The Note 2 became the first phone I've had in a very long time that made me think I really could use this for longer than a year. Prior to that, I was getting a new phone practically every 3-6 months.
I recently played with the Note 3 in store and I know it's nowhere near the same as having it home and playing with it. Granted the 3 is nice and I'll get it one day just not now.
I really do love my Note 2. :thumb:
Just like ScandaLeX and adding to her evaluation, I loved my Note 2 and would still have it today, were it not for the additional internal storage that the Note 3 offered me. Before I hear responses about there being 32gb and 64gb Note 2's, those were also not offered on Sprint (or any US provider, for that matter).
Now, answering this question is such a subjective question because everyone (at least, I hope) has different needs. Were it my preference, I'd have 64gb internal storage (minimum) coupled with my 64gb micro SD card. I'm also not the average consumer, when it comes to my devices and stored media, which is crucial for me in my personal and work life.
But, can I say that the overall functions on the Note 3 are that much "better" than the Note 2...not necessarily. There are some pros and cons that I could break down easily, but again...those aren't necessarily the same "pros and cons" for everyone else. One of the things that has affected my daily functions is the use of S-Note. With the Note 2, I could write notes in S-Note on my Note 8.0 Tablet, sync it, and it would sync without any issues with my Note 2. So I'd have a reference point for meetings, wherever I went and I didn't have my tablet with me. With the Note 3, it's a little more complicated and not quite as seamless a transition. Sync'ing to Evernote works, but I still haven't had time to organize it the way that I would want to view my notes.
So, that is one con that has affected my daily tasks, but overall the Note 3 was a worthwhile upgrade for me, simply due to the additional internal storage. If the Note 4 comes with a 64gb version, finally, then I may consier that as well.
Overall, upgrading from a Note 2 only becomes an upgrade by evaluating the tasks that are most important to an individual. If the combination of hardware/software specs increases productivity for that individual, then I'd say it's well worth it. If not, I'd say that unless there's a great deal on one, each individual can probably wait until the Note 4 is released and still be ok picking up a Note 3 for super cheap next year.
One other BIG pro, that I initially did not think would be one, is the Wireless charging! I wasn't big into the whole wireless charging craze, until I saw that no additional modifications would need to be made for wireless charging on the Note 3. Now that I have it, ALL my future phones have to have wireless charging capabilities. In addition to that, I absolutely love USB 3.0! Transferring data back and forth from the device is SO much faster than with USB 2.0. That's even while connected to a USB 2.0 port on a PC. Rather than taking several hours for me to backup both internal and external storage, the time to do backups has significantly decreased for me.