Samsung Galaxy Note II Up For Mid-October Preorder In UK

Pricing and availability for the Samsung Galaxy Note II in the UK have been confirmed, with retailers now accepting pre-orders for the 5.5-inch phablet expected to ship in mid-October. Announced at IFA 2012 last week, the Note II will be priced from £546 including tax ($866) for the 16GB model, according to Clove, with six variants on offer.

Samsung is pushing three storage options – 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB – and two colors, Marble White and Titanium Gray. Aesthetically, the Note II is now more akin to the Galaxy S III than its blocky predecessor, with subtle curves and a slightly longer casing that accommodates a thicker, longer pen, with a new rubberized tip for more comfortable sketching and writing.

Inside, there's a 1.6GHz quadcore Exynos 4412 processor paired with 2GB of RAM and running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It also gets a 3,100 mAh battery, microSD card slot, WiFi a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth Smart 4.0, along with an 8-megapixel camera on the back.

Samsung has loaded up the Note II with its own TouchWiz interface and various pen-enabled apps; you can get a better feel for what the new smartphone/tablet hybrid is capable of in our hands-on. As for US availability, Samsung has confirmed that the device will be headed over "later in 2012."

Update: Clove tells us that, initially, only the 16GB model is available for preorder.