Our friends over at AT&T have sent us the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear for us to review. These are currently Samsung’s latest next big thing devices. One of them being the next generation of the phablets and the other being a smart watch. Samsung is saying they are the perfect complement for one another, read on to see our thoughts on these two devices.
Design
The Note 3 continues the design traditions of the Note brand. They’ve gone back to the more sharp shape of the original note, a more rectangle like design. Gone are the curved edges of the Note II, in are the more square edges. But, somehow they kept the footprint of the device essentially the same size and it is both thinner and lighter. It took some design cues for the Galaxy S 4, like the chrome lining around the sides and the physical home button. I am hoping the fake leather back is a sign of a more high-end design to come from future Samsung devices, it’s a nice touch, but when you remove the back you can see it is truly plastic. You still have the nice S Pen slot on the bottom, this way you can store it and not lose it. The Note 3 has dedicated charging port on the bottom as well. The power/sleep button is located on the right and the volume rocker on the left. For headphone users, you headphone jack is on the top.. Above the display you will find the Samsung logo, earpiece, home button, menu button, back button, and a 2 megapixel front camera. The back has a Galaxy Note 3 logo, AT&T logo, and a 13 megapixel camera with LED flash. If you pop the back off you will find the large 3200mAh battery, micro SD card slot, and SIM card slot.
Unlike the thin and light design of the Galaxy Note 3, the Galaxy Gear takes a different approach. It is not your super small watch this über light and thin. It is Samsung’s first time in the smart watch market and you have to keep that in mind. It combines the functionally of tech with a somewhat nice design. For starters you can’t switch out the watch band because of the built-in camera. The total face of the watch is around 2-inches, and 1.6-inches of this is a display. It is water-resistant and the chrome finishes found on the Samsung smartphones, certainly play a role in the Galaxy Gear. There is one physical button on the right hand side, the power button. It is then a swipe based software experience from there out.
Software
The Galaxy Note 3 is very fast, as it is powered by 2.3GHz quad core processor with 3GB of RAM. I did not experience any lag on the Note 3 and it is a very fast experience. Out of the box it is running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with a Samsung TouchWiz user interface. It is a changed experience, but it has some nice features. You get some widgets and some shortcuts built-in, for instance you can swipe up to access MyMagazine. This is Samsung’s answer to HTC BlinkFeed and it is a much less pronounced feature. Besides from a few other features, the Note 3 has a very similar experience to the Galaxy S 4.
The S Pen is what will set the devices apart, new for the S Pen this year is the Air Command feature. It makes the experience with the pen much less intrusive. Instead of when the pen is removed from the device, it doesn’t result in a whole new screen showing up. Now a lift menu pops up in the bottom right hand corner, you have a few options from there. Not all of them are truly ground breaking, it really feels like an update. One area that Samsung really did improve was covering your written text to typed text, it really has gotten much better.
In terms of pre-loaded applications on the AT&T Note 3 you get Action Memo, AT&T Code Scanner, AT&T DriveMode, AT&T Family Map, AT&T Locker, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Ready2Go, AT&T Smart Wi-Fi, ChatOn, Google App Suite, Google Play Suite, Google Chrome, Facebook, Flipboard, Gear Manager, Gmail, GroupPlay, Mobile Hotspot, Lookout, myAT&T, Pen.up, Photos, Polaris Office 5, S Health, S Note, S Translator, S Voice, Samsung App,s Samsung Hub, Samsung Link, Scrapbook, Sketchbook, Story Album, and many others.
The Galaxy Gear has an interesting software experience, it connects with your phone via Bluetooth. Your home screen on the Gear shows you the time and weather. When you swipe to either the left or right, you can see your applications like Contacts, Call Logs, Notifications, S Voice, Voice Memo, Gallery, Media Controller, Pedometer, Apps, and Settings. There is an app store that you can access from the phone, but it is very small selection for now. Hopefully more will be coming soon.
One of the coolest features of the Galaxy Gear is the ability to make phone calls from your wrist. This is just an awesome feature and really makes you feel like a spy or superstar. People may look when you use it in public, but it works really well. The speaker is loud enough and the quality of your voice on the other side is usually very good. The camera functionality works via swiping down from the top of the screen. The shooter is only 1.9 megapixel’s and it won’t be the clearest image you have ever seen.
Hardware
The Galaxy Note 3 is a big device and has an even bigger screen than the previous generations. We are looking at a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED HD display with a resolution of 1920 X 1080. There are over 16 million colors on the display and it looks absolutely gorgeous, it really shows off the very colorful user interface. The three words to describe the display are bright, vibrant, and sharp.
As I previously mentioned the software experience on Note 3 is fast and it goes great with the super fast AT&T 4G LTE network. Yes, the Note 3 is running on AT&T’s fast and reliable network. Plus, if 4G LTE is not yet launched in your area, you will be on there extremely built-up 4G HSPA+ network. This way you don’t drop to the slower 3G network.
For storage you get 32GB of internal storage and this comes in handy for photos, apps, music, and more. If you need more storage you can use the micro SD card slot. You can plug-in up to a 64GB micro SD card to expand your storage. If you need any more you can use a cloud storage option like Google Drive or DropBox.
On the front you get a 2 megapixel camera, this takes some nice shots. It is great for selfies or when you want to send a SnapChat. Video calling via this shooter is nice as well. On the back you get a 13 megapixel camera with LED flash, it is similar to the one on the S 4 or Optimus G Pro.
Samsung likes to pack their devices with plenty of technology and the Galaxy Gear is no different. For starters you get 1.6-inch Super Amoled display for a screen. This a resolution of 320 X 320 and it look okay. I mean at a screen this small, it will power it for it’s expected uses. It is not like a Pebble smart watch which has the E-Ink display, the advantage of this display is the battery life. With only 315mAh battery inside the Gear, it barely lasts a full day and will most certainly require a charge every night. It’s pedometer feature works via built-in accelerometer. It has Bluetooth built-in so it can sync with your phone and make the magic happen. For storage it has a very small amount of only 4GB with no options for expansion.
Bottom Line
Both the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear are nice devices, the Note 3 is Samsung’s vision of a perfect phablet or at least for what perfect can be right now. For those of you looking for a massive smartphone, the Note 3 is currently the best phablet on the market. If you currently have a Note 2, I don’t know if the upgrade to the this generation is necessary for everyone. The Note 4 might be worth the wait, as it might come with a lot more new features. The Galaxy Gear is a first generation device and it gives hope for the future of this market. As of right now, it is not for everyone and that is due to the price of $299.99 and its limited capabilities as of right now. For More Information On The AT&T Galaxy Note 3, Please Click Here. For More Information On The Galaxy Gear, Please Click Here. We would like to thank AT&T for providing us with a copy of the “AT&T Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear”.
