For me, the Note series in general is something that I've fallen in love with. The Note 2 got me hooked and from that point on, anything with S-pen integration has caught my eye. Initially, these are the things that intrigued me about the Note 2:
1) Thin overall form factor
- While it was a much taller and wider phone overall, coming from my Motorola Photon, it was actually less thick than my Motorola Photon with a battery that was twice as big. Additionally, it was much more comfortable to hold than the original Note (which I didn't have an option to buy, since it was a AT&T exclusive), by comparison prior to purchase.
2) microSD slot
- My personal and work life is centered around media, whether it's streaming or stored files. This is one element that I'm never willing to compromise and until the providers can assure me that no matter where I go, I'll have quick/easy access to cloud storage, I'll continue relying on as much storage space as possible.
3) S-Pen Integration
- The S-pen is unlike any experience I've ever had with capacitive stylii. The most important factor was usefulness in business. Taking notes at meetings had to be very easy. Taking notes on a PDF file, a definite "must have," and this both allowed me to be more "green" in my approach with business, but also eliminate the amount of printouts required to get projects completed.
4) Large Screen
- This kinda goes hand-in-hand with my life being surrounded by media, both in my personal and business life. Watching content on a larger screen makes it that much easier.
5) Battery Life
- This is extremely important to me. Even though most of my workday, I have chargers everywhere to back me up, it was important that the battery would last me, at minimum, an entire workday (10-12 hours, for me). And that was a "must", without having to charge and heavy usage. The Note 2 accomplished WAY more than I was expecting and from that point on, anything less than a 3100mah battery would not be enough for me. Additionally, as a bonus, I liked that Samsung is sticking with the removable battery concept. With the Note 2, that allowed me to buy the extra battery kit and just swap the batteries out (rather than actually needing to "charge" the battery through the phone).
Now that I covered why I fell in love with the Note Series in general, these are the factors that made me jump up to the Note 3:
1) Internal Storage
- With the increasing need for storage space w/ both my business and personal files, I had been hoping/begging that the US (Sprint in particular) would see at least a 32gb version of the Note 2. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Again, with the Note 3, I was hoping and begging for at least 32gb of internal storage. That part of my hopes were answered, except I still would've preferred having a 64gb version (and, I could easily see myself upgrading again next year, if they finally offer a 64). I'm not the everyday average consumer that is okay with a smaller amount of storage space. Unfortunately, that just won't work for both my business and personal needs...and that proved solidly true with the Note 2, where both my internal storage and microSD card were filled up (in fact, my Galaxy Note 8.0 reflects the exact dilemma I was having on the Note 2, and likely reason I'll upgrade to the next version of the Note 8.0, whenever (if ever) that is released.
2) 3gb RAM (vs. 2gb RAM)
- Again, this all ties in to the amount of media I consume in both my business and personal life. The more RAM available, the more reliable my phone will remain later down the line. As diligent as I am about clearing cache and soft resetting my phone every day, the extra 1GB jump should help tremendously in the long run.
3) Thinner/Less Wide (only a hair taller, but not by much)
- The Note 2 was the aboslute max that I could handle on a day-to-day basis. While most people I know said that it's "too big," I grew accustomed to the size very quickly and despite all the reviews saying that it's a "difficult" phone to operate with one hand, I don't really agree. I don't have the largest hands and I'm not exactly a big guy (5'6 Filipino American), but I still have no problem getting through the day using the phone with 1 hand. Of course, my love of using the S-pen, especially for jotting quick notes on the go and other multi-tasking purposes is the only reason I don't use the phone with 2 hands (and the occasional need to use the other hand to tap a button when walking around and holding multiple items, while not wanting to drop the phone).
Now that I have the Note 3, these are the improvements that have really sold me on what Samsung is doing with it:
1) Better Handwriting recognition
- I thought the Note 2 was decent, but I found it difficult to use the handwriting recognition to reply back on emails. I'd constantly have to wait for the word to complete and it just seemed to take way too long. Samsung has enhanced the software, so that you can scroll (using the bottom ruler on the writing pad) after each word you've written. This has made me literally write (using the s-pen) more replies to emails and texts, than I ever did in the 1 year I owned the Note 2. The Note 8 was much easier to reply to using the writing pad, due to the bigger area for replies, but I could see the Note 3 software working amazingly well if updated on the Note 8.
2) USB 3.0
- I truly don't know if it's just in my head, but the charging times with USB 3.0 seem that much faster than I experienced on the Note 2. The Note 2 was actually very good, but the Note 3 is even better.
No, I think that 3200 mAh battery will be enough for just about any user.
