Found a Better Review.Hope This will help!
I have been using the note for about 10 days now. I checked this phone out multiple times at the Samsung Smartphone Cafe, but was not able to make up my mind because of 2 things: The display wasn't exactly mindblowing in the well-lit showroom, and because the demo was extremely laggy. I was using an Xperia Mini before this, and I can still clearly see that SE's user interface is far-far smoother than Samsung's TouchWiz. However, the Note I bought (my decision was fueled by the need of a bigger screen) was noticibly zippier and smoother than the demo unit (Maybe this haad something to do with the 2.3.6 that came pre-installed). Anyway, here are my impressions of the device:
1) Design and build: The design is standard Samsung. Looks like every other phone they have designed. I got the white version. The white one looks gorgeous, just as good, if not better than the black one. The only problem is that the back cover is a high gloss one, so it will get scratched up in no time (the black one has a textured back). But if you use a case, or a cover (I'm currently using Samsung's flip cover, with the black back) its not a problem. But the main advantage of the white one, which no one seems to mention is the sides. The black one has shiny dark metallic sides- they look good, but the one on the demo piece was badly scratched up. The white one however has matte aluminum sides, so no fear of scratches of any kind!! It also looks good in a classy kind of way.
The build is actually very good, no squeaks of any kind, and the S-pen holder is firm. But the back cover opening mechanism is a very cheap and fragile one. Seems like its going to break any moment. Apart from this, no gripes with build.
Holding the phone with one hand is not a problem for me. To some extent, even one handed use is possible (My hands are not that big). It fits into any jeans pocket with ease, and it DOES NOT look stupid when using it as a phone. So handling is actually nice. Also the little problems are worth the massive screen
2) The display: The super Amoled looks nice in a nicely lit showroom. But bring it in a normal or dimly lit room, and you will see its magic: The colours pop out of the screen and although they seem little unrealistic at first, after a while, you won't want anything else. The clarity is stunning, movies appear great, and browsing is a breeze.
But the display has one very big problem- banding. This may be due to the display being a 24bit one, and Android itself supporting mainly 16bit ones, but still, banding is very prominent in the display. Every time a web page loads up, the first few seconds show a grey coloured loading screen, banding is very clearly seen there. Even in most apps, banding is prominent (try the Exodus live wallpaper-theme=chaos. You will find concentric circles in the grey background). However on some apps, there is a force 24bit option, which significantly reduce banding. So, I do not know whether it is the display or the software, but I do know that it is visible in many places, but its certainly not unbearable.
Apart from this, the display is top-notch
3)UI: Some parts of touchwiz actually beats all its competitors-the notification panel with all those shortcuts. Even the widget selector at the bottom looks cool, but none of this can make up for the fact that many actions are sluggish on a phone which can score 3900 on quadrant. This 1.4 dual core proccy should be able to run android fluently, however for some reason, TouchWiz lags in many places-jittery scrolling in lists (such as in settings or in contacts), the Sense-type leap, while changing the sizes of widgets. Worst of all, other launchers such as ADW and GoLauncher and Launcher Pro, lag just as much, sometimes even more. I do not know why this is so, it may just be a compatibility issue, but it is something which app developers should fix, with the barrage of HD cellphone displays imminent in the very near future.
4) Apps and Games: HD games like Asphalt 6, or Trail Xtreme 2, or Shine runner run very well- no lags there, but simple games like Ninjump, and Fruit ninja seem extremely pixellated and blurry. Angry birds seems fine, although it could use some better backgrounds. But this phone runs HD games amazingly well.
The stock browser runs buttery smooth, but the same cannot be said for Opera or Dolphin browsers. However, the lack of auto-text refilling in the stock browser is a bit of an annoyance, but the fact that you will hardly have to zoom in to read webpages makes it mostly irrelevant.
5)Videos: The stock player can handle most types of videos, however seems to have the most problems with mkv files. Dice player from the market runs well on this device and plays all types of videos with ease. This phone is the best phone there is for video playback.
6)Battery: This is a huge problem in this phone. With little usage (like that's gonna happen), this phone can easily last 2 days, however with HD games, movies, music, etc, you will probably end up charging this twice a day. Keeping movies and music to a minimum, with moderate internet usage and gaming this phone can last a day. With some apps, the battery drain is massive, and the phone tends to overheat. Also, the phone also heats up while charging, although its not much of an annoyance.
To conclude, this phone is an amazing phone, notwithstanding a few major problems. If you can live with the jittery feel, and banding issues, then this phone will keep you warm at night. If you can't live with it, then check it out in person-chances are you will learn to live with it, and you will accept it wholeheartedly.