Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo has a very long name and also a very popular one. In fact it’s a “smaller” edition of “the best of the best” Note 3 but the “smaller” is not on the size but on the specs. People need bigger screens and Samsung could not let Huawei give some options so Samsung launched some pretty big phones lately. Among them the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo. Let’s compare it to the Note 3 and Note 2 and then with all other Android smartphones.
COMPARED TO NOTE 3
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is right now the best smartphone of the market so it is really hard for Neo to be compared with this device. Note 3 has a bigger and better screen (5.7 inches to 5.5 and 386PPI to 267PPI) so it’s a really big phablet. It also has a better camera. The 13MP camera of Note 3 cannot be compared to the 8MP of Note 3 Neo and the megapixels is not the only issue. There is no 4K recording but we can deal with it. The processing power of Note 3 Neo is not bad at all with two processors working together (dual core at 1.3GHz and quad core at 1.7GHz) but it cannot compete with the monster Octa core version of Note 3. Moreover the 3GB of RAM of Note 3 give the device and advantage against the 2GB of RAM of Note Neo. The battery of Note 3 is just 100mAh bigger than the battery of Neo (3200mAh to 3100mAh) so the difference is not that big. Note 3 is slimmer (8.3mm to 8.6mm) but not lighter (168g to 162g) as it is bigger by 0.2 inches. The two devices have the same Android version but not the same price and Neo was launched 5 months later than Note 3 but Note 3 remains by far the best Android device right now.
COMPARED TO NOTE 2
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is the oldest brother of Note 3 and Neo has a lot of specs borrowed from that device. A lot but not all of them. Both devices have a 5.5 inches screen with 267PPI, an 8MP camera, 2GB of RAM and a 3100mAh battery. Neo has a faster processor as it has a dual core and a quad core combined processing power and Note 2 has a quad core processor at 1.6GHz. Note 3 Neo is slimmer (8.6mm to 9.4mm) and lighter (162g to 183g) and has a newer Android version (4.3 to 4.1). So it’s a much better device if you are looking for a cheaper Note family device.
Now let’s compare Neo to other Android devices.
SCREEN
The screen of Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo is a 5.5 inches Super AMOLED display with 267PPI. There are four different screen mode presets to choose from and the device has great viewing angles and contrast. At 5.5 inches there are only two other devices, Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with 267PPI and the superb LG optimus G Pro with 401PPI that is more expensive. Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 has a 5.2 inches display with 280PPI and there is also ZTE Supreme with 294PPI at 5 inches. HTC One Max is also a good device with 373PPI at 5.9 inches. Of course 5.9 inches is much bigger than 5.5 but all these devices have gentle prices too.
CAMERA
8MP is not something you can be impressed from. It’s a decent camera for good photos at 3264 x 2448 pixels. No surprises here, you can find the familiar Samsung photo menu and the familiar choices, modes and effects. We like Best Photo and Best face option and also Cine Photo that lets you create gif files. The camera is one of the best 8MP cameras of the market but can it be compared to the 13MP ZTE Supreme camera or the 13MP camera of Sony Xperia T2 Ultra? No. At the phablet category you can only find 8MP and above devices so with Neo you have the minimum camera.
PROCESSOR
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo is the first device with hexacore processor. It has two processors, one dual core 1.7GHz and one quad core at 1.3GHz. This phone can run all these cores at the same time and combined with the 2GB of RAM, the result is pretty good. Of course you don’t have one of the fastest phones of the market but it’s good to do a lot of stuff like watch an HD video or multitask. So no limits here.
BATTERY
The battery depends a lot of the size of the device so the 3100mAh battery of Neo is pretty good. It’s better than most of the phablets that have 2100 to 3050mAh batteries and some of them have bigger screens than Neo (like the 6.4 inches Sony Xperia Z Ultra with 3050mAh battery or the Sony Xperia T2 Ultra with 3000mAh battery and 6 inches screen). The battery life is great and you can talk more than 20 hours so it’s about three days of live performance before going dead. Not bad at all.
SOFTWARE
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo has no surprises and that’s good. It has the same TouchWiz as Note 3 and you can take control of your phone with the S Pen so you have plenty of choices. The S Pen is something we really like because it’s what we call innovation so it’s good to have another device with that feature and smaller price. Android 4.3 is not the latest Android version but it’s one of the best versions of Android and normally Samsung will update it soon to the 4.4.
SIZE & DESIGN
When you buy a phablet, you know it’s a big device so it cannot be the slimmer or the thinner. So the comparison is between giants. Neo is 8.6mm and 162g and is on the middle of our list. There are slimmer devices like the Sony Xperia T2 Ultra (7.7mm) and of course the ultimate Sony Xperia Z Ultra with 6.4 inches screen and 6.5mm. But there are a lot of fat devices on that category like the HTC One Max (10.3mm) or the ZTE Supreme (10mm) so Samsung did a good job on the design. On the weight, it’s the same story, Neo is on the middle of the list with lighter devices (ZTE Grand Memo 5.7 inches and 120g or ZTE Supreme 5 inches with 153g) and much heavier ones like HTC One Max (217g) and Sony Xperia Z Ultra (212g).
VERDICT – should I buy this device?
If you love the Note 3 and you don’t have the (extreme) budget to buy it, yes this is your device. It has the same body, same Android version and Samsung apps, a good camera, a great battery and a fast processor to make you feel good. There are more choices in the phablet category but at that price, with S Pen, there is only Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo.
| Spec | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo | Compared to: | with spec: | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Width | 8.6 | Huawei Ascend P6 | 6.2 | 61% |
| Weight | 162 | HTC Desire C | 100 | 38% |
| Screen PPI | 267 | HTC One | 469 | 57% |
| Camera MP | 8 | Nokia Lumia 1020 | 41 | 20% |
| 2nd Camera | 2 | Huawei Ascend P6 | 5 | 40% |
| Processor | 4 * 1.3 & 2 * 1.7 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 8 * 1.9 | 57% |
| RAM MB | 2000 | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 3000 | 67% |
| Battery mAh | 3100 | Huawei Ascend Mate | 4050 | 77% |
| Android | 4.3 | Google Nexus 5 | 4.4 | 86% |
| Release Date | 2014-02 | - | Today | 100% |
| Our view | 65% | - | 100% | 65% |
| AVC rating method | Rated: 02/04/14 | Best price! | Total Rating | 60.5% |