Samsung’s new Galaxy Note smartphone come tablet device is the newest edition to the South Korean range and it seems to be getting the thumbs up from a number of consumers. The device packs a 5.3-inch screen, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8MP camera with a 2MP to the front, 4G LTE and so on. But does the impressive device tick the boxes in terms of practicality?

Over at washingtonpost.com, this was something that they wanted to take a look at and report their findings. First up the Galaxy Note wins in relation to portability, its lightweight but solid to the feel so the device can be taken anywhere. In terms of the big display the screen matched up to all expectation, with crisp bright images and easy to read Web pages that were accessed at quick speed thanks to the 4G network.

On the flipside, of course we have to remember that this can be used as a phone and although there are advantages of having the large screen, when making calls the headset is the only viable option. I mean putting something next to your ear that’s almost the size of certain tablets could look ridiculous. If this isn’t a problem for you then get ready to resign yourself to hands-free calls only!

Other areas where the Note can slip come from the difficulty to balance the device on one hand whilst using the other. It was mentioned that varying changes of grip to find the easiest route of usage occasionally found mis-hitting the sensitive power button.

One feature that many look for in a new device is the size and how the camera performs, with an 8MP rear camera this definitely performs but lacks with the shutter lag taking too long. Lastly the Note’s stylus or S-Pen as it’s called is a great add-on making conversion from handwriting to text easy with the S-Pen fitting nicely into the bottom of the device. Although a nice feature, it was at times frustrating to use with the stylus hitting the navigation buttons.

Whilst testing out the Note, the battery life improved over time with an average of nine hours usage being produced.

Let us know if you are a Samsung Galaxy Note fan? Give us your feedback good and bad.