Galaxy Note vs Galaxy Nexus: Battle of Powerful Samsung Smartphones

Samsung's Galaxy Note has become a hit, not the least because of the impressive screen and the S Pen. Users can use the stylus to do everything from jotting down notes, to drawing sketches and browsing the Internet. The large screen allows doing that and much more, as well as viewing more, with less need to scroll.

On the other hand, the latest Ice Cream Sandwich v4.0.4 update to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will mean an already exceptional smartphone just got better. The update is expected to improve system stability, camera performance and phone number recognition as well as offers smooth screen rotation.

Check out how both the smartphones stack up:

Display

The stunning Galaxy Note touts a 5.3 inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a whopping resolution of 1280x800 pixels at 285 pixels per inch (ppi). The screen is protected from scratches and dust by Corning Gorilla Glass. It incorporates the Touchwiz 4.0 User Interface (UI) which features gestures functionality and visual improvements.

In comparison, the Galaxy Nexus flaunts a 4.65 inch high-resolution AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels at 316 ppi. It includes an oleophobic coating which protects the screen against skin oils.

Processor

The Galaxy Note is powered by a 1.4 GHz ARM cortex-A9 dual-core CPU and Exynos chipset. It includes a Mali 400 MP GPU which offers a complete graphics acceleration platform, maximises battery life and minimises heat dissipation. It has 1GB of RAM.

In contrast, the Nexus is powered by a 1.2 GHz cortex-A9 dual-core CPU and TI OMAP 4460 chipset. PowerVR SGX540 adds support to powerful graphics. It has 1GB of RAM.

Camera

The Galaxy Note boasts of an eight megapixel rear-facing camera with a resolution of 3264x2448 pixels. The camera's features include AutoFocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection and image stabilisation. The phone includes a two megapixel front-facing camera for video calling. On the other hand, the Galaxy Nexus includes a five megapixel front-facing camera and a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera for video chats.

Both smartphones provide for video recording of 1080p.

Storage

The Galaxy Note comes in two models - with storage options of 16GB and 32GB. It also includes a microSD card slot, for expansion up to 32GB.

The Nexus comes only with 16GB of onboard space and, disappointingly, lacks support for a microSD card.

Battery

The Galaxy Note has a Li-Ion 2500mAh standard battery which allows a stand by time of up to 960 hours on 2G and 820 hours on 3G networks. It offers talk time of up to 26 hours 10 minutes on 2G and 13 hours 30 minutes on 3G networks.

The Nexus contains a Li-Ion 1750mAh standard battery which allows a stand by time of up to 290 hours on 2G and 270 hours on 3G networks. It provides talk time of up to 17 hours 40 minutes on 2G and 8 hours 20 minutes on 3G networks.