Galaxy Note: The original big phone that changed it all

It's been 9 years since Samsung's first large-screen smartphone, the Galaxy Note, rocked the phone world with a 5.3-inch display that was, in those days, laughably large. 

Having a big screen to write, read and view multimedia helped convince the world we needed larger displays.

In 2011, many smartphones stopped at 4-inch screens. The iPhone 4S was just 3.5 inches. 

The original Galaxy Note wasn't just about the screen. It also introduced a digital stylus called the S Pen.

With it, you could navigate, write and draw all over the screen.

Samsung saw this device as a productivity tool, a message that that still rings true today for Galaxy Note phones.

For years, the Note has represented the best of the best in a given year.

Specs included a 1,280x800-pixel resolution for that 5.3-inch screen, and 16GB of internal memory, with up to 32GB in a microSD card slot.

The S Pen stylus slid into place -- today it clicks -- inside a hollow within the Note's body.

Notice the hook on the end of the stylus to keep everything in place.

The Note had a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a 2,500mAh battery.

It shot photos with a 8-megapixel camera with flash, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread was already a generation behind, at launch.

The Galaxy Note sure has come a long way. Phones pack larger screens into ever-smaller bodies. 

Today's phones may look a whole lot sleeker, but they have this common ancestor to thank.