King monster – Hypertext

Summer 2011. Apathy, siesta, undervoltage, pachangas football on television. Guiris in the streets and cry of parties. In mobile telephony, small screens (the 4.3 “HTC Desire was an atrocity.) The Android with Froyo or Gingerbread. The owners of an iPhone still had to sync with iTunes every other day too, and by cable. BlackBerry had credibility as product for the consumer market. The in-app purchases begin to annoy 90% of mobile games. What horror all .

The first of the series

At the end of summer came a phone that did not leave indifferent name, Samsung Galaxy Note reactions, rather homogeneous… “go monster” At a time when phones still had an iPhone 4 screen size (3.5 inches) on average 5.3 Samsung took one. And with thick frames and 2011, not 2015. Tremendous.

• screen : Super AMOLED 5.3 “
• Resolution : 1200 x 800 ( 285 dpi)
• processor : Dual-core Exynos 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A9
• Connection : WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n, Bluetooth 3.0
• House : 8 MP / 2 MP front
• RAM : 1 GB
• storage : 16/32 GB + microSD
• Battery : 2500 mAh
• Dimensions : 146.9 x 83 x 9.7 mm
• weight : 178 grams

Let’s see what he said about some reviews, ago nearly four years

SlashGear.

“It’s not for anyone [...] The Galaxy Note will not be a selling Samsung, but who succumb to its charms have a smartphone / hybrid to draw attention in every way “

PhoneArena:

” It should be clear that the Galaxy Note is a niche product. There is a phone designed for the mass market. Why? Note the enormous dimensions make it much more uncomfortable to hold any other smartphone “

The Verge:.

” A bad concept extremely well done “

Engadget:

The Galaxy Note is one of those devices that you love or hate your size itself is a barrier for people with small hands or pockets. [...] It will not be for everyone. Definitely want to try one in your hands before being tied to a contract for two years for him, if only . to see if it fits in your hands and in your budget

Interestingly, I think that The Verge concluded the opposite: over time it has been shown that the first Note was a great idea bad . made Engadget said rightly that it was a polarizing Phone: either loved or hated, hardly have room for a middle ground Its size was too shocking Today, 5.3 inches is a normal acceptable size, seated, and even limited to.. more than one. In 2011 no. The average size of smartphones released every year suggests that 2011 was part of the process of an emerging trend today already consolidated.

Some great player had to risk, and who better than Samsung, which had -. and has a catalog large enough to not play too many benefits if it did not work

What does “Note”

Usually? believes that the name “Martinez” (and all who share suffix) come from the same lineage or solar house, when in fact it is a heraldic name so not all Martinez kept family related, however distant it may be.

Go back to the phone now. The first model debuted last name, and for a long time the belief that “Note” meant “big” spread, when in fact meant “has a stylus”

That stylus seemed banished long ago (the Who wants a stylus? , 2007, remember?), so Samsung had to invent a justification. It came in the form of adapted software. Something embryo in the first version but it was improved over generations.

confirmation

The first Note seemed crazy but had ratified a year later as Galaxy Note II. Meanwhile, competition would bandwagon terminal king-size little by little, like a fine rain, with HTC to the head.

Seeing their spec sheet is easy to notice that something strange was a terminal: go to the exact resolution in 0.2 inch HD extending the previous size meant a drop on the pixel density. In addition, it lost the front camera 0.1 MP resolution, which effectively gives exactly the same but it can become extremely serious failure for the Taliban specifications. If this happens today, the era selfie , Samsung would be subjected to a summary trial for committing a venial sin.

On the other hand, the necessary rise to 2 GB of RAM, that beyond talibanadas makes perfect sense on a device with the ability to Note II software. On the other hand, it is curious that the Note II and its HD screen had a 3,100 mAh battery and today’s capabilities are similar or less, but more demanding components and much higher resolution screens. Agradezcámoslo the Exynos chips and its shrinking size (and therefore consumption)

• screen :. Super AMOLED 5.5 “
• Resolution : 1280 x 720 (267 dpi)
• processor : Quad-core Exynos 4412
• Connection : WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC
• House : 8 MP / 1.9 MP front
• RAM : 2GB
• storage : 16/32/64 GB + microSD
• Battery : 3,100 mAh
• Size : 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm
• weight : 183 grams

However, confirmation of the Note II still was a major argument for the industry, which at the end of 2012 still had as somewhat exaggerated what a mobile 5.5 inch. Although I had a TouchWiz designed to leverage its size and its stylus. The best came a year later.

For the first time, a Note was running for smartphone of the year

It happened with the Galaxy Note 3, since it contributed its 3 GB of RAM and standardization of 5 inches forward over the course of 2013: LG G2, Nexus 5, Sony Xperia Z and Z1, to a lesser extent Nokia Lumia 1520, and even own Galaxy S4

/i2.wp.com/hipertextual.com/files/2015/08/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-3.jpg?resize=250%2C372" alt = "Samsung Galaxy Note 3" class = "alignleft size -thumbnail wp-image-378 316 "data-recalc-dims =" 1 "/> Its specifications made clear where Samsung was starting to go: the Note was not only as a model of law in the portfolio of the brand, is that they were beginning to allocate you the best advances in design and components. In fact, among ditto Note 3 we find a turning point: screen . After frustrating and mediocre panels, the Note 3 was impressive symptom of a strong investment in improving the AMOLED technology, which no longer met the low power consumption and reliability of the black color and unique advantages.

• screen : Super AMOLED 5.7 “
• Resolution : 1920 x 1080 (386 dpi)
• processor : Snapdragon 800 / Exynos Octa 5420
• Connection : WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, LTE
• House : 13 MP / 2 MP front
• RAM : 3 GB
• storage : 16/32 / 64GB + microSD
• Battery : 3200 mAh
• Size : 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm
• weight : 168 grams

In any case, Samsung committed what in the academies of design is itself considered a venial sin: what call “dishonest design” , try to believe one thing when in fact it has done it. I was already practicing with previous models like the S4 and fake aluminum, but in the case of enquistó Note 3: faux leather with stitching and all, in a cover that it was still plastic

. That said, established the 5.7 “that extend to today. Why has not followed up? Well, first there is no need to increase because. Samsung has the same barrier Apple to increase the screen / front ratio: a physical button could be done in a reasonable manner, that is, without increasing in turn the size of the terminal But Samsung, as Apple has a difficult obstacle to overcome.: uses a physical button . And two capacitive.

In the absence rendered as almost all the competition to software buttons, has this self-imposed barrier that keeps you from doing as LG or Motorola, for example, and launch terminals where the display occupies almost the entire front. Nevertheless, in Note 3 reached a high ratio which is given largely by the size, impossible to achieve in terminals 1 inch less.

Let us recall the graph that our colleague Alex Barredo prepared on the percentage of screen / front. The terminals with no physical buttons on the front have much more room to continue increasing it. Samsung not.

Still, the Note 3 was the score before and after both the Note range as the entire catalog of Samsung. No other terminal of the house has aged so well two years later. Reviews of the moment and pointed in that direction. Your screen, its autonomy, its battery and its performance. Four key points that marked his success.

the fourth touched him dance with the ugliest

In the summer of 2014 came the Alpha Galaxy, a first approach of Samsung to the metal bodies he tiptoed through more pain than glory. In fact, there is no second Alpha a year later, and her name, “Alpha”, and made it clear that was a terminal that had a lot of experiment to which months later came as A3, A5 and A7.

In any case, it heralded the arrival of the metal to the Galaxy Note 4, which was evident and while no. That is, indeed, the metal body came, but in a still somewhat timid compared to how it would come to S6

• screen :. Super AMOLED 5.7 “
• Resolution : 2560 x 1440 (386 dpi)
• processor : Snapdragon 805/5433 Exynos Octa
• Connection : WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, LTE
• House : 16 MP / front 3.7 MP
• RAM : 3 GB
• storage : 32 GB + microSD
• Battery : 3220 mAh
• Size : 153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5 mm
• weight : 176 grams

came stronger than ever, only with a “but” in its design, but had improved with metal like Pantera, still sinning the same lack of detail than ever. It confirmed that the real high-end Samsung was Berlin, not Barcelona. You know what I mean.

What marred the final year of Samsung? Definitely a failed experiment, the Edge Galaxy Note , who shared specifications in Note 4. Although in the end sells between 600,000 and 700,000 units (Note 4 and to the 4.5 million sold in just the first month) I at least was clear it was a bad idea from the start .

The curve was too steep, making asymmetric the phone and imposed an unhelpful role would always be the view. That small step backward allowed Samsung to take two forward a few months later, when he presented the S6 and S6 Edge that premiered what would have seemed an aberration by Samsung shortly before but allowed them to position and prove able to take a strong decision: goodbye to the microSD and removable battery, which seems on the other hand one of the causes of the downturn in sales in recent quarters

Today

And so we come. until today, to the doors of the arrival of the filtrate to Note 5 satiety, with a duality of opinions . On the one hand, those who prefer Samsung stays true to its origins and believe that plastic is an advantage, the microSD is sacred and must be removable battery or yes. On the other hand, those who look to Samsung one step further to ensure the race for the high end. But really, that is the premium for premium looks. And if this requires eliminating moving parts, putting a more noble material and give up some supposed advantages, no problem with that.

Note 5 will be presented on 13 August. The most obvious landmark is having achieved that the monstrosity of 2011 has become the new standard, on a daily and respondent . Maybe that first model, which may have a portion of market experiment, lit the fuse for all we accepted with pleasure the increased size in our pockets. Samsung is a good example of the assimilation of this trend:

However, come in a context complicated : If finally is continuity and keeps the essence of the previous four models, happy to have a loyal following so far, is that after few stay iphoneros both a product and the users of a Note.

However, if you break with their own schemes and embraces what appeared with the S6, we will see Note 5 more pleasing to the eye and touch, even more powerful and with the sacrifice of the microSD and the removable battery as pious tribute to those who until now saw on Samsung vulgar, something done without my MO. The iPhone goes a long lineage. We’ll see what the sales figures say.