Samsung Galaxy Note 3 + Gear

First of all, the Note 3 is one of the most gigantic smartphones in the world. It’s ridiculous, and I hate gigantic smartphones. Even handsets like the Galaxy S4 and HTC One are borderline for me. I like having the option to use a phone with one hand and most people simply can’t use these phones effectively without both hands.

The screen on the Galaxy Note 3 is stunning. It’s ridiculously bright, the contrast is outstanding and the clarity is terrific. Color saturation can get a bit intense just as it does on most or even all AMOLED screens, but the pros far outweigh the cons. Carrying the Note 3 is like carrying a beautiful Samsung HDTV in your pocket.

The edges are finished in a shiny, chrome-like plastic with a raised ridge rather than a flat design. The right edge houses the power button, the volume rocker is on the left, the headset jack and an infrared transmitter are on the top, while the bottom edge carries the new Micro-USB 3.0 port for speedier-than-usual data transfer and charging. Samsung supplies a USB 3.0 cable, and the new port is backwards-compatible with existing Micro-USB 2.0 connectors. The Micro-USB 3.0 port is also MHL 2.0 compliant, but you'll have to provide your own adapter cable to take advantage of this.

Samsung has added some interesting usability features to the Galaxy Note 3 that make it a clear step up from its predecessor. Building a larger screen into a smaller, thinner and lighter chassis is an achievement, while the 5.7-inch full-HD sAMOLED screen is a joy to use. Whether what's on offer here is worth nearly £600 (inc. VAT) SIM-free is debatable, but price aside, the Galaxy Note 3 is extremely impressive.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 With Gear Specifications

GENERAL

	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - all models
		CDMA 800 / 1900 - N9009
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - N9005, N9002, N9006 HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - N900W8
		CDMA2000 1xEV-DO - N9009
	4G Network	LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 - N9005
		LTE 700 / 1900 / 2100 - N900W8
	SIM	Micro-SIM
	Announced	2013, September
	Status	Available. Released 2013, September

BODY

	Dimensions	151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm (5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 in)
	Weight	168 g (5.93 oz)
		- S Pen stylus

DISPLAY

	Type	Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.7 inches (~386 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3

SOUND

	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY

	Card slot	microSD, up to 64 GB
	Internal	16/32/64 GB storage, 3 GB RAM

DATA

	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA; LTE, Cat4, 50 Mbps UL, 150 Mbps DL
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, LE, EDR
	NFC	Yes
	Infrared port	Yes
	USB	Yes, microUSB v3.0 (MHL 2), USB Host

CAMERA

	Primary	13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
	Features	Dual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, panorama, HDR
	Video	Yes, 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps (N9005, N9002)/ 1080p (N9000)
	Secondary	Yes, 2 MP, 1080p@30fps

FEATURES

	OS	Android OS, v4.3 (Jelly Bean)
	Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (N9005, N9002)/ Exynos 5 Octa 5420 (N9000)
	CPU	Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 (N9005, N9002)/ Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 (N9000)
	GPU	Adreno 330 (N9005, N9002)/ Mali-T628 MP6 (N9000)
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, temperature, humidity, gesture
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	No
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black, White, Pink, Merlot Red, Rose Gold Black, Rose Gold White
		- ANT+ support - S-Voice natural language commands and dictation - Air gestures - SNS integration - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - Dropbox (50 GB storage) - TV-out (via MHL A/V link) - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Document viewer(Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype)

BATTERY

		Li-Ion 3200 mAh battery
	Stand-by	(2G) / Up to 420 h (3G)
	Talk time	(2G) / Up to 21 h (3G)