Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

NOTE: Samsung gets 0 stars, the phone gets 5 stars, even 6. The Note 3 is awesome, but customers should be upset over the SIMM lock on it, and NOT get this N9000 model. The N9005 or a carrier model is the only way to go. This international version is not for US users or even US users who travel. If you are not a traveler forget the comments about it being region locked. I still say 99.9% of all people who get the Note 3 could not care less if the international version is region locked. However, this model, if you expect to use it in other countries has resulted in a thousand problems, literally. The phone is neutral but when it is activated the SIMM locks in the region and you cannot use it elsewhere. Do not think "unlocked" means you have magical usage. There is NO universal phone (except for spies), although some phones use other country SIMM cards -- but not this one! I get a US carrier phone, travel internationally, and keep my phone in airplane mode and use WIFI or get a phone card. Get the scoop. Do a search for XDA-Developers dot com, and go to the site. This is where the big boys and girls hang, for programming, not dumb questions. Type in Galaxy Note 3 in the field for the phone you desire. In the Forums, go to galaxy note 3 general. Search down the page to the thread "SIMM restrictions on unlocked European Note 3." This thread has over 1300 posts. Yes this is a big problem. Read the first half dozen pages and the last 10 pages, but also check especially posts 1041 through 1045, and pages 117 and 18. This N9000 phone is the international or European version. It was released 2-3 weeks prior to the US versions, it is NOT LTE it is 3G; it has a different CPU -the Samsung Exynos 5 processor, not the Qualcom Snapdragon 800. US residents should not get it. We need to get a phone activated for our respective carriers, which changes the last digit of the number. Search Amazon for the Note 3 for your carrier. Notice the different last digit. Amazon may be confusing people by not listing the phone for what it really is and they need to change that in the title of the phone. The black version does say 'International" in the title and so should the white one. Now, down to business. First, I am not affiliated with Samsung in any way, nor do I work for a cell phone store. I am a writer though. Secondly, I hate long reviews where the poster just reports the specs you already have. Rather, these comments show why the Galaxy Note 3 is more technologically advanced, and more phone for your money, compared to the many good phones on the market today, and the not so good phones, like the cave phone (that's what I call it) that does nothing. 1. The beautiful 5.7" Super Amoled HD display has a "Wow!" factor. Everything is crisp and clear with a resolution of 1920 x 1080P, 386 PPI. Despite a few good contenders, no phone on the market can match the combination of vibrant color, and deep blacks. Check it out for yourself. For those who prefer drab, you can even adjust color intensity and contrast. Is this practical? You bet. You get more viewable data for all social networking apps; you can see more email and contacts without scrolling; browsing is quick and pages more visible; YouTubes and video are fantastic; games are more playable; you can see larger areas on GPS maps; you get a better view of radar in weather; (live) wallpapers look great; you can use it as a reader; you can multitask with it; and with the right productivity apps you can even get some work done on it. I will never go back to a small screen phone. 2. The CPU in the US versions is the quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 @ 2.3, which is the fastest processor on the planet as of this time. It will perform well for years to come. A few other phones have it. The international version uses the Samsung Exynos 5 processor. It also has another quad core processors making it octa core, but it is still not quite as fast as the Snapdragon. 3. The Adreno 330 GPU is the best on the market, a few other phones have it. It is 50% faster than the Adreno 320 in the Galaxy S4 which is a screamer. 4. It's the only phone to come with 3 GB of DDR 3 RAM. It also comes standard with 32 gigs of storage and you can add more with an SD card. Note: No extra charges for these! 5. It has a great 13 megapixel camera with useful software, a BSI Sensor, Smart Digital Stabilization and high CRI LED. Very few phones have this. It is also the only phone to do 4K video right now - sharp! 6. No other phone has USB 3.0. 2 advantages: the phone charges very quickly on the 2 amp charger and nice thick cable. File transfer times are faster. With USB 3.0, a 2 gig file takes 27 seconds from the Note 3 to my (high end) PC. With USB 2.0 the same file takes 57 seconds. 7. How many phones have an S Pen? Except for email and quick notes, I seldom used the S Pen on my original Galaxy Note, but the Note 3 comes with some useful software making it more functional, and the handwriting recognition is scary accurate. 8. How many phones have a huge 3200 mA battery? It easily lasts all day with moderate to heavy use despite the large screen. Hardware and software improvements make the 100 mA bump over the Note 2 even more significant. You can also open the back and change out the battery - unlike some phones. 9. It does infrared remote control. It also has TV-out (via MHL A/V link), Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, temperature, humidity, and gesture sensor. I'm serious people, you get more for your money. 10. Hello multitasking! The fast CPU & GPU, extra memory, and high-resolution 5.7 inch screen make multitasking feasible and fun on a cell phone. You can even scroll through multiple applications in each split screen. This is even better if you hook up a keyboard and mouse via Bluetooth or USB, and connect through HDMI to your TV or computer monitor. The Note 3 can actually serve as a small computer. How many phones can do that? You can also mirror the phone screen with your smart TV for internet, games, viewing pics, whatever. 11. This the best cell phone for gaming on the market , period. The above features and OpenGL 3.0 which is part of Android 4.3 make it happen. Don't believe me? Read the reviews, watch the you tubes, and compared it for yourself. 12. It doesn't just have GPS, it also uses A GPS (improved), and Glonass Satellites. DL a GPS satellite app, and you'll see it will access between 5 and 25 satellites at once depending on time of day and location. 13. Got Knox? No, you don't. This phone provides business enterprise, and government level security for boot, VPN, etc., and comes in handy for privacy on public Wi-Fi. You don't have to use it, but it is there. 14. The air command and air gesture features make the phone futuristic. How many phones do that? 15. Is the screen too large for one handed operation? Yes, but so what? The tradeoff is worth it. Besides, Samsung now includes software to shrink it for one-handed so you get the best of both worlds. There are 2 things that Samsung needs to improve in my opinion. I don't know how many thousands of people need to tell them that putting the volume rockers directly opposite the power button is inconvenient for users. The Note 2 placement was better but still wrong. (I do like the new speaker placement though. Its perfect for horizontal viewing because your hand channels the sound to the user). This phone should also be waterproof right out-of-the-box. Not a scaled-down version, just waterproof the thing. Other manufacturers are doing it for their flagship phones. That means Samsung can do it too. Truth be known, we users never want to see another flagship phone that is not waterproof. It's doable, so please do it. Smoke it with that nano-whatever waterproofing stuff. You went to CES. (Oh, and S voice is still sorry, use Google voice) All that said, I'm very, very, happy with the Note 3. IMHO the Note 3 is so powerful and functional, it is the first device I would classify as a hand held computer. As a professor, I researched it for days and used the original Galaxy Note for over a year now. There are other good phones, but the Note 3 does it in one package, and in almost all cases does it better, for the same flag-ship- phone price. I feel sorry for the fanboys and people believing advertising hype who don't research the market. They pay top dollar but don't get their money's worth. Amazon is a great place to get your money's worth and to find out user information. Thanks Amazon. Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention, it's a really good phone too.