- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- LG Nexus 4
- Samsung Galaxy S III mini
- Nokia Lumia 820
- HTC 8X
- Sony Xperia T
by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)The best part of all is that it’s only 8.5mm thick and weighs 116g – 3 grams less than the Galaxy S..
by GSM Arena (Oct, 2012)The new matrix, however, more than makes up and the perceivable sharpness of the screen is actually higher.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Samsung Galaxy S II compared to the Note
GHz1.5
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich 3.5G
Rated 80% by by c|net (Sep, 2012)It's a large but light handset that's easy to carry around and never seemed to feel too oversize, even for our smaller hands.
1.4 GHz
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich 4G
by GSM Arena (Oct, 2012)The new matrix, however, makes up for that easily and the perceivable sharpness of the screen is actually higher.
screen size
4.5"
5.3"
Galaxy S II by Karla-Velarde (Dec, 2012)Is very simple to use when you get used to it, nice camera, very good HD screen quality, is the perfect size for those like me who think that we don't need a phone of the size of a tablet.
Galaxy Note by primeguy (Mar, 2012)Just adding about the Screen size was the main reason i like the phone...as a photgrapher it's just the right size to show my work/porfolio to my prosfect/clients... so far a lot ofmy friends and people are asking/saying WOW...that's big!
screen resolution
Galaxy S II by GSM Arena (Oct, 2011)The images captured with the 8MP camera of the Galaxy S II are very good – low noise, plenty of fine detail and the color and contrast are good too.
memory
| 0 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB |
processor
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)Mobile's model of the Android Gingerbread smartphone is slightly different from the other versions in that it features a different dual-core processor, an NFC chip, and support for the carrier's faster HSPA+ 42 network.
Galaxy Note by GSM Arena (Oct, 2012)In Benchmark Pi the Note II is bested only by the quad-core Krait packing LG Optimus G. Given its clock speed, the 1.7GHz Tegra 3-based phones (like the HTC One X+) might also manage to outperform the Note II here, but it's always going to be close.
camera resolution
| 0 MP | 8 MP | 8 MP |
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)There's a nice, strong 2-megapixel camera on the front that's great for video chats, but the best lens yet is the 8-megapixel one on the back, which continues to take excellent shots on every Galaxy S II variation we've seen.
Galaxy Note by L.-G.-Kinney--lgkinney (Oct, 2012)Camera is only adequate - as with most smart phones, the picture quality does not compare with a true digital camera at 8 megapixels.
Performance Real world tests of Samsung Galaxy S II vs Note
cpu speed
Galaxy S II by c|net (Sep, 2012)Though Qualcomm's chip has a slightly faster CPU, we didn't notice a huge difference in speed in everyday use, and in fact the AT&T and Sprint models felt just a touch more responsive.
talk time
515 min
810 min
Galaxy Note by bleach (Jul, 2012)I suspect that I'm way below average on talk time but I'm also in extremely poor signal areas (both at home and at work).
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the Galaxy Note
| Much smaller | 69 x 130 x 9 mm | vs | 83 x 147 x 10 mm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around 30% smaller | |||
| Significantly lighter | 135 g | vs | 178 g |
| Around 25% lighter | |||
| Faster processor | 1.5 GHz | vs | 1.4 GHz |
| More than 5% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
Advantages compared to the Galaxy S II
| Is 4G | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somewhat common; Supports the fastest, most reliable networks | |||
| Much longer standby time | 49,200 min | vs | 10,020 min |
| Around 5x longer standby time | |||
| Significantly higher resolution screen | 1280 x 800 | vs | 800 x 480 |
| Around 2.8x higher resolution screen | |||
| Significantly more battery capacity | 2,500 mA·h | vs | 1,850 mA·h |
| More than 35% more battery capacity | |||
| Store significantly more stuff | 32 GB | vs | 16 GB |
| 2x more storage capacity; free yourself from memory cards | |||
| Significantly sharper screen | 284 ppi | vs | 206 ppi |
| Around 40% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images | |||
| Much better theoretical download speed | 84 Mb/s (HSPA+) | vs | 7.2 Mb/s (HSDPA) |
| Around 11.8x better theoretical download speed; enjoy lightning fast downloads on modern networks | |||
| Bigger screen | 5.3" | vs | 4.5" |
| More than 15% bigger screen | |||
| Longer talk time | 810 min | vs | 515 min |
| More than 55% longer talk time; go days without charging | |||
| More highly reviewed by consumers | 83.74% | vs | 77.87% |
| Around 10% more highly reviewed by consumers | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Samsung Galaxy S II | Samsung Galaxy Note | ||
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 | Rated by 518 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by Henrik-I.-Christensen (Jul, 2011) Rated 100% by by Alonso-Velasco (Jun, 2011) Rated 100% by by john-william-thrupp (Jul, 2011) |  Rated by 15 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by E.-Jones--Keep-Shopping (May, 2013) Rated 100% by by Armando-Garzon-Diaz--MandoX (Jan, 2012) | |
carrier
Samsung Galaxy Note 16 GB | Rated 100% by by RonMobile won't let it use anything other than 2g/EDGE service, Verizon couldn't activate it, and AT&T wouldn't either.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | LG Nexus 4 Rated the best by consumers |
 | 3 | Nokia Lumia 820 2-way tie: Longest battery life during active use |
 | 4 | HTC 8X Sharpest screen |
 | 5 | Sony Xperia T Really high resolution front camera |
 | 7 | LG Optimus L9 5-way tie: Has a removable battery |
 | 8 | Samsung Galaxy S II Plus 5-way tie: Has a removable battery |
