The Samsung Galaxy Note has created a whole new niche of smart devices that are neither small enough to be classified as smartphones nor large enough to be labeled tablet devices. Galaxy Note began to be called ‘Pablet’. As an innovative device, the Galaxy Note has been extremely successful. With that, 5-inch devices started popping up and the Phablet segment started to get crowded.
Why the comparison?
In October, Samsung launched its next iteration, the Galaxy Note II. The device has received some notable upgrades in design and hardware. We’ll see how things go in the long run. While not as big as the Galaxy Note, LG’s Optimus Vu also did well. With the Optimus Vu 2, LG set up a direct Phablet rivalry against Samsung.
Both Korean companies have a lot of expectations in the latest versions of the successful Phablets. Galaxy Note 2 price in India is around INR 35,000 while Vu 2 has not launched in India yet but its price will be above the INR 30,000 mark as well. With their specs and features so close to each other, these devices almost scream for comparison.
head to head
physics
The Note II’s design is visibly inspired by the Galaxy SIII. The corners are more curved for this print. The Optimus Vu 2 is thinner than its predecessor, but other than that it looks similar. In terms of size, the Vu 2 and Note II follow different ergonomics. The Vu 2 is shorter and wider, while the Note II is longer and narrower. With a narrower bezel, the Note II is definitely more comfortable to hold with one hand. Weighing 8.5mm and 168g, the Optimus Vu 2 is about a millimeter thinner and 20g lighter than the Note II’s 9.4mm thick and 180g chassis.
view
The Galaxy Note II has a 5.5 inch Super AMOLED touchscreen compared to the Optimus Vu 2’s 5 inch XGA IPS LCD display panel. The Vu 2’s screen has a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels, while the Note II has 1280 by 720 pixels. Both have nearly identical pixel densities of 267 ppi for the Note II and 258 ppi for the Vu 2. The most notable difference between the Note II and Vu 2 displays is probably their aspect ratio. The Vu 2 has an odd 4:3 aspect ratio while the Note II has a 16:9 aspect ratio. There doesn’t seem to be any reason LG would choose to make a Phablet with such an old-fashioned aspect ratio. Besides its size, the Note II has an edge over the Vu 2 in terms of screen quality and ergonomics, as most games and apps aren’t optimized for the Optimus V2 3’s awkward resolution. With slightly higher pixel density and AMOLED. tech, the Note II has a sharper and brighter display. In terms of input, both have stylus. The Vu 2 features the Rubberdium Pen 2.0 that can be used to draw drawings, take notes, and annotate documents. The Note II comes with an improved S Pen with advanced input integration and a rubber tip that makes note-taking feel like traditional pen and paper work.
chipset
The Optimus Vu 2 is powered by a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 processor clocked at 1.5 GHz and Adreno 225 for graphics processing. The Note II is equally powerful on the CPU side with the Samsung Exynos 4412 Quad, while the ARM Mali-400 quad-core GPU is significantly more powerful than that of the Vu 2. On Vu, it still falls short against the Note II’s quad-core processor.
Storage and Memory
The Note II comes in three versions, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, with support for micro SD expandable up to 32GB. The Vu 2 has 16GB of internal memory expandable up to 32GB via micro SD. Both phones have 2GB of RAM. There is almost no difference between the two Phablets in terms of memory and storage.
OS
The Vu 2 comes with Android 4.0 ICS while the Note II has Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. There are several devices on the market that run Jelly Bean and this gives the Note II a huge advantage over the Vu 2. Thanks to Project Butter, Jelly Bean is much more fluid than ICS. Add to that Samsung’s TouchWiz UI and you have a Phablet that makes multitasking fun. Android ICS is great, but the Vu 2 definitely loses a few points for not having Jelly Bean, especially Google Now, a great passive personal assistant.
Camera
Both devices have 8 MP rear cameras with LED Flash. When it comes to camera specs, Note II When it comes to video recording, both depend on the ability to shoot 1080p full HD videos at 30fps. But overall, the image and video quality captured by the Note 2 is much better compared to those of the Vu 2. The Note packs a lot of bells and whistles in terms of additional camera features like HDR, Face Tagging, and sharing. Both have front-facing cameras, 1.9 MP for the Note II and 1.3 MP for the Vu 2. Overall the Note 2 has better cameras; both back and front and wins against Optimus Vu 2.
connection
Both phones have NFC, WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. As for data technology, both support LTE. Both have HDMI support via micro USB, DLNA, MHL and computer sync. Clearly, there isn’t much to compare between them in this category. However, the S-Beam in Note 2 can be used to send files such as pictures and videos with other Samsung phones with the same feature.
battery
Note II packs a massive 3100mAh battery that will easily pull you through the day. The Vu 2’s 2150mAh battery isn’t even enough for comparison. In terms of extensive use, the Note II will be a better companion and is a phone with one of the best smartphones in terms of battery endurance after the Droid RAZR HD Maxx and Apple iPhone 5.
SEE ALSO: Battle of 7-inch Tablets: iPad Mini vs. Nexus, Fire and Tab 2
Decision
When you see that the two phones are the same price and have the same features in many categories, it can be a little difficult to choose. But there are three vital areas where the Samsung Galaxy Note II is better than the LG Optimus Vu 2 – screen, battery life and camera performance. Ergonomics as it makes it difficult to hold dust. As a result, the Galaxy Note II will likely repeat what the Galaxy Note did to the Optimus Vu – A wash.
The Samsung Galaxy Note has created a whole new niche of smart devices that are neither small enough to be classified as smartphones nor large enough to be labeled tablet devices. Galaxy Note began to be called ‘Pablet’. As an innovative device, the Galaxy Note has been extremely successful. With that, 5-inch devices started popping up and the Phablet segment started to get crowded.
