Samsung Galaxy Note is one of the best smartphones of the market right now with the 79.4 rating following our famous AVC rating method. It belongs to the phablet category with a big screen, fast processor and the latest Android version. But is this phone the right for you? Let’s compare this phone to all major competitors.
NOTE 3 COMPARED TO NOTE 2
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is much better than the second edition of the phone. The new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a larger display (5.7 inches compared to 5.5 inches) which is also much better. It has 386 pixels per inch compared to 267 pixels per inch of Samsung Galaxy Note 2. The new version has one of the best screens of the market. It also has a bigger camera of 13MP compared to 8MP camera of the previous model. The processor is much faster and the RAM is bigger too. Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has an octacore or quad core processor (depends on the market) that is better than Note’s 2 quad core processor. The new phone has a 3GB RAM, the biggest RAM of the market and bigger than 2GB of RAM of Note 2. Although it is a better device, it is lighter (168g to 183) and thinner (8.3mm to 9.4mm). And it also has the latest version of Android, the 4.3 version. So it’s a better device but what about the other devices of the market? Let’s compare them.
NOTE 3 COMPARED TO ALL ANDROID SMARTPHONES
SCREEN
Sansung Galaxy Note 3 has a 5.7 inches screen Full HD Amoled that is really great. The 5.7 inches screen is on the upper side of the phablet category. You can find even bigger phones like Sony Xperia Z Ultra (6.4 inches) or Samsung Mega (6.3 inches) but there are only two phones with exactly the same size of the screen (ZTE Grand Memo and Samsung Galaxy Round). Of course Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a better screen than all these 5.7″ devices. The only phone that can be compared to this phone is LG Optimus G Pro with the 5.5 inches screen with 401 pixels per inch. You can find even better screens on the 5 inches categories like Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z and Sony Xperia Z1. But at the size of Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Note 3 has the best screen you can find.
CAMERA
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a 13MP camera with LED flash and some Samsung technologies for better shots. A 13MP camera would be great 2 month ago but now Sony Xperia Z1 has the best camera of the market with a 20.7MP camera and is much better. Of course a 13MP camera is one of the strongest cameras found on a smartphone. Moreover it can take videos in 4K and this is amazing. If you have a 4K TV at home. But there are more than 8 phones with a 13MP camera and ZTE Grand Memo (with 5.7 inches screen) has a 13MP camera too. It doesn’t have the camera software Samsung provide us on the Note 3 but it’s a good camera too. A 13MP camera can also be found on Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z, Huawei Ascend D2, LG Optimus G and even Sony Xperia T so you have plenty of choices if you want a good camera phone.
PROCESSOR
Samsung premium phones are confusing us with their processors. Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has two versions like Samsung Galaxy S4. Note 3 has an octa core processor at 1.9GHz on 3G markets and a quad core at 2.3GHz processor for LTE markets. The octacore processor is one of the fastest processors on the market right now and along with the 3GB of RAM, you have the fastest device on the planet. The quad core processor is also very very fast, faster than all the phones. Only Sony Xperia Z1 with the quad core at 2.2GHz can go side by side but Note 3 wins with its huge RAM. It’s the only phone with 3GB of RAM and this is a reason to buy it.
BATTERY
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has a 3200mAh battery. The battery is big compared to other smartphones but not the biggest we can find. The biggest battery right now is on Huawei Ascend Mate (4050mAh and Note 3 is far away from that number. Samsung has some battery software to make the energy last longer so don’t worry about the battery, it’s really huge.
SOFTWARE
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has the latest Android version 4.3. We already know that the name of next Android version will be Kit Kat 4.4 but we have to wait for that versions as 4.3 is brand new. There are not a lot of phones with Android 4.3, for now it’s just Note 3 and a few more that have this version from scratch (and some other from updates like Nexus 4). The device has also great software and S Pen that will make your life easier. S Pen changes the way we control our smartphone and is really useful. With your S Pen you can control apps without touching the device, this is called Air Command. There are a lot of apps Samsung has embed to this device like Action Memo (hand writing memos), Scrapbook, Screen Write, S Finder or Pen Window. You can also have multiple windows open with Multiview Windows and share videos with Group Play. There are a lot of stuff to find on this phone, it has one of the best software packets you can find on a phone.
SIZE
You already know that you will buy a big device with a huge 5.7 inches screen. So don’t expect the thinnest device or the lighter. The thinnest device is Sony Xperia Z Ultra (6.5mm) and Note 3 is 1.8mm fatter. Sony Xperia Z Ultra is not the only device with bigger screen than Note 3 that is thinner, Samsung Mega with the big 6.3 screen is also thinner by 0.3mm. The weight of the phone is considerable too. Note 3 weights 168g, it’s not the heaviest device (Sony Xperia Z ultra is the heaviest phone with 212g) but you will notice on your hand. ZTE Grand Memo which also has a 5.7 inches screen weighs only 120g so there is a lot of space for a lighter device here for Samsung.
DATE RELEASED
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is brand new phone released on September 2013. On the phablet category you can also find Sony Xperia Z ultra which is new (June 2013) and Samsung Mega (June 2013). There are a lot of phablets released on 2013 but if you take a look at older devices (launched in 2012 like Galaxy Note 2, you can find a better price deal.
VIDEO REVIEW
VERDICT
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the best smartphone right now (October 2013) with Samsung Galaxy Round and Samsung Galaxy S4 on the second and third place. So Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has the best rating in general and on the big phablets category and is the fastest Android phone your money can get right now. It has also a great screen, large battery and the latest Android version but if you want a smaller and lighter device you must skip to something strong but more portable. If you want the best phablet on the market, Note 3 is your choice.
Should I buy this phone?
1. If you want the strongest device of the market you must buy Samsung Galaxy Note 3
2. If you want a smaller strong device, you can choose Samsung Galaxy S4 which has almost the same software package except from the S Pen.
3. If you want to learn a new way to control your phone you must buy Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or with less money Samsung Galaxy Note 2
COMPARISON CHART
| Spec | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | Compared to: | with spec: | Score | Buy now: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Width | 8.3 | Sony Xperia Z Ultra | 6.5 | 72% | |
| Weight | 168 | HTC Desire C | 100 | 32% | |
| Screen PPI | 386 | HTC One | 469 | 82% | |
| Camera MP | 13 | Nokia Pureview | 41 | 32% | |
| 2nd Camera | 2.0 | Sony Xperia Z | 2.2 | 91% | |
| Processor | 8 * 1.9 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 8 * 1.9 | 100% | |
| RAM MB | 3000 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 3000 | 100% | |
| Battery mAh | 3200 | Huawei Ascend Mate | 4050 | 79% | |
| Android | 4.3 | Google Nexus 4 | 4.3 | 100% | |
| Release Date | 2013-09 | - | Today | 100% | |
| Our view | 85% | - | 100% | 85% | |
| AVC rating method | Total Rating | 79.4% | Best price |
Compare Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to other Android devices.