I just moved from the first generation to the third generation and I'm pretty happy with it. It's faster in every way, same great battery life and the screen is much nicer for reading. One unexpected benefit is that Siri's voice annotation works decently enough.
If $500 isn't hard for you to swallow I say you should get one.
I got mine on Monday after much debating. Initially I was going to wait for the second generation because I know it will be so much better. In the store, the iPad felt a little heavy and basically like a big iPhone. After a few weeks, I took the "you only live once and it's cheap enough that I'll just by gen 2 if it's really that much better." By last night, I realized this thing is revolutionary, or the start of it. It's perfect for consuming the Internet and other information. The apps make a difference. Instapaper Pro, Good Reader, SimpleNote. I bought Numbers last night and I'm investigating whether Omnigraffle is any good(many poor reviews and a few positive ones and it's $50)
Missing multitasking. Need To keep Pandora running. My only disappointment.
Not a huge amount more. I loved my first-gen too, but seldom even tried to hit the buttons to do anything. It was time + looking at notifications. Everything else was too slow.
I use it for things like timers, eg. cooking, quite a lot. I have high blood pressure, so like the other health features, which have improved a lot.
Pretty nice for directions, and it can store music now to use, which is handy.
I think a lot of features, even the basic ones have improved a lot too, to the point it's hard to remember that the first was pretty basic. Maybe I'm mis-remembering and the rest of the world has also caught up to the wonders of tap to pay, and wallet/etickets. Somewhere in the last couple of years realistically not carrying a phone became more of a reality.
The OLED screen is much easier on my eyes. I often read in almost full darkness and that helps a lot as well. Battery life is very good. The device is insanely fast for anything I do (although that's likely true for older models as well). The smaller form factor and bigger display are something you can't understand the appeal of until you experience it.
It's a solid 3-5 years investment especially if you use it a lot -- like I do.
I have the first gen and it’s about the perfect size for an ultraportable in my opinion, and its screen, build, and general feel are great but its battery and CPU are underwhelming at best.
The newer gens are even more confusing because they don’t offer the cooler, more efficient U CPU variants, only the hotter more power hungry P variants, which exacerbates heat and battery life issues.
As someone planning on upgrading a kid’s device, better performance: you never have any, we get tons, in particular when multitasking. I confess I am used to the 13” pro so I am more sensible to the glitches perhaps.
Touch ID is a real QOL improvement.
A better camera is actually nice, I don’t understand people making fun of it.
All in all I think there’s a ton to love in this new version. That doesn’t make older ones obsolete, but it’s significantly better I think.
I can't speak for the grandparent poster here but for me, the killer difference between the N1 and the iPhone is that the browser is far, far faster in the N1.
The rendering speed of the N1 amazed me the first time I pulled up a page. It also has enough RAM to keep more than one page open at a time without having to re-load as you switch windows (as I discovered with the iPhone). This may have been addressed somewhat in the 3GS but I only had a 3G model.
I also appreciate OTA syncing for contacts and calendars that doesn't cost me $100/year.
The integration with Google Voice is also a plus (having it auto-switch your voicemail over, and make all outgoing calls through your GV number).
You and the original commentor both seem to be missing my point. All I said was it is a defferent product, that is more capable than the previous generation. I never said it is the best or that it is unique in any way.
It was the first I bought but key features it hit included tethering, stereo bluetooth support, compass (and maybe improved GPS) and performance.
The 5 seems like a solid step. I don't see the need to upgrade every year but if you compare back to the 4 rather than the 4S the performance should be a massive jump. Support for 5GHz wifi could mean a real speed boost too and the bigger screen should be nice.
A while ago I quit buying new models and switched to refurbished ones. The 7 I had did more or less what its predecessor did (car services, chat, remote camera control) and the one I have now (X or Xs?) does more or less what the 7 did.
I can afford the newer ones, but I don't see the value relative to the four-figure cost.
Apparently you're one of fortunate few who've got it already. I'm not, but the fact that it does multitasking sounds very convenient to me compared to the iPhone. The mapping stuff looks very good as well.
It has what I want. Improved camera (especially image stabilization in video mode), and faster at loading games (and probably useful apps too). I don't care much about Siri, but then I didn't realize how amazing Maps was on a mobile phone until I had it myself.
I suppose I also had a good idea about what would be announced thanks to MacRumors accurate reporting, so I wasn't let down that the phone is called 4S instead of 5 (besides, I love the iPhone 4 external design).
Well, before the Note II, I used an iPhone 3GS for 3.5 years. I was trying my hardest to make it last as long as possible, because I like making things last as long as possible -- it's a win win because technology gets better every month and your cost of ownership declines. But the battery was giving out and it wasn't worth it to spend $80 replacing the iphone battery.
When I surveyed the field I basically narrowed it down to the Note II and the Nexus 4. I didn't want to wait any longer since I needed a phone now, so I got the Note. At $199 for a 2yr contract upgrade on Amazon, you're getting a lot of value for the money. There's a video out there of a guy hooking up the Note II to a TV and easily using it as a desktop computer. It's quite powerful. And LTE is great ... I speed tested it at 48 mbps the other day, and this was 12 miles from downtown.
The delayed updates are indeed a downside. Samsung's keyboard and predictive text are crap compared to the iPhone's (yes, you get Swype, but I don't always want to do the swiping).
If you're a heavy mobile user, lots of apps and media consumption, get the Note II. If you're a moderate user, mostly phone and email, I'd say do nothing, wait a year. The longer you wait, the better the products get, and you experience more "wow factor" when you finally do make the switch from your old dinosaur to the newest offering.
To me the gist of the review was that it's sluggish and lacking in features/integrations. Both extremely common attributes of 1st-gen products, and not particularly dramatic.
If $500 isn't hard for you to swallow I say you should get one.
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