I bought the original Note as soon as it was released in November 2011 and to be honest if it wasn't for my obsession with having the latest gadgets I would have been quite happy to hold on to it. It was a truly ground breaking phone which I did not expect to be bettered for a long time. It would appear that it has in less than a year!

The first thing you notice when you take the new Note out of the box is the increase in screen size. Samsung has managed to get in more screen estate and actually reduce the overall size of the body compared to the original. It occupies almost the entire front with much smaller bezel surrounding the screen. I must admit it looks great, a definite improvement. Its also not as wide as the original and I found it easier to use one-handed as a result. I also didn't notice any weight difference so another positive. Personally I would have tolerated an increased weight if they could have used more premium metallic materials instead of the usual Samsung plastics!

I also found the stylus to be improved with much better connection to the screen enabling me to have far more control over what I am writing / drawing. The stylus is also a bit thicker and a tad longer which also improves the experience.

I didn't really notice any improvement in screen resolution or clarity but the original was excellent anyway so not sure how it could be improved.

In terms of performance, this is where the most notable enhancements come. The original Note sometimes stuttered and lagged when heavily loaded. Despite my best efforts, so far I am not seeing any of this with the new Note. In fact it flies at every task and I get the feeling this processor can handle much much more.

Other good stuff:
-Early days but the battery seems stronger. Its got about 20% more capacity than the original so this should be expected.
-The speaker on this thing is fantastic for a phone. Best I have heard
-I have it running a 64GB SD Card in addition to the 16GB - Lots of nice storage

Not so good:
-Camera is the same as on the original - would have like some major improvements here
-May be too big for many - buyer beware

In summary, I think it's worth the upgrade if you have the original and cash to spare providing you can get a good price for your old one. If your new to the Note series and you are looking for a portable internet device for media, email, browsing etc and make the odd phone call every now and then this is a truly superb device. Did I mention it was very big!! I love it

As a proud owner of the original Note - I did not really need to upgrade to the Note 2 - but watching the info about it - I just could not resist!

My phone arrived this morning partially charged and I have played with it all day and only just put it on charge now 11 hours later. I am confident that with a full charge it will easily be seeing the day out - which sometimes with Note 1, I did not.

The phone is gorgeous and I must say feels much more comfortable in the hand. The screen is so easy to look at and enjoy all the content which just flies. It is really fast.

As another reviewer has commented - the speaker on this phone is just awesome- it really is - it is a joy to listen to all my music - which was easily moved over on my micro SD card from Note 1.

All my other apps and contacts have just as easily moved over - Android makes it so easy - I did not have to do anything except just sign into my Google account.

One feature that I saw advertised was the new gallery layout. And I have had fun choosing which pattern I wanted to show off all my photos - I really like the spiral but have settled for the circular grid.

The larger S pen is more comfortable in the hand and I like the hovering aspect which brings up a snapshot of an email or other item. Until you use the S pen - you don't realise just how useful it really is.

Its great that it ships with jelly bean - no waiting for an update for me!

Just one little grumble - how come the accessories have not been released at the same time? My last Note was very well protected - but I have not been able to buy anything specific to this Note 2 yet - so it is ensconced in a wrap over case belonging to my old Note until something specific is released.

Oh and just one other thing - the sim card in the Note 2 is a Micro sim - I just went to the 3 shop in town where they kindly cut down the old sim card from my original note which now fits and works perfectly in the new Note 2 and they did not charge me anything - excellent service.

I am delighted that I have chosen to upgrade to the Note 2 - it is amazingly fast, big enough to be able to make use a joy - but not to big that it is unwieldy.

I would recommend this phone without hesitation.

Amazing piece of kit.

Having been an Iphone user previously it was going to take a lot to tempt me away, but now I've got this I'm wondering why I bothered with Apple at all.

It does everything my Iphone used to and then LOTS more. It is one serious piece of kit, the screen is amazing and it is so powerful! And it's cheaper than the Iphone.

One handed use absolutely no problem, can reach all of screen bar the very far corner. You might need to buy 2 things with it, firstly is a keyboard app called Swift Key 3 ( as the samsung one is awful ) and potentially a microSD card, but those are cheap enough.

Cannot rate this phone highly enough!