Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo Preview

Introduction

For the first time in three years, Samsung is going downmarket with its Note line, releasing a budget alternative of the Note 3. The Neo edition scales down on specs, sporting a 5.5” 720p HD display instead of 5.7” 1080p, slower processor, 2 GB of RAM instead of 3, and 8-megapixel camera instead of 13 MP.

On the other hand, it has identical design, software features, and the venerable S Pen stylus. We also get a large 3100 mAh battery that is just shy of the 3200 mAh unit in the Note 3, which bodes well for the perspective endurance...

Design

A more compact Note 3 with 5.5” display

With its 148 x 77 x 8.6mm, and 162.5g, the Neo offshoot is shorter and less wide than the Note 3, and almost as large as the 5” Xperia Z1. This makes it more pocket-friendly, and easier to operate with one hand than the typical phablets of late, despite its hearty 5.5” display. Granted, the top left quadrant of the panel would still be terra incognita for your right thumb, but at least you are able to reach the context menu or home keys, without the immediate risk of dropping the Note 3 Neo.

Just like the Note 3, the outer appearance is done in the new Samsung stylistic of metal-imitating side rim and a removable back cover that resembles notebook leather, stitching accents at the edge and all. The removable back means you can quickly swap with a spare battery, and add more storage, in the best of Samsung's traditions. The S Pen stylus is tucked the same way you'd find it on the Note 3, at the lower right corner, and overall the handset's looks scream “Hey, I'm a Note, too, just smaller”.

Display

The biggest tradeoff is 720p HD resolution, all Super AMOLED quirks and virtues apply

Note 3 Neo sports a 5.5” display, which has 720x1280 pixels of resolution, resulting in 267ppi pixel density. This panel is also the biggest difference when you compare it to the 5.7” 1080p screen of the flagship Note 3, that flaunts a 386 ppi pixel count. Its HD resolution means that detail won't be as defined, and doodling won't look as precise as on the 1080p displays of the Note 3 or S4. For everyday purposes, however, the pixel density of the Note 3 Neo's display is perfectly adequate. Its panel is still of the Super AMOLED variety, so it will offer you oversaturated, somewhat cold colors, deep blacks, and excellent viewing angles.

Interface and functionality

Samsung Nature UX features and S Pen apps galore

Our prototype version of the Galaxy Note 3 Neo is loaded with Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UX on top of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. The retail won't come with KitKat either, but we hope it will be updated shortly thereafter. With NatureUX, however, the most apparent visual differences that KitKat brings, like a transparent status bar and full-screen wallpaper, are present stock, so there's not much of a surface difference at first look.

You can expect all the bells and whistles that come with Samsung's homemade interface overlay, like Smart Stay, which keeps the screen on while you are looking at it, and the multi-window mode that can run two different apps on a split screen.

The Note 3 Neo's display size is very conducive to multitasking, and when you add the S Pen apps to the mix, the handset becomes in a league of its own. It offers the excellent S Note application, various drawing and annotating functions in the Gallery or Calendar, as well as the Air View and Air Gestures that let you hover above the display with the stylus or a finger, marking links and evoking pop up info.

Typing on the largish display with one hand is still a chore when you have to reach for the upper left or right corner of the keyboard, depending on the side. You can enable Swype-like functionality that traces your finger from a letter to a letter, and inputs the word for you, instead of pecking at each individual key.

Samsung also offers its Assistant menu in the Accessibility settings, that floats a small square on top of the screen, which contains large back, notifications, menu and so on buttons. This way you don't have to stretch all the way down to the capacitive buttons, for example, just to hit the back key, while juggling the large handset on your index finger – a helpful feat with plus-size phones.

Processor and memory

The first hexacore Exynos has slow 1.3 GHz clock speed and may not be a benchmark monster, but comes with decent 2GB of RAM

We have a new kid on the Exynos block, and it the hexacore CPU found in the Note 3 Neo. It has two Cortex-A15 cores, clocked at 1.7 GHz maximum, and four Cortex-A7s, clocked at 1.3 GHz. The new Exynos is paired with a decent graphics processor, too, ARM's Mali-T624, so it's unlikely you'll have interface or app lag and hiccups, though for heavy 3D games it might be throttling the effects down. This one will go into the LTE version of the Note 3 Neo, while the 3G one will get a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor.

Still, the hexacore Exynos here is clocked much slower than the 2.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 or the 1.9 GHz Exynos 5 Octa versions of the Note 3, so the difference in benchmarks is poised to be very significant. Same goes for the GPU, which is likely to be faster than Mali-400 in the Note II, but weaker than the Adreno 330 or Mali-T628 graphics processors that can be found in the Note 3.

Moreover, Samsung has put 2 GB of RAM in the phablet, so you can line up many apps open at the same time without slowing it down. There are 16 GB of internal memory (11 GB user-available), plus a microSD slot for storage expansion on the handset.

Internet and connectivity

Samsung's TouchWiz browser looks a bit dated with its squarish interface elements, but it's proven to be one of the fastest renderers, plus it sports Adobe Flash support out of the box. There will be two versions of the phablet - 3G one with HSPA+ download speeds up to 21 Mbps, and one with 4G LTE.
The Galaxy Note 3 Neo offers plenty of connectivity radios, such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0. A-GPS, DLNA and FM. In some markets the handset will have an IR blaster for remote controlling your TV or home stereo, too.

Camera

Midrange snapper with plenty of shooting modes

The 8 MP camera on the back of the Note 3 Neo has an LED flash underneath it, and there's also a 1.9 MP front-facing shooter for video chat. Samsung offers an abundance of shooting modes like HDR or Panorama, arranged in an easy to flip through carousel, as well as plenty of color effects you can apply to your pictures and videos. We won't comment on the samples quality, as ours is a non-finalized version of the phablet, but what we are seeing below is pretty encouraging for the retail phone. The Note 3 Neo is able to capture 1080p video footage with fluid 30fps, too.

Multimedia

The gallery offers split-screen view, with a thin strip listing your folders on the left, and their content on the right, which aids navigation around it. There are plenty of editing options built right into the interface, and when you have the S Pen stylus, drawing on and annotating your pictures, becomes a breeze.

The music player interface with its blocky elements is familiar from many Samsung phones. The UI might be unimpressive, but it offers all the basics, like song categorization, as well as an abundance of equalizer presets and sound modes to choose from.

We also get a stock video player runs all popular formats, like MKV/DivX and Xvid without a hitch, and up to 1080p resolution at that. Its interface and options leave something to be desired, though, but you can always grab a better one from the Play Store.

Battery

Large phablet-style battery holds plenty of endurance promise

Samsung has placed a rather generous 3100 mAh battery pack in the Note 3 Neo, which sounds very promising for the resulting endurance. This is just shy of the Note 3's capacity, that has proven to be a marathon runner already, but the screen technologies are different, so we'll wait for our tests on the final retail unit, before we uncork the champagne.

Expectations

Galaxy Note 3 Neo seems destined for commercial success, as it will appeal to folks who are drooling after the Note 3, but think it is either too expensive, or too big to be carried around comfortably. Samsung said that this year it will expand its big-screen phones and tablets portfolio, and the Note 3 Neo seems to be its first step on the phablet diversification quest.

The budget model doesn't ask you for much sacrifice when compared to the flagship Note 3 phablet. It will also be a great alternative to 2012's Note II, as it is more compact, despite sporting the same screen size, and has new-gen screen, a faster processor and the newer generation of the S Pen. The fact that Samsung is bringing the full S Pen functionality in a mid-range phablet can only benefit us consumers, and we can't wait to land the final retail version to gauge whether the value-for-money proposition will be as good as it seemed during our preview of the Note 3 Neo.