Samsung Galaxy Note review

How does the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update fare?

Samsung Galaxy Note review
Our definitive Samsung Galaxy Note

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Samsung Galaxy Note review

If you're someone who buys a device like this because of the media capabilities, you'll think you've died and gone to heaven with the Samsung Galaxy Note in your hands.

This is what media devices should look like.

That's because of one thing - the screen.

Watching videos on here is a pleasure.

Not only because of the size but also because the resolution is so good and it's not so heavy that your hands are likely to get tired by holding it for long periods of time (unless you're weedy).

We love how you can stream the audio to a bluetooth headset too, so you can enjoy movies completely wire-free.

Samsung Galaxy Note review

And there's even an outdoor setting to make it easier to see in bright sunlight; though it cranks the display up so don't expect your battery to thank you.

The range of file types supported is impressive too: MP4, M4V, Xvid, DivX, AVI, 3GP - in fact, not once did we get the dreaded 'file type not supported' error message.

You can also edit your videos from within the app and add various effects to them, as well as trimming and doing some basic work.

The music app is stock Android with that Samsung look and it does the job well enough, allowing you to create playlists on the fly or filter your music by artist, album and so on.

We downloaded the third-party PlayerPro which we found to be much more effective, but different apps will suit different tastes and needs here.

Samsung Galaxy Note review

Both allow you to tweak equalizer settings and the like.

Crucially, with a mimimum of 16GB storage space already included before we start adding media cards, the only challenge we faced here was figuring out how to fill it all.

Streaming media is a cinch thanks to DLNA and you can have your music photos and videos sent to a compatible device (like a PS3) in no time at all.

If you're lucky enough to have a compatible Samsung telly, you can also do it directly using the Samsung AllShare app built into the Samsung Galaxy Note.

We found it to be OK - but not brilliant.

Samsung Galaxy Note review

Loading lists of files took ages (literally, we went off and boiled the kettle from scratch, came back and it was still loading!) and it seems to have issues with files on the external memory.

But this appears to be an issue with the app rather than the Samsung Galaxy Note itself, since we've also experienced it on the Samsung Galaxy S2.

Streaming via Bluetooth, however, was not an issue and we happily played music to the car stereo without wires for an entire journey.

Sound quality with A2DP was flawless. And to top it all off, Samsung gives us an FM radio. Not a big, cutting-edge inclusion - but one we're always glad to see.

There is also a YouTube app onboard. It's a great app - but we don't have Samsung to thank since it is stock Android and available to most Android users.