Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Announced with 5.7-inch Display, S-Pen, 2.3GHz CPU

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Note 3, the update to the Korean company’s Galaxy Note II phablet.  Samsung started this phablet category with the original Galaxy Note and when it became a hit, almost every manufacturer suddenly came out with their versions.  With the Galaxy Note 3, Samsung wants to make a statement that it’s still the best when it comes to making phablets.  With the specs and features of the Galaxy Note III, it’s hard to contradict this statement.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the ideal choice for those who are looking for a huge-display smartphone.  The 5.7-inch device is big, yet the overall size of the device is practically the same as the previous Galaxy Note.  Samsung was able to achieve this feat by making the bezels around the display much thinner.  The design, although featuring the same elements we see in the previous iteration, is sleeker and more refined.  It has sharper corners and has a more premium finish.  The back cover has a faux-leather texture with stitching and the device has been made thinner and lighter. It also offers better battery life and the S Pen has been improved. Samsung also claims that the Galaxy Note 3 has faster and more “seamless LTE” with multi-band support.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has comes with a flip wallet accessory available in 10 different colors.  The flip wallet accessory has an S View window cover that’s useful in checking notifications and even making calls without having to activate the entire display of the device.  Samsung also announced the Galaxy Gear smart watch as an accessory for the Note 3.

For the hardware specs, here’s the lowdown on what the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has to offer.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Specs

• 5.7-inch Super AMOLED full HD Display
• 1920 x 1080 display resolution (386ppi)
• 2.3GHz quad-core processor / 1.9GHz octa-core processor
• 3GB RAM
• 32GB or 64GB internal storage
• microSD (up to 64GB)
• 13MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash
• 2MP front camera
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0
• HSPA+, LTE
• 3,200mAh battery
• Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
• TouchWiz UI
• S-Pen
• Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Infrared
• Weight: 5.92 oz. (168g)
• Dimensions: 5.95 x 3.12 x 0.33 inches

The early leaks on the Galaxy Note 3 turned out to be right.  Even the leaked photo was also on the money.  The official specs only confirmed the elite status of the Galaxy Note 3.  The combination of 2.3GHz quad-core processor or 1.9GHz octa-core processor with 3GB of RAM could only mean blazing performance.   Despite having more powerful specs, Samsung promised four more hours of battery life for video playback and better performance which extends battery by up to 40 percent. The Galaxy Note 3’s camera can capture 4K video, a first on a smartphone.

Samsung improved the S Pen and is now more functional in navigating the Note 3’s UI.  The S Pen unlocks features like the Air Command which is an onscreen quick access to functions like memo, scrapbooking, screenwriting, and search.  It also allows the use of the feature called Circle which makes it possible to capture content that can be saved to the phone’s scrapbook.   S Pen is also important in launching a new feature called Box.  It’s a new multitasking feature that calls up a box with new shortcuts on top of a running app.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 comes with Knox mobile security feature.  This is needed to combat malicious apps and software, something that’s common on the Android platform.  Knox will be extremely useful for enterprise and consumer use.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be available starting September 25 in 149 countries around the world and that includes the Philippines.  Pricing is still unknown at this point but I expect it to be around Php30,000 at launch.