Samsung Electronics Co. announced that the Galaxy Note II will be arriving in US shores in mid-November and the following carriers: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular, will be selling the device.  Unfortunately, no exact date was given and the price of the phablet is still a bit of a mystery.

The Galaxy Note II features a 5.55″ HD Super AMOLED (1,280 x 720) display with Corning Gorilla Glass that provides exceptional damage resistance to the drops, bumps, and scrapes of everyday use, 1.6 GHz quad-core processor, runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean,  8 Megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED Flash and a 1.9 MP VT front camera.  The rear camera features Best Photo, Best Group Pose, Low light shot and more.  It is a 4G LTE device and has Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0 Host,  WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi HT40; Wi-Fi Direct, NFC and S Beam.

It comes in Marble White and Titanium Gray – brushed polycarbonate material.  Features the following sensors: accelerometer, RGB Light, digital compass, proximity, gyro, and barometer.  It uses a micro SIM and includes the following special features: optimized S Pen, Air View, Popup Note, Easy Clip, S Voice, and Smart Stay.

The Galaxy Note II falls into the category of phablets – the cross between a smartphone and a tablet, but it’s still more of a smartphone than a tablet – just a bit bigger than regular smartphones with 4” screens.  Since it is Samsung’s most recently launched device, people can’t help but to compare it to the iPhone 5, and I must admit, we’re a guilty party.

If you missed our iPhone 5 vs Galaxy SIII vs Galaxy Note II piece, click here.  It might help you decide what device to get in case you’re thinking of buying a new smartphone. ;)