Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Review (T-Mobile) - The Phablet Returns
by Brian Klug on October 24, 2012 9:00 AM ESTSpeakerphone
The Note 2 puts its speakerphone in the same place as the original Galaxy Note, and thanks to the large size of the handset I bet there’s plenty of space for a big driver. The Note 2 also includes a new boost mode I didn’t see on Galaxy S 3 before that boosts speakerphone output volume considerably.
The tradeoff is that there is significantly more saturation and clipping with this mode toggled, but it is very, very loud.
Noise Suppression
Samsung has continually included Audience earSmart processors in its handsets for noise rejection and filtering, and the Note 2 is no exception. Both the original Note, and Note 2 include the Audience eS305 voice processor, though the Note 2 includes newer firmware thanks to its later release date. I’m told that both the Note and Note 2 were interesting challenges due to the extreme size of the handset and just how far apart the microphone pair is — there’s one at the very top, one at the very bottom on both models. In addition the T-Mobile Note 2 also has wideband AMR enabled (AMR-WB), which I confirmed inside ServiceMode by poking around. I called between two T-Mobile devices (the Note 2 and my own HTC One S) but it appears as though T-Mobile is still using AMR-NB over UMTS at least as evidenced by the 4 kHz maximum in the below spectral view. Either that or my HTC One S is the limiting factor.
Samsung is unique in that it gives a nice easy way to enable and disable the noise rejection paths by tapping the menu button, so we can easily test with it on and off just to see how much difference it makes. I’ve been supplied an industry standard babble track that emulates a loud cafe or restaurant, complete with a din of voices, doors opening and closing, and background bustle. I’ve found that playing this on loop in my office when I want that cafe vibe mitigates the desire to go and pay exorbitant amounts of money for the luxury of distraction, but I digress.
Galaxy Note 2 - Noise Rejection Enabled by AnandTech
Galaxy Note 2 - Noise Reduction Off by AnandTech
Anyhow I went ahead and tested the Note 2 with the babble track at a very loud maximum loudness of 94 dBA which is likely above spec, but a worst case. You can hear a dramatic difference between the Note 2 with the noise rejection turned on and off. I’ve heard eS305 do even better at rejecting literally all noise on the Xolo X900, but this is our first time using the babble track as opposed to music so my mental comparison isn’t quite fleshed out.
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jigglywiggly - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
is samsung in a contest to creating the ugliest looking soap bars?They had it right with the GS2, then they just decided to fuck it with the GS3
Skiddywinks - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
That's because the SGS2 was basically an iPhone 4/4S, and they aren't allowed to make similar shapes, it would seem.Don't blame Samsung, they want to give you what you want, they just aren't allowed. I do agree though, I do prefer the SGS2/iP4 shape.
Samus - Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - link
Yeah its amazing how much my wife's GSII is mistaken for an iPhone in the line at ****bucks.I know what you mean, though, and its sad Samsung is basically banned from making "attractive" looking phones. Because appearantly, Apple invented attractive looking phones?
aegisofrime - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
I'm sorry, but anyone who can mistake the GS2 for an iPhone is an idiot.I mean, the size difference alone should be a dead giveaway. How about the rectangular home button vs the round home button on the iPhone? How about that big Samsung logo plastered on top of the GS2?
The only resemblance the two have is the shape. I simply cannot see how anyone can confuse the two.
sleepeeg3 - Friday, October 26, 2012 - link
They confuse the two, because the average consumer doesn't know anything beyond iPhone. They think all phones are iPhones. When someone owns one of the more popular alternatives, the question I always get asked, "is that an iPhone?"Death666Angel - Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - link
When I had the SGS2 a lot of people around me asked if that was the new iPhone. But most of them thought that iPhone was a generic term like "PC" or "Console".I now have a Galaxy Nexus and find it and the new Samsung phones to be just as attractive.
CeriseCogburn - Friday, February 1, 2013 - link
I am amazed by the constant artsy fartsy droning on how a device looks, and how all people are expected to agree, with of course, the iPhone as the "beautiful one".Of course it's brainwashing, just like all the lemmings want their computer parts and cases black - a thousand websites all have the drones exclaiming the same thing - black black black.
So, anything BUT the sad sorry rectangle of the iPhone is great by me. It's a freaking rectangle - and worse yet, the stupid public pubes in charge of the PC worshipping of a rectangle always claim thinner is also better.
Thinner is not better, especially when gripping. It's better in their lemming brainwashed gourds and not IRL, but their estrogen doused public opinion persona would have them believing anything peer pressure desired them to, so of course we have that thin to win crazed insanity everywhere as well.
It's a freakin rectangle. That's super, superior styling to these god for saken morons - it's amazing they can even drool.
medi01 - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
I'm sorry, but anyone who can mistake the GS2 (and GS1 for that matter) for an iPhone is an idiot.PeteH - Thursday, October 25, 2012 - link
Depends. I can understand it at a glance, but not upon close inspection.n13L5 - Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - link
I agree on the weird soapy curve of the S3, but the Note 2 looks more like a large SII, which is fine by me.By the way, in Boost mode, the Galaxy Note II works extremely well as a portable guitar amp. You just get a toggle for gain, rather than a knob for fine adjustment of the level of distortion :D