RIP Samsung Note 7: The Google Pixel is not your only phablet alternative

No matter how much we praised the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 or hated Samsung for messing up such a beautiful smartphone, production has come to a halt and the Note 7 is no more. While I was not a fan of Samsung’s Note series of phablets initially, my opinion about it changed when I reviewed the Samsung Note 5 dual SIM. After that, post several leaks, I was eager to get my hands on what was a really good-looking Android smartphone from the lot that we had received this year. But unfortunately it never arrived. So if you’re fan of Samsung’s Note 7, or just the Note series, depressed or disgruntled, what do you do now that the smartphone that you wanted to purchase was taken right from your hands? Well, thankfully we have some alternatives and there is one for every one of you. For the Samsung Note fan If you’ve been stuck on a Samsung Note 3, a Note 4 and have been desperately awaiting your shiny new Note 7 to arrive. There is still one Note alternative that you can look at. It’s the Samsung Note 5 Dual SIM and it’s still selling for prices upwards of Rs 42,500. [caption id=“attachment_304990” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image shows the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.[/caption] It’s well built, packs in a glass and metal design and it will get upgraded to the Nougat since the Note 7 did not arrive this year. So if you’re looking for a true Note 7, and don’t mind the lack of waterproofing, the Note 5 makes for a great alternative, in terms of productivity and it even packs in a great camera with flawless 4K and 1080 video recording. For the Samsung believer So you just love Samsung as a brand or may be its customer service, and you just loved the Note series for its size, the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge presents a really good option. At Rs 50,900, it packs in the best that Samsung had and put into the Note 7 as well (just that this one did not explode).  You get the same hardware chops that you would on a Note 7 and its packs in a dust and water resistant IP68 rating (beat that Apple!). It sports one of the best cameras that we have seen on an Android smartphone this far (you just cannot beat it in low-light photography) and it even packs in a better battery than the Note 7. Need I say more? Fed up of Samsung’s excuses? If you are tired of Samsung’s excuses and how they are dealing with the Note 7, it is time you headed to the ‘Dark Side’. Provided you can muster the courage to buy one (Rs 72,000 for 32GB), an Apple iPhone 7 Plus in black or Jet Black is the perfect smartphone to take revenge (don’t forget to tweet it out though) on Samsung for not delivering on its promise this year.  The Apple iPhone 7 packs in a dual camera setup that offers a 1x optical zoom, 10x digital zoom and it even packs in a IP67 water and dust resistance rating. It beats the Google Pixel XL, the Note 7 and other Android flagships this year in terms of benchmarks and raw power and you also get a dual speaker set up. Fancy a stylus for sketching? There are plenty of alternatives out there from WaCom, fiftythree and they also have app support to go with it. Tempting indeed! Tired of slow Android updates? Yes, for once Google did build a premium smartphone this year and manufacturers should be a bit worried. Samsung more so, because the Pixel XL, priced at hefty Rs 76,000 (128GB), is a worthy alternative to its bigger Note 7 flagship. It may not feature stylus support, but its does pack in multi-tasking like the Note series thanks to Android 7.1 Nougat.  It is not water resistant, but it does offer the quickest software updates compared to any Android smartphone out there. No more waiting a good 6 months for the next software update to arrive. Google even offers a fastest Qualcomm chipset in the form of the Snapdragon 821 and something that you will not find anywhere at the moment, Google Assistant integration.