What is the Samsung Galaxy Note 3?The Galaxy Note 3 is a slightly large-screened Android phone equipped with a Wacom digitiser stylus. The bigger brother to theGalaxy S5its also arguably a lot more interesting, although at 600 SIM-free the additional benefits come at a price. There are quite a few aspects of the phone we're not totally enamoured with, particulry regarding some of Samsung's design decisions, but this is a great phone for gadget lovers and geeks alike.See also:Galaxy Note 3 Tips and TricksSamsung Galaxy Note 3 - Video ReviewWe've created a video review of all the Galaxy Note 3's most important features, give it a watch below.See also:Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release date, news and rumoursSamsung Galaxy Note 3 DesignThere's no hiding it, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a very large phone. Saying that, it's still not quite in the same league as huge mobiles like theGalaxy Mega 6.3andXperia Z Ultra. You wont feel entirely ridiculous putting it to your ear, and holding it in one hand is not too much of a struggle. Samsung has actually managed to make the Galaxy Note 3 narrower than theGalaxy Note 2, even though the new phone has a larger 5.7-inch display.

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While this is an impressive feat by Samsung we should not forget that the phone is still 8cm wide. If you crave a phone that you can easily use one-handed, then this is not it. For a bit of context, theiPhone 5Sis just 5.8cm wide.The Note 3 is also among the first Galaxy phones not to use a glossy rear plastic cover. Samsung has tried to fool us into thinking the Note 3 has a leather rear. It looks like leather, from a distance, and the battery cover has fake stitching around its outer edges. But make no mistake this is not leather.

image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/00002937f/fab3/note-3-leather.jpgSo what is it? Its rubberised plastic with a leather-effect grain to give it a frictional quality of the real thing.Take the battery cover off and youll see quite how similar it actually is to the back of the Galaxy S4 and Note 2. Its thin, bendy and plastic. And while it doesnt feel bad as such, we prefer the aluminium of theHTC OneM8and the matt plastic of theNokia Lumia 925.This is not a deal-breaker, but dont approach the Galaxy Note 3 thinking Samsung has revolutionised its approach to hardware design it hasnt.If anything, the new style is more likely to polarise opinion than the safer old phones.As well as a leather-effect rear, the sides of the phone are ribbed chrome effect plastic, clearly intended to make it look like metal. The overall effect means it ends up looking a bit naff. Moreover, the white version has a less convincing feeling than the black.SEE ALSO:Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs Note 2

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This ribbed plastic is also seen on the S Pen, which slots into the bottom edge of the phone. There is at least some consistency, even if the surface-level generational upgrades feel like changes for changes sake.One such change but also something that tech geeks will lap up is the new connector socket on the bottom. It looks like a microUSB with a partially developed conjoined twin attached. Its not graceful, but it does come with benefits.The Galaxy Note 3 has the first USB 3.0-compliant socket weve seen on a phone. This hugely increases the rate at which the phone can leech data from a computer (when using a USB 3.0 port), and will increase the rate of recharging when doing so over USB (again when using a 3.0 port). With just 32GB of internal memory in a Note 3, were not hugely excited about faster file transfers. But faster charging from a work laptop sounds good to us.

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You dont have to use the supplied extra-large cable, either. The Galaxy Note 3 is happy to charge, and transfer data, using a standard microUSB cable. Like previous Galaxy-series phones, the port is also MHL-compliant, meaning youll be able to output video and audio to a TV with the right cable. You dont get one in the box, though.Like every other Note phone, the Note 3 offers expandable memory through a microSD memory card slot. The UK version of the phone has 32GB of memory, and while Samsung does make a 64GB edition, it's unlikely to get particularly wide distribution here.SEE ALSO:Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy Note 3Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Screen QualityThe Note series has seen a gradual increase in screen size across its three generations. The first had a 5.3-inch screen, theNote 2has a 5.5-inch screen and the Galaxy Note 3 has a 5.7-inch screen. These small increments have been made without any negative effects on the bodywork. The Note is less wide and less heavy than either of the former Notes.The Note 3s core screen technology is similar, though. It uses a Super AMOLED display of 1080p resolution.

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Like Galaxy S4, the Galaxy Note 3 uses a PenTile diamond display, where the sub-pixels are arranged into a diamond shape. In a lower-resolution screen, using a PenTile display would result in fuzzy text, but here the 396ppi pixel density is high enough to make it a non-issue. This is a super-sharp screen despite being oversized.And as comes with any good OLED-type screen, contrast and black levels are excellent in the Galaxy Note 3. Colours are a little more problematic. Fresh out of the box, they are a little hot, but Samsung gives you some control over the character of the display.In the Settings menu you can pick between Dynamic, Standard, Professional Photo and Movie screen modes. Dynamic is as ugly as a TV in a Currys high street store (i.e. oversaturated), but the Photo and Movie modes get pretty close to giving an impression of accuracy.As we saw with the Galaxy S4, top brightness is excellent for an AMOLED panel, although whites arent quite as searing as youd see on a top-end IPS screen. This is a great display.The most interesting part of the Galaxy Note 3s screen, though, is the digitiser layer. You cant see, it, but its what lets the S Pen stylus work. Wacom makes the digitiser in the Note 3 its the company behind the industry standardIntuos graphics tablets, used by professionals across the world. Well get onto what its

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