Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Review (T-Mobile) - The Phablet Returns
by Brian Klug on October 24, 2012 9:00 AM ESTWhen it comes to video, surprise, the Galaxy Note 2 performs like a Galaxy S 3. Samsung has always had good video encode compared to the competition and the Note 2 is obviously no exception. I’m starting to suspect that M5MO is doing the video encode and thus how Samsung is able to keep 17 Mbps H.264 high profile looking so consistent across devices and different SoCs and time. This has been a feature they’ve touted for some time now and continues here on the Note 2.
Unfortunately I shot my video on the same day I took my bench photos and it was a bit overcast, which doesn’t quite match the sunny to very sunny views we’ve had in previous videos at the test location. Nevertheless despite the lighting changes the rear facing video quality looks pretty sharp to me. Front facing seems soft or undersampled for some reason compared to the 720p video I’m seeing out of some of the other high end smartphones I’ve recently reviewed.
Users coming from the original Note will also find that they have a much wider field of view on the Note 2 while shooting 1080p video thanks to the fact that the different CMOS and possibly different ISP firmware reads out. It doesn’t appear to be a center crop anymore like the original Note took, instead you get the wider but still not totally full field of view behavior of the Galaxy S 3 era camera.
As usual I’ve uploaded the videos from the front and rear video to YouTube for easy viewing and also provided the original untouched output from the camera in a zip file (167 MB) for your enjoyment if you don’t want to view samples through YouTube’s x264 transcode blockiness.
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sharath.naik - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
I expected the battery life to be much better that what the test shows. Specifically the WiFi browsing time of 6 hrs, when I Phone gets 10. I did not see the brightness level set during this test in the article (or did I miss it), given how much of a effect OLED screen brightness has on battery life, I would have liked know the brightness level set.Mugur - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
They said the brightness was at 200 nits. In my opinion that is somehow misleading, because this is almost max for Note 2 or other OLED screens and 1/3 for LCD ones like iPhone 5. Why not doing a test on max brightness?Spunjji - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
It's meant to be a standard level to make the numbers directly comparable. Furthermore, it would be unfair to penalise a phone with an exceptionally high brightness by running it at such a level during a test when you'd be unlikely to use that mode all the time in reality.However, in this instance it does hamper the phone's performance - I run it around the 50% level most of the time and it looks nice and clear that way. However, I wouldn't say it necessarily does so *unfairly*. Just something to bear in mind... additional figures would be nice but time-consuming to obtain.
Seggybop - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
"I know there are big cultural differences associated with the appeal of this chrome ring"where can I find this mythical culture that appreciates gaudy chrome trim? as far as I can tell, it's a universally reviled element that does nothing but make a device look cheap.
CeriseCogburn - Friday, February 1, 2013 - link
Both you ladies should take some more cultural arts classes and brush up on your laughable snobbery.Seggybop - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
"I know there are big cultural differences associated with the appeal of this chrome ring"where can I find this mythical culture that appreciates gaudy chrome trim? as far as I can tell, it's a universally reviled element that does nothing but make a device look cheap.
Impulses - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
Korea or Asia in general possibly...Seggybop - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
"I know there are big cultural differences associated with the appeal of this chrome ring"where can I find this mythical culture that appreciates gaudy chrome trim? as far as I can tell, it's a universally reviled element that does nothing but make a device look cheap.
barry spock - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
The longer I spend think about my own subjective limitations, the more I realise that the products from anyone but apple aren't getting a fair go.And this one's an interesting product to attempt to not pigeonhole. I'd think of it more as a media device than a phone. And so does the rest of south korea, as I watch them using these things on the subway -- they watch tv on them. They make calls using earbuds -- not holding a thing this size to their heads. And they rarely put it in their pockets -- it goes in a handbag (or a manbag)
The bit about it not fitting in the F-150's "big Gulp" plastic cup holder speaks volumes about the culture it was written in.
Different cultures will use these devices differently. I imagine Samsung won't fret if this isn't taken up in droves in the US, because after all, there's always china.
Also, Anand, et al. *please* give us the ability to mod-down thoughtless comments such as the first one attached to this article.
CeriseCogburn - Friday, February 1, 2013 - link
That's all we need is you bland one mind fits all nazi book burners to demand the ability to wipe out the 1st amendment when you see fit.If you don't like a comment move on, instead of demanding personal power over others.
I didn't like certain things in your comment above, I'd like to wipe it out, we'd all be better for it.