Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 Jelly Bean Update Out Now in the Philippines! How to Get It? Step by Step Guide and Tips!

Remember the first generation Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 Jelly Bean firmware upgrade that was rumored to arrive in December 2012 then was moved to February 2013?! Well, last week, I finally got it on my handset via Samsung Kies.


Better late than never, so they say.

Last Saturday - March 23, 2013 - I got the over-the-air update notification on my Samsung Galaxy Note N7000. But oddly enough, after downloading the rather hefty 510 MB upgrade files over WiFi, my phone told me that OTA isn't supported and I'd have to do it using my PC. What's up with that?! Why make me download the installation files if the whole process ain't supported in the first place?!

Anyway, that didn't douse my excitement. I brushed it off, connected the phone to my PC via USB and ran Samsung Kies. Then, a message appeared telling me that I'd have to upgrade Kies first to the latest version. No problem. I ran the update because we're chill like that. After updating Kies, the program detected my phone and connected to it, and this notification popped up.


Just keep clicking OK or Update and you're good to go. Once Kies starts downloading the files, you can leave your PC and have a snack or even take a nap. Remember: Don't touch your phone while the upgrade is progress. The device will restart automatically once the update is done.

This firmware upgrade finally gives the Korean company's 2011 flagship phablet the much-awaited Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system as well as a set enhancements to TouchWiz user interface and the new Premium Suite, which includes extra multimedia features and a range of new S Pen optimized applications.


Whole upgrade process takes around 30 minutes to even a couple of hours depending on your connection speed. For some reason, it took me a while to download the update files even if I have a more than decent internet connection.


So what do I like about this update? First, I love Multi-Window - shown in the first photo - which lets me split the screen and run two applications on the same page. Second, there's now a Blocking Mode - easily accessible via the new notifications tab - allowing me to block all alerts and notifications at the same time so no more jumping from one app to another to turn off notifications. And finally, there's S Note - replacing S Memo - optimized for S Pen that comes with a gamut of enhanced features like Shape Match, Formula Match, and Handwriting-to-Text.

For all of its coolness, this official Jelly Bean upgrade for Samsung Galaxy Note is far from perfect. I keep on trying to get that buttery smooth experience that JB is supposed to bring to no avail. I even rooted the phone to tweak CPU settings and ran V6 SuperClean but even those didn't work. I'm grateful to Samsung for sending this update (even if it came horribly late) but it just doesn't cut it in terms of smoothness. The lag has seriously become unbearable and I'm now really tempted to just install a custom ROM. Which one do you recommend?