Samsung Galaxy Note II review

While we all want our smartphones to stick around for a long time, the matter of build quality is extremely important here, given the fact that the phone's size makes it more prone to drops. That's why we're happy with the company's decision to use a polycarbonate chassis, similar to the one on the Galaxy S III. After handling the Note II on a regular basis, we're confident that Samsung's crafted a durable, solid device. (As an aside, you can find a few drop tests circulating the web. Spoiler: it holds up extremely well.) Because the new Note has a larger display and thinner chassis, the buttons on each side have been scaled down a notch. The power key, for instance, now rests in a much more natural position that's easier to find by feel. The only downside? It's also much easier to press the button accidentally. Since we're discussing button placement, we'll continue with the full Vanna White-style tour: beginning with the front, you'll find an LED notification light (which wasn't on the first Note), an earpiece, sensors and a 1.9-megapixel camera above the display, while the large physical home button found below the screen is flanked by two capacitive keys (menu and back) on either side. The bezel on the top and bottom are smaller than on the OG Note, though the left and right bezels are about the same.

The front is frankly the busiest part of the phone; Samsung professes a policy of minimalism the rest of the way around the Note II. There's a power button on the right, volume rocker on the left, S Pen holder and micro-USB charging port (with MHL capabilities -- more on that later) on the bottom and 3.5mm headphone jack up top. Even the back keeps relatively quiet, sporting the 8-megapixel camera module and LED flash just barely above the singular Samsung logo, as well as a speaker grille that hangs out near the bottom. The battery cover lies completely flat across the back of the phone (with the exception of the slightly raised camera and speaker) and curves inward as it prepares to meet up with the edge.

A design decision we've always appreciated from Samsung is the removable battery, which has been increased to 3,100mAh (up from 2,500mAh on the original Note). Above it you'll see slots for micro-SIM and microSDXC cards as well as contacts for NFC and wireless charging. Our particular review unit, provided to us by our friends at Negri Electronics, is the white N7100, the global version which lacks the superfast LTE speeds many users crave. Thus, folks looking for the fastest Note II around will need to grab the N7105, which offers the next-gen data in bands 7 (2600MHz) and 20 (800MHz). For those keeping score, you can see if your country utilizes these frequencies here. Speed demons in the US may also be interested in variants of the Note II coming out to AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and US Cellular, though there should be very few cosmetic discrepancies between them and their global counterparts -- much like we saw with the Galaxy S III series. Both global versions of the Note II are capable of 21.6Mbps HSPA+ (850, 900, 1900 and 2100MHz) along with quadband GSM / EDGE. They also boast dual-band (2.4 and 5GHz) WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n with WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA and NFC. If you're a gadget aficionado in need of the full spec list, we've compiled all these specifics below.