Phone or tablet? A wrong Galaxy Note question to ask

Samsung?s Galaxy Note might be suffering an identity crisis as people decide what to call it, but sales certainly aren?t hurting. Last month the company announced it had sold 5 million Galaxy Notes worldwide. AT&T offers an LTE version of the Galaxy Note in the U.S., and a review unit arrived over the weekend. I have a full review forthcoming, but for now, I wanted to quickly tour the hardware on video and address a key question about the Note. Why? Because too many are asking the wrong question about the Galaxy Note, trying to classify it as a phone, a tablet or even a ?phablet.?

As I explain in this brief video, the correct question to be asking is: Are you a one-handed or a two-handed smartphone user?

Frankly, if you use one hand for most or all of your smartphone activities, I?d suggest passing on the Galaxy Note. But not because it?s a bad device. Instead, it?s a bad device for you. On the other hand, I?ve always used two hands with my smartphones; I even type with two thumbs on the iPhone. And for that approach, the Galaxy Note is a perfect fit.

Sure, I swipe through apps and pages in my Kindle books with one hand. And I can scroll or zoom with one thumb as well. But for input, I?m a two-thumber, which is ideal for the Galaxy Note. Videos, of course, don?t require much input at all, and they?re more immersive and enjoyable on a larger, high-resolution display.

So let?s stop trying to fit the Galaxy Note into one device class or the other. The handset actually does a nice job of handling both phone and tablet duties in my limited testing so far, plus it fits in a pocket like any other phone on the market: no questions asked.

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