Samsung Galaxy Note 2 preferred to iPhone 5: Review
We here at Phones Review have used the Apple iPhone since it was first released in 2007, and even though we use many smartphones it has to be said that we use on a daily basis it the iPhone. We have had them all and loved the whole set-up of these handsets, please read our hands-on review of why the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is preferred to iPhone 5.
We have the iPhone 5 and it looks fantastic, but to say it is much better than the iPhone 4S for the money difference is the choice for those with the money, personally do not get the iPhone 5 if you are buying it off contract. We have always loved the iPhone for the build quality and this has always been Apple’s strong suit, at least until the iPhone 5 was released. Many loyal Apple users sit back and say the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Android phone feels cheap with its plastic toy like feel, let us tell you how we feel about the build quality shall we.
The iPhone 5 has not compromised on high quality materials and it looks stunning with its brushed aluminum back instead of the glass that was on the iPhone 4S, it is a lot tougher according to Apple and yes it can be dropped and does not damage as easy as its predecessor. Now let’s step back and think about this for a moment, many consumers are complaining about the scratches and chips on the iPhone 5, we have noted this and suggested Apple release a new iPhone 5 Case Program and to be blunt Apple should compensate those with chipped iPhone 5’s.
Now think about this for a second, we can all go around saying the iPhone 5 looks better and feels better in the hand but personally this has turned into a statement of fashion and brand rather than quality and practicality. We love the look, the feel and the functionality of the iPhone 5, but drop it and chip the sides or backing and you have no choice but to take the handset back to Apple for a replacement. Now drop and damage the backing on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and all you need to do is simply replace the back cover, if we dropped the iPhone 5 on the floor we would probably be pretty ticked off, drop the SG Note 2 and it would be the case of oh well it is easier to replace.
The iPhone 5 has a 4-inch 326ppi pixel density display with 640×1136 pixels, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has a 5.5-inch 1280×720 pixels HD Super AMOLED display with 265ppi, and the iPhone 5 is much better in the sunlight than the Galaxy Note 2.
There have been a few changes on the iPhone and to be honest the lightning connector is not a good idea if you have iPhone speaker systems in the house that used to take the 30-pin connector on the previous iPhone’s, now it means you have to spend more money on a new lightning adapter, yeah that’s a good idea Apple let’s give you more money on top of say the £599 for the 32GB iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 does have a larger display than the iPhone 4S but to be honest we prefer the Samsung galaxy note 2 screen for all round usages, and in that we mean browsing, gaming etc, more screen more to see as they say.
The Samsung galaxy Note 2 can multitask and thanks to the huge display this device its great for running multiple apps at the same time. You can open Facebook for example and also open the Web browser on the side; the 2GB of RAM and quad-core processor makes this a breeze. We will probably get moaned at big time here but sorry we are just going to come out with it, Google Maps was always better on the iPhone rather than the new Apple Maps. The new maps by Apple seems to have many problems with pin-pointing the exact road and many areas are spelled wrong, of course Apple will iron out these issues.
The iPhone 5 offers you Passbook and Samsung offers you real NFC S-Beam, Galaxy Note 2 comes with a clever S-Pen stylus, S-Notes and much more. On the iPhone 5 you can only go up to 64GB max storage where as with the Note 2 it goes up to 128GB thanks to the microSD card support. The iPhone 5 is much better when it comes to dimmer lighting and wins the contrast advantage hands-down, it also feels better in your hands, the Galaxy Note 2 as a phone is just a little to big and this is where the Galaxy S3 is better as a phone.
Overall the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is the perfect phone come tablet if you cannot afford phone and tablet, the price of an iPhone 5 and a iPad mini is close to £1000 dependent on GB size. The iPhone 5 is a simple phone where you turn it on and there you go that is it, the Android device is open source and that means you can make the device how you want it to be and not what Apple wants it to be with the iPhone 5, personally the Galaxy Note 2 is more robust and much easier to navigate.
Yes the iPhone 5 is popular and we will continue to use it on a daily basis because it is simple to use for work etc, but if we did not have thousands of pounds worth of movies and apps with Apple and take the stand to start all over again then personally the Note gets our vote! We are not slagging the iPhone 5 off but for an all round phone / tablet for browsing the Web, playing games, watching movies and the affordability factor it has to be the Note 2. Go and play with the Note 2 for like 2 hours, play a game search the Web and then go back to the tiny miniscule iPhone 5 and then let us know what you think.
Please let us know what you think?
Comments
45 thoughts on “Samsung Galaxy Note 2 preferred to iPhone 5: Review”
……..and its just getting better
Both have their advantages is depend how you work on it.
Find the size of the note ridiculous. Uncomfortable to hold, and to be honest, it is a pain to use it as a reading/browsing device. A phone should serve its functions: calls messages games emails. Let the proper tablet do the reading and browsing
Unfortunately, a “proper tablet” will not fit in my pocket nor will it make phone calls, even via bluetooth. If I only carry one, it will be the one that can do both. Also, wouldn’t messages and emails qualify as reading? How is a much larger screen a pain to use for these functions? Just curious if you mean it or are just an Apple fan that wants to spout off jealous nonsense to make an invalid point.
You just need to get used to it 😉 once your are you can never go back to a tine phone!
go buy a nokia
I have the G Note 1 and would not trade it for the world…..with the exception of tht Note 2. It is like a mini computer in your hands….great on everything. The screen is what sold me. I look at the IPhone and wonder how people can see on such a small screen. I guess once you get used to a bigger screen you cannot go back.
Not “being warned”of the google maps omission was It for me, the new connector didnt help either. I just ordered the Note 2 through Verizon. My daughter gets my 4s. Have loved apple for the past ten years plus. Two iPads and a 27 iMac.
the new connector is awesome.. in a few months it will be as ubiquitous as the 30pin was.
My wife just got an iPhone 5. I have a Note 2 on order and cant wait! right now i use SGS2 and helping my wife with her iPhone 5 was like going from 55″ LCD tv to a 13 B&W CRT. not really the screen on the iPhone is nice, spectacular even, there just isn’t enough of it. The iPhone 5 is nicely built, has a beautiful screen, and easy for someone not very techy to use. In my opinion this is all out weighed by the value for money you get with android devices and namely the samsung galaxy range.
“easy for someone not very techy to use.”…. you just described 90% of smartphone users.
Ease of use is what “normal” people are looking for. Glad you love your android, but I would recommend an iphone to everyone else.
you must not be very techy.
no its what people who want to look cool are looking for
iphone all the way
they are going to keep cloning … apple all that way .. .
Cloning? The phones are nothing alike, have you missed something? Apple is stuck in 2007, most Android models more innovative. Apple fan boy lol
So, you I have the Note 2, the wife an iPhone 5. IMHO the 2 destroys the 5. I am an Apple fan boy to be honest and it really annoys me Apple are stuck back in 2007. Samsung and the other top Android phone manufacturers are leading the way now. Apple I hope return to the head of the pack but I worry there are believing their own hype.
It is true. I have been reading a lot from the many Apple forums and true Apple fan boys are complaining. My family are all hooked to the “Apple” cult with the exception of myself. Yes Apple is loosing their touch when my two kids were waiting for the iPhone 5 to purchase it since their contracts are up. One is waiting for a miracle and the other has asked me not to get a new iPhone till next year he will wait. They claim it is boring and nothing has changed. The maps and the pin did it for them. I may purchase their phones, but I do not buy all the products they have for it. Samsung does not make cheap plastic stuff. Their plastic shells are very well engineered and they hold up rather well. I should know, as I drop everything that I hold. Cnet did a torture test on SG3 and let me tell you it survived every test they performed. A co-worker dropped his in the pool & he immediately placed it in some type of absorbent bag for 3 days and that SG3 turned on and is still working. Their new computers and their displays are extremely beautiful, but very hard on the wallet. As for me, I’ve tried them all and I’m going back to Windows. I think that Microsoft Windows 8 OS on the phone part is as easy as Apple’s, The Windows 8 on the computer takes a good weekend to get used to, but I’m loving it so far and my family is too. Yes the Galaxy Note 2 is not too large I would say. I have no problems using it with one hand and it is much nicer than the iPhone IMHO.
I was interested in your review as I shop for a more tablet-like phone to replace an older I phone, but, “to be honest,” I was so confused by the wretched writing style in this review that I lost track of the main points. Do you really need to tell the reader each time you make a point that you have “got to say” or that you are compelled “be honest”? Are you suggesting that you are often not honest or that there are times when force is not requiring you to say something. If you have a point worth making, then make it! You may also want to try proofreading your deftless prose at least once before hitting the POST button.
It’s logical that when you are trying to copy and overtake an original, you go ghe extra mile to overdo things – to lure loyals away. Sooner or later the lured loyals will be left empty and eill want a come back. I am an Apple fan, and beleive in their commitment to quality, innovation and ease of use, and I will wait one or two more cycles before writing off Apple.
I am an Apple user for many years. I have had all the iPhone’s since the start I have an iPad itouch macbook pro and a iPod. When the iPhone 5 came out I was very disappointed. I have the SG-S3 and the SG-N2 and i have to admit though it hurts that the Note 2 kicks the hell out of the iPhone5! Apple better do something soon thats all I have to say….
The Note is too big to be a phone and too small to be a tablet. It does neither well IMHO. There are other Android phones I would choose before the Note.
This phone is perfect. Once you get used to it then it fits perfect on your hands. The keyboard can be moved from left to right to used it with one hand. This is the best phone ever. The battery is great, the screen is amazing, The speed awesome. The multiple things u can do on this phone are endless.
.I can see the revolution of Samsung over the last few years compared to Apple as there is a great difference between Note & Note 2.
However, Apple is sinking ever since the Launch of IPHONE 4s and Steve Job’s death.
Samsung deserve the Credits but IPHONE will need drastic changes in their technology to win back their users as the only dfference between Iphone 4 & 5 is the faster processor by iphone 5 and the rest are similar.
I’ll only gie up my iphone for nothing else but Note 2.
Whoever wrote this review needs to go back to English class. It’s a struggle just to read this, because of the extremely poor grammar.
I have had my note 2 for a week and it makes the iPhone seem like a child’s toy limited controlled and tiny
I will not be going back its a great phone
many people are talking about too big, not only the note beat the iphone, itis smaller version s3 also beat apple, so ppl with small hands can go get s3 if the note is too big for your hand …
the s3 is also too big…
you must be a petite
As others I am an apple user since the first iPhone, but now I am very much disappointed at Apple. I hated Android devices because they are big and very hard to use. Even though iPhone is a great phone it does not have a decent Phone app compare to Android. After trying the iphone 5 I decided to try an Android device. I tried several of them and settled with Samsung W because of Samsung touch wiz application running on it and the size of the phone. We have to understand that the Smartphone is a phone first and then an internet device, If you cant use it as a phone comfortably then its not for me. I have been using it since september and I love the Phone. I am almost in my car all the time, and i need a phone that I can hold very comfortably and dial very easily with out searching for things. Almost all the other Android phones did not have the ease of use as Samsung did. The reason I am switching to an Android is to make things easier than the iPhone not to make it worst.
Now I am thinking of switching to Note 2 for two reason. First one is it is very fast and has LTE as the iPhone 5 and it a software tweak for one handed operation and its narrower than the Note. When you activate the one hand operation on Note 2 its dial pad for the phone or the keyboard for the text or the email are almost identical in size to my samsung galaxy W, so even though the phone is big I can use it with ease. I tried the S3 and did not like it its hard to use it as a phone.
So guys I am going to get the Note 2 tomorrow.
If Apple does not do some thing to their iOS specially for their phone App people like me are going to switch to Android. Once they change no going back.
I agree with your review. I have them both, for daily live I use the note 2, for going out, the iphone 5 suits me better because of the weight, size and it’s cool and I won’t use the smartphone functions, only the camera. But in no way it can defeat the note 2. In my opinion the note 2 is the best phone made ever
BTW, I use a dual simcard 😉 so both phones have the same number
noticing many of these commenters only have one or two comments to their account. FAKE REVIEWS
What difference does that make? I want to comment on my phone but this is my first comment. ..does that make mine fake? No, it doesn’t.
LAWL? Is this a joke…Comparing the Note 2 to the iPhone 5. Hahaahha
I am an apple loyalist, but it is really becoming apparent that apple may have died with Steve. I see no NEW innovation of any magnitude. With my phone coming off contract in another two months, I am very seriously thinking about going android. Apple better start working harder or it will begin fading into the sunset like its dominance of the 1980’s into its disappearance of the 1990’s.
I have been an iPhone user since day 1 and up until the 4 would never have chosen another phone. However, this past year or two, apple have disappointed me a great deal and I don’t just mean their phones. The latest range of MacBooks, iMacs and even iPad have been very disappointing…almost like no effort whatsoever has gone into the new releases…because they know people will buy for the name alone. I am an apple fan, but I refuse to buy for the name alone. I will not buy any more apple products until they make an effort again. For the people who say you should remain loyal and wait until they make a come back….erm…why should we? They are not doing us any favours, it is we, the consumer who are giving them the money and it is we the consumers who need to feel satisfied with the product. I am really, very disappointed with apple and will not blindly buy their products. The note 2 looks like a great phone and I am very seriously considering getting it…I think I am going to wait a while longer though and see what happens in the next year.
Hi every one after getting my new samsung note 2 let me tell yous that is an excellent phone, way better then iphone.
do u have any problems with the note 2 wifi? those note 2 user said it always disconnected with a sudden
I am so happy I waited. My wife got the S3 and a friend of mine the iPhone 5 even though he already had the 4S. I picked up the Note II and they are both jealous of me now. This phone is so awesome. I cannot put it down. 🙂
Been using samsung since and just upgraded from GS2 to Note 2. This phone is big without a doubt but the multitasking of this phone out classes iPhone 5 – Bigtime! iPhones are very good phones but nowadays its gone boring. Apple needs to change their iOS and make more appealing to people. I would recommend this phone if you’re planning to upgrade or buy one. Android Play Store is getting bigger and you can plug it to your pc or laptop – copy and paste or drag and drag files (I mean any files) to and from your phone no need to jailbrake it. Widgets are good aswell, no need opening apps and with the big screen 3-6 widgets can fit in one window. Even my 2 kids want one and they’re just 9 & 5 yrs old cuz of the s-pen, they can write or draw. This review is right, better test the phone 1st before buying. Try the multitasking and you’ll see the difference.
The Samsung galaxy note 2 is the best phone ever. Makes the iphone 5 look like a joke. This is not smart phone. This is a genious phone.
Can anyone recommend this iPhone 5 to Note 2 swap? I really want to – but worry about the hassle of syncing the note 2 to ITunes? Can anyone say if this is easy or not – as I still want to use iTunes, simply because I have a lot of music on their, as well as iMac, MacBook and iPad so – I like them all syncing.
Advice, please?
I really did like this review, but until Apple make a drastic change to iOS – I want the note 2. I’m not that bothered about a big design change of the phone, but the iOS certainly needs altering
I just did this myself about two weeks ago and it’s absolutely amazing. I’ve been an iPhone user since the 3G, and the Note II blows the iPhone 5 (which my wife has) out of the water in every regard, plus Apple Maps kept us getting lost. In Houston! And Google Maps is kind of obnoxious to use with iOS 6. It’s completely replaced usage of my Kindle Touch, my iPad 2, and my iPhone 4, all of which have been sold. Samsung has Easy Phone Sync App for iTunes content, but I ended up just uploading everything to first a MicroSD card and then Google Play Music. Surprisingly the Note II even with its big honkin’ screen has great battery life.
I always wanted an iphone since I first laid my eyes on them. But due to the money, I thought I wait until they would come down in price. They never really did, so when the Galaxy S2 came out I though id get one on contract and was amazed at how much you could do on Android, plus the specs on the phone were amazing too. Now I have the Note2 its like WOW, for the same price or maybe less than the iphone 5 you get SO much more for your money, I still can justify the price of an iphone even more now they haven’t changed much. Plus I don’t like how they operate, closed off isnt the way forward. I think the size is fine and yes I wouldn’t go any smaller, and build quality is fine. Its what the beast can do thats more important.