allows synapse color editing as it's the only one that allows for negative values, all other screen editing apps only allow you to add, not minus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what you get for watching Jersey Shore ☺.
---------- Post added at 04:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:19 PM ----------
BarryH_GEG said:
You realize there's six pages of counter opinion about performance and lag in this thread with folks coming from Note's and Pro's saying it's noticeably worse on the S? Not challenging you (I'm actually fairly lag tolerant as long as it's not in-app) but either the binning in 5420 got you a chip with super powers or people are having very different experiences.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/disappointed-tab-s-t2803856
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No lag on mine.
mitchellvii said:
No lag on mine.
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Click to collapse
Aren't you using a third party launcher? Any comparisons I've made are stock<>stock. You shouldn't have to blow away features to get decent (whatever that means ) performance.
BarryH_GEG said:
Aren't you using a third party launcher? Any comparisons I've made are stock<>stock. You shouldn't have to blow away features to get decent (whatever that means ) performance.
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Click to collapse
For me it isn't a matter of principal but just do what works. TouchWiz doesn't work so I replaced it with something that does. I consider anything which the average person can install from the Play Store without root to be "stock" and fair for comparison purposes.
I don't buy Samsung for their awesome software. ☺
BarryH_GEG said:
You shouldn't have to blow away features to get decent (whatever that means ) performance.
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Click to collapse
Which features do you 'blow away' by loading Nova launcher?
BarryH_GEG said:
You realize there's six pages of counter opinion about performance and lag in this thread with folks coming from Note's and Pro's saying it's noticeably worse on the S? Not challenging you (I'm actually fairly lag tolerant as long as it's not in-app) but either the binning in 5420 got you a chip with super powers or people are having very different experiences.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/general/disappointed-tab-s-t2803856
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Click to collapse
All I needed was root. I deboalted and all was well, same as I did with the note. Others complained of lags there too but I was lag free after debloating there as well. I also prefer touchwiz on my tablet even though I use nova on my note 3. I'll post a review video sometime this week. If it's one thing I wish samsung would do is debloat by default lol.
Freakstyler said:
Which features do you 'blow away' by loading Nova launcher?
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Click to collapse
The slow ones ?.
mitchellvii said:
The slow ones ��.
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Click to collapse
Launchers change the UI of a device. They don't blow away anything, just a different interface to utilize.
Go to task manager and check the RAM with different launchers and the same things in use, the ram ain't going to change. Bloatware impedes performance and alternate launchers do not remove them so that is why folks want to root. One can also turn off featues like multitask if they don't use them.
TouchWiz is much better than it use to be. I can easily live with this UI on the S.
BarryH_GEG said:
I didn't post to make anyone with a Tab S like it less. I really like the design, accessories, and larger display on the 10.5. But people can get "deals" on the Pro's and N10.1-14 that makes them worth considering (for some). I'm a 10" fan so have no interest in the 8.4 but a Pro 8.4 can be had at Best Buy for $229 which makes it pretty compelling; especially since it's S-800. Point being there's lots to like about the S' but their release didn't instantly make the Note/Pro's cow dung.
The white point average (closest to 6,500K is better) for the devices we're talking about is:
Note 3 - 7,126
Note 10.1 - 2014 - 6,821
Tab S 10.5 - 6,516
Tab S 8.4 - 6,295
IPad Air - 7,377
So the N10.1-14 does better on whites than all but the 10.5 Tab S and with a much smaller margin the S 8.4.
If you're interested, here are the links showing the detailed results for the Tab S and N10.1-14. There's no question the S' results are better (with the exception of brightness) but, for an LCD display, Samsung did a good job with their QHD panels. But let's face it, people judge displays based on what looks best to them and that's more important than statistics.
N10.1-14 - http://www.anandtech.com/show/7378/samsung-galaxy-note-101-2014-edition-review/3
Tab S' - http://www.anandtech.com/show/8197/samsung-galaxy-tab-s-review-105-84inch/2
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Click to collapse
The pro 8.4 was $249 two weeks ago for a single week. They are back at $330 now and were last week as well.

S2 experience for watching videos and movies?

Hi,
I'm considering buying a tablet for media consumption (reading, browsing, emails, videos and movies) at home mostly but also for occasional travel.
I have ruled out the S3 as it's too expensive, too heavy, I don't need stylus support, and I really don't like glossy or glass finishes. I love the soft touch plastic finish of the S2 and it's incredible low weight especially the 8.0" version. The AMOLED display is stunning as well. I'm also considering the Huawei MediaPad M3, some Asus models, and maybe the iPad Mini 4 (but I have never used iOS before). I'm struggling to decide on two things:
1. 4:3 or 16:10 display?
2. 8" or larger?
Although 4:3 is great for reading it's worse for videos, and I watch a lot of video. I used to own the Galaxy Tab 7.7 (16:10) and I loved it. Great battery, lovely display and a nice size. Would watching standard widescreen (16:9) on the S2 8.0" give me at least the same video size as watching on the 7.7" (assuming no cropping and native aspect ratio)? Are there any links on the internet that show it with video playing? I have read a lot of reviews but none seem to show it playing movie clips. I just want gauge how large the letterboxing will be.
The second point is probably related too the first. I would go larger if I choose a 4:3 tablet.
Are there any tablets with 3:2 display or similar? I only know of the MS Surface tablets and the Pixel C.
Thanks
szqnl said:
Hi,
I'm considering buying a tablet for media consumption (reading, browsing, emails, videos and movies) at home mostly but also for occasional travel.
I have ruled out the S3 as it's too expensive, too heavy, I don't need stylus support, and I really don't like glossy or glass finishes. I love the soft touch plastic finish of the S2 and it's incredible low weight especially the 8.0" version. The AMOLED display is stunning as well. I'm also considering the Huawei MediaPad M3, some Asus models, and maybe the iPad Mini 4 (but I have never used iOS before). I'm struggling to decide on two things:
1. 4:3 or 16:10 display?
2. 8" or larger?
Although 4:3 is great for reading it's worse for videos, and I watch a lot of video. I used to own the Galaxy Tab 7.7 (16:10) and I loved it. Great battery, lovely display and a nice size. Would watching standard widescreen (16:9) on the S2 8.0" give me at least the same video size as watching on the 7.7" (assuming no cropping and native aspect ratio)? Are there any links on the internet that show it with video playing? I have read a lot of reviews but none seem to show it playing movie clips. I just want gauge how large the letterboxing will be.
The second point is probably related too the first. I would go larger if I choose a 4:3 tablet.
Are there any tablets with 3:2 display or similar? I only know of the MS Surface tablets and the Pixel C.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, my experience is that watching videos without headphones is dreadful due to the dire sound quality of the device. Hope this helps!
StrangerWeather said:
Hi, my experience is that watching videos without headphones is dreadful due to the dire sound quality of the device. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I got that impression from all the reviews that I have read. They really didn't even try with the speakers. What's the audio quality like with headphones? I'm worried that there maybe a difference between the Exynos and Snapdragon versions. There seem to be a lot of different models around.
I found a really good comparison between the Tab S 8.4 and Tab S2 8.0 on YouTube. The letterboxing isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think I can live with that. Trying to find a good deal on the S2 8.0 Wifi version now. Seems as though only the LTE version is available in Asia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ZaifGOV2U
szqnl said:
I found a really good comparison between the Tab S 8.4 and Tab S2 8.0 on YouTube. The letterboxing isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I think I can live with that. Trying to find a good deal on the S2 8.0 Wifi version now. Seems as though only the LTE version is available in Asia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ZaifGOV2U
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not consider the Tab S? Still has the best display for video.
I wouldn't be looking at the 8.4 for media consumption the larger screen of the 10.5 makes all the difference.
ashyx said:
Why not consider the Tab S? Still has the best display for video.
I wouldn't be looking at the 8.4 for media consumption the larger screen of the 10.5 makes all the difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was an option but it's quite old now and not for sale anywhere where I live. I don't like to buy second hand electronics, at least not without testing it first in person. As for size, I'm not sure yet. I have a 5.1" smartphone and 12" laptop so anything between 8-10" should fit nicely. I need to spend more time playing around with display units.
szqnl said:
Th As for size, I'm not sure yet. I have a 5.1" smartphone and 12" laptop so anything between 8-10" should fit nicely. I)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why you need something in between?
My Tab S2 does a fine job with video, and it really doesn't look bad at all when it letterboxes (which is practically all video these days). I will concur that external speakers or headphones are practically required, though. The built-in speaker is good for little more than notifications and background music.
claudioita said:
why you need something in between?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't need, just want
I like to use a "smaller" smartphone in my daily life but it's not great for watching movies or extended browsing/reading. The odd YouTube clip is fine. The Windows laptop I use for work, both at home and when travelling. It's non-touchscreen. I love it and I currently use it for watching movies and browsing/reading at home, but it's not that convenient for media consumption on a casual basis.
A lightweight portable tablet (10" or less) for use around the home and on long trips would be nice. It's definitely not essential which is why I'm looking for a cheapish tablet but I don't mind spending a little more for a quality display. That's why I'm looking for a discounted S2.
Samsung S2 will make a charm
szqnl said:
Don't need, just want
I like to use a "smaller" smartphone in my daily life but it's not great for watching movies or extended browsing/reading. The odd YouTube clip is fine. The Windows laptop I use for work, both at home and when travelling. It's non-touchscreen. I love it and I currently use it for watching movies and browsing/reading at home, but it's not that convenient for media consumption on a casual basis.
A lightweight portable tablet (10" or less) for use around the home and on long trips would be nice. It's definitely not essential which is why I'm looking for a cheapish tablet but I don't mind spending a little more for a quality display. That's why I'm looking for a discounted S2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would go with Samsung S2. Works well for me. Plus, if you want to hook up a hard drive or speakers to your tablet, you can use accessory called SimulCharge USB (aka TL-002). It provides a simultaneous access to USB devices and charging for the tablet and peripherals in the same time. Now, you can watch all night movies
szqnl said:
Don't need, just want
I like to use a "smaller" smartphone in my daily life but it's not great for watching movies or extended browsing/reading. The odd YouTube clip is fine. The Windows laptop I use for work, both at home and when travelling. It's non-touchscreen. I love it and I currently use it for watching movies and browsing/reading at home, but it's not that convenient for media consumption on a casual basis.
A lightweight portable tablet (10" or less) for use around the home and on long trips would be nice. It's definitely not essential which is why I'm looking for a cheapish tablet but I don't mind spending a little more for a quality display. That's why I'm looking for a discounted S2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see.
I am in a (little) better position.
I have a 5,7 inch smartphone and a Surface Pro 3, 12 inch. The last is good for watching movies, although not optimal as laptop (but ok).
I was wondering if going a different route:
- (keep) the 5,7 inch snartphone
- (buy) a tablet in the 10 inch range
- (buy) a laptop in the 13-14 inch range.
Or just stay as I am ...
claudioita said:
I see.
I am in a (little) better position.
I have a 5,7 inch smartphone and a Surface Pro 3, 12 inch. The last is good for watching movies, although not optimal as laptop (but ok).
I was wondering if going a different route:
- (keep) the 5,7 inch snartphone
- (buy) a tablet in the 10 inch range
- (buy) a laptop in the 13-14 inch range.
Or just stay as I am ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I understand. I thought about getting an SP4 before I bought my laptop. Would have negated the desire for a separate tablet. But in the end I decided to get a traditional laptop for usability as I would be using it the most and I found 2-in-1s to be a little awkward to use as a laptop and too heavy for extended tablet usage.
Maybe wait until the SP5 or updated Huawai Matebook are announced to see what they offer. Also, if you are ok with Android and Samsung, wait for the Note 8 that will likely feature a 6.4"+ display.
No perfect solution, there's always going to be a compromise. I drive myself insane sometimes trying to think about what combination of devices would be best for me and end up buying nothing. :silly: In the end I decided based on convenience and usability of the most important aspects, working and connectivity.
Really want a tablet now though
AMOLED vs IPS.. very simple answer: get the s2 Tab!
It's cheap and the display is stunning. Audio is grand with headphones.
Niii4 said:
AMOLED vs IPS.. very simple answer: get the s2 Tab!
It's cheap and the display is stunning. Audio is grand with headphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good to know, thanks. Don't really care about the speakers but the audio quality via the headphones needs to be high.
Once you go OLED screen for videos you never go back.
IPS backlight glow is a bad joke.
StrangerWeather said:
Hi, my experience is that watching videos without headphones is dreadful due to the dire sound quality of the device. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ostracised frustrating thing for me is that the device has stereo speakers, but there are pointing in the same direction, a really terrible waste.
DShot92 said:
the device has stereo speakers, but there are pointing in the same direction, a really terrible waste.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The speakers are chiefly for the LTE version of the s2 Tab. Namely phonecalls.
Seriously, who watches videos/movies on speaker while en route?
It's just wonderful in every sense. I take it with me in my back pack everywhere and I truly love it. I have a wonderful galaxy s5 too which is also great but when I have time to read and surf the web I take the tab and it's so great and light and fast that I doubt there's anything better in the market. I am writing this from the park in the grass. I use the 8" for the lightweight and comfort of holding it with one hand. I also have a very light 1kg laptop that I only use when I need to type long stuff. For bed and street always the tab s2.
pxp3 said:
...I use the 8" for the lightweight and comfort of holding it with one hand...
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Click to collapse
That's exactly why I'm inclined towards getting the 8" version of the S2. It's incredibly light at 265g. You can literally hold it for extended periods with the fingertips of your thumb and index finger alone. The soft touch plastic back is a refreshing change to metal and/or glass. Much easier to hold and looks better in my opinion.
It's also a really comfortable size. I was a little worried about videos being too small due to the display ratio and subsequent letterboxing but it's actually ok. The AMOLED display is gorgeous as well.
An S-Pen would make this perfect! Not important for me though.
I have pretty much decided to get this now. Just waiting a while because I sense a price drop coming when the S3 becomes available here. Although I get the impression Samsung may keep the Tab S2 series going at the same price due to the S3 not really being a direct replacement.
Thank you to everyone for your comments and input
I was a little worried about videos being too small due to the display ratio..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is definitely a sub 8" experience with movies that have only x800 something vertical pixel (e.g. 1920x816) so I prefer x1080 videos. But still, the display is the very best on the market; for its price.
I would not wait for a price drop.. it may very likely rise or worse be sold out soon, once people recognize its value.

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