Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Review

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys David here from Fu and year after year myself and many others in the Tech Community look forward to the next version of Samsung's Galaxy Notes probably more so than any other Android smartphone out there and it isn't because of the design or the build quality of the note it isn't because of the software and it certainly isn't because of the price but instead it's The Cutting Edge spec that Samsung delivers with each new iteration of the note that gets us all excited now when you look at the spec sheet on the Note 3 you'll see that even months after it's been released it's still one of the highest end Android smartphones out there with a 5.7 in Super AMOLED HD screen 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor not two but 3 GB of RAM a 13 megapixel camera capable of 4K video recording USB 3.0 and not to mention a huge ug 3200 milliamp battery there's really not much to dislike about the Note 3 at least from a hardware perspective but that's the thing about it there's so much more that goes into the ultimate experience that you get from a phone than just hardware and in some of those areas depending on what you're looking for on a phone the Note 3 could have some serious drawbacks for one the Note 3 just like all the predecessors before it is a big phone and for some people it could be too big to the point that it isn't easy for them to use with one hand or even worse it doesn't even fit in their pockets another potential drawback again depending on what you're looking for in a phone is the plasticy build of the Note 3 that Samsung phones are pretty much known for nowadays and then finally the last thing I could think of that is a potential drawback that really was the first thing that came to mind is the software that Samsung loads onto their phones in touchway now for those of you who watched the living with the Note 2 video that I did last year you might recall that the drawbacks that I talked about in that video in regards to the Note 2 are the very same drawbacks that I just mentioned with the Note 3 which while disappointing isn't really all that surprising because these drawbacks kind of come with the territory I mean the Note 3 wouldn't really be a Galaxy Note without its large display which can obviously cause the phone to be too big for some people it wouldn't have that removable back cover which gives you the removable battery and the expandable micr SD card slot without the plasticky build quality and then then For Better or For Worse it wouldn't quite be a Samsung made Flagship without TouchWiz running the show but the good news is the Note 3 isn't just a note 2 with better specs and while the two phones do share some of the same drawbacks Samsung did a relatively good job at minimizing these drawbacks on the Note 3 so the first hint of this can be seen in the build quality and design now the Note 3 is still very much a plastic phone but Samsung has done a few things to make it feel or at least look a little bit more premium on the back you have a soft touch leatherette material that while still plastic adds a sense of luxuries to the phone that I actually really like wrapping around the phone is a metallic looking band whose ridges resemble the pages of a notepad so kudos to Samsung for sticking with the notepad theme but just like the back cover this metall looking band is still made of plastic evidenced by the slight Dent that I have in my unit from a 2ft drop and then finally on the front the bezels at least on this Black Version have a brushed aluminum look that combined with the back cover and the side band gives the Note 3 and overall good look not necessarily great but definitely a step up from the more plasticky feeling Note 2 and even the more recent Galaxy S4 but the build quality and design isn't anywhere near as big of a dealbreaker for the note series as is the sheer size of these phones so it was important that with the Note 3 Samsung tried their best to minimize this drawback now until Samsung figures out a way to make a flexible phone that can just be folded up and put in your pocket the not's large physical size is here to stay for the foreseeable future again this may or may not be an issue depending on who you are but for my girlfriend for example the Note 3 size is just too big I mean she absolutely loves the phone but it doesn't fit in most of her pant pockets and I don't think she'd be willing to change her whole wardrobe just to accommodate for a phone I on the other hand standing just over 6 fet tall don't have too many issues with the size of the foam other than the fact that it doesn't fit in my car's cup holder where I typically like to leave my phone when I'm driving so the physical size of the phone can still be a problem but with some touch optimized Wizardry from Samsung the virtual size of the phone doesn't really have to be thanks to the high-end specs that we were talking about earlier with its powerful CPU and GPU the Note 3 screen can be rescaled on the fly to anywhere between 3.5 and 4.5 in diagonally making the phone a lot easier to use with one hand and while I don't use this feature as much as someone with smaller hands probably would in those times that I only have one hand available like when I'm holding groceries or if I'm walking my dog having the ability to resize the screen with a simple swipe in and out from the edge of the phone is a really nice thing to have and I think it definitely minimizes the issue of poor one-handed use now the screen rescaling feature is a software feature that is built straight into TouchWiz and as many of you guys know I tend to prefer the stock Android experience over just about any other third party UI including TouchWiz but yet when it comes to Touchwiz on the Galaxy Note 3 I have a little bit of a LoveHate relationship going on for example if I was to choose between the touch RZ edition of the Galaxy S4 versus the Play edition of the Galaxy S4 I'd go with the play Edition nine maybe 10 times out of 10 but with the Galaxy Note 3 if there were a Play edition of the note I'd go with it only five or six times out of 10 and that's because while touch rist can still be irritating bogging out a phone that should have no performance issues whatsoever given the hardware it does add some value like screen rescaling that can make the overall experience of the note better with TouchWiz than with stock Android alone but screen rescaling by itself wouldn't be enough it's also the software suite that comes with one of the biggest features of the Galaxy Note 10 I'm surprised I haven't talked about yet being several minutes into this video in the S Pen as soon as you pull the S Pen out of the note you get a little pop-up window in Air Command giving you quick and easy access to some of the SP Pen's most useful touchless features you also have things like Spen keeper which prevents you from walking off without reattaching the S Pen and then finally you have esno which in my opinion is the best not taking app available on any mobile OS those features in combination with some of the others that are actually useful in touch with make having Touchwiz on the Note 3 not as much of a drawback as it initially seems of course like I said earlier TouchWiz does seem to bog down the Note 3 a bit with my unit freezing and lagging from time to time which is just inexcusable given the hardware but hopefully Samsung could address this issue with a software update in the future so I've spent the majority of this video talking about the drawbacks on the Note 3 and how Samsung has minimized them in comparison to the Note 2 and I've done this because outside of these three major drops bags the Note 3 is kind of the complete package you've got probably the best display on any smartphone right now a powerful quadcore processor with a bunch of ram a crisp and clear camera that's capable of recording amazing 4K video a battery that lasts even the heaviest of users all day long and extra features that you don't really see on other phones like USB 3.0 a removable battery and micro SD card slot an IR blaster and of course the Spen so like I said in the beginning beginning if the drawbacks that I mentioned earlier aren't a deal breaker for you then there really isn't a whole lot to dislike about the Note 3 of course the new hc1 and Galaxy S5 are just around the corner so it would be wise to wait and see what those are all about before pulling the trigger on the Note 3 and you can bet that there'll be some foam Bluff style comparisons coming up between these phones to help you make that final decision but on that note that's pretty much it for me in this video if you liked it please give it a thumbs up it really helps me in the Channel out a bunch and if you haven't already make sure to hit that subscribe button down there to be among the first to get more mobile technology videos from me just like this thank you for watching and as always I'll catch you guys in the very next videowhat's up guys David here from Fu and year after year myself and many others in the Tech Community look forward to the next version of Samsung's Galaxy Notes probably more so than any other Android smartphone out there and it isn't because of the design or the build quality of the note it isn't because of the software and it certainly isn't because of the price but instead it's The Cutting Edge spec that Samsung delivers with each new iteration of the note that gets us all excited now when you look at the spec sheet on the Note 3 you'll see that even months after it's been released it's still one of the highest end Android smartphones out there with a 5.7 in Super AMOLED HD screen 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor not two but 3 GB of RAM a 13 megapixel camera capable of 4K video recording USB 3.0 and not to mention a huge ug 3200 milliamp battery there's really not much to dislike about the Note 3 at least from a hardware perspective but that's the thing about it there's so much more that goes into the ultimate experience that you get from a phone than just hardware and in some of those areas depending on what you're looking for on a phone the Note 3 could have some serious drawbacks for one the Note 3 just like all the predecessors before it is a big phone and for some people it could be too big to the point that it isn't easy for them to use with one hand or even worse it doesn't even fit in their pockets another potential drawback again depending on what you're looking for in a phone is the plasticy build of the Note 3 that Samsung phones are pretty much known for nowadays and then finally the last thing I could think of that is a potential drawback that really was the first thing that came to mind is the software that Samsung loads onto their phones in touchway now for those of you who watched the living with the Note 2 video that I did last year you might recall that the drawbacks that I talked about in that video in regards to the Note 2 are the very same drawbacks that I just mentioned with the Note 3 which while disappointing isn't really all that surprising because these drawbacks kind of come with the territory I mean the Note 3 wouldn't really be a Galaxy Note without its large display which can obviously cause the phone to be too big for some people it wouldn't have that removable back cover which gives you the removable battery and the expandable micr SD card slot without the plasticky build quality and then then For Better or For Worse it wouldn't quite be a Samsung made Flagship without TouchWiz running the show but the good news is the Note 3 isn't just a note 2 with better specs and while the two phones do share some of the same drawbacks Samsung did a relatively good job at minimizing these drawbacks on the Note 3 so the first hint of this can be seen in the build quality and design now the Note 3 is still very much a plastic phone but Samsung has done a few things to make it feel or at least look a little bit more premium on the back you have a soft touch leatherette material that while still plastic adds a sense of luxuries to the phone that I actually really like wrapping around the phone is a metallic looking band whose ridges resemble the pages of a notepad so kudos to Samsung for sticking with the notepad theme but just like the back cover this metall looking band is still made of plastic evidenced by the slight Dent that I have in my unit from a 2ft drop and then finally on the front the bezels at least on this Black Version have a brushed aluminum look that combined with the back cover and the side band gives the Note 3 and overall good look not necessarily great but definitely a step up from the more plasticky feeling Note 2 and even the more recent Galaxy S4 but the build quality and design isn't anywhere near as big of a dealbreaker for the note series as is the sheer size of these phones so it was important that with the Note 3 Samsung tried their best to minimize this drawback now until Samsung figures out a way to make a flexible phone that can just be folded up and put in your pocket the not's large physical size is here to stay for the foreseeable future again this may or may not be an issue depending on who you are but for my girlfriend for example the Note 3 size is just too big I mean she absolutely loves the phone but it doesn't fit in most of her pant pockets and I don't think she'd be willing to change her whole wardrobe just to accommodate for a phone I on the other hand standing just over 6 fet tall don't have too many issues with the size of the foam other than the fact that it doesn't fit in my car's cup holder where I typically like to leave my phone when I'm driving so the physical size of the phone can still be a problem but with some touch optimized Wizardry from Samsung the virtual size of the phone doesn't really have to be thanks to the high-end specs that we were talking about earlier with its powerful CPU and GPU the Note 3 screen can be rescaled on the fly to anywhere between 3.5 and 4.5 in diagonally making the phone a lot easier to use with one hand and while I don't use this feature as much as someone with smaller hands probably would in those times that I only have one hand available like when I'm holding groceries or if I'm walking my dog having the ability to resize the screen with a simple swipe in and out from the edge of the phone is a really nice thing to have and I think it definitely minimizes the issue of poor one-handed use now the screen rescaling feature is a software feature that is built straight into TouchWiz and as many of you guys know I tend to prefer the stock Android experience over just about any other third party UI including TouchWiz but yet when it comes to Touchwiz on the Galaxy Note 3 I have a little bit of a LoveHate relationship going on for example if I was to choose between the touch RZ edition of the Galaxy S4 versus the Play edition of the Galaxy S4 I'd go with the play Edition nine maybe 10 times out of 10 but with the Galaxy Note 3 if there were a Play edition of the note I'd go with it only five or six times out of 10 and that's because while touch rist can still be irritating bogging out a phone that should have no performance issues whatsoever given the hardware it does add some value like screen rescaling that can make the overall experience of the note better with TouchWiz than with stock Android alone but screen rescaling by itself wouldn't be enough it's also the software suite that comes with one of the biggest features of the Galaxy Note 10 I'm surprised I haven't talked about yet being several minutes into this video in the S Pen as soon as you pull the S Pen out of the note you get a little pop-up window in Air Command giving you quick and easy access to some of the SP Pen's most useful touchless features you also have things like Spen keeper which prevents you from walking off without reattaching the S Pen and then finally you have esno which in my opinion is the best not taking app available on any mobile OS those features in combination with some of the others that are actually useful in touch with make having Touchwiz on the Note 3 not as much of a drawback as it initially seems of course like I said earlier TouchWiz does seem to bog down the Note 3 a bit with my unit freezing and lagging from time to time which is just inexcusable given the hardware but hopefully Samsung could address this issue with a software update in the future so I've spent the majority of this video talking about the drawbacks on the Note 3 and how Samsung has minimized them in comparison to the Note 2 and I've done this because outside of these three major drops bags the Note 3 is kind of the complete package you've got probably the best display on any smartphone right now a powerful quadcore processor with a bunch of ram a crisp and clear camera that's capable of recording amazing 4K video a battery that lasts even the heaviest of users all day long and extra features that you don't really see on other phones like USB 3.0 a removable battery and micro SD card slot an IR blaster and of course the Spen so like I said in the beginning beginning if the drawbacks that I mentioned earlier aren't a deal breaker for you then there really isn't a whole lot to dislike about the Note 3 of course the new hc1 and Galaxy S5 are just around the corner so it would be wise to wait and see what those are all about before pulling the trigger on the Note 3 and you can bet that there'll be some foam Bluff style comparisons coming up between these phones to help you make that final decision but on that note that's pretty much it for me in this video if you liked it please give it a thumbs up it really helps me in the Channel out a bunch and if you haven't already make sure to hit that subscribe button down there to be among the first to get more mobile technology videos from me just like this thank you for watching and as always I'll catch you guys in the very next video\n"