Samsung Galaxy Note II Review: Specs and Features

Samsung Galaxy Note II (GT-N7100)

The Samsung Galaxy Note II (GT-N7100) is a flagship phablet smartphone released by Samsung Electronics in September 2012. As the successor to the original Galaxy Note (GT-N7000), it expanded on the phablet concept (a blend of phone and tablet) with a larger display, faster processor, and refined S Pen functionality. The GT-N7100 denotes the global GSM variant, which became a bestseller—shipping over 30 million units worldwide—and solidified the Note series as a staple in Samsung’s flagship lineup, targeting power users and productivity-focused consumers.

1. Key Specifications (GT-N7100 Global Variant)

Category	Details
Display	5.5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen; 720×1280 HD resolution (267 ppi); 16M colors; Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection; multi-touch support (up to 10 fingers)
Processor	Samsung Exynos 4412 Quad 1.6 GHz (4-core Cortex-A9 CPU); Mali-400 MP4 GPU; 2 GB LPDDR2 RAM
Storage	16 GB/32 GB/64 GB internal storage; microSD card slot (expandable up to 64 GB)
Camera System	Rear: 8 MP CMOS sensor; f/2.6 aperture; autofocus; LED flash; 1080p full HD video recording at 30 fps; continuous shot mode; face detectionFront: 1.9 MP sensor; 720p HD video recording at 30 fps; video calling support
Battery	3,100 mAh removable lithium-ion battery; up to 16 hours of talk time (3G); up to 900 hours of standby time (3G)
Operating System	Initially shipped with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean; officially upgradable to Android 4.4.2 KitKat; unofficial custom ROMs support Android 7.0 Nougat
Connectivity	GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz); 3G HSPA+ (21 Mbps download, 5.76 Mbps upload); Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.0; NFC; GPS/GLONASS; micro-USB 2.0 port; 3.5 mm headphone jack
Design & Dimensions	Plastic unibody with hyperglaze finish; curved edges; dimensions: 151.1 × 80.5 × 9.4 mm; weight: 180 g; color options: Titanium Gray, Marble White
S Pen Stylus	Integrated S Pen with 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity; supports Air View, S Note, Pop-up Note, Smart Stay, and Direct Call
Sensors	Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, compass, barometer, ambient light sensor

2. Core Features & Innovations

2.1 S Pen Functionality (Major Upgrade)

The Galaxy Note II refined the S Pen experience with 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity (up from 256 on the original Note), enabling more precise handwriting, drawing, and annotation. Key S Pen-exclusive features included:

Air View: Hover the S Pen over the screen to preview content (e.g., text messages, photos, video thumbnails) without tapping.
Pop-up Note: Extract the S Pen to instantly launch a note-taking interface, even when the phone is locked.
S Note: A unified app for creating handwritten notes, sketches, and collages, with support for converting handwriting to digital text.
Screen Off Memo: Write notes directly on the locked screen, which are saved automatically to S Note.

2.2 Phablet Form Factor Popularization

At 5.5 inches, the Note II’s display was significantly larger than mainstream smartphones of 2012 (e.g., iPhone 5’s 4-inch screen, Galaxy S III’s 4.8-inch screen). It proved that users were willing to adopt larger devices for productivity tasks like document editing, web browsing, and multimedia consumption—paving the way for modern large-screen flagships.

2.3 Performance & Battery Life

The Exynos 4412 Quad 1.6 GHz processor and 2 GB RAM delivered smooth multitasking, supporting split-screen mode (a rare feature at the time) for running two apps side by side. The 3,100 mAh removable battery provided all-day battery life, a key advantage over smaller smartphones with smaller batteries.

2.4 Software Optimizations

Running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Samsung’s TouchWiz Nature UX overlay, the Note II introduced several quality-of-life features:

Smart Stay: Uses the front camera to keep the screen on while the user is looking at it.
Direct Call: Hold the phone to your ear during a text conversation to automatically dial the contact.
Smart Alert: Vibrates when the phone is picked up to notify of missed calls or messages.

3. Market Position & Reception

Target Audience: Power users, business professionals, and creative users who valued productivity (via S Pen) and large-screen multimedia consumption. It competed with devices like the HTC One X+ and LG Optimus G Pro.
Critical Reception: Praised for its S Pen functionality, split-screen multitasking, long battery life, and large display; criticized for its plastic build quality and bulky design (considered too large by some mainstream users).
Sales Performance: Became Samsung’s fastest-selling Note device at the time, with 5 million units sold in the first month of release. It helped Samsung dominate the phablet segment, which accounted for over 20% of global smartphone sales by 2013.

4. Legacy & Discontinuation

The GT-N7100 was discontinued in 2013 with the launch of the Galaxy Note 3, but its legacy as a trailblazer for large-screen productivity smartphones endures.

The Galaxy Note II solidified the phablet category as a viable market segment, convincing other manufacturers to adopt larger displays for their flagship devices.

Its S Pen innovations set the standard for stylus-integrated smartphones, influencing subsequent Note models (e.g., Note 3, Note 4) and even non-Note Samsung devices (e.g., Galaxy S Ultra series).

Official software support ended with Android 4.4.2 KitKat in 2014, but the device remained popular among custom ROM enthusiasts, who developed unofficial builds for newer Android versions.