[12] The Galaxy Note II was unveiled at IFA Berlin on August 29, 2012, and released in multiple markets at the beginning of October 2012.

[17] Samsung Nordic has stated several times, including on their official page that both the 3G and 4G versions of the phone will get the Lollipop update.

[18][19][20][21] S-Voice natural language commands and dictation The Galaxy Note 2 is able to show two applications at the same time with flexible width on the screen with its split-screen feature.

[22][23] The Galaxy Note II features a 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED S-Stripe RGB (3 subpixels/pixel) (non-PenTile) screen with 1280 × 720 resolution, a 1.6 GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 CPU, 2 GB RAM, an 8 MP rear camera and 1.9 MP front camera, and a 3,100 mAh battery.

The smartphone's pressure-sensitive S Pen is slightly thicker than in the original Galaxy Note, and a feature marketed as Air View allows a user to preview content by hovering the pen over the content, similar to the hoverbox feature of a mouse in some desktop computers, such as thumbnails in the gallery and a preview tooltip on the video player's time seek bar, and zooming in the web browser (Samsung S Browser)[28][29] and for scrolling.

[36] The Galaxy Note II is available in Titanium Grey, Marble White, Martian Pink, Amber Brown and Ruby Wine case colors.

Some features were removed, which vary as customized by carrier, include FM/TV tuner, charging pins, and Multiple-SIM card support.

[74][75] The Note II was officially launched in the UK on September 30, 2012, available to purchase exclusively from the Samsung flagship stores in Stratford and White City.

Samsung's mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun expected to sell 3 million Galaxy Note IIs during the first three months of availability.

[78] Samsung announced that 8.5 million Galaxy Note II devices had been sold worldwide, based on supply as of November 25, 2012.

[81] The Verge awarded the smartphone an 8.5/10 rating and stated that "the Note II is an unambiguous upgrade over its predecessor and can even challenge the Galaxy S III for the title of best Android device".

[82] In September 2016, India's aviation regulator said a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 device sparked and smoked in an IndiGo airplane, which was on its way to Chennai from Singapore.

Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation will send an advisory to airlines warning passengers to keep all Samsung Note smartphones switched off during flights or avoid carrying the phones on commercial jets altogether.