I have quite a bit of experience with phone repairs. Ive been doing it part time for the last 3 years.
The biggest that I like about the note 3 is that the charging port is still replaceable. SUPER smart move from Samsung. Charging ports are usually the most abused part on the cell phone, and the first part (Besides the battery) to fail. So having a charging port that only costs 15 bucks that can be replaced by anyone who can use a screw driver is pretty fantastic.
Another big difference that I haven't seen before, is that Samsung integrated the microphone of this phone ONTO the plastic back of the phone. You can see what I am talking about at 0:53. There are just 2 contacts that make the connection between the back plastic and the motherboard. The biggest issue that I see with this is if water or soda ever gets in your phone, it will ruin the connectivity of your Mic. I foresee problems with that down the road. Not a hugedeal... but still interesting that they would do that.
Everything else is pretty standard. I imagine screens will remain expensive for quite some time. (Note 2 screens run about 200 bucks right now) But everything else is pretty cheap to fix yourselves if your into that kind of thing.
Anyway let me know if you have any questions.
