UPDATE: Check out Samsung’s intro & hands-on video of the Galaxy Note 3.
UPDATE 2: DiGi starts Registration of Interest for the Galaxy Note 3.
UPDATE 3: Samsung Galaxy Gear gets priced at RM999. Limited complimentary units to be given out.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has finally revealed at the just concluded Unpacked event in Berlin. This marks the 3rd generation of Samsung’s line up of large screen smart phones with accompanying stylus.
As mentioned during the event, the Galaxy Note 3 is said to be Slimmer, Lighter, Larger, Faster & Longer than its predecessor. In comparison with the Note II, the new model is only 0.1mm taller and the rest of the dimensions such as width, thickness and even weight have been reduced despite being a bigger screen device. The display, which is the main highlight for a phablet has up-sized slightly to 5.68″ but now boasts a higher Full HD resolution of 1920×1080. That gives a pixel density of 386 pixels per inch, which is a big improvement over its predecessor.
In terms of design, Samsung is often known for its massive use of plastics which is often perceived to be cheap. However for the Note 3, they have gone with a quick fix approach of using leather textured backs. From the official photos, this somewhat look like a typical old school case which you can get at accessory shops. At least using leather would feel much more premium to hold in the hands. Looking at the sides and front, it remains rather similar with the current crop of Galaxy devices.
Powering the device is a choice of 2 variants – 3G which runs on a 1.9GHz Exynos Octa-core processor and a LTE model which runs on a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 Processor. For heavy multi-tasking, it comes with a larger 3GB of RAM and there’s a choice of either 32GB and 64GB storage options which can be expanded with microSD.
At the rear, it comes with a 13MP camera however it is much more capable with being able to shoot 4K video at 30 fps and Full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps. This makes the Galaxy Note 3 the 2nd smart phone with 4K video recording capabilities after the recently announced Acer Liquid S2. It also comes with a high CRI LED flash which should offer better flash photography. Juicing up the Note 3 is a removable 3,200mAh battery which is 100mAh more than the Note II but yet it weighs just 168 grams which is 15 grams lighter.
The biggest asset of the Note is the S-Pen which is now enhanced for greater multi-tasking. With the new Air Command, the key functionality evolves around dot – circle – box. The circle mode is something new which lets you keep or file your active viewed content into a scrapbook for later viewing. Now when launching floating mini-apps, you can determine the size of it by drawing the box and then choose which app to launch. Multi-tasking with Multi-Window has been enhanced as well which the ability to drag and drop items between apps.
As usual, there are a couple of gimmicky features. On the Galaxy S4 we’ve seen Group Play which combines multiple phones into a daisy chain of wireless speakers. Now they have introduced Multi-Vision which lets you combine multiple phones for a larger display. Of course, this would be limited to Galaxy Note 3 and perhaps more Galaxy smart phones that are compatible.
By default, the Galaxy Note 3 comes in 3 colours – Jet Black, Classic White and Blush Pink. If that’s not enough, they are offering a wide range of coloured back covers as well. In terms of availability, the Galaxy Note 3 and its Galaxy Gear smart watch is expected to be launched in over 140 countries worldwide on September 25th. It is likely Malaysia would be among the first countries considering we are a key market. In terms of pricing, we don’t expect the Galaxy Note 3 to stray far from the usual pricing of RM2,299 like its previous Note and Note II.
Check out more images of the Galaxy Note 3 after the break.
