Is the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo just the downgraded version of its popular sibling the Galaxy Note 3 at slightly lower price, or there is more to it? Let's find out in our review in pictures.

1. Samsung
Galaxy
Note 3 Neo
Review in
pictures

2. Definitely not a budget Note
• The Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Neo is a not-so-cheap
variant of the Galaxy Note 3
• From the outside, it
appears almost identical to
its predecessor – faux
leather removable back
panel and all
• The large display takes up
most of the front, but slim
bezels bring down the size.

3. Skips the 1080p, but still stunning
• The phablet gets a 5.5-
inch display with 720p
resolution
• Viewing angles are
excellent, as is sunlight
legibility
• But the Super AMOLED
technology means
colours tend to look
oversaturated

4. You get all the S Pen extras
• Yes, it comes with the
trusty S Pen stylus
• Draw, scribble and
doodle to your heart’s
delight
• Pressing the button on
the S Pen brings up
the Air Command
carousel, with
shortcuts to various S
Pen apps, including
Pen Window to create
a floating window of
an app

5. And a pair of feature-packed shooters
• The 8MP rear camera is a
downgrade from the Note
3, but manages to do the
job.
• Daylight photos are bright
and sharp, but low light
images can get a bit
grainy.
• The camera app is packed
with shooting modes, as
well as advanced controls
and live filters.

6. With plenty of editing options
• There’s an extensive
editing menu in the
gallery
• You can apply filters post-
shooting, if you haven’t
already
• You can also adjust
colour, add stickers,
drawings, frames and
crop photos to the
desired size.

7. TouchWiz, you love it or hate it
• The Note 3 Neo runs Android
4.3 Jelly Bean, with
Samsung’s TouchWiz UI on
top.
• The crowded interface and
cartoony icons may not
appeal to some.
• But you do get fancy face
detection features like Smart
Pause and Smart Scroll, not to
mention several motion
gestures.

8. Bloatware or not? You decide
• There are a ton of pre-loaded
apps, most of them Samsung’s
own (read – cannot delete).
• Action Memo, Story Album, S
Health, WatchON and ChatON
are just a few
• Not to mention Scrapbook, S
Note and Sketchbook for Galaxy
• And you get Dropbox, Flipboard,
Trip Advisor and Evernote too

9. Good performance, but gaming is average
• Powered by a hexa-core Exynos processor, with 2GB
RAM and a Mali-T620 GPU
• Day-to-day performance is commendable, but graphic
intensive games like Riptide GP2 stutter on occasion.

10. Battery life that might outlive you
• The removable
3,100mAh battery
lasted us over 14 hours
in our video-loop test –
one of the highest on a
smartphone
• With heavy usage, you
should be able to avoid
reaching for that
charger for at least a
day and a half.

11. At a glance
• 5.5-inch, 1,280 x 720 screen
• Android 4.3 with TouchWiz
• 8MP primary camera, 2MP
secondary camera
• 1.7GHz hexa-core Exynos 5260
processor
• Mali-T624 GPU
• 2GB RAM, 16GB expandable
internal storage
• 3,200mAh battery
• Dual-band Wi-Fi ac, WiFi Direct,
Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, DLNA, NFC

12. -
• Plastic build
• Tons of bloatware
• No KitKat update
planned yet
• Steep price
Pros and cons
+
• Good display
• Fast performance
• S Pen functionality
• Smart gestures and
motion control
• Excellent battery life
• Expandable storage

13. Rs 38,990
Pricing and verdict
“The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo may be a dressed down version
of its big brother, but its stunning display, zippy performance and
amazing battery life rank it among the top Android phablets
currently available. The steep price might be a put off for some,
but with an expected price-drop, it might fit your budget.”