With dimensions of 151.2x79.2x8.3mm the Note 3 is actually slimmer and thinner than the Galaxy Note 2 despite boasting a larger 5.7-inch display. Not only that, it's only 168 grams - 12 grams lighter than its predecessor.
The back is nice to hold, soft but a bit tactile and the whole thing feels very solid. If Samsung products have had a reputation for being overly plasticky press relatively hard on the screen with the S-Pen to get the screen to register - something that we'll be testing out again once we have a full review sample to look at.
There's a 2MP camera on the front as well for selfies and of course Samsung's Dual Shot, Dual Recording and Dual Video Call features.
We had a quick go on the stand and it produced some sharp, detailed images. We'll get a chance to test the full suite of modes in the full review.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3: Features
The Galaxy Note 3 has been given a serious hardware boost with the 3G model featuring the much-reported 1.9GHz octa-core processor whilst the 4G/LTE version will come sporting a 2.3GHz Qualcomm quad-core processor.Setting a new benchmark for smartphone hardware the Note 3 also comes sporting an impressive 3GB RAM and will come with either 32 or 64GB of storage with microSD support up to 64GB as well. All in all, this makes the Note 3 the most powerful mobile device Samsung has ever made.
You'll be needing all that power (especially the RAM) to run all the new S-Pen functionality and for multi-tasking apps.
There's NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and an IR LED for remote control functionality, of course last but not least there's GPS and WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.
The main additions to the Note stem from its power, and the brand new Air Command function. Hovering over the screen with your S-Pen and pressing a button on the side of the Pen brings up a new menu, with a number of new features.
First up is Action Memo, which bre boundaries of bad handwriting) and give you automatic options. For example, if you'd scribbled a name and number, Action Memo will automaticallNote, from apps to photos to files and folders. It'll even divert you to Google if you want to search online.
A quick drag inwards from the left hand side window brings up a column of apps, all of which are available in split screen. Tap on an app and it'll start up fullscreen, or you can drag it across and it'll happily take up one half of the screen. Once you're running two apps side-by-side you can drag the partition up and down to adjust the balance.
We played with this a fair bit - every app ran smoothly, and we didn't experience any slowdown whatsoever.
Finally, there's Pen Window - which lets you draw a window on your screen, then select from a limited range of apps to use within that window. For example, we drew a small window in the top right, selected the calculator and, that's it. There's your calculator.
There's so many functions here, and so many shortcuts to access what you need when you need it that it's all rather overwhelming. We only had half an hour with the Note 3, but even after a month of use you'd have to pick things up very quick to really get the hang of it.
As usual with Samsung's Super AMOLEDs, the display is incredibly vibrant with deep contrast. The viewing angles are excellent too, we struggled to find anything to take issue with in our brief hands-on with the device.
