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Karbonn Titanium S9 VS Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Comparison Review

Karbonn recently unveiled the Titanium S9 phablet for the Indian market with a price tag of 19,990 INR. The device features a 5.5 inch touch screen which packs an HD resolution of 1280×720 pixels. The phablet section was ruled by the Samsung’s Note initially, and then the Note II since it’s launch, and Karbonn would hope the recent launch of the Titanium S9 changes things a bit in their favour.

 

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 comes with an extremely powerful processor, while the USP of the Karbonn Titanium S9 would be it’s price which is considerably lesser than what the Note II costs.

Display And Processor

Both these devices feature the exact same screen size of 5.5 inches. What is also identical is the display resolution of these panels, which is 1280×720 pixels for both. The displays on both these phablets are capable of displaying 16M colours, so it makes the competition very tough. The pixel density comes out to be about 267ppi, which is not the best in the industry at the moment, but keeping in mind the devices are not small screen phones, but large screen phablets, we think that 267ppi should suffice for many.

The display technology is what takes these devices apart. Samsung has used the popular Super AMOLED technology on the panel of the Note II while Karbonn has gone with the IPS-LCD technology which has it’s own benefits.


Speaking of the processor, the Note II packs the very powerful Exynos 4412 chipset which has 4 1.6 GHz cores. On the other hand, the Titanium S9 comes with the Mediatek MT6589 which we see in almost all budget quad core phones. The Exynos 4412 is the more powerful processor of the 2, and given the amount of RAM (Note II – 2GB, Titanium S0 – 1GB), you can expect the Note II to be the better one in terms of processing power by quite a margin.

 

Camera And Memory

Karbonn seemed to be determined in winning this category of the comparison. Why do we say this? Because the Titanium S9 packs a combination of a 13MP rear and a 5MP front camera, which beats the combo of 8MP rear plus 1.9MP front on the Note II by quite a margin. This is probably the best phone from an Indian manufacturer in terms of imaging, and shutterbugs and bound to have a soft spot for the phone.

The Note II comes in 3 variants – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, while the Titanium S9 comes only in 1 single 16GB variant. This might come as respite for many a buyer, because most domestic manufacturers tend to cut costs and include only 4GB or 8GB of storage. Both phones have expandable storage, so there won’t be any problem with either and one can’t be chosen over the other in terms of storage.

Battery And Features

The Note II revolutionized how smartphone makers looked at the battery aspect; the phablet came with a 3100mAh battery which was much above average. Many other manufacturers have taken cue from this move of theirs. Karbonn’s Titanium S9, on the other hand, comes with a 2600mAh battery which is considerably less potent than the one we see on the Note II. Given Samsung’s optimizations on the firmware, which are bound to be more efficient than Karbonn’s, the Note II is the pretty obvious winner when it comes to battery life.

As an added feature, the Note II sports a stylus which comes in very handy at times. This stylus is made by Samsung themselves and does not work with other Android phones.

Key Specs

Model Karbonn Titanium S9 Samsung Galaxy Note II
Display 5.5 inches 720p HD (1280×720) 5.5 inches 720p HD (1280×720)
Processor 1.2 GHz quad core 1.6 GHz quad core
RAM, ROM 1GB RAM, 16GB ROM expandable up to 32GB 2GB RAM, 16/32/64GB ROM expandable up to 64GB
OS Android v4.2 Android v4.1.2
Cameras 13MP rear, 5MP front 8MP rear, 1.9MP front
Battery 2600mAh 3100mAh
Price 19,990 INR About 27,000 INR

 

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Note II is a tried and tested phablet; it’s been in the market for over a year now. On the other hand, the Karbonn Titanium S9 is an Indian manufacturer’s attempt to get hold of the phablet market, and also features top of the line imaging hardware. The Note II, although quite a bit pricier than the Titanium S9, is definitely the better choice if your budget is not a constraint. The fact that the Note II comes with 2GB of RAM reassures this belief, and should make choice pretty simple, unless you are a photography buff.

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Abhishek Bhatnagar

Abhishek Bhatnagar, a known technology blogger & YouTuber from India. A Software Engineer by qualification, now he works as the editor-In-Chief, Webmaster, & Managing Director at Gadgets To Use. He runs a number of other technology websites as well.