waterless arrhythmia: AT&T Galaxy Note with LTE hands-on at CES 2012 (video)

Thursday, January 12, 2012

AT&T Galaxy Note with LTE hands-on at CES 2012 (video)

It's official! As expected, everyone's favorite giant superphone, the Samsung Galaxy Note, is finally making its way to the US -- and with a dash of LTE, no less. The mini tablet will be available on AT&T in both carbon blue and ceramic white for an undisclosed price sometime in the near future. Specs are almost identical to its global sibling -- 5.3-inch 1280x800 HD Super AMOLED display, S Pen, Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread), 1GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, up to 32GB of additional storage via microSD card, 2,500mAh battery, eight-megapixel 1080p AF camera with flash and two-megapixel front-facing camera. Like its stablemate, the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, AT&T's Galaxy Note receives a brain transplant with a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU (presumably a Qualcomm Snapdragon S3) replacing the 1.4GHz dual-core Exynos processor. Beyond support for AT&T's speedy LTE network, the device includes UMTS/HSPA+ (21Mbps) and GSM/EDGE world radios. This US variant will also be available with a number of accessories, including a desktop dock, a spare battery charging system, flip cover cases (available in multiple colors) and the Galaxy Note S Pen holder kit.

We took AT&T's Galaxy Note for a spin, and it's a dead-ringer for the global model in terms of size, weight and general layout. The most obvious differences are the carrier logo just below the earpiece, and the four capacitive keys replacing the three-button layout (physical key flanked by capacitive buttons) common to non-US Galaxy handsets. Pop the battery cover and you'll notice subtler changes, with the plastic SIM and microSD card holders being replaced by thinner metallic ones in order to accommodate the additional thickness from (presumably) an LTE antenna mounted inside the battery door with matching contacts on the phone's chassis. Another difference is with the S Pen, which now features a contrasting grey side-button instead of the same black color as the pen's body. While the key is still just as difficult to locate by touch, it's now trivial to find at a glance. Performance wise, during our brief time with it, this version of the Note felt just as snappy as its predecessor, despite the aforementioned chipset swap. Unlike the other Galaxy S II-class devices on AT&T, there's no sign of NFC here. We'll keep you posted as we learn more, but until then check out the galleries below and hit the break for our hands-on video and the mandatory PR.

Gallery: AT&T Galaxy Note LTE hands-on