Samsung Galaxy Note series
The Samsung Galaxy Note series is a series of high-end Android phablets and tablets developed and marketed by Samsung Electronics. The line is primarily oriented towards pen computing; all Galaxy Note models ship with a stylus pen and incorporate a pressure-sensitive Wacom digitizer. All Galaxy Note models also include software features that are oriented towards the stylus and the devices' large screens, such as note-taking and digital scrapbooking apps, and split-screen multitasking.
The Galaxy Note smartphones have been considered the first commercially successful examples of "phablets"—a class of smartphone with large screens that are intended to straddle the functionality of a traditional tablet with that of a phone. Samsung sold over 50 million Galaxy Note devices between September 2011 and October 2013. 10 million units of the Galaxy Note 3 have been sold within its first 2 months, 30 million were of the Note II, while the original Galaxy Note sold around 10 million units worldwide.
Devices
Phones
Galaxy Note
Samsung announced the original Galaxy Note at IFA Berlin in 2011. While some media outlets questioned the viability of the device due to its 5.3-inch screen, the Note received positive reception for its stylus functionality, the speed of its 1.4 GHz dual-core processor, and the advantages of such a large screen size. The Galaxy Note was a commercial success: released October 2011, Samsung announced in December 2011, that the Galaxy Note had sold 1 million units in two months. In February 2012, Samsung debuted a Note version with LTE support, and by August 2012, the Note had sold 10 million units worldwide.Galaxy Note II
On August 29, 2012, at IFA Berlin, Samsung unveiled a successor to the Galaxy Note, the Galaxy Note II. The new model, released September 2012, featured improvements to the original Note's hardware, along with new features such as pen gestures, split-screen multitasking, Air View, and other new features also introduced by the S III.Galaxy Note 3
On September 4, 2013, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 3, which introduced a more "premium" design with a plastic leather backing, and a 5.7 inch 1080p display, 3 GB of RAM, new 4K video recording capabilities at 30 frames per second, 1080p at twice the framerate, a USB 3.0 connector, and expanded stylus pen functionality. Unlike its predecessor, it is not equipped with an FM radio. The speaker is placed at the bottom, while placed on the rear side on the Note 1, 2 and 4.The Note 3 is the only Galaxy Note device to be equipped with thermometer and hygrometer sensors and Air View support for both stylus and fingers, of which the latter is achieved with an additional self-capacitive touch screen layer. It also had additional voice commands, including "Dismiss" and "Snooze" for the alarm, and "Answer" and "Decline" for calls.
Galaxy Note 3 Neo
In January 2014, Samsung for the first time released a "downgraded" version of the Note 3, the Galaxy Note 3 Neo. It features the S-Pen stylus, 8 MP camera, 5.5" Super AMOLED HD 720p display, 16 GB storage, 2 GB RAM as well as some of the Note 3's software features.For the first time, it has a Samsung Exynos Hexa 5260 processor with a quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex A7 CPU and a dual-core 1.7 GHz Cortex A15 CPU with support for HMP and a Mali-T624 GPU.
The Note 3 Neo lacks both 4K and slow motion video recording and can record 1080p at only up to 30 frames per second.
Galaxy Note 4
On September 3, 2014, at IFA Berlin, Samsung unveiled a successor to the Galaxy Note 3, the Galaxy Note 4. The new model, released in October 2014, introduced a new design with a plastic leather backing and metal frame, a 5.7-inch QHD display, a 16 MP camera with then new Optical Image Stabilization, 15 Watts of fast charging using Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, an improved S-Pen stylus, an upgraded digitizer with 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity and expanded functionality, fingerprint scanner, and other features taken from the Galaxy S5. However, Samsung Air View is only useable with the S-Pen, while it was useable with both fingers and stylus on the Galaxy Note 3.The Galaxy Note 4 is uniquely equipped with an ultraviolet ray sensor, and the last Samsung flagship phone to be equipped with a user-replaceable battery.
Galaxy Note Edge
Alongside the Galaxy Note 4, Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Note Edge, which features a display with a curved portion that wraps around the right bezel of the device. The curved area can be used as a sidebar to display news and information tickers, application shortcuts, and other tools.The curved right side screen area extends the resolution of the display from 1440×2560 to 1600×2560.
Galaxy Note 5
The Galaxy Note 5 was announced on August 13, 2015. It is based upon the specifications, hardware and exterior design of the Galaxy S6, including its metal frame and glass backing, a 5.7-inch 1440p display, Exynos 7 Octa 7420 system-on-chip, as well as a new spring-loaded stylus slot. As with the S6 and unlike previous Note models, the Note 5 does not offer a user-replaceable battery or expandable storage. The new "Screen off memo" feature allows the phone to be awoken directly to a note screen when the stylus is removed, and the camera app allows public and private livestreaming directly to YouTube.Galaxy Note 7
The Galaxy Note 7 was announced during a press event in New York City on 2 August 2016. It is largely based on the hardware of the Galaxy S7, inheriting its processor, camera, and the restoration of IP68 water resistance and expandable storage, but with a larger 5.7-inch 1440p display. It is also Samsung's first device to feature a USB-C connector and the first water-protected device of the Galaxy Note series, having a water-protected stylus too.The Galaxy Note 7's display is curved across the sides of the device, and its stylus features higher degrees of pressure sensitivity and a finer tip. Samsung branded the device as the Note 7 rather than the Note 6 in order to synchronize its branding with the earlier flagship of the same year, the Samsung Galaxy S7 series.
Upon release, the Galaxy Note series earned criticism by a technology journalist of Android Police, criticizing that since 2015's Galaxy Note 5, not much except a stylus sets the Galaxy Note series flagship apart from the Galaxy S series flagship released earlier in the same year, like it did with the first four generations of Galaxy Note devices.
The Galaxy Note 7 was afflicted by repeated manufacturing problems with their internal batteries, which led to incidents in which they overheated and combusted. After replacement models experienced similar incidents, the Note 7 was officially discontinued on 11 October 2016, and all the devices were recalled globally.
Galaxy Note Fan Edition
After the recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Samsung decided to release the Note Fan Edition as the new Note 7 being released in selected countries on July 7, 2017. Although having an identical form factor, the Fan Edition comes with a smaller battery of only 3200 mAh than the original Note 7 due to safety reasons.Improved changes of the Galaxy Note Fan Edition include Android Nougat with Samsung Experience 8.1 UI, Bixby virtual assistant, a "Fan Edition" marking on the back and a Clear View Cover case.
Galaxy Note 8
The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was announced on August 23, 2017 at a Samsung Unpacked event. It features a 6.3" 1440p Super AMOLED Infinity Display, a 3300 mAh battery, Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 support, Snapdragon 835/Exynos 8895 processor, an iris scanner, IP68 dust and water resistance, a new dual-lens camera setup with a telephoto lens and support for Samsung DeX.Galaxy Note 9
On June 27, 2018, Samsung sent out invitations for the next "Unpacked" event, showing a yellow S Pen image. It was announced on August 9, 2018 and is available starting on August 24, 2018.The Note 9 includes an update to Bixby. Bixby will automatically process the user's command. The Note 9 is connected to the SmartThings app and it includes features such as auto sound switching between different smart devices.
The new S Pen introduced is Bluetooth enabled. Users can control the camera, YouTube videos and slideshows remotely.
The Note 9 has been accepted by the Federal Communications Commission, and it has a Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810 processor, 6GB RAM for 128 GB variant and 8 GB of RAM for 512 GB variant, a 4000 mAh battery.
The Note 9 uses the same camera hardware seen on Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, with a dual camera setup, a 12MP wide-angle sensor with f/1.5 and f/2.4 dual aperture and a 12MP telephoto sensor with the f/2.4 aperture for Bokeh effects at the back. It also has an 8MP front-facing camera. The Note 9 is powered with AI software that improves the photography experience.
Galaxy Note 10/Note 10+
On July 1, 2019, Samsung announced that it would hold its second Unpacked event of the year on August 7 at 4PM Eastern in Brooklyn's Barclays Center. The Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ were unveiled at the show.The Note 10 marked the first time Samsung offered a Plus model of its Note, with the Note 10 offering a 6.3-inch 1080p display Infinity-O Display and the Note 10+ offering a 6.8-inch 1440p display. The Note 10 has non-expandable 256gb storage, while the Note 10+ has expandable storage via microSD. Both phones have new triple camera setups borrowed from the Galaxy S10 line, offering a 16MP ultra-wide angle lens, a 12MP wide angle lens, and a 12MP telephoto lens. Both variants also saw the power button consolidated with the Bixby button on the left side of the phone, with the button now being reprogrammable to be used as a power button or to activate Bixby. Both versions also saw the elimination of the headphone jack.