[AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note I717] tjagolf33:
Here, here! I purchased the Streak the first night it was released in the US. From the day I got it, I had 2 strongly conflicting emotions: I hated its bugginess but I loved its form factor. I tried switching to the original Galaxy S and the Atrix 4G when they came out because I was sick of the Streak's many flaws, but I found myself incapable of going back to such tiny devices and both times ended up returning them the same week lol. The 5-inch screen was just literally such a game changer that it made an otherwise mediocre phone an unbeatable device for me.

When I heard about the Note, I was ecstatic. Not only was it in the Dell Streak's size range--it was bigger! And it was made by a company that actually makes good cell phones, had the best hardware specs around, and was going to be compatible with AT&T's 4G LTE. How could I go wrong?

I couldn't. This thing is UN FREAKING BELIEVABLE. The .3" difference is SO MUCH more noticeable than I would've expected and combined with a variety of factors including the resolution, the thinness of the device, the portrait orientation, the decreased border size in comparison to the Streak, and, most of all, the S-Pen, it's really pushed over the line from being a big phone to being a tablet that can make phone calls. I mean, it makes the Streak feel like an iPhone in your hand.

By the way, you won't believe how refreshingly fast everything is. No more waiting several seconds for all your widgets to draw every time you load the launcher. No more 10-fps scrolling. No more non-responsive app clicks that make you want to throw the phone. Switching orientation doesn't take 4 seconds and then suddenly click into position--it's an instant, smooth, animated transition that just makes the device feel so much more polished.

And these aren't the only things that are fast. I'm getting (here in Massachusetts) 26 Mbps download and 15 Mbps upload on AT&T LTE. Yes, that's right, upload is 10x faster than the Streak's download. (And, for that matter, about the speed of my Comcast download.) I didn't even know that sort of upload was possible. The S-Pen, too, is SUPER responsive. I've never experienced anything like it (though I've never used a Wacomm device before). I can sign my name, write a paragraph, and draw ****, and it not only feels and looks as it would if I were doing it on paper, but there's legitimately NO DELAY from when you draw and when the line appears on the screen.

(It's faster when I'm outdoors.)

Then of course there's the camera quality. Holy ****. I mean, iPhone-level camera quality. The Streak was lacking hardcore in the camera department anyways, but thing is truly incredible. As good as my digital camera at least. Better than any Android phone I've taken pictures with before by a longshot (and most digital cameras, too). The video quality is also quite impressive, with not only wonderfully smooth and crisp 1080p videos, but also--and this, to me, is almost as important--having clear and precise sound quality.

(Random camera quality example that I just took)

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the overall aesthetic of the device. I loved the Dell Streak for utilitarian reasons, but the benefit of people coming up to me 10 times a day and saying "Whoa, what the hell is that?!" was pretty cool too. I have the Red Streak so it's flashy anyways, but the tablet-sized layout just makes it look like a much more impressive device than other phones. The Galaxy Note is even better in this department. Its design is unlike any of the other Android phones I've had/used. It's SO sleek, super thin, and wonderfully elegant with a shiny back with stylish yet professional looking lettering (I have the white one, btw) and a sweet brushed chrome border around the edge. The Super AMOLED 1280x800 screen is brilliant and the stylus just throws it over the top. You'll fit right in with the hipsters who hang around Starbucks with their iPads if that's your sort of thing, haha.

BUY IT YOU WON'T BE SORRY. I don't see myself upgrading from this for many years.

---------- Post added at 08:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------

Better battery life on the STREAK? I can't believe that. Maybe mine was old or you bought the Mugen replacement battery, but my Streak couldn't last more than 5-6 hours of heavy use. No matter what it was dead in 24-36 hours, even under light use. By comparison I got the Note yesterday and was up last night from 8:00PM to 7:00AM using it nonstop, and I had about a third of the battery remaining when I went to sleep.