Samsung have announced that the Samsung Galaxy Note II will be available to UK shoppers from Monday 1st October. The update to the popular mould breaking Samsung Galaxy Note phablet will be purchasable from the Samsung Brand Store at Westfield, Stratford City “and across all major networks in the UK”. The updated phone/tablet has headline new features such as a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED screen and it will launch with Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean mobile OS installed.
A press release sent to HEXUS from Samsung said “We were delighted by the hugely positive response we received when we first announced the Galaxy Note II at IFA back in August. The Galaxy Note II is a whole new level of innovation and we are confident users are going to enjoy the updated features and design of our latest Galaxy device when it hits the shelves on the 1st of October.”
Just like its older brother the new Note’s USP is the large screen which makes the device half phone and half tablet or “phablet”. This large screen is made more useful and productive by the inclusion of a stylus as standard (the S Pen) and a suite of Android apps that make good use of the utility value of accurate stylus input.
The device was formally unveiled at the Samsung Unpacked event, IFA Berlin, last month and has the following specs.
Samsung Galaxy Note II Product Specifications
- CPU: Exynos 4 Quad-Core 1.6GHz (ARM Cortex-A9)
- GPU: ARM Mali-400MP4 (overclocked)
- RAM: 2GB
- Display: 5.5-inch 1,280 x 768 Super AMOLED HD
- S Pen: 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, tactile rubber tip
- Storage: choice of 16/32/64GB internal, + microSD (up to 64GB)
- Camera: 8-megapixel BSI + AF & LED Flash rear, 1.9-megapixel VT BSI front
- Connectivity: A-GPS, Glonass, Bluetooth 4.0 Apt-X, USB 2.0 Host, WiFi a/b/g/n 2.4 and 5GHz with channel bonding, WiFi Direct, mHL and NFC
- Sensors: Accelerometer, RGB Light, Digital Companss, Proximity, Gyro and Barometer
- Dimensions: 80.5 x 151.1 x 9.4mm
- Weight: 180g
- Battery: 3,100mAh fast-charge
- OS: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
S Pen optimised features of the new Galaxy Note II include
- S Note, S Planner, Email with hand-writing integration
- S Pen Keeper
- Quick Command, Easy Clip, Photo Note, Paper Artist
- Air View
- Popup Note, Popup Video
- Shape Match, Formula Match
That’s quite a few nice upgrades compared to the old Note, especially with the CPU, battery and S Pen. Also the new Note 2 shares a lot of the swish styling cues of the Galaxy S III. Incidentally, this will be the first smartphone to go on sale in the UK with Jelly Bean pre-installed. Two colour choices will be initially available; Marble White and Titanium Grey.
Though the Samsung press release had no pricing details, The Inquirer points out that Phones 4U’s online shop has Galaxy Note II contracts starting from £41 per month with a free phone and Clove.co.uk is advertising the 16GB handset for £550 to pre-order. The original Galaxy Note currently sells for about £350 delivered through Amazon.de, a £200 difference.
