Samsung Galaxy Note 2

[bucwylde23]

I didn't see a thread specifically for this phone so I thought I'd make one.

I had the Galaxy Nexus and I was so tired of horrible battery life and carrying around 3 batteries with me so I sprung for the note 2 at full retail to keep unlimited data.

Holy crap I wasn't expecting it to be this good. I loved my galaxy nexus more than any phone I've ever had despite the battery issues, but this phone is absolutely amazing.

Battery life - I can't believe how good the battery life is. First day I went around 25 hours with close to 7 hours screen on time and still had 20% left. I could barely get 2 hours screen on time with my nexus and that was really pushing it.I do some travelling so having batteries dying is pretty annoying when you aren't close to a charger. I got through my flight + trip to hotel with about 85% battery left. I'd have already switched to a second battery on my Galaxy nexus.

** Also this phone does not get very hot at all. My Gnex would get smoldering hot to the point where I thought it was going to have a meltdown. This might get warm and that's it. So nice.

Speed - This thing is FAST. Wow, nothing can slow this baby down. NOTHING. At least nothing I've encountered so far. The 2 GB ram is a godsend. I hated how my apps always had to refresh when multitasking but this is WAY better in that regard.

Screen - It's beautiful. Everyone sees it and has to ask WTF it is. And everyone's initital reaction is that thing is huge, then followed by "I'm jealous, my screen is so tiny"

Reception - Haven't really noticed much difference in reception from my nexus, seems like it's good enough for me, no issues.

Touchwiz - I thought I would HATE touchwiz or any manufacturer overlay on android since i've been on stock android for years from incredible 1/incredible2/galaxy nexus via CM and various ROM's. It actually is pretty damn good. A lot of the things they've added are actually nice. I'm surprised. I'm not feeling a huge need to ROM this bad boy yet. I do hate all the bloatware they put on it but with root I'll take care of that.

S-Pen - It's neat, I don't know how much I'll use it, but it's very well implemented. If i get a chance to really mess with it I'll post more thoughts later.

Keyboard - the stock samsung keyboard with swiftkey flow is pretty good. At first I hated it but it looks like it's learning how I type and what words I use and has gotten much better. I'm currently using it set on one handed operation where it shifts the keyboard to the right.

Internal storage is about 16 GB and after all the stuff they put on it I was left with around 10 GB or so for apps. Kind of sucks because some large games could wipe that out pretty fast. Luckily there's an SD card slot and I can transfer all my stuff onto that. I am going to order a 32 or64 GB card but for now i'm using an old 16 GB.

I had to root the phone yesterday because I need wifi tether for my macbook air/nexus 7. Rooting is exremely easy, took like 10 minutes total.

Those of you that have had the ATT/Sprint note or just got the VZW note, what do you think so far? Any tips?

 

[SandEagle]

there are a few threads for the note 2 floating around. i have it and agree that it is an amazing phone. you really get over how big it is after having it for a few days. hell, i even put it to my ear to make calls and dont care what people think. everyone is amazed by it. i picked up a moga controller for it, runs great. hate all the bloatware that came with it. can you send me the link to this 10 minute root?

 

[Chiropteran]

I agree with most everything you said, it's a great phone.

One minor annoyance/issue I have, is I can't figure out a good way to use the SD card. I put in a 32 GB card, it's recognized and such, but I don't see any easy option to move apps over to it and I don't see any way to set music, photo, or video downloads to save to the SD card by default either. It seems like the only way to use it is to manually move things over in some explorer app.

As far as bloatware, I found that the factory unlocked international version of the phone has far less than the carrier branded versions. Something to consider for next time, anyway. It has a couple Samsung apps I'll never use but not all the t-mobile crapware that the t-mobile branded phone had.

 

[bucwylde23]

Here is the link to the XDA thread for root for the Verizon version:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2024207

It might take you a little longer than 10 minutes depending on your PC if you don't have the drivers already installed like I did. Most of the time spent is getting things ready, the actual rooting process is very quick.

When I plugged in my 16 GB card and opened the camera app it prompted me automatically where I wanted to store them. I am saving all pictures/videos to the card. There is no way to move apps to the SD card without root, from what I can tell.
I don't see any way to set google music to download to SD card which SUCKS.

 

[you2]

Which version of the note did you get bucwylde23 (at&t, sprint or verizon) ? Rumors are that verizon murdered a few features on their version of the note.

 

[SandEagle]

Which version of the note did you get bucwylde23 (at&t, sprint or verizon) ? Rumors are that verizon murdered a few features on their version of the note.

TMo didn't include the highly touted multi-window feature. one of the better selling points for the phone. supposedly coming in an OTA update soon.

 

[bucwylde23]

I got the VZW version, which features did they remove?

 

[gregulator]

Verizon does have multi-window, but does not have photo editor installed (I posted a link to it in another thread though). Verizon versions do not have wireless charging.

For moving apps to SD card, I was looking into this as well. I read in a few places that this is a policy that was made at the system level, ie Jellybean. Perhaps in response to slow apps on slow external storage? Either way, it sounds like you might be able to root and move them manually. I will check back if I do this. I have a subscription music service and like to download the songs to have them offline, but I will definitely eat up the internal storage in no time.

 

[Chiropteran]

This thread inspired me to do some cleanup, so I moved all my music files to the external SD card. Easily done and the music players still see the music exact same as before. I wish it could be done by default but it's actually not that bad to do it manually.

 

[snikt]

I have the AT&T Note 2 close to 3 weeks now. I'm on LTE, I'd say, 95% of the time, and even with above moderate use, including video games for say an hour or so, the battery on this beast still lasts in excess of 24 hours on a single charge. I haven't measured how long exactly, but definitely longer than my previous smartphones. The multi-window feature is very cool; I really like the pop-up browser, very convenient.

 

[Red Storm]

I don't have a Note 2, but I went to Verizon the other night to check it out and that is one nice phone. I didn't even notice the size increase compared to the S3 I used to have while messing with it. Fantastic phone, but I'm a Nexus guy so I won't be getting it.

 

[kache]

I have the Note 1, so no intention to upgrade yet. Maybe I'll upgrade to the Note3.

 

[s44]

If the size works for you, this is undoubtedly the best device on the market.

 

[ponyo]

If the size works for you, this is undoubtedly the best device on the market.

I agree. It's the only device I would consider signing up for a contract.

 

[luv2liv]

i wish im an important person to have a legit need for this phone.

<works at home, surrounded by desktops/laptops. havent found the need for a tablet nor smartphone>

 

[exdeath]

i wish im an important person to have a legit need for this phone.

<works at home, surrounded by desktops/laptops. havent found the need for a tablet nor smartphone>

Do you leave your house at all? There you go!

 

[Chiropteran]

i wish im an important person to have a legit need for this phone.

<works at home, surrounded by desktops/laptops. havent found the need for a tablet nor smartphone>

Elevators! How are you going to entertain yourself for the 78 seconds it takes to go from one floor to another on a slow elevator? Laptops are too cumbersome, tablet phones are the solution!

 

[bucwylde23]

Just tethered to my laptop for an hour or more and battery only dropped like 5%. Love this phone

 

[Pia]

I have the Note 1, so no intention to upgrade yet. Maybe I'll upgrade to the Note3.

I'm thinking of upgrading to an extra-large battery on my Note 1. Since I'm not keeping the phone in my pocket anyway, it shouldn't matter if it gets thicker. Could use some more battery life.

 

[Ns1]

i want one so bad.

 

[kache]

I'm thinking of upgrading to an extra-large battery on my Note 1. Since I'm not keeping the phone in my pocket anyway, it shouldn't matter if it gets thicker. Could use some more battery life.

Be wary of the cheap one sold on amazon: the real capacity is much lower than advertised.

 

[thetechfreak]

Have you guys heard of this battery from Mugen for Note II. It's quite big of a battery.

 

[Pia]

Be wary of the cheap one sold on amazon: the real capacity is much lower than advertised.

I was considering the Mugen battery, haven't looked at other options much.
Unfortunately the Note's desktop dock is kinda bad - solidly built, but no functionality and the Note is not so easy to place in it. The Mugen's kickstand would keep the Note up nicely without the dock.

I'll wait to make sure Note gets 4.1 update, though. If it doesn't, I'm switching phones sooner and there's no point in paying $90 for short time convenience.

 

[you2]

I got the VZW version, which features did they remove?

They broke call blocking; they mangled wifi toggle (moving it to the notification window); they left out photo editor as well as calendar and email widgets. Basically they did nothing positive mucking with the rom (definitely woudln't call it 'added' service).

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I need bigger pockets