They say anything can happen in 24 hours. Well, my Samsung Note 3 has gone from a thing of frustration to a golden entity.

From a software point of view the Note 3 needs a few tweaks to prevent the constant reboots when powering on the phone. Also Google need to update their Google Play Music app so it works with the phone. I am sure both these will happen at some point in the future.

However, a trip over to XDA Developers (link provided in comments on part 2 published yesterday) revealed this was a common problem and solved by unticking the box in wifi advanced settings “allow scanning” as shown below.

With this box unticked it is safe to reset or switch off and on phone. After phone is back on you can retick the box. I have installed Nova Launcher and now have 2 home screens as below and app drawer all organised.

Despite missing out on free albums and other apps, I have found that I am still eligible for a free years subscription to the weekly magazine “Business Week”, free app MarketWatch and 3 articles free for the New York Times. There was also a magazine and photo printing app to peruse.

My other observations are that the loudspeaker doesn’t go loud enough as I would have liked, but it is crystal clear, the output volume via headphones could be louder but at least you won’t go deaf in a day, the headphone quality using the supplied in ear headphones is rubbish but using a number of decent in ear and over ear headphones provided high quality audio playback. Battery. Finally a phone that can last a day. It has at least 60% more juice than the iPhone 5S. The screen is gorgeous. Whether it’s watching a movie, looking at photos or indeed anything it’s really amazing. Gaming takes on a new level which such a vast screen. Clip the Note 3 into my Moga Pro game controller and it’s game on. The camera is much better than I thought. Low light photos aren’t brilliant but passable at best. The iPhone 5S and Lumia 1020 trounce it but as soon as the light increases the Note 3 is providing some stunning shots.

I finally have found an acceptable way to sync between my mac and the Note 3. iTunes music and movies (non drm) are handled wonderfully by an app called iSyncr. I realised I had photo uploads going to Google, Dropbox, Skydrive and Flickr yesterday. And still I got through a whole day in one battery charge. I have selected Dropbox for the time being as it integrates better into the mac folder structure. However, I have 80gb storage on my Google account so need to investigate options for using this more, as I enjoy the auto awesome features. Then there is the infra red remote control, ideal for controlling the TV.

How would I compare the Note 3 to the iPhone 5S? You can’t. They are totally different devices. The iPhone is a one handed masterpiece. All your apps and information as the flick of a thumb or finger. I think the notification centre in iOS is better as there are normally choices of how the notification is delivered, badges and more. The Note 3 uses the status bar instead for handling notifications. The one huge score for iOS is using twitter. I haven’t come across any twitter app on android that provides proper streaming and instant notifications as they appear. On iOS the official twitter app is better than any other twitter app on android, even the official android twitter app. The iPhone is technology made easy. iTunes syncing and backup is legendary. But then the Note 3 steps in.

The Note 3 provides over and above the iPhone, a 5.7 inch screen that enhances media engagement, 4K video recording, camera settings and options to fuel a nuclear reactor, in fact that applies to the whole device. Everything is adjustable. Options include intelligent S-View Premium cases, wireless charging, blocking mode, enough motion controls to make you sea sick, smart stay x 100, a decent hands free mode great when driving , S-Pen, air gestures galore, USB 3, USB OTG, and the list just keeps going on and on. The more you learn about the Note 3, the more you realise if you only could have one device, this could be it.

So at the end of day 3, I’m absolutely loving the Note 3. The iPhone 5S still has not been powered back on. My wife reckons I will be back with the iPhone in about a month. I don’t think so whatsoever!

But then again………