The mobile landscape has changed quite a bit over the years, first everyone wanted to get their phone as small and thin as possible, and now people seem to want just the opposite. While most phones have grown in size to feature a 4 to 5 inch display some devices have grown beyond that and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is one of those devices. Entering into a product category dubbed the phablet, the phone takes on a screen size that could be used as a tablet in some senses while still maintaining phone functionality.

Phablets aren’t for everyone, but when done properly they can be quite the productivity tool. Samsung is on its third generation of Note devices, and the Galaxy Note 3 is definitely the best yet. Combining a huge display with amazing battery life the device is sure to please, so let’s take a deeper dive into the hardware and software to see if this may be your next device.

Hardware

When looking at the hardware of the Note 3 it is hard to pass up noticing just how large the device is as a whole, and how much of that is covered by the display. Much like the previous versions the Note 3 features a massive touch screen, but this time there is far less bezel taking up the room and more usable screen instead.

Coming in at 5.7 inches on the display Samsung was able to keep almost the same overall size on the device and added 0.2 inches more to the display. In addition to adding size to the display Samsung was able to slim the device down from the Note 2 and make it much lighter. Unfortunately though due to the large nature of the screen it still remains hard and uncomfortable for most to use the device in a one hand situation.

Samsung has stuck with a physical home button for the Note 3, which is actually the only raised surface on the front of the device. The rest of the device is flush, and the back and menu buttons are capacitive buttons built into the front glass.

On the back side of the device you will find a rather nice fake leather finish on the back complete with the stitching effect and all, which looks extremely high in quality and allows for a nice grip when holding the device.

On the right hand side of the device you will find the power button which is surrounded by Samsung’s usual plastic border, and the rest of the side is left empty. Moving to the right hand side of the device you will find the volume rocker towards the top and again nothing on the lower portion.

At the top of the device is where the headphone jack sits, and down the bottom is the micro-USB charging port which is actually USB 3.0 compatible so it offers quick charging and faster data transfer for ports that are compatible.

Centered at the top on the back of the device is the 13MP camera that bumps out a little bit, and the rest of the back is just the faux-leather style. Samsung has also included a 2MP front camera that is blended in at the top on the front near the speaker.

Overall the Galaxy Note 3 has a great feel in the hands and is built extremely well. As stated above the device is likely not going to be used one handed as it is a stretch to hit the home button and reach to the notification pane comfortably without having to reposition your hands a few times.
Software

Love it or hate it Samsung’s TouchWiz is here to stay. Luckily Samsung has added some really great features within TouchWiz that allow you to take full advantage of the screen size and ability of the device when on the go. Samsung has included a wide variety of built in apps, which some would consider bloat, but they do offer a good amount of functionality when using the device in everyday situations.

Starting with some of the included applications Samsung offers Air View and Air Gesture’s which allow you to interact with the device without needing to actually touch the display. With everyone focused on their health Samsung has included a built in pedometer through the S Health app which also calculates how far you’ve walked and how many calories you’re burning through the day. The WatchON TV app doubles as a remote for your TV using the IR blaster on the front of the device, and you can browse TV listings right from within the app as well.

To ensure you are able to take full advantage of the display size, and be as productive as possible Samsung offers the ability to run multiple windows within the display. Having two apps open at the same time allows you to check things on one side and compose an email on the other, ultimately making the flow as smooth as possible. While not every app can work in the dual window mode Samsung has included functionality of a bunch of applications which you will commonly use.

While the concept of including a stylus with the device is a bit odd, Samsung has added a number of additions within the OS that allow you to easily take advantage of the S-Pen. When the pen is removed from the device there is a small vibration to let you know it has been removed and then immediately pops up a small window showing off some quick hits for the pen. Some of these commands include  Action Memo, Scrap booker, Screen Write, S Finder and Pen Windows —  most of which would be rather useful in the enterprise environment.

While TouchWiz may not be for everyone, Samsung has done a great job optimizing it to take full advantage of the Galaxy Note 3, and that is very important. During testing there was no lag or shutter when moving through the pieces of the OS, and everything was very quick as you would expect from a high end phone with a powerful processor.

Battery Life

Featuring a 5.7 inch display battery life is definitely something that many will worry about, and it appears as though Samsung did the same. Packing a 3200mAh battery the Galaxy Note 3 should be able to get you through the day without too much concern. Through testing the device and using it even more than I would regularly use my device through the day it was still extremely hard to kill the device in just a single day.

Battery life is something that has concerned many Android users over the years as they have never had amazing battery life, but Samsung has nailed it on this device. From streaming music, to tweeting, emails to phone calls, browsing the web and more the device was able to handle nearly anything thrown at it, and still continue to chug along with plenty of power.

As expected usage will vary with everyone, and depending on your phone habits your mileage may vary when it comes to battery life, but I would safely say you should make it through a day without any issue.

Camera

Included on the Galaxy Note 3 is a 13MP camera that is vastly similar to the camera found on the Samsung Galaxy S4. With image quality being something that many are focused on lately testing of the Note 3 camera has shown that it can capture some amazing images.

Samsung’s built in software does a great job of reducing noise in images with tons of details, and that is something that is very important. The colors of the images have been pretty on par with the real versions and we did not notice anything too out of the ordinary. When moving towards lower light conditions the device struggles a bit to capture the smaller details that it can grab in the light, but the images are hardly terrible.

Featuring the familiar Samsung camera app it is definitely among the best available camera apps on the market at the current time. With quick and easy access to 13 different shooting modes through the “mode” button it is easy to ensure you are capturing the memory in the best way possible.

On the video end the Note 3 can capture video at a 3840×2160 resolution which is most likely higher than your television set can display, making it a bit pointless to record at that level. Even with the resolution way above what can be output on most common displays, the difference in quality is quite large and it is worth having the technology in place to be able to capture better videos.

Conclusion

Overall the Note 3 is simply an amazing Android device. Sure, it is huge, and may not fit in your hands or pocket, Samsung has knocked this out of the park. Every detail along the way shows that they have put tons of thought, and learned from each prior generation to make this one even better.

From the large display, to the added multitasking capabilities, to the battery easily lasting through the day it is safe to say that the Note 3 is one of the best Android devices on the market at the current time.

While it does not run the most current version of Android, and it has a custom skin on top of it, Samsung has used that to their advantage to add features for users that vanilla Android does not offer.

On contract the device will set you back about $300 currently, but that is money well spent. If you are on the edge about the device go put one in your hands and let the device speak for itself.