With its new 5.3" smartphone/tablet hybrid, Samsung has decided to make users go back to using a stylus.

The Samsung Galaxy Note launched last month at CES. It is is available in Canada this month from Bell, Rogers and TELUS. The new device will certainly attract a lot of attention because of its size and unique feature set.

Samsung says the Galaxy Note is neither a smartphone nor a tablet, but rather a bit of both. It's designed for users who'd rather not want to carry a smartphone and a tablet simultaneously, but who'd like the functionality of both devices.

Even so, the Galaxy Note runs smartphone apps on a smartphone version of Google's Android OS and it can make phone calls on the new LTE high-speed voice and data networks. In my view, that makes it more a phone than a tablet.

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In terms of size and form factor, the Samsung Galaxy Note is reminiscent of Microsoft's UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) devices, which squeezed the innards of a computer into tiny 4" to 6" inch devices. Many of those used a stylus for navigation and input as well.

Unlike those departed UMPCs, the Samsung Galaxy Note is very slim and light. It shares many of its design cues with Samsung's Galaxy S line of smartphones.

The size of the Galaxy Note takes some getting used to. Even compared to 4.3" or 4.5" smartphones, the Galaxy Note's screen looks and feels really big. Making calls on a device this size doesn't just look funny, it feels awkward. So it's likely that many Galaxy Note owners will opt to use hands-free options to make or take calls.

Supreme Screen

Running the Gingerbread OS, the majority of Android apps and functions will work on the Galaxy Note and scale rather nicely on its large screen.

I found the WXGA (1280 x 800) HD Super AMOLED screen excellent at rendering Web pages. And it was a good alternative to my standalone eBook reader for viewing PDFs and eBooks. The Galaxy Note is thinner, lighter and easier to carry in one hand than many dedicated eReaders; and it's easier on the eyes than smaller smartphones.

The screen is also superb at playing videos from YouTube or a microSD card. The larger screen conveys far more detail than smaller displays, and can play back 720p HD video without hiccups. I rented the digital download version of X Men: First Class and was very impressed by the quality of the video as well as the sound.

Some telcos will leverage this feature and offer access to their video content. Bell offers Mobile TV and HBO streaming add-ons to Galaxy Note owners for $5 a month.

The Galaxy Note has an eight-megapixel camera, which is capable of shooting 1080p HD video. There's also a two-megapixel front-facing camera for video calling. It's identical in quality and function to the camera on Samsung's current smartphones.

Stylus Needs Work

What sets the Samsung Galaxy Note apart from other Android smartphones is the capacitive S-Pen stylus.

Powered by a Wacom digitizer, the S-Pen is accurate enough for digital signatures, writing notes, sketching and drawing, as well as basic retouching of digital photos.

Bundled apps such as Zen Brush and OmniSketch turn the Galaxy Note allow for precise sketching on the screen. Samsung also includes photo retouching and comic book creation apps.

While the S-Pen worked satisfactorily for all these applications, it felt somewhat redundant to have to rely on it, when fingers on the bigger screen seemed to work just fine.

I also found the S-Pen a bit flimsy in construction; its two parts kept separating. So, not only is the S-Pen easy to lose, it is quite delicate. If it gets broken or lost, you'll have to shell out $30 for a replacement.

Top Specs

Samsung did not scrimp on specs for this device. Powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, backed with 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, it is comparable to recent super smartphones or tablets. The Galaxy Note should also be capable of running the newest version of the Android OS, "Ice Cream Sandwich," once this is released later this year.

The Galaxy Note proved to be fast and capable for most tasks. It rendered Websites accurately and it only takes one tap to enlarge specific areas on the screen. Reading e-mails, Twitter and RSS feeds on the larger screen is a pleasure.

Battery life was great, giving up to two days use with the LTE and Wi-Fi radios on and making five to eight three-minute calls a day.

For users who do not make too many phone calls, and are constantly accessing the Internet, watching videos or playing games, the Samsung Galaxy Note is a fresh alternative to what is already out there.

Article Tags:  Samsung, Galaxy, Note, review, Canada, Bell, Rogers, Telus, smartphone, Android, Google, Gingerbread, smartphone, tablet, phablet, LTE, Wi-Fi, Ice Cream Sandwich