T-Mobile’s Samsung Galaxy Note: Is it too late?

Hello readers of OMG!Droid. I am Nic Wolverton and, like yourselves, I am a big fan of Android. It seems in this day and age that bigger may in fact be better. At least, T-Mobile is willing to bet that it is.

For months now rumors have swirled around in cyberspace that the United States’ fourth largest carrier, T-Mobile, would be offering up Samsung’s 5.3-inch phone, the Galaxy Note (or as some are calling it, “phablet”).

Now it is official, with T-Mobile setting the date for August 8th of this year; but, what people forget to mention is the fact that AT&T has had the Note since February. That’s a full seven months, and in tech time that could be a lifetime to a lot of phone enthusiasts.

Let’s take a look at the hardware specs, the Galaxy Note has a 5.3″ HD Super AMOLED touch screen, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, HSPA+ 42Mbps connectivity, 8 megapixel rear camera, 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor, 16GB of internal memory expandable to 32GB via a micro-SD card, 2500mAh battery, and quad-band 4G UMTS/HSPA+, so it’s ready for T-Mobile’s refarmed 1900MHz network.

Not bad, but not top notch either.

Most people will be fine with these specs and I suspect that the Note will continue to sell on T-Mobile, but for hardcore phone lovers this is not going to cut it — and here’s why — the Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor.

The Galaxy Note scored a 2960 on the Quadrant benchmark test, which is modest, but well below the 4500+ I have seen on the Galaxy S III. If your upgrading from say the Galaxy S or Galaxy S2 then the Note will be a no-brainer, but if you’re like me and you are going to tie yourself to a contract and a phone, then it better be top of the line and this just isn’t.

That being said it, seems T-Mobile is planning on marketing the Note towards business-to-business customers, and with the help of a some additional software features, like the S-Pen, S Memo and Polaris Office, that’s a plus.

For work on the go, T-Mobile’s 4G Pro Pack includes apps like Dropbox, Evernote, Square, TripIt, CamScanner and LinkedIn. Sure. You could get these apps from the Google Play store, but T-Mobile wants this phone/tablet ready for todays businessman right out of the box.

OK, with that out of the way let’s talk about the price. With a Classic Voice and Data plan, the Galaxy Note will cost $249.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and includes a two-year contract. Value plan customers with a Voice and Data plan can expect to pay a $199.99 out-of-pocket down paymen,t and 20 equal monthly payments of $20 per month with T-Mobile’s Equipment Installment Plan.

What it is going to come down to is how you want to use your phone and if you are willing to settle with “older” specs in exchange for more screen real estate. Another important thing to mention is that the Note will receive a update fresh out of the box.

The update will fix the following issues -

Improvements

• Error: ‘Enter MAC address’ after entering MAC address
• Weather widget does not show current location
• MobileLife contacts addresses combined into a single field

I believe T-Mobile will have no problems moving this device into a lot of people’s hands since it is such a wonderful size and the screen is absolutely gorgeous. If this was a couple months ago, I would have likely got my hands on the Galaxy Note, but with rumors of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 being just around the corner I expect that most informed individuals will be holding out for Samsung’s next offering.

How about you?