Galaxy Note review: The 2011 phone that created the phablet category and introduced the S Pen.
The phone that invented the phablet.
The original Galaxy Note was ridiculed for its "absurd" 5.3-inch screen — then it created an entire category. With the debut of the S Pen and a gorgeous HD Super AMOLED, it proved big phones had a market and launched the longest-running stylus line in smartphones.
01Display
74/100At 74/100 this is one of the strongest display showings among flagship phones of 2011 — 29 points above the cohort average.
02Camera
56/100At 56/100 this is one of the strongest camera showings among flagship phones of 2011 — 25 points above the cohort average.
03Performance
56/100At 56/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among flagship phones of 2011 — 37 points above the cohort average.
04Battery
64/100At 64/100 this is one of the strongest battery showings among flagship phones of 2011 — 24 points above the cohort average.
05Build
62/100At 62/100 this is one of the strongest build showings among flagship phones of 2011 — 20 points above the cohort average.
06Value
58/100At 58/100 this is one of the strongest value showings among flagship phones of 2011 — 27 points above the cohort average.
- Created the phablet category with a 5.3" screen.
- Introduced the S Pen stylus and silo.
- HD Super AMOLED was class-leading.
- Removable battery + microSD.
- Mocked at launch for its size.
- TouchWiz over Gingerbread.
- One-handed use was impossible.
- Mono speaker.
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? .