Samsung is giving its latest Galaxy Note smartphone a stylish makeover.
The Galaxy Note 3, unveiled Wednesday, has a soft, leather-like back. It feels like you’re holding a fancy leather-bound journal. Grooves on the side of the big-screen phone make it easier to grip.
But I found the new phone to be complicated to use. There’s too much going on. Between Scrapbook, My Magazine, Air Command and dozens of other functions, it might take even the most experienced smartphone user several hours to figure out.
I tested out the Note 3 for about 45 minutes Wednesday at a Samsung press event in a New York hotel. The company also unveiled its next tablet, the Galaxy Note 10.1, which is basically an extra-large version of the Galaxy phone, but without the cellular service. The phone and its pen were both tied down to a table with a security device, so I was hampered testing it out. A colleague spent several minutes with the tablet and was likewise hampered.
But I saw enough of the Note 3 to at least like its look and feel.
With its leather-like back and the stitching around it, the phone feels expensive and well made in my hands. The soft back can be snapped off the phone to reveal the battery. Samsung will sell replaceable back covers in several different colours, but the phone itself will come in just three: black, white or pink.
