It’s time for yet another Phone War. This time we’ve got the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 a.k.a. the Quad-core beast in one corner, and the Sony Xperia TL a.k.a. the James Bond phone in the other corner. The Note 2 is featuring a huge 5.5-inch display and a quad-core processor underneath while the Xperia TL has a 4.5″ 720p display with a dual-core Snapdragon processor under the hood. Now that both devices have been introduced let’s get this thing started with the specs.
Specifications
Samsung Galaxy Note 2
The Galaxy Note 2 was one of the most anticipated devices of the year. It was right up there with it’s brother the Galaxy S3 and the Nexus 4 from Google. Being announced at IFA in late-August of 2012, and then launched on Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint and US Cellular in the US it’s taking the world by storm. And why shouldn’t it? It’s got Android 4.1, a quad-core CPU with 2GB of RAM not to mention that beautiful 5.5-inch display. It’s basically the S3 but bigger and with more tweaks. Oh and the S Pen.
Pros:
- S Memo, S Voice, and all the other Samsung apps in Touchwiz
- S Pen, brings tons of cool features and gestures for doing different things.
- quad-core Exynos and 2GB of RAM; making your Note 2 as fast as possible for multi-tasking
- multi-window
Cons:
- Screen size; for some it might be large enough but for others it might be too big.
- Colors; currently only in Titanium Grey and Marble White
- Multi-window is still kind of laggy
Sony Xperia TL
Sony really thought this device was going to take off. In the new James Bond movie, Skyfall, it was used. So of course Sony had to market the Xperia TL as the ‘James Bond Phone’. In the past, Sony hasn’t been overly successful in the US. They’ve also only been available on AT&T which means they are losing out on about 75% of the US population. That’s not good. But things are starting to look up for Sony, as far as 2013 goes. But let’s check out some advantages and disadvantages of the Xperia TL first.
Pros:
- 720p display; at 4.5-inch it’s the right size for most people
- Sony Bravia Engine; great for watching movies
- 13MP camera; Sony is known for their great cameras and the Xperia TL is no different
Cons:
- Still on ICS; with no Jelly Bean update in sight
- Only available on AT&T or unlocked at full price
- Sony has a not-so-great reputation in the US
Winner…
Of course it’s the Note 2. It’s available on every major carrier in the US, has a 5.5″ display, Android 4.1, and up to 128GB storage when combined with an SD card.. How could it not beat the Xperia TL which is still on Android 4.0.4? Yes Sony makes some beautiful devices but they never get updated, which is quite common unfortunately in the Android world. We really wish that would change, but it might not for quite a while. So there you have it. The beast has won again.