SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy Note II review: The 2012 Note that proved the phablet was no fluke.

SpecEagle Editorial·Sep 2012·$649
Overall
26/100
Class rank
#3 of 7
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

The phablet that became a category.

The Galaxy Note II turned the phablet from an experiment into a best-seller, with a big battery and a better S Pen. A piece of history today.

01Display

46/100

46/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2012.

TypeSuper AMOLED
Size5.5 inches
Resolution1,280 × 720 px (267 ppi)
ProtectionGorilla Glass 2

02Camera

32/100

32/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2012.

Main8 MP, f/2.6
Selfie1.9 MP
Video1080p @ 30 fps

03Performance

16/100

16/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2012.

ChipsetExynos 4412 (32 nm)
CPUQuad-core 1.6 GHz
GPUMali-400 MP4
RAM2 GB
Storage16 GB / 32 GB / 64 GB · microSD

04Battery

50/100

At 50/100 this is one of the strongest battery showings among flagship phones of 2012 — 9 points above the cohort average.

Capacity3,100 mAh (removable)
Wired~10 W
WirelessOptional

05Build

40/100

40/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2012.

06Value

30/100

30/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2012.

What works
  • Big-battery phablet with excellent endurance for 2012.
  • Improved, more accurate S Pen.
  • Removable battery and microSD.
  • A major commercial success.
What doesn't
  • Low 720p resolution on a 5.5-inch screen.
  • Glossy plastic build.
  • Software ended at Android 4.4.
  • Discontinued — a vintage device.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 7-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .