Samsung Galaxy Note 3, 5.7-inch Full HD phablet with new S-Pen and 3GB RAM

Samsung officially launched the successor to their top-selling Galaxy Note 2, the Galaxy Note 3 and it packs the fastest mobile chip right now plus some new features including an improved S-Pen stylus.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a bigger screen than its predecessor at 5.7-inch but size is virtually the same. In fact, it’s thinner and lighter than before with less rounded edges plus slimmer bezels on the side. It looks like how the Galaxy S4 evolved from the Galaxy S3. The 5.7-inch screen has a Full HD resolution with Samsung’s Super AMOLED display.

Known for having plastic bodies on their devices, Samsung still went for it for the Galaxy Note 3. However, they made it more stylish and appealing by slapping a plush leatherette at the back complete with faux stitching. Nice touch I should say and Samsung also showed a lot of those leather back panels in different colors for you to choose from. And if you don’t like the leathery feel, there are still matte plastic back covers you can avail.

Powering the Galaxy Note 3 is the best Qualcomm has to offer currently, a Snapdragon 800 chip which comes with four 2.3GHz Krait 400 cores, and 3GB RAM which should work well with the Note’s multi-window features. It comes in 32GB and 64GB configuration plus with support for microSD expansion.

There’s a 13-megapixel camera with LED flash at the back and Samsung announced that some variants of the Galaxy Note 3 can record 4k UHD videos at 30fps making it the first mobile device to do so. Full HD video recording is at 60fps while 720p can go as high as 120fps. The 3200mAh battery rating on the Galaxy Note 3 is slightly higher than its predecessor (3100mAh).

The S-Pen on the Galaxy Note 3 still feels the same as before, light, short with the multi-purpose button. What Samsung did was add more features and seamless integration between the Note and the S-Pen. Hover the pen anywhere on the screen and press the pen’s button to activate the Air Command which is a circular menu of the things you can do with the S-Pen.

With Action Memo, your handwriting is recognized and you’re able to jot down notes perform actions such as saving contact details, or locating an address in Google maps. Scrap Booker lets you take any piece of the screen and save it into your scrapbook, filing them into their own categories and adding additional notes. Screen Write is like LG’s Quick Memo where you can write anything on the screen or call a blank sheet to write on. S-finder allows you to search for content on your device ““ be it a memo, event, a chat, or handwritten content.

The Pen Window introduces Box ““ a new way of multitasking. It allows for a new multi-window capability such as chatting with 2 different friends at the same time. Also, drawing a box on the screen allows you to call other useful applications. To paint a clearer picture, you can draw a box at the corner of your screen to pull up a calculator. No need to navigate to open up that calculator app. We tried opening 8 applications and it didn’t slow down.

The Galaxy Note 3 now supports Multi Vision which is like Group Play but for videos. Put multiple Note 3’s side-by-side to watch a video extending to all screens for a bigger overall display. Sounds cute but not really something a lot of people would find themselves using.

Samsung also claims that the Galaxy Note 3’s LTE should work with all LTE bands globally.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be available at the end of September unless you’re in Japan or US in which case, you have to wait till October. No local pricing has been announced yet but expect it to be around P32k ““ P33k price range just like how the Note 2 was last year.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Specs:
5.7-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, 386 ppi
Qualcomm MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz quad-core
Adreno 330 Graphics
3GB RAM
32GB/64GB internal storage, up to 64GB microSD
13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
Video recording: 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps
2-megapixel front camera
HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA; LTE, Cat4
Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP, LE, EDR, NFC, IR blaster
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
S-Pen
Li-Ion 3200 mAh battery
151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm
168 g
SRP: TBA (late-September)