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Galaxy Note 2 Review: A Step Up From the Original

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is an impressive smartphone-tablet hybrid device that could meet the needs of someone who is unsure about purchasing a full-sized tablet.

AT&T was gracious enough to provide The Christian Post with a Galaxy Note 2 to test out and review and what we found was that if you are on the fence about shelling out extra money on a 7 or 10-inch tablet, you should save yourself the aggravation and purchase the Note.

If you are familiar with the original Note device, than you should know that it is basically a Galaxy S2 that has a bigger display with a stylus known as the S Pen. The Galaxy Note 2 is the same concept, except this device is a bigger version of the S3.

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The Note 2 packs a beautiful 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display with 1280 x 720 pixels, which brings it a step up from its predecessor that had a 5.3-inch screen with less resolution. And even with the slight screen size increase, the Note 2 is still convenient to carry around and can fit inside a jacket pocket.

Other than a larger display, the Note 2 also packs a more powerful Exynos 4412 quad-core 1.6GHz processor that makes the device pretty fast. However it still seems a bit slower than the iPhone 5, Nexus 4 smartphone, and Nexus 10 tablet. The famed multi-tasking feature was also absent on the version, since U.S. carriers have not rolled out the software update for it yet.

One legitimate problem with the Galaxy Note 2 was the lack of improvements on the S Pen from the first Note. Sure, it has a new sensor that appears while you hover the accessory over the screen and can make the name of an app appear, but there is no real need for it.

There are some fun apps to draw and write with though, and Quick Command is quite interesting, as tasks can be performed by writing a command in with the S Pen. The Note 2 can sense when the S Pen has been removed from its holder, which was novel. Other than the S Pen being a cool extra, its full potential has not yet been utilized.

However, it connects with the Note 2 faster than on the previous model. The pop-up window was also a cool feature on the Note 2, and videos can be seen in a small window while you are surfing the web or performing other tasks.

The Galaxy Note 2 is noticeably better than its predecessor and great to watch movies and pencil in appointments. If you don't want to shell out the extra cash to own both a smartphone and tablet, than this is the perfect device for you.

CHECK OUT THE CHRISTIAN POST'S HANDS-ON VIDEO WITH THE GALAXY NOTE 2.

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