Revamped phablet. The sleeves are too short or it tweaks at the waist - a clear case for a half-size. This was likely what Samsung thought when designing the Galaxy Note. The second edition just cannot be pigeonholed into a standard size. It is now even a bit bigger - and extremely fast.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Samsung-Galaxy-Note-II-GT-N7100-Smartphone.83644.0.html
I've been using one for about 5 weeks now, it's clearly a power house. I don't see a problem with the brightness however. Assuming most people use the automatic brightness, you won't resort to the max brightness often. Even with the sun on your screen the visibility is good. - However I tend to use a low brightness setting all around, to save battery for one. Graphic performance is indeed, super, the new Need For Speed Most Wanted runs smoothly with a pretty steady fps, hiccups are barely noticeable. Also, for the people who like to play around and 'photoshop' photos on the go, I can clearly recommend the note II. It's just so much easier on a large screen, with the S pen and the available software.