How I switched from Motorola Atrix 2 to Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Being somewhat gadzhetanom, I can say that I have been using my previous smartphone for a long time - a little over a year. It was the Motorola Atrix 2, acquired during a trip to the United States literally immediately after its entry into the market. I treat Motorola phones with warmth and trepidation (I use them periodically since 1998), it’s a pity that for some time they haven’t been officially sold to us.
In this post, I want to share my experience of transition from one device to another, as well as the impression of Motorola Atrix 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Who cares, I ask for cat.
Smartphone Motorola Atrix 2 was the flagship model of the company, which was confirmed by its characteristics and appearance, from which we begin.
Motorola Atrix 2 looks harmonious. There are no sharp corners or protruding parts, the smartphone is almost perfectly in the hand. And thanks to the back panel, which is made of soft-touch rubberized plastic with a three-dimensional pattern of longitudinal lines, the gadget does not even think to slip out. By the way, the quality of the rear panel pleased me, it is quite flexible and in the removed state easily lends itself to screw twists without any consequences. At the same time, it sits tightly on the smartphone, does not falter and does not bend.
The frame around the display is made of plastic with special spraying "under burnished steel", it slightly rises above the screen. Moreover, the frame practically does not come out on the upper and lower ends, the back cover of soft-touch closes them. The Atrix 2 screen protects the glass of Gorilla Glass. The quality of the case materials is quite high, for all the time of active and not very careful operation (I do not recognize the protective films and covers), neither the display nor the scratch screen frame appeared. By the way, beyond the frame I was most worried because there are two connectors on the left side of the device: microUSB and microHDMI, which I actively use. I thought that in this place there will be scratches from the plugs, but I was wrong, and it's great.
The screen of Motorola Atrix 2 pleased with the image quality, it is bright, sharp and sharp. And the viewing angles are almost maximum. In this case, it does not use the IPS-matrix, but the most ordinary capacitive 4.3-inch TFT-screen with qHD resolution - 540 x 960 pixels.
Good performance of the smartphone is provided thanks to the Texas Instruments OMAP4430 dual-core gigahertz processor (ARM Cortex A9 architecture) and the PowerVR SGX 540 graphics accelerator. The RAM in the 1 GB device. Hardware resources are enough for running modern “heavy” games like Dead Trigger. And for the smooth operation of the interface of the listed components, even more so. By the way, about the interface. Motorola Atrix 2 was running the Android operating system version 2.3 (at the time of the start of sales). "Robot" is not naked, but slightly customized, with the addition of proprietary software. Built-in memory in the device 8 GB, plus support for microSD-cards.
')
The smartphone uses an 8-megapixel autofocus camera , which provides quite good quality photos. True, this applies only to photographs taken during the day or indoors; the pictures taken in the evening are somewhat grainy.
In general, the device is decent, but time is ticking, and it was time to buy something new. Besides, I was sick of the lack of a Chrome browser. The fact is that after returning to Russia, Motorola Atrix 2 was unlocked from the AT & T operator and received a new custom firmware with the same Android 2.3.6. At the beginning of the winter of 2012, the device told me that a new firmware is available with the Android 4.0 operating system, but this is where the problem arose. The update is downloaded, the installation begins, but an error occurs about a third, after which the smartphone is overloaded. All the fault of the very custom firmware. In general, in the end, the final decision was made to acquire a new Android-smartphone.
I wanted something new and powerful. I will not describe the entire selection process, but I stopped at an unusual form factor - “phablet”, such a hybrid of a smartphone and a tablet. It is not hard to guess that I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
I will not hide, I have long been worried about the fact that the new smartphone will be noticeably larger than my Motorola, and that it will be inconvenient for me to use it. In principle, it turned out that I got used to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for about two weeks. Let's compare the dimensions:
66 x 126 x 10.4 mm for the Atrix 2 and 80.5 x 151.1 x 9.4 mm for the Galaxy Note 2.
The first thing I noticed was that I didn’t always get the earpiece clearly in my ear the first time, I had to move the device until the volume level was good. Also, the dimensions of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 do not allow to comfortably control it with one hand. The manufacturer took care of this and included a separate item “One-handed control” in the settings menu. With it, you can move the dial pad, virtual keyboard, calculator, phone unlocking element, etc. closer to the left or right edge of the screen (for right-handers and for left-handers).
However, this did not save the situation - it’s almost impossible to fully control the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with one hand.
As I have already said, I am an opponent of all sorts of covers, screen protectors, etc. But after a month of using the gadget, I still had to get a silicone back panel lining. The reason is simple - the back side of the Galaxy Note 2 is made of fairly slippery glossy plastic and I was constantly afraid that the device would slip out of my hands. The cover solved this problem, now the device reliably lies both in dry, and in wet hands.
The front panel of Samsung Galaxy Note 2 covers the protective glass with oleophobic coating. Traces of fingers or ears do not appear on it so quickly, and they can easily be removed with a cloth. Above the screen are proximity and light sensors and a front camera lens. The latter has a resolution of 1.9 MP and is used for video calls or self portraits. Below the Galaxy Note 2 display are three keys: one hardware in the center and two touch on the sides. In principle, the design is the same as that of the then popular Galaxy S III.
Let's go to the screen . Earlier, I had to deal with AMOLED displays and, frankly, I didn’t like them very much with my “vivid eyes” colors. I also waited for the same sensations from the screen of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but, having turned the smartphone in the store, I realized that everything was not so bad. Firstly, the matrix of this model is not made by PenTile technology, it is a full-fledged RGB display. Someone says that visually it is almost impossible to distinguish the first screen from the second. I don’t even know if this may be so, but the picture on the Galaxy Note 2 screen seemed to me more natural than on the display, for example, Motorola RAZR XT910. Secondly, in the settings of the screen there is such a curious mode as “Natural”, after which the colors fade a little, and the image becomes similar to the image on the IPS-matrix. Three other modes are also provided: Dynamic, Standard and Film.
As for the characteristics of the display Samsung Galaxy Note 2, they are as follows: matrix - HD Super AMOLED, diagonal - 5.5 inches, resolution - 1280 x 720 pixels, aspect ratio - 16: 9, dot density - 256 per inch. Pixels are noticeable only upon closer inspection, in everyday work you will not notice them. The image quality is very good, the picture is clear, contrast and bright, the viewing angles are wide. In general, I was satisfied with the matrix, despite the AMOLED technology that I had never liked.
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is deservedly considered one of the most productive smartphones today. It is equipped with a Samsung Exynos quad-core processor that operates at 1.6 GHz. By the way, the former flagship of this Korean company is also equipped with the same processor - this is the Samsung Galaxy S III. It is curious that there are other brands of smartphones that use these chips, for example, Meizu MX2 or Highscreen Explosion. But back to our Note 2. The amount of its RAM is today the maximum - it is 2 GB. For all the time of using the gadget, he never "thought", the hardware resources are more than enough for any task.
There are three versions of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which differ in the amount of internal memory - it's 16, 32 and 64 GB, right for you iPhone. True, unlike the "apple" product, this smartphone supports memory cards. I have the most inexpensive version - with 16 GB of internal memory, of which a little less than 11 GB is available to the user.
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is running under the operating system Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, over which the proprietary TouchWiz shell is installed. It is clear that the interface is markedly different from the original Android. It is more beautiful, convenient and allows you to customize everything "by yourself" without resorting to the help of various launchers.
Of the firm " chips " Samsung Galaxy Note 2 separately note the multi-window. On the left side of the screen is a semicircle. If you pull it, it will leave a panel with shortcuts of installed applications, from which they can be launched, and at any time and from any program. Very convenient, I tell you. Frankly, now it will be difficult for me to switch to some other smartphone without multiple windows.
Not to mention the pen S Pen. It hides in the lower edge of the device and is securely fixed there. By the way, it has not a round shape, like the first Note, but a rectangular one, which makes it easier to hold it, it does not turn in your hand. The tip of the pen is movable, so you can adjust the degree of depression (altogether 1024 levels of depression are recognized). With S Pen you can make handwritten notes, draw, cut out part of the screen and much more. The smartphone has a whole package of relevant applications installed. By the way, pulling out the pen, the context window with applications for working with S Pen automatically opens.
Another interesting technology implemented in the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is the Air View.
When you bring the pen to the screen, pops up a context menu. For example, if you send the S Pen to a miniature photo in the gallery, it increases in size. In the browser, the lines are highlighted or a window appears with explanatory information. In general, it is quite convenient to use this pen. Not to say that I use it all the time, but quite often.
In general, there are a lot of additional options and settings. I don’t see the point of telling everyone, if you want, you can read full reviews on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on the Internet.
Now about the camera . The Galaxy Note 2 uses a camera with the same resolution as the Motorola Atrix 2 (8 megapixel), but Samsung’s picture quality is noticeably higher. And the number of settings and shooting modes is amazing. Of the interesting modes, I’ll highlight “Best Shot” when 8 photos are taken, after which you can select the best one. There is a recognition of smiles, faces and more. There are also modes "Panorama" and "Burst", when in a few seconds the smartphone takes 20 pictures.
The maximum photo resolution is 3264 x 2448 pixels. Video recording takes place in the format of Full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) at a frequency of 30 frames per second. Quality is more than acceptable. Here is an example of photos:
Total Yes, I hesitated for a long time before buying the Galaxy Note 2. The dimensions of the smartphone and the AMOLED screen frightened me. As a result, both the first and the second were not a problem: I was used to the dimensions, and the color rendition of the display differed little from the TFT screen. Therefore, the minus of this gadget for me is only one - it is a slippery glossy back panel, which forced me to use the cover. In the rest, Note 2 noticeably surpasses my "old" Motorola Atrix 2, as well as most other smartphones presented in our stores.
In this post, I want to share my experience of transition from one device to another, as well as the impression of Motorola Atrix 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Who cares, I ask for cat.
Smartphone Motorola Atrix 2 was the flagship model of the company, which was confirmed by its characteristics and appearance, from which we begin.
Motorola Atrix 2 looks harmonious. There are no sharp corners or protruding parts, the smartphone is almost perfectly in the hand. And thanks to the back panel, which is made of soft-touch rubberized plastic with a three-dimensional pattern of longitudinal lines, the gadget does not even think to slip out. By the way, the quality of the rear panel pleased me, it is quite flexible and in the removed state easily lends itself to screw twists without any consequences. At the same time, it sits tightly on the smartphone, does not falter and does not bend.
The frame around the display is made of plastic with special spraying "under burnished steel", it slightly rises above the screen. Moreover, the frame practically does not come out on the upper and lower ends, the back cover of soft-touch closes them. The Atrix 2 screen protects the glass of Gorilla Glass. The quality of the case materials is quite high, for all the time of active and not very careful operation (I do not recognize the protective films and covers), neither the display nor the scratch screen frame appeared. By the way, beyond the frame I was most worried because there are two connectors on the left side of the device: microUSB and microHDMI, which I actively use. I thought that in this place there will be scratches from the plugs, but I was wrong, and it's great.
The screen of Motorola Atrix 2 pleased with the image quality, it is bright, sharp and sharp. And the viewing angles are almost maximum. In this case, it does not use the IPS-matrix, but the most ordinary capacitive 4.3-inch TFT-screen with qHD resolution - 540 x 960 pixels.
Good performance of the smartphone is provided thanks to the Texas Instruments OMAP4430 dual-core gigahertz processor (ARM Cortex A9 architecture) and the PowerVR SGX 540 graphics accelerator. The RAM in the 1 GB device. Hardware resources are enough for running modern “heavy” games like Dead Trigger. And for the smooth operation of the interface of the listed components, even more so. By the way, about the interface. Motorola Atrix 2 was running the Android operating system version 2.3 (at the time of the start of sales). "Robot" is not naked, but slightly customized, with the addition of proprietary software. Built-in memory in the device 8 GB, plus support for microSD-cards.
')
The smartphone uses an 8-megapixel autofocus camera , which provides quite good quality photos. True, this applies only to photographs taken during the day or indoors; the pictures taken in the evening are somewhat grainy.
In general, the device is decent, but time is ticking, and it was time to buy something new. Besides, I was sick of the lack of a Chrome browser. The fact is that after returning to Russia, Motorola Atrix 2 was unlocked from the AT & T operator and received a new custom firmware with the same Android 2.3.6. At the beginning of the winter of 2012, the device told me that a new firmware is available with the Android 4.0 operating system, but this is where the problem arose. The update is downloaded, the installation begins, but an error occurs about a third, after which the smartphone is overloaded. All the fault of the very custom firmware. In general, in the end, the final decision was made to acquire a new Android-smartphone.
I wanted something new and powerful. I will not describe the entire selection process, but I stopped at an unusual form factor - “phablet”, such a hybrid of a smartphone and a tablet. It is not hard to guess that I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 2.
I will not hide, I have long been worried about the fact that the new smartphone will be noticeably larger than my Motorola, and that it will be inconvenient for me to use it. In principle, it turned out that I got used to the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for about two weeks. Let's compare the dimensions:
66 x 126 x 10.4 mm for the Atrix 2 and 80.5 x 151.1 x 9.4 mm for the Galaxy Note 2.
The first thing I noticed was that I didn’t always get the earpiece clearly in my ear the first time, I had to move the device until the volume level was good. Also, the dimensions of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 do not allow to comfortably control it with one hand. The manufacturer took care of this and included a separate item “One-handed control” in the settings menu. With it, you can move the dial pad, virtual keyboard, calculator, phone unlocking element, etc. closer to the left or right edge of the screen (for right-handers and for left-handers).
However, this did not save the situation - it’s almost impossible to fully control the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with one hand.
As I have already said, I am an opponent of all sorts of covers, screen protectors, etc. But after a month of using the gadget, I still had to get a silicone back panel lining. The reason is simple - the back side of the Galaxy Note 2 is made of fairly slippery glossy plastic and I was constantly afraid that the device would slip out of my hands. The cover solved this problem, now the device reliably lies both in dry, and in wet hands.
The front panel of Samsung Galaxy Note 2 covers the protective glass with oleophobic coating. Traces of fingers or ears do not appear on it so quickly, and they can easily be removed with a cloth. Above the screen are proximity and light sensors and a front camera lens. The latter has a resolution of 1.9 MP and is used for video calls or self portraits. Below the Galaxy Note 2 display are three keys: one hardware in the center and two touch on the sides. In principle, the design is the same as that of the then popular Galaxy S III.
Let's go to the screen . Earlier, I had to deal with AMOLED displays and, frankly, I didn’t like them very much with my “vivid eyes” colors. I also waited for the same sensations from the screen of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but, having turned the smartphone in the store, I realized that everything was not so bad. Firstly, the matrix of this model is not made by PenTile technology, it is a full-fledged RGB display. Someone says that visually it is almost impossible to distinguish the first screen from the second. I don’t even know if this may be so, but the picture on the Galaxy Note 2 screen seemed to me more natural than on the display, for example, Motorola RAZR XT910. Secondly, in the settings of the screen there is such a curious mode as “Natural”, after which the colors fade a little, and the image becomes similar to the image on the IPS-matrix. Three other modes are also provided: Dynamic, Standard and Film.
As for the characteristics of the display Samsung Galaxy Note 2, they are as follows: matrix - HD Super AMOLED, diagonal - 5.5 inches, resolution - 1280 x 720 pixels, aspect ratio - 16: 9, dot density - 256 per inch. Pixels are noticeable only upon closer inspection, in everyday work you will not notice them. The image quality is very good, the picture is clear, contrast and bright, the viewing angles are wide. In general, I was satisfied with the matrix, despite the AMOLED technology that I had never liked.
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is deservedly considered one of the most productive smartphones today. It is equipped with a Samsung Exynos quad-core processor that operates at 1.6 GHz. By the way, the former flagship of this Korean company is also equipped with the same processor - this is the Samsung Galaxy S III. It is curious that there are other brands of smartphones that use these chips, for example, Meizu MX2 or Highscreen Explosion. But back to our Note 2. The amount of its RAM is today the maximum - it is 2 GB. For all the time of using the gadget, he never "thought", the hardware resources are more than enough for any task.
There are three versions of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which differ in the amount of internal memory - it's 16, 32 and 64 GB, right for you iPhone. True, unlike the "apple" product, this smartphone supports memory cards. I have the most inexpensive version - with 16 GB of internal memory, of which a little less than 11 GB is available to the user.
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is running under the operating system Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, over which the proprietary TouchWiz shell is installed. It is clear that the interface is markedly different from the original Android. It is more beautiful, convenient and allows you to customize everything "by yourself" without resorting to the help of various launchers.
Of the firm " chips " Samsung Galaxy Note 2 separately note the multi-window. On the left side of the screen is a semicircle. If you pull it, it will leave a panel with shortcuts of installed applications, from which they can be launched, and at any time and from any program. Very convenient, I tell you. Frankly, now it will be difficult for me to switch to some other smartphone without multiple windows.
Not to mention the pen S Pen. It hides in the lower edge of the device and is securely fixed there. By the way, it has not a round shape, like the first Note, but a rectangular one, which makes it easier to hold it, it does not turn in your hand. The tip of the pen is movable, so you can adjust the degree of depression (altogether 1024 levels of depression are recognized). With S Pen you can make handwritten notes, draw, cut out part of the screen and much more. The smartphone has a whole package of relevant applications installed. By the way, pulling out the pen, the context window with applications for working with S Pen automatically opens.
Another interesting technology implemented in the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is the Air View.
When you bring the pen to the screen, pops up a context menu. For example, if you send the S Pen to a miniature photo in the gallery, it increases in size. In the browser, the lines are highlighted or a window appears with explanatory information. In general, it is quite convenient to use this pen. Not to say that I use it all the time, but quite often.
In general, there are a lot of additional options and settings. I don’t see the point of telling everyone, if you want, you can read full reviews on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on the Internet.
Now about the camera . The Galaxy Note 2 uses a camera with the same resolution as the Motorola Atrix 2 (8 megapixel), but Samsung’s picture quality is noticeably higher. And the number of settings and shooting modes is amazing. Of the interesting modes, I’ll highlight “Best Shot” when 8 photos are taken, after which you can select the best one. There is a recognition of smiles, faces and more. There are also modes "Panorama" and "Burst", when in a few seconds the smartphone takes 20 pictures.
The maximum photo resolution is 3264 x 2448 pixels. Video recording takes place in the format of Full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) at a frequency of 30 frames per second. Quality is more than acceptable. Here is an example of photos:
Total Yes, I hesitated for a long time before buying the Galaxy Note 2. The dimensions of the smartphone and the AMOLED screen frightened me. As a result, both the first and the second were not a problem: I was used to the dimensions, and the color rendition of the display differed little from the TFT screen. Therefore, the minus of this gadget for me is only one - it is a slippery glossy back panel, which forced me to use the cover. In the rest, Note 2 noticeably surpasses my "old" Motorola Atrix 2, as well as most other smartphones presented in our stores.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/181253/
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