Samsung Galaxy Note 2 ships 3 million, on par with Nexus 7

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is proving popular it would seem, as Samsung boasts that its 5.5-inch giganto-phone has hit the 3 million sales mark.

We knew that the quad-core, palm-filling Note 2 was a cracking device, but although its predecessor proved a surprise hit, there was no way of knowing whether shoppers were lapping up the stylus-sporting smart phone.

This impressive number, which Samsung has confirmed to CNET UK, represents channel sales, which means the number of phones that Samsung has flogged to retailers, rather than the number of people who've actually purchased a Galaxy Note 2.

The figure is a clue that the Note 2 is finding an audience, however, and puts the Samsung's mobile on a par with the Google Nexus 7. Just the other day Asus crowed that the big G's raw-Android tablet had shipped around 2.8m.

The Note 2 hit 3 million sales in just a little over a month, though it's worth noting that it's still little more than a hobby compared with Samsung's Galaxy S3 smart phone, which had sold over 200 million devices as of 6 September.

Samsung undoubtedly rules the Android roost right now, but the Note 2's happy news comes as we give the full review treatment to the Google Nexus 4 -- a smart phone that really could shake things up.

That's because, as well as a quad-core processor, an 8-megapixel camera and a 4.7-inch 768x1,280 pixel display, the Nexus 4 costs just £239. That makes it hundreds of pounds cheaper than Samsung and Apple's high-end gadgets, without compromising on performance.

As if that's not enough, it's powered by Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the latest, greatest version of Google's mobile operating system.

Will the Note 2 continue to shine? Or has Google just put its own Android partner at a serious disadvantage? Stick your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook wall.