Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (Video)

We are now within the 4th-year of the Note series as Samsung now has some major competition in the phablet arena. LG has the moderately-sized G3, Apple has the iPhone 6 Plus, Google has the Nexus 6, and even the newcomer: the OnePlus One. Thanks to the Note series continuing to innovate made it more accepting to consumers + paved the way for the competition to exist. Time to test all of the ins-and-outs to see how well the latest Note stand against the now steep competition. Welcome to our Note 4 review.

Design/Build

Samsung made sure to bring their best foot forward w/ the Note 4. They've already upping the ante by bumping up the all-around specs. Samsung made sure to give this Note a slim + tall 5.7inch design rather than a wide look to it. They made sure the outside matched the inside. So the faux leather remains while the stitching is gone. The aluminum band 1st seen on the Galaxy Alpha w/ the metal buttons (Power + Volume rocker) to match. Just like the Alpha, it makes a world of difference by giving it a more premium feel to it w/o completely ditching plastic materials. I'm actually looking forward to the next Galaxy S series for once.

Display

If it's a Note, you know its gonna be a big screen on board. Samsung continues to improve on their AMOLED displays as it now has a 5.7inch 2K (2560 x 1440 resolution) w/ 515ppi. Making this the 1st Note to go beyond 1080p and they did an amazing job with it. No matter what you're viewing on this, simply stellar. Great colors as a lot less saturation present these days, I thought the G3 would finish the year off as the display champ for Android but the new Note comes in the 4th quarter for the W. Samsung has been refining their AMOLED displays for years - all for this moment. While there are other devices in the market w/ high pixel density 2K displays, the Note 4 is paramount.

Performance/Battery Life

Inside of the Note 4 lies some powerful specs inside as usual to handle everything you can throw at it. It is powered by a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 CPU + 3GB of RAM coupled w/ 32GB of storage expandable via microSD. Even though TouchWiz can be taxing on the Note, the internals do the best job they can handling it. I only experienced a bit of lag when switching from the Camera app to view photos. Definitely a lot less lag than what I've usually experienced or expected from TouchWiz. Despite this, it still a powerhouse performer.

A lot less lag than previous Notes w/ stellar battery performance.

Keeping the new Note juiced is a 3220 mAh battery that supports quick-charging 2.0. This is Qualcomm's same technology also used by Motorola that can give you from a dead battery to 50% in 30 minutes. Definitely a welcome addition to the Note series. Notes are notorious for having big batteries and continues to do so. I was able to get almost one day and a half w/ heavy usage consisting of streaming via Google Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, + Show Box alongside emails, Hangout chats, and a few phone calls. For a more light-to-moderate usage got me around closer to 48 hours - all on a single charge. I'm never worried that Samsung would ruin the Note tradition and they have yet to disappoint.

Camera

The new Note shooters are equipped w/ a f/2.0 16MP sensor w/ Smart OIS on the rear and a f/1.9 3.7MP sensor in the front. Not that the Note cameras were ever problematic but this is a great leap forward in Samsung's optical innovation. The main, rear shooter works like a champ. The camera + its software works in sync in regards to taking the photos and fast, proper rendering. The Smart OIS helps a great deal but doesn't make it perfect. It still struggles a bit in low-light but the outcome is still good. The Note 4 handles video well as you have the option of 4K, time-lapse, and slow-motion thanks to hardware-based OIS. We talked about it more in our camera test.

Camera Test

Especially paired w/ the ever-improving S-Pen. It is more accurate for measuring pressure-sensitivity when writing or drawing. You can also see previews to URL links w/ it via Air View and physically write in events in the S Planner. You still the ability to use it to scroll + browse windows, access the Back + Recent Apps hardware buttons, and to physically write/draw notes, messages, or emails. Making the S-Pen more + more like an actual pen. The stylus never wrote like this.

Although TouchWiz could use more of a visual overhaul when Lollipop arrives, Multi Window + Pop Up Window alone are hard to beat in any category, let alone other phablets. This is one area that sets the Note apart from other phablets in the market.

The Note 4 still reigns supreme as the only phablet that matters.

TG 2 Cents

Funny how things change. The Note was once upon a time the biggest thing in Android and now, not so much. The Note 4 is still big but as consumers got used to bigger phones, its a little more manageable. The reason Samsung's Note series have been successful is due to them making great use of a big screen. Being able to do things like split the screen and Pop-Up Window for multitasking. This is something that other manufacturers still need to understand + execute. The Note 4 does a much better job in progressing than the Note 3 or the Galaxy S5 did. From the display to the camera and the battery life, it will hold you down. The new king of Android has arrived.

Categories: Review