Can Samsung Galaxy Note Outshine Galaxy S2 Skyrocket?

Samsung's most-anticipated Galaxy Note, which is a hybrid of smartphone and tablet, is hitting the shelves of AT&T Feb. 19.

The hybrid is set to face severe competition from its peer Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, which is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) version of the Galaxy S2 and debuted Nov. 6.

AT&T said in a statement Monday that Samsung Galaxy Note would be available for preorders beginning Feb. 5 for delivery by Feb. 17. Galaxy Note, which has 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED display, is bigger than any smartphones but smaller than a 7-inch tablet.

Galaxy Note combines the best features of a smartphone with the larger viewing screen of a tablet and advanced technology in the S Pen - delivering an all-in-one device that allows users to work more efficiently and maintain productivity while communicating in a unique, personal way, AT&T has said.

Galaxy Note, which comes with Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS with promise of Google Inc.'s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, will be featuring dual-core 1.5GHz Scorpion CPU Qualcomm MSM8660 Snapdragon chipset, Adreno 220 GPU, an 8 megapixel LED flash rear-facing camera, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video chat and has 16/32 GB internal storage. The AT&T model will come with Near Field Communication technology (NFC), which the European model lacks.

Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy S2 Skyrocket runs on Google Inc.'s Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread OS. Its carriers, AT&T, announced at the launch event that the Skyrocket would receive an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich sometime in 2012.

The Skyrocket has a Scorpion dual-core processor, Adreno 220 GPU, Qualcomm APQ8060 Snapdragon chipset, 4.5-inch Super AMOLED (active-matrix organic LED) Plus display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory, 4G LTE support, an 8 megapixel rear-facing LED flash camera with 1080p video capture and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls.

Here is a comparison between Galaxy Note and Galaxy S2 Skyrocket:

Display: Galaxy Note will sport a 5.3-inch high-definition Super AMOLED display that will give a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and about 285 ppi pixel density. On the other hand, Skyrocket touts a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and about 207 ppi pixel density.

Display Protection: Both the smartphones come with Corning Gorilla Glass display protection.

Size: Skyrocket comes with 129.8 x 68.8 x 9.5 mm dimension and weighs 130.5 grams while Galaxy Note is expected to come with 146.85 x 82.95 x 9.65 mm dimension and weigh 178 grams.

Processor: Skyrocket features a 1.5 GHz Scorpion dual-core processor, Adreno 220 GPU, Qualcomm APQ8060 Snapdragon chipset, with 1GB RAM. Meanwhile, Galaxy Note will sport a dual-core 1.5GHz Scorpion CPU Qualcomm MSM8660 Snapdragon Adreno 220 GPU with 1GB RAM.

Camera: Both smartphones sport rear-facing 8 megapixel LED flash cameras with 1080p HD video capture capabilities and 2 megapixel front-facing one for vide chat.

Camera Features: Both the smartphones have geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, and image stabilization.

3G/4G: Both the smartphones have HSDPA 21 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps and support 4G LTE.

Operating System: Both smartphones have the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, with the promise of an upgrade to Google Inc.'s latest smartphone OS Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

User Interface: Both smartphones use Samsung's TouchWiz user interface.

WLAN/Bluetooth/USB: Skyrocket has Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, NFC, Bluetooth 3.0 version with HS, microUSB 2.0 version (MHL) and USB-On-the-go. Meanwhile, Galaxy Note will support Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot along with Bluetooth 3.0 version with A2DP, EDR, microUSB (MHL) 2.0 version, and USB On-the-go.

Storage: Skyrocket boasts 16GB of internal storage that can be expanded, via a microSD card slot, to 32GB. Galaxy Note, when compared, will come with 16/32 GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 32GB microSD card.

Battery: Galaxy Note will come with a standard Li-ion 2500 mAh battery. Meanwhile, Skyrocket comes with a standard Li-ion 1850 mAh battery that gives up to 7 hours of talk time and up to 256 hours of standby.

Pricing: Skyrocket is priced at $199.99 with a two-year AT&T contract. Galaxy Note, when compared, would be available from Feb. 19 for $299.99 with a two-year AT&T contract.

Additional Features: Galaxy Note will have accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer sensors, assisted GPS, GLONASS, Adobe Flash, Java MIDP emulator, S Pen stylus, NFC, active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, TV-out (via MHL A/V link), SNS integration, MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player, MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player, image/video editor, Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, and Picasa integration.

Skyrocket, when compared, has accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass sensors, Assisted GPS, Adobe Flash, NFC, active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, SNS integration, MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player, MP3/WAV/eAAC+/AC3/FLAC player, Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk and Picasa integration.

MUST READ: Top Web Hosting Firms 2012