Samsung UE65F9000

Samsung UE65F9000 Review

What is the Samsung UE65F9000?

The 65-inch UE65F9000 is Samsung’s biggest ‘mainstream’ Ultra High Definition TV to date (assuming you’re not lucky enough to consider the brand’s £35,000 UE85S9 to be mainstream!). This means it should provide the perfect forum for showing off the picture quality benefits of the higher resolution format. Or for highlighting any potential flaws it might have…

Review Price £4,999.00

1.Samsung UE65F9000: Design and Features

Considering what a cutting-edge TV it is, the UE65F9000 is just a touch ‘normal’ looking by Samsung’s usual mouthwatering standards. It’s still attractive enough – not least because it manages to support 65 inches of screen inside a bezel only slightly wider than 1cm across. But personally I slightly prefer the looks of Samsung’s F7000 and F8000 Full HD TVs.

The UE65F9000’s rear features startlingly few connections. But don’t worry; this is only because the vast majority of its jacks are found on an external box. This approach means we only have to have one video cable going into the screen – handy if we’re thinking of wall-hanging the set. But more importantly it also provides Samsung with a way of upgrading its TV (by replacing the external box) with both future Smart TV systems and potential future UHD input systems.

These will include, of course, the recently announced HDMI 2.0 standard, with its support for 60Hz UHD picture feeds (current HDMI jacks can only handle UHD up to 30 frames per second unless they compromise in other areas, such as colour fidelity).

In essence, then, the UE65F9000’s external connections box replaces the Smart Evolution Kit boxes available for Samsung E7000, E8000, F7000 and F8000 TVs. There’s not yet any pricing information on how much replacement connection boxes might cost when they become available, but the main point at this stage in the UHD game is that Samsung has a clearer and more flexible upgrade path than any other manufacturer we’ve seen to date, and that can only be a good thing when you’re spending £5,000 on a TV.

Four paragraphs into this section of the review, and I still haven’t focussed properly on the single most important feature of the UE65F9000: its UHD resolution. This means it carries 3840x2160 pixels instead of the usual full HD 1920x1080 resolution, delivering four times as much picture information. Native UHD/4K sources are currently very hard to come by, it has to be said, but they’re coming. And in the meantime the set can upscale current HD and even standard definition sources to its UHD resolution.

This TV is capable of having a transformational effect on 3D as well as 2D pictures. With the UE65F9000 this effect should be particularly interesting, since Samsung’s preference for the Active 3D format means the set will have to upscale 3D Blu-rays to a UHD resolution. Rival UHD TVs that use the passive 3D format use their extra resolution instead to make sure you get to see all 1080 lines of a 3D Blu-ray picture.

Backing up the UE65F9000’s UHD resolution are an impressive sounding 1000Hz-emulating motion driving engine, propelled by a native 200Hz panel.

Also promising is the set’s local dimming technology, whereby sectors of the edge LED lighting system can have their brightness controlled individually to boost contrast. Given how impressive the contrast performance of Samsung’s F8000 TVs was without using local dimming, we can’t wait to see what the locally dimmed UE65F9000 can do with our favourite dark movie scenes.

Inevitably the UE65F9000 is equipped with Samsung’s latest content-rich and sophisticated Samsung Smart TV system. Particular highlights of this are the class-leading amount of streaming video services available (including LoveFilm, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD, Demand 5, BlinkBox and Know How Movies) and a recommendations system based around an analysis of your viewing habits.

The set can also stream a wide variety of photo, video and music files from networked DLNA computers, and thanks to built-in cameras and a microphone in the touchpad remote control Samsung supplies with the TV as we can also operate the TV by waving our hands about or issuing instructions vocally.

We’ll look at these alternative control methods in the Other Points To Consider section later – or we can check out our in-depth look at Samsung’s 2013 Smart TV offering in this earlier feature.

Samsung UE65F9000: Ideal Settings and Set Up

As I would expect of a set as high-end and cutting edge as the UE65F9000, it carries a huge suite of picture calibration tools – easily enough to keep any professional installer happy, despite Samsung not having pursued an official endorsement for the set from the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF).

The only slight surprise about the many picture set up tools is that they don’t include anything specifically devoted to the set’s UHD resolution. Sony and Toshiba have both provided picture tweaks dedicated specifically to their 4K upscaling capabilities, but Samsung just provides the same tweaks you would get on one of its high-end full HD sets.

In truth, though, this isn’t as problematic as it may sound, for we didn’t have much trouble at all in using the provided toolset to get outstanding native and upscaled 4K pictures from the set.

I were really pleased during set up, too, to find that Samsung has provided a couple of presets – the Standard default one and a Movie one – which show a keen appreciation for the main picture quality concerns (noise levels and colour levels) that most interest my average home cinephile.

If I really want to mine every last drop of quality out of the screen, though, there are a few manual tweaks I might want to play with. The sharpness tool has the single biggest impact on the balance between noise and detail in upscaled UHD pictures. I personally wouldn’t have this set higher than 20-25, but I could perhaps push it higher if my viewing position is a particularly long way from the screen.

I’d recommend only using the local dimming engine on its lowest power setting to minimise the opportunity for spotting light ‘blocks’ around bright objects, and the dynamic contrast functionality should also only be used on its lowest level – if at all – to prevent the image becoming unstable and flickery during dark scenes.

I’d also urge caution with the set’s Motion Plus processing. Personally I preferred to leave the feature off when watching 2D Blu-rays, and while I did use it for 3D, I still only did so on either its relatively low-powered Clear setting or on a manual setting with judder and blur cancellation both set to around their three levels.

Finally I would strongly recommend reducing the set’s backlight output to below 10 if I was watching in a dark room, to avoid backlight clouding.

2.Samsung UE65F9000 - Picture Quality

Samsung UE65F9000: 2D Picture Quality

Watching our various UHD/4K demo reels in action on the UE65F9000 is a dazzling spectacle that makes going back to a normal HD TV feel positively painful.

For instance, the sense of detail and sharpness in the UE65F9000’s pictures is like nothing I’ve tested before – and that despite having previously tested 65-inch UHD/4K TVs from Sony and Toshiba. There’s just something about Samsung’s image handling that’s seems tailor-made to stress the raw clarity-boosting power of the UHD format. 

This focus on sharpness sounds eminently sensible on paper of course, given that for most consumers the easiest UHD benefit to understand is its impact on clarity. However, it would actually have been very easy for Samsung to have made a hash of things if its focus on sharpness hadn’t been accompanied by plenty of prowess when it comes to handling noise and colour nuancing. Plus it would have been pretty unpleasant if Samsung had pushed sharpness too far – a potential problem I can actually witness on the UE65F900 if I use its Dynamic picture preset, which goes into such overdrive where sharpness is concerned that it causes the image to look noisy, artificial and uneven, with bright, contrasty parts of the image becoming stressy. 

Stick with Samsung’s default Standard or Movie presets, though, which leave the sharpness setting lower, and you’ll still get a stunning appreciation for UHD’s extra detail without being troubled by any unwanted side effects.

Comparing the UE65F9000 directly with Sony’s 65X9005A reveals that actually pushing sharpness isn’t the only way to deliver on UHD’s impact. For while the Sony doesn’t have quite the same immediate detail punch, it compensates for this with greater colour subtlety and range – a result, presumably, of its Triluminos technology.

This isn’t to say that the UE65F9000 isn’t also an impressive colour performer, though. For as well as its pictures benefitting from the extra blend finesse and tonal subtleties UHD makes possible, it’s also capable of producing colours that look as vibrant or as reined back and natural as we want, depending on our tastes. Yes, the Sony’s colours are richer still, but that’s not to say the Samsung isn’t still excellent in this department.

Not surprisingly the UE65F9000’s fancy for sharpness proves very helpful in reminding us of UHD’s depth of field advantage, as large-scale images are resolved much further into the distance before starting to look soft and flat than happens with normal HD pictures.

Samsung’s use of a native 200Hz panel, meanwhile – such panels remain rare in the LCD TV world at the moment – proves very helpful in making sure the UE65F9000’s extreme UHD clarity doesn’t break down when the screen is having to handle a lot of motion. Activate the set’s motion processing systems, in fact, and you can remove pretty much all trace of LCD’s common motion blur issues. This processing works more cleanly than you might expect when it comes to unwanted side effects, too, considering how much processing work is having to be done to add extra frames to UHD images. 

To sum all of this UHD stuff up, the UE65F9000’s native UHD images are nothing short of magnificent – especially as they gain that bit more extra detail impact from appearing on a larger screen than that of the 55-inch UE55F9000 we’ve tested previously. 

I were concerned, conversely, that the extra size of the UE65F9000 might have a detrimental effect on its upscaled images, since any glitches in the upscaling system would be that much more visible. But if anything the UE65F9000 merely emphasises how good Samsung’s upscaling system is.

Particularly impressively, it achieves the same almost miraculous feat of making normal HD footage look at least halfway UHD (certainly more detailed and crisp than HD) without exaggerating source noise or making bright parts of the picture look forced and out of kilter with the rest of the image. 

Also hugely impressive is how well HD colour is upscaled to the UE65F9000’s UHD screen, as instead of the slightly rough colour banding you might have expected you get colour blends that are only slightly less pristine than those you get with native UHD content. 

It’s great to see, too, that colour tones hold up pretty much immaculately through the upscaling process, even when the source involved is a standard definition one.

I’d frankly expected standard definition to look pretty horrible on the UE65F9000. But while it’s certainly an experience best avoided where possible given the quality you get with UHD or HD, the UE65F9000’s upscaled standard def pictures are still engaging to watch, and still enjoy a level of sharpness slightly beyond that of any other brand of UHD TV tested to date.

One final exceptional aspect of the UE65F9000’s pictures not directly related to its UHD capabilities is its contrast. For the combination of the impressive native contrast performance of Samsung’s panel design together with one of the LCD world’s most effective local dimming performances helps the screen produce black levels that are deep, pure and above all natural. Especially in the way that even the darkest of content retains remarkable amounts of subtle shadow detail.

There are faint traces of backlight clouding on Samsung’s huge panel if you don’t rein in the backlight level as discussed in the set up section, and occasionally you can see a little backlight ‘blocking’ around very bright objects if you’re using the local dimming system. But neither of these issues are nearly as distracting as they have been on other LCD TVs we’ve seen this year – most notably those from LG and Panasonic.

3.Samsung UE65F9000 - 3D Quality, Audio and Conclusions

Samsung UE65F9000: 3D Picture Quality

The UE65F9000’s 3D pictures are every bit as jaw-dropping as its 2D UHD ones. Maybe even more so.

The key to their success is their UHDness, for want of a better word. For as noted earlier, the UE65F9000 actually upscales 3D Blu-rays to full UHD resolution, rather than leaving the horizontal resolution at 1080 lines as happens with passive UHD TVs. And by adding so many pixels to the 3D frame Samsung enables its 3D pictures to take a giant leap towards the more realistic recreation of the filmic world that 3D was always intended to deliver.

The extra pixel density of the 3D image is joined by the UE65F9000’s excellent contrast performance in helping to deliver a more natural sense of depth that feels less ‘layered’ than the 3D worlds you often experience on domestic 3D TVs. Plus, as with 2D, having more pixels to play with helps 3D images resolve a greater sense of depth, even though (at the moment) the 3D UHD images are only upscaled from HD rather than being native UHD.

Things aren’t completely perfect with the UE65F9000’s 3D images. There’s a touch – though only a touch – of crosstalk ghosting and bright edges occasionally look a bit forced too, especially if you leave the sharpness at its 50 default level rather than reducing it to around 25-30. 

Finally, motion can look a bit stuttery unless you use the Motion Plus system, yet when in use this system can cause a few processing twitches and glitches.

Overall, though, seeing 3D in UHD  - even upscaled UHD – makes us think there might just be life in the old 3D dog yet.

Samsung UE65F9000: Sound Quality

If there’s one performance area Samsung would be well advised to focus on for its next TV range, it’s audio. For while the UE65F9000 isn’t a bad sound performer, there’s no denying that it can’t produce the sort of audio scale and clarity that its huge, pristine pictures deserve. And more to the point it lags far behind the efforts of one or two rivals – especially the stunning speaker array of the Sony 65X9005A – when it comes to delivering truly convincing, cinematic audio.

Should People buy a Samsung UE65F9000?

If I’ve got the necessary five grand and I don’t mind waiting a little while before the native UHD sources arrive that will enable me to get the full benefit of its headline UHD resolution, then the UE65F9000 has to be a massive temptation. 

Its picture quality and smart features are better than those of the Toshiba 65L9363, leaving as its main competition the Sony 65X9005A. The Sony comfortably outguns the Samsung where built-in sound quality is concerned and delivers richer and more nuanced colours. But the Samsung’s pictures are sharper, its design is much less bulky and perhaps most importantly of all, the Samsung offers a potentially less compromised upgrade path to future UHD-related connection standards.

Verdict

The UE65F9000 is another terrific example of just what a difference UHD is set to make to your AV experience once UHD sources start to arrive. It’s a worthy rival for Sony’s outstanding 65X9005A in picture performance terms, and offers a seemingly more solid HDMI upgrade path to boot.

4.Specifications :

Key Features: 65-inch UHD TV; Edge LED lighting with local dimming; Active 3D playback (2 pairs of glasses included); Smart TV online system ; multimedia playback via USB and DLNA

Manufacturer: Samsung

Quick Glance

Features

Physical Specifications

Connectivity

Xbox 360

1.Overview



 The Xbox 360 has changed since its launch in 2005.

That much is transparently clear from the updated version that debuted in 2010.

The Xbox 360 S is smaller, sleeker and quieter than the previous model and designed to banish the infamous 'Red Ring of Death' hardware failure that forced Microsoft to extend its warranty on the system.

Likewise the arrival of Kinect, which has gone on to sell over 10 million units, has transformed the machine from solely the preserve of hardcore gamers to a casual gamer friendly environment.

While some of the novelty of Kinect may have worn off, if anything the games are improving – finding new ways to take advantage of what is still fascinating technology.

But Microsoft is and always has been a software company first and foremost and, fittingly, that's where the Xbox 360 has changed the most. The NXE update of 2008 binned the old 'blades' system for an interface that was more welcoming to multimedia content and 2011 has seen another major update to the console's operating system. One so substantial, we've felt it necessary to update this review to reflect what a different machine it is.

Whether it's the old model or the new one, the Xbox 360 has now comprehensively changed from a machine primarily about playing games, with a modest selection of online content attached, to a fully featured entertainment and media hub.

The majority of forms of digital entertainment are catered for, there are extensive social networking features available and a new TV tab aims to replace traditional digital boxes with IPTV and catch up services.

The new dashboard, based around the Metro design language that also features in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 7, is a far busier interface, but it's reflective of the huge amounts of content now available within the walled garden of Xbox Live.

Getting to it all has always been the challenge and Microsoft has made admirable steps towards making that a straightforward process.

2.Features

You'd think that the most significant change for the new widely touted 'Xbox 360 Slim' would be its size, but surprisingly, it's not.

At 270mm in height, it's sufficiently shorter than the 310mm tall old 360. But it's only a measly half-a-centimeter slimmer (and fatter than the PS3 Slim) and, would you believe, it's actually slightly deeper than the old 360, too.

Just to make it easier at a glance, here are its dimensions beside the older model, and the PS3 slim just for some extra comparison:

Console: Height/Width/Depth/weight

Xbox 360 250GB: 270mm x 75mm x 264mm, 2.9kg

Xbox 360 Elite: 310mm x 80mm x 260mm, 3.5kg

PS3 Slim: 290mm × 65mm ×290mm, 3.5kg

As you can see, its profile is not much 'slim' but more 'light'. It's the lightest of the current-gen consoles by a fair amount, although it's worth noting right now that the PS3 Slim's extra heft also counts for the system's internal power supply, which disappointingly remains external (albeit smaller than the previous power brick) in the new Xbox.

Instead, the more significant changes are in the console's aesthetics and hardware configuration. First of all, that matte plastic has been swapped for a super sexy gloss black.

Where the old console's bubble-like roundness wouldn't look too out of place on the Tomy Toys page of your Argos catalogue, the new console dons sharp edges and harsh lines that almost resemble a stealth fighter (fittingly so given its new quieter operating volume).

And then there's that grill on the side – a surprisingly large and aggressive opening that's more like something you'd expect from a third-party case mod than the usually reserved standard skin. Consoles usually hide away their tightly-packed insides but the new Xbox flaunts it, giving you a good look at the system's case fan.

Touch-buttons

The power and disc eject buttons are no longer the clunky things they were before. In fact you don't press them at all – they're capacitive touch buttons that respond to no more than a gentle prod.

The console makes a funky beep sound to acknowledge your touch, but it's thankfully a more calming chime and not that horrible microwave-style bleep of the PS3.

The console's cleaner appearance is also partly thanks to the omission of the proprietary memory stick ports – MS updated the 360 recently to accept any USB stick as usable memory; a move which pretty much rendered the notoriously more expensive native memory cards redundant anyway.

The two front-loading USB ports remain, tucked neatly way behind a little flap which sits in line with the new bigger and more responsive controller sync button.

The console actually now has five USB ports total instead of the previous three, but those additional ones have been tucked away on the back of the console.

The new disc drive is considerably smoother and quieter than before. Now, we know some of you will, right off the bat, question MS' decision to stick with a disc tray rather than the admittedly sleeker slot-loading drive like on PS3 and Wii. Honestly speaking we would have preferred a slot loader too.

Anyhow, the new drive has none of that Aiwa tape deck-like clunkyness to it. We always wondered what part of the old Xbox could possibly make such a loud 'ker-chunk' sound as the drive closed – that teeth-gritting sound is no longer present here.

We tried moving the console while a disc was spinning inside – something that resulted in a severely scratched disc in the old console. The result? We're certain the result was even worse!

Clearly Microsoft has been unable to find a solution the intense centrifugal forces that bend the disc and make it touch harmful nearby surfaces in the drive. The console does in fact have a sticker on the front which warns against moving it while a disc is spinning. Does this make up for the flaw in our eyes? Not a chance.

On the backside

Flip the console round and you're greeted by a few new ports, too. As we said before, there are three USB ports back here instead of one. You'll now be able to plug a digital optical audio lead directly into the console for your 5.1 surround kits, instead of having to go through external ports on the AV lead.

Most interesting though is the 'Aux' port, which is basically where Kinect, Microsoft's new motion-sensing gadget releasing in November, will be plugged in. This port will both operate and power the device. Users of the old console will plug Kinect in via a USB adapter and draw power from a wall socket.

Video is delivered to your TV either via standard HDMI or the proprietary Xbox AV port, which is the same size as before so all your old AV cables will work, which is handy for anyone upgrading from the old console because, ridiculously, the new Xbox comes with no HD video leads whatsoever.

All you get in the box is the standard composite lead, which only does SD – and poorly at that. Everyone else will otherwise have to add the cost of an HDMI lead to their bill before they can see the crisp HD resolutions this machine is capable of.

There's an Ethernet network port back here too, although we'd like to think anyone grabbing the new console will make use of the now built-in Wi-Fi capability.

Finally, Microsoft is no longer bending you over a table with its £70 proprietary Wi-Fi adapter necessary before. Just turn it on and you're wireless right out of the box.

3.Noise and Storage

Compare the noise of the new Xbox 360 to the Elite and the PS3 Slim: 1

Below is my experience of playing Xbox 360 in my house. It's very real and showing that this is the advancement in the new technology.

PlayStation®3 12GB

PlayStation®3 12GB System Overview
Play the Highest Rated Exclusive Games Library* Including PlayStation’s Award-Winning ‘AAA’ Games like Gran Turismo™, God of War® and Uncharted™. Access your Favorite Entertainment Apps like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video for Free. Watch Movies come to Life with the Built-In HD Blu-Ray Player. All on the PlayStation®3 12GB system for $199 MSRP**.
*Digital versions of certain games require purchase of additional memory capacity.
**Subscriptions and content sold separately.

Key Features
Play. Stream. Watch. Amazing Value at a Low Price: Play the highest rated exclusive games library*, Access services like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and Hulu and Watch HD Blu-ray on the PlayStation® 3 12GB system for $199 MSRP**.
*Digital versions of certain games require purchase of additional memory capacity. **Subscriptions and content sold separately.

The Highest Rated Exclusive Game Library: Dig into the highest rated library of exclusive games*, including popular titles like LittleBigPlanet™ and award-winning AAA series such as God of War® and Uncharted™.
*Digital versions of certain games require purchase of additional memory capacity.

Play Online for no Additional Fee*: Use an online connection to access PSN’s free* multiplayer. Bluetooth® EDR capability makes communication easy and clear when you’re teaming up with friends.
*User is responsible for internet access fees. SEN account required.

Stream Your Apps for Free*: Access your favorite video services like Netflix and Hulu Plus for no additional fee. Sign up for streaming app subscriptions if you haven’t already and enjoy instant access.
*Subscriptions and content sold separately.

Enjoy Blu-Ray Movies: The built in Blu-Ray disc player brings your movies and shows to life with stunning visual and sound quality.

Need even MORE storage? We have an HDD Upgrade Solution
If you would like to expand your storage space for your PlayStation®3 system, you may purchase the Officially Licensed 500 GB HDD Kit* upgrade. No need to modify your PS3 system— The upgrade kit provides everything you need to just plug in the hard disk drive and game on.
*Available at select retailers.

Featured Products

PlayStation®Move Racing Wheel

Feel the adrenaline of high-speed racing as you jump into the driver’s seat with the PlayStation®Move Racing Wheel.

PlayStation® 3D Display
Turn any bedroom, den, or office into a 3D entertainment power suite with the best-in-class PlayStation® 3D Display.

USB Cable - 9ft

Enjoy the convenience of charging your controller while playing using the Official PlayStation high speed USB cable.

PlayStation® 3D Glasses

Essential equipment for your 3D gaming experience, PlayStation? 3D Glasses fully immerse you in the heat of gameplay.

PlayStation®Move Navigation Controller

Navigate in-game characters in many PlayStation®Move games with ease.

PlayStation®Move sharp shooter

The official sharp shooter attachment for the PlayStation®Move motion controller.

SingStar® Microphones

SingStar™ lets you sing along to favorite songs along with the original artists and videos.

Surround Sound System

Sound System is the first single speaker audio solution designed specifically for the PlayStation®3 system.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

As the phablet series that started it all, the Samsung Galaxy Note series of smartphones is probably best known for it's ability to take notes and provide a bigger screen. However, there are now many smartphones or phablets with much bigger screens than the Samsung Galaxy Note, so why should you get the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 apart from all these other phablets? Well, asides from the fact that sometimes, size isn't everything, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 offers a renewed focus on note taking, multi-tasking and performance in a sweeter 5.7-inch display package. Is it enough for you? Read this review on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and find out.

Design - Bigger, slimmer, thinner and lighter

True, the 5.7-inch full HD screen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is bigger than the 5.5-inch screen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. However, despite being bigger, the Note 3 is thinner at 8.3mm and lighter at just 168g. To top it off, while it isn't the biggest screen in the phablet market it is one of the sharpest with a full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution for a pixel density of 386 pixels per inch. In comparison with the Note 2, the screen on the Note 3 is simply out of this world, while the Note 2 has pixelation, jagged edges on the fonts and obvious tiling. In terms of actual design, the Note 3 has a softer, plastic leather backing (complete with stitching) which feels better in the hand than the completely hard plastic of the Note 2. The new S Pen stylus also looks nicer with a shiny chrome end to go with the shiny chrome siding on the Note 3 as well. Thanks to the design and just 0.2 inch larger screen, the Note 3 doesn't feel too bulky, nor does it feel all that different compared to the Note 2 but still offers many design improvements over the previous version.

Specs & Features - Plenty of multi-tasking muscle with more S Pen features

While it packs in the latest and greatest 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, what really sets the Note 3 apart from the rest in terms of tech specs is that it is the first smartphone to have 3GB of RAM. While you may wonder what exactly you'd do with all that RAM, Samsung have figured it out for you by making it possible to have multiple windows open at a time and to drag and drop content from each. The 3GB of RAM ensures everything remains super smooth while the Multi-window drawer on the side of the screen is really useful. An updated 3200 mAh battery ensures slightly longer battery life than the old 3000 mAh battery. While the Note 3 inherits the old S Pen features it has added on more and bundled everything together into a single ring menu called Air Command which pops up when you press the side button on the S Pen. This Air Command menu leads to Action Memo, Scrap Booker, Screen Write, S Finder and Pen Window with functions that include:

Action Memo - Continuing on from S Memo, you can write down text or a number and rather than just save it as an image, call the number directly from the app.

Scrapbook - Much like Google Keep or Pocket, this app lets you store content for later reading, arranging and organizing it for an easier read later.

Screen Write - a more powerful screen capture which lets you scribble or add comments on to the screen capture, making it perfect for commenting.

S Finder - search everything in your Note 3 according to specific categories which could include hand-written notes or even symbols and formulas.

Pen Window - outline a window with the S Pen and launch a bunch of commonly used apps into that window, where the app will match those measurements exactly and float or hover over your existing screen in the shape of the outline you drew earlier.

These new S Pen features and Air Command menu really take the whole note taking thing to another level, making the S Pen much more than just a stylus. Granted, many of these features may be making its way to other S Pen equipped Samsung devices, but for now, the Note 3 is the ultimate S Pen device. Another feature which also makes it unique for now is that it is the only smartphone that is currently compatible with the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch so if you're looking to use the Gear, expect to get the Note 3 as well. Other S features seen in earlier Samsung devices like Air Gestures and S Voice are also available.

Performance - Top performer in practically everything

Early benchmark tests of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 mark it on the top in nearly every benchmark listed. The only benchmark it didn't score highest was AnTuTu where it got 32907, placing second to the LG G2. However, in other benchmarks like LinPack, GLBenchmark and Benchmark Pi, the Note 3 gets top spot. The 13MP rear camera also performs very well, resulting in very sharp pics up to 4128 x 3096 pixel resolution still images. It also allows for 2160p 4K video capture which is good but due to a lower sampling bit rate, doesn't have as good audio as 4K video recording on a dedicated device. Full HD 1080p video recording on the other hand is crystal clear, super smooth and still beats out many other cameraphones in the market.

Conclusion - More Powerful Note in every way

It seems strange saying that a 5.7-inch phablet is in a sweet spot but with 6.4-inch giant phablets nearing 7-inch tablet sizes, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is definitely a sweet-sized phablet. A slimmer and more comfortable design means you can hold it longer and new S Pen features makes note taking a whole lot more useful. The better internals means super smooth performance regardless of what you do with it and all the multi-tasking features makes it perfect for that executive looking for a pocket mobile work device as well as the normal joe looking to take a note reminding to take out the trash or look up something interesting. If you're a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 user looking to upgrade then the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a very worthy upgrade and should be an attractive device for anyone looking to get a sweet sized phablet that fits in most pockets yet outperforms larger models. Price-wise the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 currently retails at RM2399 which is rather high but you can find sellers here in Malaysia who go as low as RM2099. Local telcos also have the Note 3 at subsidized prices which you can check with our Samsung Galaxy Note 3 plan comparison tool.




Samsung Galaxy Note III / Note 3 Specifications: 

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is powered by a Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 (N9005)/ Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 (N9000) CPU processor with 3 GB RAM. The device also has 16/32/64 GB internal storage + microSD (up to 64 GB) and a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen (1080 x 1920 , 386 ppi) display. It has a 13MP rear camera and supports Wifi, NFC, GPS, 3G and 4G LTE. It packs in a Li-Ion 3200 mAh battery at 8.3mm device thickness and weight 168g, running on Android OS, v4.3 (Jelly Bean).

Apple iPhone 5

iPhone 5 Pros:
Larger screen - Going from a 3.5-inch screen to a 4-inch screen isn't that big a jump but the extra screen means more icons on the home screen, more navigation options in apps and HD movies shown without the black bar "letterbox" effect.

Better battery life - Apple managed to give the iPhone 5 better battery life than its predecessor. Battery life is Apple's stock and trade: The company will sacrifice features to keep battery life long, but in the iPhone 5, there doesn't appear to be a real downside.

Thinner and lighter - This may not be apparent from the presentation, but when you hold it, the phone feels impressively thin and impressively light, especially given the larger screen and longer battery life.

Faster chip - No need to worry about the processor power of our smartphones, gamers who yearn for console-like experiences will appreciate the improved processing and graphics might of the iPhone 5's brand-new A6 chip. And the rest of us might notice that photo and video processing, and everyday app usage, have gotten a tad quicker.
iPhone 5 Cons:
iOS 6 on older iPhones - Many of the amazing new features discussed by Apple — turn-by-turn navigation, 3-D maps, Passbook ticket and gift card system, sports-score-spouting Siri — come with free iOS upgrade for anyone with a 4S. If you're happy with iOS 6 on your current phone, you may not need the new one.

Camera isn't big step up - Pictures will look better on the iPhone 5, and you can shoot smart panoramas, and get better results in low light. But the camera is not radically improved — it's just a shrunk-down version of last year's 8-megapixel camera. Don't expect a monster difference for most of your snapshots.

Lightning port-speaker dock incompatibility - I don't want to belabor this, because the new Lightning connector is a design improvement and long overdue, but it's worth pointing out that if your current lifestyle includes many iPhone docks and car chargers, these will require adapter if you want to keep using them with an iPhone 5.



Verdict:
The iPhone 5 is a significant improvement over the iPhone 4S in nearly every regard, and in those areas that didn't see an upgrade over its predecessor -- camera, storage capacity -- one could make a strong case that the iPhone 4S was already ahead of the curve. Every area, that is, except for the OS. If anything, it's the operating system here that's beginning to feel a bit dated and beginning to show its age.

Still, the iPhone 5 absolutely shines. Pick your benchmark and you'll find Apple's thin new weapon sitting at or near the top. But a lot has changed in a year, and the current crop of Android superphones – and the incoming Windows Phone 8 handsets – have closed the gap. Apple’s competitors never been closer in terms of quality, function and aesthetics and from your feedback on our social networks we know how many of you are jumping ship to phones with a bigger screen and more features.

Given that iPhone 4S users can upgrade to iOS 6 and do just about everything the iPhone 5 can do, and that Android users can get similarly impressive handsets for less dosh, we reckon the smart money won’t all be going on a new iPhone this year, even if the mass market can’t get enough of it. It’s good, very good. But it’s no longer the best around.

Apple iPhone 5 Malaysia Specifications:

The Apple iPhone 5 is powered by a Dual-core 1.3 GHz CPU processor with 1 GB RAM. The device also has 16/32/64 GB internal storage and a 4-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD ( 640 x 1136 , 326 ppi ) display. It has a 8MP rear camera and supports Wifi, NFC, GPS, 3G and 4G LTE. It packs in a Non-removable Li-Po 1440 mAh battery (5.45 Wh) at 7.6mm device thickness and weight 112g, running on iOS 6, upgradable to iOS 6.1.4, planned upgrade to iOS 7.0.