SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Samsung

Galaxy Note 3 review: Faux-leather phablet.

SpecEagle Editorial·Sep 2013·$700
Overall
76/100
Class rank
#6 of 87
Tier
Flagship
Buy?
At the right price
The verdict, up front

Note 3 faux-leather.

Note 3 introduced 4K video to Samsung and brought 3 GB RAM to mobile — the controversial faux-leather phablet.

01Display

80/100

At 80/100 this is one of the strongest display showings among flagship phones of 2013 — 12 points above the cohort average.

TypeSuper AMOLED
Size5.7"
Resolution1920 x 1080

02Performance

70/100

At 70/100 this is one of the strongest performance showings among flagship phones of 2013 — 14 points above the cohort average.

ChipsetSD 800 / Exynos 5420
RAM3 GB
Storage32 GB

03Camera

72/100

At 72/100 this is one of the strongest camera showings among flagship phones of 2013 — 11 points above the cohort average.

Main13 MP OIS
Front2 MP

04Battery

76/100

At 76/100 this is one of the strongest battery showings among flagship phones of 2013 — 14 points above the cohort average.

Capacity3,200 mAh (removable)
Charging15 W

05Software

70/100

70/100 trails the 72-point cohort average for flagship phones of 2013.

What works
  • First Samsung 4K video.
  • S Pen + 3 GB RAM in 2013.
  • Removable battery.
  • IR blaster.
What doesn't
  • Faux-leather plastic.
  • TouchWiz heavy.
  • 13 MP cam.
  • Tiny by 2025 standards.
Cross-shop it against
Nexus 5 (LG)
$349 · score 84/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 87-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .