Galaxy Note 2 waiting Lounge

[tgyberg]

After using US Cellular's Note 2 for a week, I feel pretty comfortable saying that I will not be picking this up when it comes to Verizon, for many reasons.

1) The size. This is completely personal preference, when I was reading reviews, testing it out in store, and even for the first few days I had it I had no complaints about the size, and enjoyed having such a large display. However after the "newness" of the device wore off, the size became more and more of an issue. It doesn't fit in my cars cup holder like all my other phones, so trying to store it somewhere in the center console area where it's accessible was a challenge (I did make it fit somewhere else, but it's much less convenient). As far as fitting in the pocket goes, I had no issues fitting it in my jeans or khakis, and even when sitting down with it in my pocket I didn't notice it. The issue arises when I try to find a place to put it while wearing a jacket, in the past I had interior or side pockets that would fit a phone, but not the Note 2.

2) This is more like a small tablet than a large phone. Very similar to the first reason, but like with any tablet I find that I use my phone a lot more frequently. While testing out the Note 2 I also had a Nexus 7 and Thunderbolt, so whenever I needed to check something quick I pulled out my Thunderbolt since it can be easily operated with one hand. The Note 2 would take away my need for having a tablet and a phone, however you make sacrifices, you don't have as large of a screen as a tablet, but you don't get the easy one handed operating of a ~4.5" phone. I thought of the Note 2 like a tablet, and used it only occasionally.

3) The S-Pen. Again, this is personal preference, but when I was reading and watching reviews of the Note 2 I said to myself "OMG I can't wait to use the S-Pen!! I'm going to write notes on my phone instead of taking the time to type it, I get to hover over a video to see where I want to skip to, etc. etc.". When it comes down to it, even though the S-Pen claims to have hundreds of levels of sensitivity, I've only found it to have 3 different levels - bold, normal, and light. For me, when it came down to it I found almost no practical reason why I would want to use the S-Pen over simply using my fingers and/or typing on the keyboard, this is just a gimmick IMO and it makes it even more cumbersome to use as a phone.

4) Buttons. First, the physical home button. Why, why does Samsung continue to use a physical home button but capacative back and menu buttons? When trying to use the device in one hand (which is hard enough already), if you don't readjust your hand to get a better grip you won't be able to activate the home button without worrying that the phone will slip out of your hand. I also found that because I get used to using the capacative back and menu buttons, I instinctively think I can do the same for home, but end up having to always press it twice because I forget. Also, the buttons don't work with the S-Pen, so even more of a reason why it's a gimmick.

Thanks for the insight! Certainly some things to consider.

 

[INCREMENTAL]

Honestly in certain ways the DNA is better and in certain ways the Note 2 is better.

The main way the HTC DNA is better is the screen. It's only 5" but it has a resolution of 1920x1080 with 440 ppi which is better than the iPhones retina screen. HTC also has a better track record with reception, where Samsung often falls short.

The downfall to the DNA is that it's most likely going to have much smaller of a battery than the Note 2 and with a 1080p screen and 4G LTE it's going to need a bigger battery.

Also losing the S Pen and some Touch Wiz functionality and substituting that for Sense.

I think if people miss the Note 2 in stores most will just go for the HTC DNA. Either way I don't think you can go wrong either way because they are both 5+" quad core jelly bean beasts with 2gb ram.

Yeah I know all that I just said in my eyes I don't thank it compares. What good is a quad core 1080P screen phone with a small battery? A dead phone all the time is at the bottom of my list. My bro has the one x and its horrible on battery. But if it was to come with the rumored 2500 mah then it might be awesome.

 

[pc747]

Yeah I know all that I just said in my eyes I don't thank it compares. What good is a quad core 1080P screen phone with a small battery? A dead phone all the time is at the bottom of my list. My bro has the one x and its horrible on battery. But if it was to come with the rumored 2500 mah then it might be awesome.

I think what they are saying is for those that may find the note 2 too big or just not them the Dna may turn out to be a good device for them. Some people prefer htc and sense over sammy and touchwiz. There is also another element that is in the back of some minds and quite frankly one of the quiet reasons i went to att and that is samsungs radios. Though they continue to improve every device sammy has made for verizon caused some issues reception wise. Hopefully that will not be the case for the note 2. I have a theory about the sammy issues and i think it may be more than "weak radios". I want to see how things fair with the verizon version to get more evidence. But htc has been among the strong with lte radios. Last year when the nexus was having issues the rezound was solid though sense caused lag. Looking at the reviews of the one x+ I think sense may continue to weigh down the software preventing it from operating at what it is capable of.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

[delcopa]

I think what they are saying is for those that may find the note 2 too big or just not them the Dna may turn out to be a good device for them. Some people prefer htc and sense over sammy and touchwiz. There is also another element that is in the back of some minds and quite frankly one of the quiet reasons i went to att and that is samsungs radios. Though they continue to improve every device sammy has made for verizon caused some issues reception wise. Hopefully that will not be the case for the note 2. I have a theory about the sammy issues and i think it may be more than "weak radios". I want to see how things fair with the verizon version to get more evidence. But htc has been among the strong with lte radios. Last year when the nexus was having issues the rezound was solid though sense caused lag. Looking at the reviews of the one x+ I think sense may continue to weigh down the software preventing it from operating at what it is capable of.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Very good point PC. When I get one on Verizon I'll throw up what I think of the device granted hopefully not much will be new news and it all stays good.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[INCREMENTAL]

I think what they are saying is for those that may find the note 2 too big or just not them the Dna may turn out to be a good device for them. Some people prefer htc and sense over sammy and touchwiz. There is also another element that is in the back of some minds and quite frankly one of the quiet reasons i went to att and that is samsungs radios. Though they continue to improve every device sammy has made for verizon caused some issues reception wise. Hopefully that will not be the case for the note 2. I have a theory about the sammy issues and i think it may be more than "weak radios". I want to see how things fair with the verizon version to get more evidence. But htc has been among the strong with lte radios. Last year when the nexus was having issues the rezound was solid though sense caused lag. Looking at the reviews of the one x+ I think sense may continue to weigh down the software preventing it from operating at what it is capable of.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

I agree, I'm just stating n my eyes as of now it don't compare but I'm with u on all that. If I buy the N2 and the radios are a problem then she's going back and then I might give the DNA a test drive because the last I checked it is a $100 cheaper from the rumors. Guess we will find out tomorrow, like I said more choices are better.

 

[pc747]

I agree, I'm just stating n my eyes as of now it don't compare but I'm with u on all that. If I buy the N2 and the radios are a problem then she's going back and then I might give the DNA a test drive because the last I checked it is a $100 cheaper from the rumors. Guess we will find out tomorrow, like I said more choices are better.

If you have radio issuses on verizon and you are not the only one then it is safe to say the problem may be with verizon's netowrk. My theory is that samsung does great with hspa and gsm but do not seem to fair well.with cdma. It could be in how it provisions that is causing problems especially on a locked tight network like verizon. Att and tmobile has been dealing with si cards for quite awhile but vzw is young to the sim card thing and with them being stubborn on how they control their network access it could be part of the cause for samsungs issue on verizons net. Again those are some of my theories. I think samsung may have figured it out and note 2 users should be fine. Hooefully verizon uses the extra time wisely to be sure that the radio software on the note 2 help maintain lte connectivity. One of the complaints i have with verizon is how they delay...or take so long to release a device and yet it still releases with bugs that impact the quality. Then they take months to test and release a software fix.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

[pc747]

When yall do get your note 2 post your art work

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

[delcopa]

When yall do get your note 2 post your art work

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

very cool! I want mine

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Drew_P]

Hey Pc, I had a quick question......does the Note 2 have a built in fm radio?? My thunderbolt does and it really helps me pass the time at work. I saw the international version did and was hoping the US version kept it. Thanks in advance.

sent from my Rezound powered bolt of thunder!!!

 

[pc747]

Att version does not . In fact last I read only the international version had a built in radio.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

[INCREMENTAL]

When yall do get your note 2 post your art work

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Nice pic man. I love predator to, one of my favorites. Did u see they have a predator game on the market now? Its based off the new movie and our the predator and kill everyone from what droid life said.

 

[pc747]

no but will look it up now you said something.

 

[smalltowngirl13]

Att version does not . In fact last I read only the international version had a built in radio.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

The Sprint version does not have at this time either...

 

[rumblee1]

Is it true that the note 2 doesn't have a spell checker? Is there one in the play store?

 

[NittanyLion4life]

The DNA looks very slick. The battery and lack sd slot kind of sour me on it. I think the design of the phone is gorgeous though....