Well folks, we knew it was coming and, we had a little idea of exactly what it may include, however, at its Unpacked event in Berlin yesterday, Samsung unveiled its GALAXY Note II smartphone for the first time.
Somebody needs to say it out loud, it looks just like a big GALAXY S III. In fact, the specifications of the device are not too dissimilar either, only super-sized in almost every aspect. The Note II features the same quad-core Exynos 4 SoC, overclocked to 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM, up form the worldwide standard 1GB, the same Super AMOLED HD 1,280 x 768 display, though now at 5.5in in size and a larger and, apparently faster charging, 3,100mAh battery.
What really makes the GALAXY Note II special, of course, is the S-Pen. This has been boosted from 128 to 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity and now features a rubber tip for a more tactile feel; likewise, the pen has had a small makeover to enhance the comfort. Though the Note II's screen is 0.2in larger than the original Note, the device is actually thinner, albeit a little taller, though this is largely due to the move to a 16:9 display format.
See below for a full list of specs and yes, the GALAXY Note II will launch with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, along with an array of S-Pen optimisations, which Samsung promises to expand-on over the coming year.
| CPU | Exynos 4 Quad-Core 1.6GHz (ARM Cortex-A9) |
| GPU | ARM Mali-400MP4 (overclocked) |
| RAM | 2GB |
| Display | 5.5in 1,280 x 768 Super AMOLED HD |
| Storage | 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 |
Also of interest are the device's optional enterprise features, which, beyond the usual device encryption and VPN, there's also support for CCX and VMware MVP virtualisation. Release will be sometime next month, with Samsung not committing to any exact dates. Sadly there's no flexible OLED display this time around.
