Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Hands ON Review

The Galaxy Note 8 is a spectacularly slim tablet, clad in typical white Samsung plastic, measuring 5.3 by 8.3 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighing 11.9 ounces. Just like the iPad mini, it's a little too wide to hold comfortably in one hand, which is especially comical here because the international version of the Galaxy Note 8 will be usable as a phone. Yes, you can hold it up to your head, in theory, although that's really silly. We tried. It was silly.

Rather, you're supposed to slip the S Pen out of the recessed area in a lower corner and get to work. The Galaxy Note 8 zips along, carried by a quad-core, 1.6-GHz Samsung Exynos processor on Android 4.1.2. The speed trick here is that the super-processor is driving a relatively low-res 1,280-by-800 screen (at 189ppi, with similar pixel density to the iPad mini and Nexus 7 , but no Retina) so it doesn't have that many pixels to push.

Other specs include 2GB of RAM, a 4,600 mAh non-removable battery, either 16GB or 32GB of memory, a MicroSD card slot, Bluetooth 4 and Wi-Fi a/b/g/n. If you're keeping score, that's a bigger battery than the Nexus 7 (4325 mAh) and iPad mini (4440 mAh), although there are enough other differences (like the processor) that you can't just use that to predict battery life. Specs of the final U.S. models may vary from these international specs, Samsung reps warned.

The Nexus 7 has pretty much stuck the price of a small, generic Android tablet at $199, so if you're going to charge more, you need a real reason to do so. With its Galaxy Tab 7.7 , Samsung tossed out a super-saturated OLED screen and TV remote capabilities as a reason to pay more.

The Galaxy Note 8 switches back to a standard LCD screen - bright enough, but nothing to write home about - keeps the Peel Remote TV remote and IR blaster functions, and adds in all the cool multi-windowing and pen features from the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 10.1.

That means you can now open 20 different apps in multiple windows. Facebook can be open in one window, for instance, and your photo gallery in another, or a browser and the S Pen note-taking app right next to each other. Note taking gets a further boost here from the Awesome Note app, a popular iOS note-and-organizational app which will be a Samsung exclusive on Android for the next year. There are a ton of other exclusive apps here, too.

That quad-core processor made writing in S Note smoother than on the Galaxy Note 10.1, which had a bit of lag sometimes. I also tried out the new version of Flipboard, which previews news stories when you hover your pen over them, a neat trick. The quad-core processor had zero trouble handling multiple windows.

Samsung seems to improve the S Pen experience on a weekly basis. This time, I was really impressed by the hand rejection; if you lean your hand on the screen while using the pen (in a pen-aware app) the touch screen pays attention to the pen, not your hand. That's what makes active pens like this more useful than dumb styli.

The TV functions got kicked up a notch, too. Samsung's "TV Discovery," announced earlier this week, will fold content from Netflix, Blockbuster, and other streaming services into the TV program guide, which Peel provides. If you have a Samsung smart TV, you'll be able to tap on an Internet program and start streaming it on the TV. It remains to be seen how truly seamless this is, though, and Peel still can't catalog the content on local DVRs.

The only noticeable down side here came from the cameras. The 5-megapixel rear camera wasn't great. Not awful, but a bit slow and dim. The 1.3-megapixel front camera was appalling, slow and noisy in a well-lit room.

The Galaxy Note 8 is extremely capable, slim and well-designed. I think I just don't love 8-inch tablets (the iPad mini included!) To me, they aren't as convenient for media consumption as the little one-handed 7-inchers, and they aren't as functional for creative tasks as a roomy 10-incher. If there's one thing Samsung has proven from the success of the Galaxy Note line, though, there's a huge market for these "tweener" sizes.

The Galaxy Note 8 will initially be available in a Wi-Fi model in the U.S. and an HSPA+ 21 3G model in the rest of the world, Samsung reps said. It'll come in the second quarter of this year. They didn't give a price.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Review

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is designed for consumer satisfaction on a new level by being highly versatile. Samsung Galaxy is tailored to function for the fastest 4G LTE and HSPA+ 4G networks. The Samsung Galaxy Note II is manufactured with the thrilling aspect of merging the powerful technology with S Pen and new S Pen apps, which has the incredible capacity to functions like a PC with a larger and thinner bright screen display. Samsung has introduced the Galaxy Note 2 to cater to the rapid advancements in technology as well as cater to consumer needs with a device as mentioned with excellent versatility to create, merge and share information at a much more rapid speed than earlier.

Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Telecommunications America stated, ‘’The original Galaxy Note was the tool to showcase a new theorem of smartphones by blending the best of a smartphone with supreme performance of a tablet. In less than a year, Samsung managed huge profits of selling 10 million globally that demonstrate the supreme power of the device. The launch of the new Galaxy Note II has created a new era in mobile industry.’’

Galaxy Note II is the first model built with Exynos^TM 1.6 GHz quad-core processor built for LTE networks. The phone is equipped with 2GB of internal RAM with 16 GB of storage capacity and 64GB additional memory with microSD card. These devices have the marvellous ability to function with effective multitasking, speeds fast screen transitions, credible browser performance along with speedy load time.

For an interesting piece of information, the Galaxy Note II is the first smartphone to be tailored with Android^TM 4.1 Jelly Bean that has the power to deliver remarkable graphical display and quality and an high-tech Google Now service which includes pioneering features like contextual search. The phone is inserted with the rapid technology flow of SAFE-designated devices that has additional security features to protect sensitive data and communications.

The Galaxy Note II is tailored with a 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED^TM touchscreen with 16:9 aspect ratio which delivers effective HD video viewing, with powerful battery durability of 3,100 mAh which is 24% more effective than its predecessor. Although the device is designed to offer enhanced durability, the device is less weightier than the original which contributes to narrower bezel on four sides, with larger screen display. The device might be narrow on the borders, but the large screen display offers admirable handling and usage experience. The Galaxy Note II is rolled out in classy and neutral shades of Marble White, and Titanium Gray.

The main admirable feature of the Galxy Note II is the ability to perform functions with S Pen^TM which has been designed to offer quality fun and natural writing and drawing experience. The new S Pen has the incredible ability to sense 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity which is four times higher than the original S Pen.

The new S Pen is something to admire, when the new S Pen is removed from the Galaxy Note II, the screen automatically displays the S Pen menu on a new home screen that allows the user to use S-Pen applications through a touch screen. Moreover when the users forget to place the S Pen back into the device, a visible and loud alarm appears.

The S Pen is equipped with features with classic abilities beyond description, the S Pen has the ability to blend handwriting with any digital content on screen, like adding new calendar details on that particular day of the week, and the user can add handwriting notes as well through email or texting.

Using the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is almost like operating on a mini computer, where the S Pen can guise the form of a ‘’click-mouse.’’ When the user presses the S Pen’s side button, the S Pen can signal that the user wants to edit the contents on screen, the user can also draws lines to demarcate the required content to be edited by highlighting or copying into other application.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has stunning applications such as:

Easy Clip which enables users to highlight, and crop content on screen in any form to save, share or paste. When the content is cropped, the users can edit the cropped content by colouring, sharing or your own handwriting.

Air view provides users with the amazing feature where you can position the S Pen over an email, calendar, image gallery or video, to view the content without having to linger for screen transitions. This attribute enables users to follow up web site content without the task of opening full site. This feature also provides titles for even unrecognisable data in many interesting applications.

Quick Command, this feature functions brilliantly by activating most used applications. There is a command that emerges with just one upward swipe on the screen and when you press down the S Pen button. This application enables users to send an email, call or search a particular location with pre-installed S Pen marks on the command pad.

Idea Sketch feature provides users with the amazing ability to effectively add illustrations by writing keywords on the S note, typically in the same manner as the pen and with the same handwriting. This feature enables users to express, store and envisage data in a creative and powerful fashion. Users can even chalk down their own application. There are photo notes that allow users to gather a pen and paper experience on the rear of digital photos.

Samsung Galaxy Note II is many levels high in terms of multitasking by enabling consumers to load many window apps on one screen which also includes high definition video.

The phone has another technology that would startle consumers with the A-GPS and GLONASS technology along with entertaining features of music player, video player and FM radio. There are also the regular apps such as Twitter to connect with friends and families.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is an exemplary device that offers a different atmosphere even from the regular touch screen phones. The S Pen is the dominant feature that has transformed the phone into the guise of a mini computer. The phone has many remarkable functions of versatility, durability and storage and regular Microsoft type functions of cropping, highlighting, and copying and so on. The Galaxy Note 2 is priced at Rs. 35,500 which is rather steep but offers life-long beneficial features.

Samsung Galaxy Grand I9082 Review

The latest Samsung Phone to hit the market is Galaxy Grand Duos I9082, a dual-SIM smartphone. This new Samsung Android phone is sure to give the competitors some Goosebumps. Touted as a tough contender for Nokia Lumia 820 and HTC Desire SV, Samsung Grand comes as a high-end smartphone from a top-tier mobile maker. The phone cost INR 21,500 in India.Though there are still some smartphones under 15K, but with crippled multimedia functions and dated spec sheet, so the market for same seems to be open for this newly launched Samsung mobile phone. We did like the Grand when it was launched and now it’s time to uncover what actually it is capable of.

It’s not easy finding a high-end dual-SIM phone from a top-tier manufacturer. The only one available in the market until recently was the HTC Desire SV, which is a well-designed and built handset with an impressive spec sheet but is heavily crippled in the multimedia department due to its chipset. This leaves the playground wide open for the just launched Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos, which has been making a lot of noise in the market. We quite liked it when we first saw it, and now it’s time to put it through our gruelling tests to see if it manages to come through unscathed. 

Design and build 
The Grand Duos looks like a clone of the Note II, but with the finish and build of the S III. The phone seems a bit chunkier than the Note II and that chrome trim around the edge will wear off with time, so it’s better if you use a cover with it. The finish of the plastics is more akin to theGalaxy S III. The rear cover has a fine mosaic-like pattern which actually manages to mask most of your fingerprints. However, it does scratch easily if you’re not careful with your usage. The same goes for the chrome trim.

The Grand Duos feels strong and durable but is on the thicker side at 9.6 mm and quite heavy as well at 162 g. Just like the other Galaxy handsets, we have all the sensors lined up along with the front facing 2MP camera. The 5-inch display takes up most of the space in the front with a thin bezel on either side.

It will not be wrong to call Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos a clone of Note II. Not only we, everyone is talking about it to be a perfect look-alike of Samsung Note with finishing and design similar to Samsung Galaxy S III. This new phone measures around 76.8 x 143.5 x 9.6mm in dimensions, making it quite slim, sleek and thin. Also, its 161 grams weight makes it quite light compared to other Android mobile phones in the same price segment.

Grand is a pure mix of premium plastic, which is quite sturdy and gives handset a solid feel. Further, the front display has been made using glass with no sign on Corning Gorilla Glass; that is now quite disappointment for a high-end Android phone. Its rear panel comes with mosaic-like pattern but is prone to scratches if not used carefully.

On the other hand, the thin bezel surrounds the phone, though it is also made using plastic with metal coating resemblance. The front comprises hardware home button at the bottom with a 2MP front camera at the right along with all the sensors lined up next to it. Overall, Grand is a perfect reminiscent of S III and Note II in terms of design and built.

Interface 
When Samsung first announced the Grand Duos, there was a lot of cry about the low resolution display. Even we thought back then that this would be the Achilles’ Heel of the handset. As it turns out, the 480 x 800 resolution is not completely terrible and other than a slightly larger set of icons, it’s not bad at all. The display is a standard TFT LCD, but a good one, so the viewing angles and colour reproduction is very good. The phone runs Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean along with TouchWiz and the two seem to get along just fine. The UI is fluid just like it is on the Note II, all the new features introduced in it and the S III – Multi-window, Pop-up play, Smart Stay, S Voice and a whole fleet of motion based gestures – are present here.

Hardware

Samsung Grand comes with dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and includes 1GB RAM. Further, it is available with Broadcom GPU, which makes this phone compatible with most of the HD games and eases the multitasking to a great extent. The handset houses 8GB internal storage and supports microSD card up to 64GB.

Its 5.0 inches capacitive touchscreen with 480 x 800 pixels resolution makes Grand talk of the town. A bit smaller to Note II, this new handset comes with highly responsive multi-touch TouchWiz UI. Also, the phone has been integrated with 8MP camera, capable of snapping high resolution and clear pictures with excellent HD video recording. Features like LED Flash, touch-focus, auto-focus and image stabilization makes Grand’s camera quite worth.

Though overpriced, Samsung Grand has managed acquire a huge clientele within no time of its launch in the market. A dual-core, dual-SIM, powerful spec sheet, large display and updated software make Grand worth investing money on. Going through the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos I9082 Review, it is quite evident, with no other such competitors taking its place, this new phone comes as an impressive deal breaker.

Samsung Galaxy S Duos - GT-S7562 Review

The Samsung Galaxy S Duos is a best Dual Sim phone among all others in this category and price range. It’s fast, slim and solid and most importantly it appears same as Samsung Galaxy S III Mini and is even considered as the smaller version of Samsung Galaxy S III. It has a standard 4 inch screen size with TFT capacitive touchscreen. S Duos sizes 121.5 mm, 63.1 mm and 10.5 mm dimensions in height, width and depth, which is simply superb with dual sim functionality. It weights 120 gm. and the all plastic body is well fitted in the device.

             

Below the screen is a physical home key along with back and menu touch keys. And on the bottom of the phone has a USB/charging connector with a mouthpiece alongside it. On the top of the device is a 3.5 mm earjack whereas, the left side gives you volume controls and lanyard eyelet. The right side holds the lock/power key and microSD card slot, but, there is no dedicated camera key on the phone. Above the screen is a front facing camera with light sensors and earpiece. The overall construction of the Galaxy S Duos is great and it’s handy too.

Interface/OS:

Samsung Galaxy S Duos primarily runs on Google Android 4.0 ICE (ice cream sandwich) operating system, which has done full justice with the device and to its buyers. And more importantly it can be upgradeable to the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Beans. The phone is power packed with 1 GHz cortex A-5 processor and Qualcomm MSM7227A Snapdragon. When tested, the browsing on this interface with power packed processor and RAM was a better experience. The speed was good when on 3G and multitasking to swapping applications was smoother.

Battery:

For everlasting experience, the Galaxy S Duos comes with a standard Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery which goes well with the device. When tested, battery performed excellent results on 2G and above average on 3G. The stand by time delivered was up to 550 hours on 2G and up to 450 hours when on 3G whereas, the talk time was up to 12 hours on 2G and up to 8 hours on 3G. So, we can say that Samsung galaxy S Duos ensures you good battery results.

Camera:

Galaxy S Duos comes with tremendous 5 megapixels main camera with auto focus and LED flash and it also has a VGA front facing camera. The camera quality of Samsung Galaxy S Duos is great. When tested, the outdoor images captured were rich and clearer in colours and the camera worked quickly and hardly took a second to be ready for next image. The Galaxy S Duos camera supports JPEG, PNG, GIF, WBMP, BMP and AGIF image type. The indoor shoots were even good. The Galaxy S Duos camera has a 2592 x 1944 image resolution. The images from front camera were average. The weak point of this phone is its display of only 480 x 800 pixels.
Memory:

The Samsung Galaxy S Duos comes with in built memory of 4 GB. The memory can further be extended to 32 GB using a micro SD card. The phone supports 768 MB RAM, that helps multitasking and swapping applications easily.

Audio/Video:

The Samsung Galaxy S Duos has not compromised with its voice/sound quality. The sound quality when tested was good with headphones and even when on speaker mode. The Touch Wiz music player is multi functional, the sound enhancing DNSe technology and 5.1 channel virtualization gives you better music output. Samsung Galaxy S DUOS supports AAC, AAC+, AMR, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, eAAC+, I-Melody, IMY, M4A, MIDI, MP3, OGG, SP-Midi, WAV and WMA audio formats. Like other galaxy phone, Galaxy S DUOS also has a Stereo FM radio with RDS. The video quality of this phone is wonderful. It features 1080 pixels full HD recording and playback at 30 frames per second. The video call quality from its VGA front facing camera is good but the sound quality drops down if you hold it at a hand’s distance. It supports MPEG4, H.264, H.263 video formats. When tested, the video captured from the camera was really in superior quality and gave 480 x 800 pixels resolution.

Features:

Dual SIM service of this phone allows you to receive calls while you are connected to the internet or even if you are already talking on the phone on the other SIM card. The Samsung Galaxy S Duos is pre loaded with SNS integration. The Social Hub includes all major social sites like, Facebook, twitter, You Tube, Linked In and many more. The much hyped ChatOn service enables single and multi-person conversations, multimedia file sharing and even more. Galaxy S Duos is featured with Samsung Kies 2.0 and Kies air. The newly introduced Kies 2.0 enables the Samsung Galaxy S Duos to sync with a computer using a Wi-Fi network for PIM backup, subscribing to contents, and multimedia contents sharing. And with the Samsung Kies air you can connect with any browser’s address bar without a Kies program through the web browser to manage all sorts of information and multimedia contents on a larger screen. Wi-Fi direct, NFC, Voice Calling and All Share are also featured in this power packed phone.

Conclusion:

The Samsung Galaxy S Duos is certainly the best phone in this price range and segment. It offers long list of in-built features/applications that exist in all latest Android phones. The big 4 inch screen and TFT capacitive touchscreen is amazing and offers great display. The powerful RAM and processor gives hassle free browsing experience. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S Duos is a good phone in almost all aspects but few hardware and design faults are its weaknesses. We give this phone four star rating.

Samsung Galaxy SIII Review

The Samsung Galaxy S II dutifully and diligently completed its term as a phone and exhaustively in every other form possible, like the phablets and LTE variants using the same family concept.  The time has come for an all-new better version, with unseen features and characteristics, and Samsung has understood this need well, with its timely launch of the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Samsung’s main aim is to make the Galaxy S series highly equipped as a move forward, by adding a new quad-core Exynos processor, a 4.8-inch, HD Super AMOLED screen and a host of other features vying hard for the top spot amongst other Android devices. Traces of its other Galaxy phones can be detected at first glance in the new Galaxy S III. Samsung has chosen not to take a leap with this one by giving it distinct do over in terms of design and in saying that we assess that it bears most resemblance to the Galaxy Nexus and far less to the Galaxy S II. The screen is a 4.8 inch AMOLED which gets a nice thin outline instead of a more obvious bezel, to give it definition and the illusion of elongation of the screen’s actual size. The device weighs a wispy 133g and measures 8.6mm across. These dimensions afford good grip. The grip is partially countered by the glossy plastic body on the front and the back. The glossy finish looks very attractive and refined particularly on the Pebble Blue option. A minor variation to the overall plastic casing is seen around the edges to break the monotony, which is a good option against using a metallic chassis that would have damaged the look and feel of the phone altogether. The physical home button is the same as that on the previous Galaxy, with the only difference being its size for it has been shrunken a little to seem less dominating. Accompanying the home button are two capacitive buttons on either side. On the back is the camera module, flash and loudspeaker unit.

The camera is more or less the same with the same picture quality and density as that found on the Galaxy S II. The 8 megapixel shooter generates high quality pictures even in the most challenging circumstances. The camera is quite versatile. Samsung has used a new software interface, which is capable of capturing dual stills and video capture, and can face tag existing contacts. It also has improved face identification and tracking.

The display is a PenTile, which to break it down, implies that pixelation is apparent, in spite of its 306 ppi density, due to the sharing of sub-pixels. However the resolution is clear and very good, except perhaps for the likings of the most critical of critiques. The use of Gorilla Glass 2 in this Galaxy S III is great for giving a wide range of viewing angles. At the core the inside the Galaxy S III works on a 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos processor, and an all new GPU which boasts of being 65 percent quicker in comparing it with the Mali 400 graphics chip found on the Galaxy S II. The processor works well even when running high power apps simultaneously, it also offers a smooth experience when browsing and in casual use including media playback and gaming.



The 2,100mAh battery is removable and has a wireless charging option. Beside the battery is a slot for a  micro-SIM, and a microSD slot. Expansion possibilities are 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, on the basis of the variant purchased. Apart from these there is a DLNA, an MHL-compatible micro-USB port, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, and headphone socket, with NFC attached to the battery unit.

Samsung has delved more on software improvement versus hardware with the new Galaxy S III and for good reason. This device comes with the all new TouchWiz for the Ice Cream Sandwich. To improve the quality Samsung has added a new line of apps and features, with improved gesture-intrinsic features. On the bottom of the screen are five options. The keyboard on the Galaxy S III is easy to use, and offers high functionality. There is a new feature in the form of lock screen app shortcuts. When this is enabled in the settings option, it records gesture movements which open up various options on your phone like the camera app, or calling options.  Another Smart Stay feature enables the device to detect whether a face is staring into the camera, or not, which if detected switches on the display. On similar lines is the Smart Alert uses the built in accelerometer to show you a list of missed calls or notifications once you take the phone in your hands.

S Voice is a voice interactive new feature, that is rather unresponsive. It hardly recognizes voice commands, so controlling your phone through it is near impossible. While Samsung is looking to revise and recreate this feature, it is also working with third party apps to fill the gaps in its faltering technology. With the AllShare Play feature you can share media content with the big screen, and with AllShare Cast acts like a projector, duplicating your screen, for big-screen gaming. Another interesting feature is the Pop Up Play using which you can play a video file on top of any other app. However playback is restricted to the parent media player.

Overall, the phone hits a high score with its looks, and functionality. Handling is made easy and comfortable with its efficient keyboard, and UI. The high definition Super AMOLED screen completes the high quality experience along with the new processor which can muscle a lot for the Android handheld. It borrows a lot from its predecessors where design and hardware is concerned, but much needed substantial changes in the software department raise the bar on this device. The Galaxy S III has even set right loopholes in which areas its competitors mastered, to bring it on par with them. The introduction of the TouchWiz give it a never before experience, even for those who are fans of the vanilla experience. A few tweaks to this device like setting right the S Voice feature and exploiting the new processor to its maximum capacity can even take the phone into the battleground of Apple’s creations.