As expected, Samsung today launched the third iteration of the popular Note phablet series, the Galaxy Note 3, and the Galaxy Gear smartwatch for the Indian market. The devices have been priced at 49,900 INR and 22,900 INR respectively, with availability to begin 25th September, which is about a week away from today.
The device has a 5.7 inch screen, featuring a full HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. Powered by the Exynos 5 chipset, the device would be among the most powerful mobile devices, on par with other devices like the Galaxy S4, HTC One, etc. The phablet will come with 3GB of RAM to ensure smooth operation. On the imaging front, the Note 3 features a 13MP rear unit, like most other 2013 flagships, and a 2MP front camera.
The Note 3, like other Note devices from Samsung, comes with an S-Pen capacitive stylus. Clicking the button on the S-Pen while hovering it over the phone’s screen will invoke the Air Command menu, which debuts on the Note 3. This is a menu containing 5 new features, namely Action Memo (handwritten notes), Scrapbook (collect information in one place), Screen Write (takes a screenshot and lets you scribble additional info), S Finder (search any file/content on the device regardless of the type) and lastly, Pen Window (lets you draw a window anywhere on the screen, in which you can run any application) for a true multitasking experience.
The device will come with support for 11 Indian languages comprising of Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya and Assamese. As an introductory offer, buyers using 2G internet on their Vodafone network will get 2GB of free usage per month for 3 months.
On the other hand, the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, about which much has already been known, comes with a 1.6 inch screen with 320×320 pixel screen. This smartwatch can work with the latest Galaxy smart devices from Samsung, and compatibility with older devices is on its way.
The Galaxy Gear smartwatch and the Galaxy Note 3 smartphones were initially unveiled at the IFA in Berlin a few days back.
The Galaxy Gear will have a major competitor in the form of Sony’s Smartwatch 2, while Qualcomm’s Toq remains to be a potential threat. On the other hand, the Note 3 will have an array of competing devices from brands like Sony, LG, etc. among which the prime devices would be the Xperia Z Ultra, Optimus G Pro, etc.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 – Key Specs
| Model | Samsung Galaxy Note 3 |
| Display | 5.7 inches, full HD |
| Processor | 4+4 core 1.9 GHz+1.6GHz, Exynos 5 |
| RAM, ROM | 3GB RAM, 32GB/64GB ROM expandable by up to 64GB |
| OS | Android v4.3 |
| Cameras | 13MP rear, 2MP front |
| Battery | 3200mAh |
| Price | 49,900 INR |
Samsung Galaxy Gear – Key Specs
| Model | Samsung Galaxy Gear |
| Display | 1.63 inches, 320×320 |
| Processor | 800 MHz |
| RAM, ROM | 512 MB RAM, 4 GB ROM |
| Cameras | 1.9MP |
| OS | Android |
| Battery | 315mAh |
| Price | 22,900 INR |
