YES, I do love to keep you in suspense!!! Sorry about that. đŸ™‚ I know this is the giveaway that you have all been waiting for – The Samsung Galaxy Note 3!!! This is my current phone of choice. It hardly ever leaves my side. The Note 3 is likely the most popular smartphone out there right now, maybe 2nd only to it’s little brother, the Galaxy S4. And it is for a very, very good reason.
Samsung took what was already a highly innovative smartphone, the Note series, and made it even better. This is no ordinary phone.  The 5.7″ screen makes reading emails and webpages enjoyable. it is true that it dwarfs other smartphones, but that is by design. In fact phones of this size have gotten the nickname phablet (phone + tablet). Now when I try to use a smaller smartphone, it just seems like something is missing. đŸ™‚ As for phone size, my rule is that as long as the phone fits in my back pocket it works for me. And the Note 3 fits. Does it hang out? Yes… But it still fits. đŸ™‚
After hearing about the improvements over the Note 2 which I was carrying at the time, I knew that I wanted the Note 3. I researched and looked at it and said “It shall be mine, and I shall call it Squishy, and it shall be my squishy.” I think I headed to the Sprint store the day the Note 3 was released back in September. They didn’t even have any yet! The next day I had luck at a another Sprint store. I got a white one, and I am in love.
I really cannot say enough good things about this phone. There are a couple of quirks that I will address below, but it still gets an A+ from me.
Specs
Carrier
- Sprint
- Touchscreen
- Color: Available in Black or White
- Androidâ„¢ 4.3, Jelly Bean
- Product Weight: 5.93 oz
- Product Dimensions: 5.95″ x 3.12″ x 0.33″
- Front-facing Camera: 2MP
- Rear Camera: 13MP
- Battery Type and Size: 3,200 mAh
- Internal Memory: 3GB RAM; 32GB ROM (Portion of memory occupied by existing content)
- LTE
- Wi-Fi® 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (HT80), GPS/GLONASS, NFC
- USB 3.0 & USB 2.0 compatible, IR LED (Remote Control), MHL 2.0
- Bluetooth® 4.0 (Low Energy)
- Processor Speed & Type: 2.3GHz Quad-Core
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Size: 5.7″ Full HD Super AMOLED®
Pros
- Awesome 5.7″ screen
- Great 13mb camera with tons of features
- S-Pen is great for writing, drawing, and more
- Multi Window
- Voice Control
- Gesture Motion Control
- Sleek, Stylish Design
The Camera
The camera is one of my favorite features on the Note 3. I very often leave my stand alone camera at home because I know that I can rely on my Note 3 to take amazing photos.
The 13mb camera does a great job of filling in for a point and shoot camera. With loads of features it is one of the best camera phones out there.
With options like Surround shot, Panorama, Sports, Beauty Face, and even a Golf mode, this camera is ready to take everything that you can throw at it. Â More tips on these options in a later post.
Cons
There is not much wrong with this phone… at all. I think every phone out there encounters a problem or two at times. Here is what I have run into.
- Occasionally crashes or freezes and I have to remove the battery
- My Magazine: While the app based on Flipboard is very nice, it is quite annoying. When you get the phone, by default this is what opens when you click the home button. That can be disabled. However, the app also opens when you swipe up on your screen… that cannot be disabled. I talked to some friends that have the same issues.
Stay tuned for some of my tips and tricks on using the Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy Gear watch that I learned while visiting the Samsung Experience Store in SoHo.
Until then…. enter below to win your own Galaxy Note 3!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Leave a Reply