This year, more people have entered the big phone market. Apple is one of the companies that have started to manufacture larger devices. So how does an original maintain supremacy?
Simple: you make the best big phone ever. And this is the story of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
Display
Over the last three generations of the Note, things have always been big, good specs and great display. But this time around, the big didn’t get any bigger. The Galaxy Note 4 maintains the 5.7-inch display set by the Note 3. But what has changed is its resolution.
Gone is the old school 1920x1080 that is now filled with so many devices and comes in the new Quad HD 2560x1440 resolution that is so rich and vibrant. It is safe to say that this is the best display ever seen. To be honest, it is even more impressive than the 5K iMac.
Samsung has really figured out the super AMOLED display this time around and made a beautiful display out of it. While it may be oversaturated, you still won’t able to find a single LCD or IPS display that looks as good and vibrant as the Galaxy Note 4.
Design
The design of the device has also changed pretty significantly. Its back is now covered with a new faux leather that removes to fake stitching from the Note 3 for a new softer looking material that is somewhat nice to touch. Its front looks basically identical, but once flipped to any of its four sides, the phone reveals what the buzz is all about. The Note 4 comes with aluminum sides that give the phone one of the best feelings on the hand.
Samsung has gotten rid of its fake plastic chrome and changed it with a metal trim that adds a lot of significance to the Note 4 in a lot of aspects. The result is that the phone now feels a lot more premium than before. However, the Note 4 is sharper than the iPhone 5s.
The volume rocker with great feedback can be found on the left side of the phone. The right side showcases the lock power switch. On the top portion is a 3.5mm headphone jack and on the bottom is a micro USB port for charging.
Hardware
Inside the Note 4 you’ll find a Quad-Core Snapdragon 805 chip clocked at 2.7 GHz with 3GB of RAM, Adreno 420 GPU and a 3220 mAh battery. This results to a powerful device with flagship specs that prove the Note 4 is currently the fastest device available on the market. It also runs Android 4.4.4. KitKat OS with the latest software of TouchWiz.
Compared to previous TouchWiz generations, the current version comes with a somewhat streamlined and more organized flow. TouchWiz does not feel as sluggish or slow as it used to be, but that could just be from the extra processing and GPU power of the Note 4. With this, things fly on the phone—running multiple applications and browsing the web. The only lag experienced was on startup and even that only lasts for a mere second or two.
A new feature on the Note 4 is the multi-window tab support, which can be activated by swiping down from a corner. But this feature will shrink your current application into a small, condensed window. It manages, however, to retain all functionality. For example with the Chrome Tab, all the scrolling, tapping, and keyboard functionality is still at 100%. We’re not yet sure how this new feature will be useful but it is cool to note that it can open 16 of these at one time. It may be useful when taking photos while looking at navigation.
S Pen
No Galaxy Note review is complete without mentioning the S Pen. It comes with rearranged Air Commands: Action Memo, Smart Select, Image Clip and Screen Write.
Camera
The camera on the Galaxy Note 4 shows an impressive hardware with the same sensor on the Galaxy S5 but adds a 16MP camera and a new Optical Image Stabilization feature. The images taken on this phone are absolutely beautiful, especially on HDR mode. The colors are brilliant and its detail is really good, probably as good as the iPhone 6 or even better in the case of High Dynamic Range.
Video Quality
Video quality on the Galaxy Note 4 is stellar as well. Its combination of 4K UHD Video and OIS on the device proves to be a good mix but not as active as the iPhone 6 Plus. It does produce a smoother and more natural looking video. All the colors and dynamic range attributes carry over from the still images. The Galaxy Note 4 may be the new King of 4K UHD mobile videos in the mobile space.
Battery Life
It’s good. It’s really good. The average on-screen time on this US AT&T model is 5.5 hours. The total on- time is beyond a day but not two days. This could really change depending on how the device is used. I’m the type of guy who likes to watch a lot of videos, check emails, hangouts and different stuff.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 may probably be the best Note I’ve ever used and the best Samsung product I’ve used in my lifetime. The best part is, it can only get better from now. A lot of good stuff can be found on the Note 4. Even for Note 3 users planning to upgrade to a better device, the Note 4 is the best. If you can live with TouchWiz, there is no phone better than the Galaxy Note 4.