It feels like anything with a dualcore A9 is too powerful for a phone, and anything with an A8 is too weak, and neither is good with battery life.

Feels like the sweet spot/compromise for the gen-pop is something with a:
4.6 inch display
960x540 SAMOLED+
solo Cortex A9 (1.2GHz) + solo Cortex A7 (0.6GHz)
1GB RAM + 1800mAh
....efficient use of idling/power/OS

But for power users (and large handed) people
The SG NOTE is the best combination: max screen, max power, max battery = max experience with good battery life!