Nobody (including T3) expected the stylus to make such a comeback, but with impressive Samsung Galaxy Note sales and the introduction of the bigger Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, the Korean manufacturer has now officially unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 at its Unpacked event at IFA 2012.
Set to be its new flagship phablet, we take a snapshot look at the features that might tempt the money out of your pocket for the latest Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

Build and design

Looking like a super-sized 'phablet' version of the Samsung Galaxy S3, design elements are clearly inspired by the flagship smartphone which is a drastic change in from the original but could similarly prove a popular move. Thinner than the original (9.65mm) and marginally heavier at 180g, the main talking point is of course the bigger screen which we will move onto next....

 

Screen

Moving up from the 5.3-inch display up to a 5.5-inch 1280x720 HD AMOLED touchscreen, a 16:9 screen ratio also means the latest Note 2 is more movie-friendly. 

S Pen

This is of course what makes the phablet so special and now the S Pen currently available for the Galaxy Note 10.1 will be bundled for the 5.5-inch device.  That means a better grip, a rubber tip for greater friction on the screen and increased pressure sensitivity for greater accuracy.

New S Pen modes

As well as the usual integration with on board S Pen apps like S-Note, S Planner and Email, new features including S Pen Air View which will allow you to hover the stylus over content like emails allowing you to view them without navigating away.
There’s also Easy Clip to crop and even flip pictures to edit or add a personally handwritten message. PopUp Note will bring up windows anywhere on the screen while you are working away on something else while PopUp Web similarly means you can open up a browser window anywhere.

Camera

On the snapping front, an 8-Megapixel camera with Auto Focus and LED flash is on board once again while the the front-facing camera has dropped from a 2.0 to a 1.9-megapixel sensor. You can shoot in 1080p full HD video and can access modes previously only available on the Samsung Galaxy S3 including the likes of Buddy Photo Share, Burst Shot and Best Photo.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Building on the enhanced functionality introduced in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 will join the likes of the Nexus 7 and the ASUS Transformer Infinity with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean being available straight out of the box. Samsung’s TouchWiz UI will of course be overlaid on top so expect a distinctly different experience from the Jelly Bean packing devices we’ve seen so far. The good news is that the latest Android update will be available for other Note devices which means you will be able to sync S-Note data across devices.

Processor

Ramping up the power under the hood from a 1.4GHz dualcore chipset to a meatier quadcore processor, there's also a 2GB of RAM to ensure it's not sluggish performer when using new multitasking features like PopUp Web and PopUp Note and watching videos while browsing the web on the screen at the same time.

Battery

With the Samsung Galaxy Note promising around 13 hours of battery life over 3G via a 2,500 maH battery, Samsung has packed the Galaxy Note 2 a larger 3,100 maH battery life which should help to burden the extra multitasking capabilities now on board.

 

Connectivity and storage

Like the Galaxy Note, the sequel will support Bluetooth 4.0 , USB and Wi-Fi and MHL smartphone to TV. In terms of place to play with, there will be 16,32 and 64GB versions with MicroSD card support which is expandable up to 64GB