Hey all. This is quite a long rant but I just wanted to share with other users just how disappointed I am with the Note. I switched from the Galaxy S2 thinking I was going to get a bigger and better version of it in the Note. Boy was I wrong. So far (after owning the Note for a month, running 2.3.6 and unrooted) I have experienced the following:
Sluggish operation. In areas like browsing apps and other areas where you would scroll through a screen the Note is woefully slow compared to the S2. Nothing is fluid, it's always 'stuttery'. For example, flicking up and down the apps, the S2 runs as if it's at 60fps whereas the Note runs as if it's at 20fps. It's just not smooth. I use GoLauncherEX and when you use one of their transition effects the S2 did them all silky smooth whereas the note is stuttering and slow, with the outcome being that effectively there is no transition because too many frames are dropped. You get the start and end but lose most of the middle due to the stuttering.
Also, if you press the home button when the phone is asleep it takes around 2 seconds to come to life. The same can be said when running anything. You touch the app icon then wait 2 seconds for it to run. On the S2 it was instant, there was no lag. My S2 was running 2.3.4 unrooted and was far quicker.
Now the phone has started randomly locking up (I've seen there is another thread also mentioning this problem). I have no idea what's causing it, it hasn't coincided with any new apps I've installed but two weeks ago I went to use the phone and the screen wouldn't come on. I pressed the power button and felt the phone vibrate and it beeped but the screen wouldn't come on. I held the power button down for 20 seconds and nothing happened. I held the home button down for 20 seconds and nothing happened. In the end I had to pull the battery. The same thing has happened three more times since then and I've had enough of it. I'm going to do a factory reset and start again. If it happens once more after that then I'm getting rid of it. I had NONE of these problems with my S2. The Note is supposed to be a better spec than the S2 but my experience shows exactly the opposite.
I understand that rooting the phone unlocks a whole new area of potential but I'm really not interested at the moment. I wanted to keep my phone as standard as possible so that it runs smoothly and without problems. Obviously that hasn't happened so far but I don't want to complicate things further by rooting the phone.
So, rant over. I really hope the factory reset sorts things out. I've got used to the sluggishness and can live with it but the random lock ups are unforgivable. Has anyone else experienced anything similar with their Note?
Sluggish operation. In areas like browsing apps and other areas where you would scroll through a screen the Note is woefully slow compared to the S2. Nothing is fluid, it's always 'stuttery'. For example, flicking up and down the apps, the S2 runs as if it's at 60fps whereas the Note runs as if it's at 20fps. It's just not smooth. I use GoLauncherEX and when you use one of their transition effects the S2 did them all silky smooth whereas the note is stuttering and slow, with the outcome being that effectively there is no transition because too many frames are dropped. You get the start and end but lose most of the middle due to the stuttering.
Also, if you press the home button when the phone is asleep it takes around 2 seconds to come to life. The same can be said when running anything. You touch the app icon then wait 2 seconds for it to run. On the S2 it was instant, there was no lag. My S2 was running 2.3.4 unrooted and was far quicker.
Now the phone has started randomly locking up (I've seen there is another thread also mentioning this problem). I have no idea what's causing it, it hasn't coincided with any new apps I've installed but two weeks ago I went to use the phone and the screen wouldn't come on. I pressed the power button and felt the phone vibrate and it beeped but the screen wouldn't come on. I held the power button down for 20 seconds and nothing happened. I held the home button down for 20 seconds and nothing happened. In the end I had to pull the battery. The same thing has happened three more times since then and I've had enough of it. I'm going to do a factory reset and start again. If it happens once more after that then I'm getting rid of it. I had NONE of these problems with my S2. The Note is supposed to be a better spec than the S2 but my experience shows exactly the opposite.
I understand that rooting the phone unlocks a whole new area of potential but I'm really not interested at the moment. I wanted to keep my phone as standard as possible so that it runs smoothly and without problems. Obviously that hasn't happened so far but I don't want to complicate things further by rooting the phone.
So, rant over. I really hope the factory reset sorts things out. I've got used to the sluggishness and can live with it but the random lock ups are unforgivable. Has anyone else experienced anything similar with their Note?
But really, I'm willing to put up with a LOT of lag because I just love the form factor so much. I could never go back to anything smaller, no matter what! 
