Samsung Galaxy Note review

Is it a very big phone or a very small tablet? Julian Prokaza takes a look at the unusual Galaxy Note in our review.

IT Pro Verdict

Samsung may think it bridges the gap between two different mobile devices, but the Galaxy Note GT-N7000 ends up being neither one thing nor the other as a result. The big screen certainly looks great, but the overall size makes it awkward to use and it’s just not as practical as either a more traditionally proportioned smartphone or tablet.

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the Nokia Lumia 800 and Motorola RAZR simply isn't evident here.

The large screen and high resolution also make web browsing on the Galaxy Note much more manageable than on a smaller screen, since less reformatting is required to make tiny text legible. The proportionally bigger keys of Android's on-screen keyboard make it more comfortable to type on too, although we're not sure these two things are sufficient mitigation for the portability problems that this size smartphone creates.

An app called Kies Air turns the smartphone into a mini web server for transferring files across a Wi-Fi network.

As with the Galaxy S II, Samsung has equipped the Galaxy Note GT-N7000 with an app called Kies Air that turns the smartphone into a mini web server for transferring files across a Wi-Fi network. This is easy enough to use, but a USB connection is quicker for copying music and other multimedia. Samsung has removed the simple option to enable USB mass storage' mode from Android's pull-down menu though, and instead hidden it away in the Wireless and network settings and for some reason it must be enabled before the USB cable is plugged in.

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