I got a new smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy Note III, 32 GB with LTE version, model N900W8, from WIND Mobile.

I will not discuss any benchmarks or performance measurements, please check other websites for stuff like speed tests and battery life.

My old phone is a Samsung Galaxy Infuse 4G, I’m telling you so that you understand what I am basing some comparisons off of.

I got this new phone because my old one is out of date (still running Android Gingerbread). I really need something with NFC and BLE support soon as well for my engineering work. The Note 3 is built solid. I like the fake leather back (so do many other reviewers).

The S Pen (the Wacom-like pen that the phone uses) is the main feature of the Note series, and it is great, it works well, and it allows for you to hover over something in the web browser (whereas you can’t just “hover” with most touch screens). The pen itself is physically long, which is good. Its plastic is also non-toxic and does not have any taste.

I’ve always liked TouchWiz. The apps that Samsung wrote always feel better than stock Android or anything from the market. It is not as customizable as other ROMs though. Samsung’s S Note syncs with my Evernote account, which is amazing. S Planner is just as good as Google Calendar, if not better. The Samsung clock app is definitely better than all of the alarm apps I’ve tried from the market, plus it combines a world clock, which I previously required a separate app for.

The screen is huge, it’s also beautiful (AMOLED at 1080p). Don’t be afraid of the big screen, because One hand operation is easy with the default settings, and even easier if you enable the one-handed keyboard mode. The multiple window mode is insanely useful.

I am a fan of “hard” keys and haptic feedback, so I am happy with the Note III.

GPS is amazing on this phone. Super fast locking speed. Good signal. Bluetooth classic and low energy both confirmed working, no stuttering with A2DP.

The camera is good. It can shoot 4K resolution video, but the video file size is huge! I still use my DSLR and Eye-Fi for photography so I don’t care too much about the camera performance. The phone camera will be only used for quickly sharing photos via Imgur or Evernote.

I really have nothing bad to say about this phone right now.

I am waiting to get a flip cover (with “S View” functionality) for it, plus a wireless charging dock, and maybe a spare battery (the battery life should be amazing though, I just like having a backup). Rooted ROMs are starting to slowly emerge. Rooting has already been achieved. Odin still works for flashing. CWM recovery is already available.

Good job to Android and Samsung on this amazing phone.

All of the news regarding the region lock is a big misunderstanding.