nkedel

I'm not sure about iPad and Apple's overpriced "pencil" deal, but at least in the Android world, there are hardly any mainstream tablets that make the stylus a first-class citizen of the OS. I don't know if Samsung even still makes the Galaxy Note tablets -- my boss used to have the 10" one and liked it.

I've given my opinion of the term "phablet" above, and won't bother re-arguing it. Nor on the Android side is there really a difference in "tablet" vs. phone features, other than that some app developers get lazy about building things to work on both screen sizes.

The Note 3 had a very disappointing camera -- essentially no improvement that I could see from the Note 2 it replaced. The barely newer S5 I had from work and Nexus 6 which was a year newer were hugely better. The gap between the Nexus 6 and my present Huawei are pretty big, and I'd imagine given that Samsung has in general had among the best cameras, that their present flagships would be better still.

OTOH, none of them are as good in general image quality as my 7 (?) year old Canon S95, let alone any of the DSLR or mirrorless kit.

Given that the Note 3 is a 4 year old model that originally shipped with Android 4.3 (not even KitKat!) and was still (for US LTE models) a quad core phone vs 8 on ones today, and you've got twice as many cores, twice as much RAM, and 4 1/2 generation newer cores... it's not surpring.

I replaced the Note 3 with the Nexus 6 barely a year after I got it, and just that year's difference in processor cores and newer software was significant (lack of Touchwiz bloat, also; I hear newer Samsungs are better.)

A $200 phone from last year like the Moto G4 or Honor 5X will be around as fast on multi-core tasks as the Note 3; one from this year like the G5 will be quite a bit faster.

At the time the Note 3 came out, the difference between it and lower-end phones (even the moderately newer Galaxy S5) was much bigger.

Interesting. I'm a bit surprised; when my son's older $80 tablet came with a quad core CPU, I figured that was it for them.

PTravel

I don't follow Apple -- I don't like the company or the products. I'm not sure about about the Galaxy Note tablets, though I just replaced a lost one last week with a factory refurb. It's the 12.2" one, and I really like it a lot.

I think that phones are still evolving in terms of what they'll eventually become. In terms of OS, I agree that tablets and phones are far more similar than different, though there are some things that make more sense to do on a tablet than a phone. I could never read a book on a phone, but I read ebooks on my tablet every night. Optimizing tablets to read ebooks makes sense. Doing that for phones is pointless, at least in my opinion.

I agree, though I was actually stunned by how good the Note 8 did. I've pulled its output into Photoshop and was surprised at the sharpness, lack of fringing and contrast. However, until a phone can do RAW, I would even think of using it where I use my DSLR (a Canon 60D).

Well it was to me. I would have been happy to stay with the Note 3 if it hadn't become unreliable. I suspect that doing a factory reset and being selective about what I loaded onto it would have helped, but the timing was right for a new phone anyway.

Interesting. The only smartphones I've used since getting the Note 3 was an iPhone 5 that my wife had for a while (I wasn't, at all, impressed). I was considering a Note 7 until the recall nixed that option. One of my colleagues has an S8 and I liked that, but it lacked the stylus which I find extremely useful, so the Note 8 was a natural for me.

My wife is a real Luddite when it comes to electronics and, for years, she only wanted my "hand-me-down" phones when I upgraded (which was a lot less painful when all it took was commitment to a new contract). She managed to drop the phone she had and shattered the screen. The phone still worked and she wanted to tape it up and keep using it! I said, no, and searched out the cheapest reasonable phone that I could find. That Alcatel had surprisingly good reviews, at least with respect to its basic functions, and for $59 for a new phone was an obvious choice. She likes it because the screen is better and it's much lighter. For what she does, 2-cores are plenty. Setting it up for her involved a little angst on my part because, not surprisingly, it is dead slow compared to my Note 8, but once set up, it is more than responsive enough for her texting, phone calls and Google map use.

Vaucluse

I bought new and used them until it broke, severely outdated or the new one is a very significant upgrade to me. My current phone is iPhone 6s+, previous phone is iPhone 4s. Prior to that, it's a nokia dumbphone which I used for years. Current car is 11 yo Camry. Current laptop is 2011 MBP. Current DSLR is Nikon D300.

chipmaster

You must be a rich person if you don't need low light or faster FPS the D300 was a classic, but the D500 is an big upgrade

nkedel

For me it depends on the type of book; I have a relatively inexpensive tablet for comics, and technical stuff where layout matters, but actually prefer the small screen for pure flowable text -- I picked up reading novels and the occasional bits of narrative nonfiction I read back on windows "Pocket PC" before I'd ever seen a Windows smartphones, let alone Android or iOS existing (there were already a few PalmOS hybrid devices back then, and there may have been some very early Windows PocketPC devices that I'm not aware of.)

A moderate number of phones CAN do RAW; are you 100% sure the Note 8 can't? A quick google search suggests that you can turn it on:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...aw-images.html
https://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...hotos-t3677572
https://www.androidcentral.com/raw-i...-you-need-know

Probably faster cores than my Moto G (1.5 gen LTE model) which I've retired as unusable, although my son (3) likes playing with it as a pretend phone.

PTravel

I had no idea it could this. Thanks!

pinniped

I still have an unlocked Nokia dumbphone in working order. Occasionally use it when I need to pick up a SIM for voice calls only, although the proliferation of Wifi has mostly killed off the need.

Current car = 11 yo Accord. I'm definitely a Luddite on automotive technology. One tip I got long ago from a family friend who is a mechanic: when you're thinking about buying a new car, look around at the 10-year-old cars on the road. If you *don't* see much of the model you're thinking of buying, stay away. Of course he was thinking of the quality of existing cars - not so much a warning against whole new platforms like Tesla - but one could extend it to that as well.

Vaucluse

I have no need for faster FPS, low light capability is indeed something I'm interested in, however, that's what my prime lens for

Jeannietx

It really doesn't matter if anyone thinks that the iPhone X purchase (I will be making) to replace my iPhone 6 makes me a sucker. Choices are individual, and if one can afford the high priced item, then hey go for it. I use my phone as a phone but also use it for email, internet, pictures, of which I have about 29,000, and music.

On the other hand my adult son buys the BLU on Amazon for I think about $60 and he is happy with it. He uses it as a phone, and the occasional picture, so for him it is a good deal.

WIRunner

If you’re going from the 6 to the X that is quite different than moving from the 8 to the X, or getting the new generation of iPhones or Galaxy every year.

chipmaster

Huh, who'd go from 8 to x, LOL. The 8 was just released and two months later you get in line for the x. Same person buys a new car every 6 months too?

WIRunner

I've got a couple of friends that need the latest and greatest. They'll go from the newest iPhone then to the newest Galaxy then to the note. Sometimes mix in an HTC. More disposal income than i have.

CDTraveler

No, it doesn't "Just depends on your pants".

Are you taller than 5'4"? Wear men's pants rather than women's?

If you answered yes to those questions, it might be why you clearly don't understand the issue I'm talking about. Remember, FT isn't a Boys Only club. I can not fit a phone bigger than an iPhone 5 in a front pocket and still walk normally. If I want a tablet, I have an iPad and that always goes in a bag.

No, it really doesn't.

pinniped

I'm a 6'4" dude and I can't get a large phone in my pockets without it being awkward. Normal dress slacks here...I'm not rocking cargo pants just so I can haul around a phablet.

The Galaxy S7 is already pushing the limits on size in terms of ability to carry it in a pocket. I can totally see where a smaller person would much prefer the iPhone 5 size phone.

nkedel

Not by much, and the inseam I wear is probably about average for someone that short. I'm also on the rotund size, but as far as I can tell men's slacks don't scale the pocket size up much by waste size. They may some.

:P As I said, it depends on your pants. Yes, on average women are less likely to wear baggy pants, but I've certainly seen it done even excluding scrubs, and wearing tighter pants including jeans is a choice just as wearing a shirt with a pocket is.

I am willing to bet that there is a pair of pants out there which would (A) fit you and (B) where you could.

It's a perfectly reasonable choice NOT to choose your pants on the utility of the pockets (although long before I had a smartphone, I tended to want one that would take a paperback or rolled up magazine on one side, and a relatively plump wallet on the other) but to say universally that women's pants won't fit them is a bit much.

Or, put differently, my wife usually wears skirts or pants without pockets (or legging-y things with a long sweater) when she's not at work, but some of her work scrubs have pockets and some don't. The tops also often have pockets. She manages with a 5.7" android phone closer in size to the "Plus" iphones than the regular ones, and carries that on her at work without a purse.