First Impressions: Hands on with Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Samsung launched its flagship Galaxy Note 3 and wearable device Galaxy Gear in the Indian market and amidst huge anticipation the Korean major managed to raise the competition to a whole new level. While it's too early to comment on the performance, the features and overall product's viability we managed to spend some quality time with the Note 3 at the launch event and no matter what anyone says, the pricing strategy from Samsung with the Note 3 seems rather intriguing at Rs 49,900, almost half a lakh if one may say.

Design
Finally, Samsung has done what the whole world has been asking for, better body build and different design to its Galaxy product. The Galaxy Note 3 delivers just that and lot more. On the front you have a 5.7 inch full HD Super AMOLED display and thanks to slimmer bezel structure, the Note 3 does not feel clumsy or awkward even for one hand use and at 168 grams light weight too. The display is crisp, sharp and color reproduction makes watching video and images an exemplary experience. At the back, Samsung has opted to go for a textured leather finish which looks elegant and much better than the cheap plastic body that has been part of the Galaxy line-up till Galaxy S4. One can hope that this will be a new beginning for the company (in terms of body). You have a camera placed at the rear center and the sides have been given a metallic finish, with power button on the right and volume rockers on the left.

Features

There are too many to talk about but from the looks of it, Galaxy Note 3 is a feature packed niche phablet that complements on-the-go lifestyle and supports creative professionals as well. It runs on the latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS over the Touch Wiz UI from Samsung. When it comes to hardware, the Note 3 is quite powerful with an octa-core Exynos 5 CPU (Indian variant) ably supported by 3 GB RAM. You have a 13 MP rear camera and a 2 MP front camera capable of 1080, 30fps video recording. The phablet comes with S Pen (much improved from the previous one) that can be slotted at the bottom of the Note 3. Along with these, the Note 3 comes with host of features like Scrapbook, S Command and S Voice among others. The Note 3 is loaded with a 3200 mAh battery that should suffice for a day but we can talk about its actual life once we use it for a longer period. All in all, the Note 3 is a powerhouse phablet that will offer wide array of functions to its user. 

Performance
The display on the Note 3 is quite bright, crisp and delivers good color reproduction. The body looks elegant but even then we will reserve our verdict on the new faux leather texture that Samsung has used for the rear body, which looks susceptible to easy wear and tear over the course of time. Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS is not particularly different from the previous versions (4.1, 4.2 to be precise) and offers credible performance, smooth interface along with the Touch Wiz UI. The octa-core model which is be available in India, along with 3 GB RAM seems to have upped the performance quotient on the Note 3 and overall the packaged device looks a handful. The camera has its positives and with the amount of time spent using the Note 3 it is hard for us to comment as of now but on a whole looks promising and decent. The S Pen has been improved dramatically compared to the ones launched before and performs whole new set of tasks making it a near-perfect companion with the Galaxy Note 3.
Samsung has surely missed a trick with pricing and at Rs 49,900 the Galaxy Note 3 looks overwhelming for its price which could detract consumers and prompt them to look at other cheaper (than this) options.