[Galaxy Note 3 General] BarryH_GEG:
There was some good conversation going in comparing the two in the N2 forum and I thought I'd repost some excerpts here.

These discussions always fascinate me. Nothing new? Here are some samples:

S Pen is "new" and some of its new capabilities aren't backwardly compatible so the N3 and 10.1 2014 are the only devices that will support those features. I love that you no longer have to care about what angle the pen's at when placing it back in the device.

A big part of the Galaxy Note story is the integrated S Pen active digitizer. Samsung redesigned the S Pen for the new Note and combined it with some new features.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7274/samsungs-galaxy-note-3-snapdragon-800-in-a-slimmer-galaxy-note​

From Samsung's DevCon agenda:

The N3 is the first smartphone with USB 3.0 which means it'll charge off a PC at .9A vs. .5A which is a pretty big deal. It'll also transfer files 40% faster.

The display in addition to having a higher PPI than the N2 is also said to be brighter than the S4 which was Samsung's brightest AMOLED to date. That means much better outdoor visibility.

The N3 supports 802.11ac which also helps future proof it as well as LTE 4 for when LTE-A starts rolling out.

Knox is enabled for consumer use to segregate files to prevent unauthorized and unintended viewing of certain content and is persistent so the device can be tracked even after a wipe (if wipe isn't disabled which is a user choice).

The camera runs circles around the N2 - 13 Mega-pixel BSI Sensor, Auto Focus camera with Smart Stabilization, LED Flash( High CRI), and Zero Shutter Lag. It also records 1080P video at 60FPS and can record 4K video at 30FPS.

Lossless audio support matters to people who use high-end gear. To those that don't use $50 headsets the ability to playback at well beyond CD quality either via a wired or BT Apt X connection is a significant feature.

Battery life is going to be incredible. It's bigger, the display's optimized to draw less power, and both S-800/Octa have been proven to be incredibly power efficient; even supporing more powerful GPUs and higher PPI displays. It's also using Qualcomm's Envelope Tracker which reduces wireless battery drain by up to 30%.

The Note contains a Qualcomm chip called an envelope tracker, which will dramatically reduce the amount of power needed to run its LTE radio. We’re going to see this technology in a lot more devices.

http://gigaom.com/2013/09/05/thanks...xy-note-3s-huge-screen-wont-kill-its-battery/​

Samsung's finally moved away from shiny plastic and yet people still *****. Go buy a glass or metal phone that doesn't have a removable battery and/or expandable storage if you don't like Samsung's design language which is limited by accomodating removable back covers.

The N3 is thinner and lighter than the N2 yet has a bigger display and battery. Pretty impressive feat.

Finally, the capacitive buttons work with S Pen. That's a pretty big deal to those of us that use S Pen heavilly.

It has all the additional sensors the S4 has so you can use apps that take advantage of them like S Health which I'm looking forward to. Those extra sensors are needed to support Smart Scroll, Smart Pause, Air Gesture, and Air View; the latter can be used without S Pen as is required today. You can also use the N3 with gloves without S Pen.

It has IR which if none of you have used WatchOn on another Samsung device it's a great feature; especially with a Samsung Smart TV.

The flips covers (with and without a window) are actually leather and come in a variety of colors and designs including some from Moschino. You can take notes using S Pen with the windowed flip cover without unlocking the phone or opening the cover.

It has 32GB of internal storage. Let me say that again - it has 32GB of internal storage. When the N2 finally gets updated, depending on how much "S Stuff" is ported over, it's going to have a similar storage issue to the SGS4. Moving apps (that allow it) to SD doesn't solve anything when DRM protected apps require (large) files be stored on the internal SD.

It has 3GB of RAM. With all the new multitasking capabilities that's not a luxury it's a necessity. When not using multitasking the ability for the N3 to keep apps open in the background and just perform better all-around will be impressive. If Samsung ports some of the new multitasking features to the N2 good luck getting decent performance with a 1.6GHz year-old SoC and 2GB of RAM.

I'll let the numbers tell the performance story:

Benchmark PI

AnTuTu

Linpack

Egypt (Offscreen)

T-Rex (Offscreen)

Sunspider

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A bunch of reviewers have talked about the "new S Pen" and have mentioned it in terms of h/w and capabilities. Here's one.

Samsung's just officially announced the Galaxy Note 3 at its big IFA event, and its not so surprisingly spent a lot of time talking about the phone's brand new S Pen. In addition to bringing with it slightly new design, the pen also enables a number of new features on the phone. The biggest of those is the new Air Command functionality, which is a small pop-up window that's brought up automatically by the S Pen and offers quick access to features like Action Memo (which can link memos to actions), a scrapbook, the S Finder search option, and the updated S Note, which can sync content with your PC and tablet through Evernote. Fans of the Note's flip covers will also be glad to know that they can now also use the S Pen with the cover closed. Check out our full Galaxy Note 3 preview for a closer look at the S Pen's new features and, of course, the phone itself.​

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/04/samsung-details-new-s-pen-with-air-command-feature/

There was one review that talked about older S Pens being compatible with the N3/10.1 2014 but not being able to utilize all the newer features but I can't find it again (yet). So I'm assuming either the digitizer's changed or the h/w capabilities of the S Pen have changed. There's also a couple of sessions at Samsung's DevCon devoted to the "new S Pen" so that wouldn't be a discussion of existing Samsung developed apps as much as it would be to discuss the SDK and what new features were available to devs writing s/w to be used with S Pen.

As for putting it back in the device there's no longer a wrong way. Thankfully. ;)

EDIT: The pen's square...

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The N3 supports LTE Cat 4 which is another name for LTE Advanced. In the U.S. all the major carriers have said they'll have some LTE-A rolled out in 2013. As has EE in the UK and there's a S-800 SGS4 (i9506) that's LTE-A capable that's had its EE firmware leaked. Depending on the market you're in and your carrier's commitment to LTE it's something to consider when shopping for a new phone that you plan on keeping for a while.

Here's an explanation of LTE-A...

http://www.qualcomm.com/solutions/wireless-networks/technologies/lte-advanced

Here's a comparison of the N3 to earlier Notes and the SGS4...