Note 4 Review, It's finally here!

[XTankSlayerX]

 

Ever since the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 got announced, the nerd in me started to get really excited.  

 

 

I decided it was time to ditch my moms old phone, a S4 with a faulty digitizer (her fault) and replace my phone with the next big thing, quite literally. Aside from the massive 5.7 inch 1440p Screen, the note 4 has some very interesting and useful features that go together well with the Note 4.

 

 

 

 

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is powered by a Snapdragon 805 (rumors state that a 810 refresh may be coming.) and a Quad-core 2.7 GHz Krait 450, 3 GB of RAM, 32GB of storage standard, a  wonderful QHD 5.7 inch screen. A 16MP camera rear facing camera, a 3.7MP front facing camera with 120 Degree selfie mode, Wireless 802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz, ac, a 3220MHa batter which will get you through at least a day, and USB 2 with quick charging to fill that battery up in 100 minutes. 

 

 

When I first open the box my eyes jumped to the wonderful chamfered edges made out of aluminum, and the actual frame it self is a little thinner in the middle (Where you grip the phone) which is a really good  trend that started with the Samsung Alpha if I recall correctly. The back has received a similar treatment by getting rid of the horrible stitching and going with a nice leather look and feel; since it’s a plastic cover (which is in my eyes, good) its going to be flimsy but It feels solid when its on, and better yet you get the ability to replace your battery and expand your storage via micro SD cards. Fantastic! The front, looks stylish with the line effect the frame of the screen has.

 

 

 

Let's start off with taking a look at the 1440p AMOLED Screen that resides within this beast. The colors look great, text looks like its printed on paper and since its AMOLED you'll be able to get through the day despite all the pixels. Color shift isn't an issue with normal use, although some people a yellow-ish whites problem, I don’t seem to have that. Colors are vibrant... That’s all ill say since I've never had the glory of owning a IPS panel for my PC. #IPS4Tank

 

 

The S Pen makes the large phone experience a lot better, so much so that LG Wants a piece of it. In the case of the Note 4 the S pen is very useful and makes things like selecting text or pictures a lot more hassle-free. The S Pen can be a really good selling point because the way its tightly integrated into TouchWiz, it makes things much easier and its nice to have around when your hands are slightly sweaty so you can still use you Note 4 without your fingers sting to the glass like glue.

 

 

 

The camera, is simply put 16MP of glory. It has slow motion capture and a bunch of other modes. Auto does a good job at everything (hence its name?) and there's selective focus, this takes 2 pictures then blurs out the background. I cant really say much more about it then its simply one of the best cameras out there. Pictures in the spoiler below.

 

 

Probably the most hated flavor of android, but the most feature packed so it seems. Ill touch on the multitasking and big phone features later but first lets talk about the performance, it’s the fastest its ever been. everything is fast enough and it lags less then Lollipop on my SHIELD Tab.

Samsung still reminds you every time you use your phone of electronics worst enemy. Water. For some reason it still sounds like water, Samsung pls. Aside from the small issues with TouchWiz, everything works well, So well in fact; I completely forgot about 3rd party launchers

 

 

The only part that seems to lag badly on TouchWiz is the recent apps menu, it takes a solid second and a half to load, which can make switching apps a little cumbersome. Since I've always used TouchWiz since the S3, So I've just completely ignored the feature ever since. Going t to the home screen and then finding the app there is quicker. now this is not the slowest implementation of this, once again the SHIELD Tablet with Lollipop has it even worse; which takes up to 3 seconds to load. But this really shouldn’t be a deal breaker considering the multi-tasking features and "Phablet" features within TouchWiz

1. 
   
   
   

   First off multi window is a life saver. This allows for supported apps to be put into a window like you can on your PC. This makes making forum posts a breeze. 

   
   
   
   
   
2. One Handed mode. Yes, this is the first phablet (That I know of) that can be used with one hand. Its somewhat similar to multi-window but this puts the OS into a window on the side of the screen, smallest being the size of an iPhone 4 and the biggest being the size of a S5. It’s a nice and very useful feature to have when you have your other hand busy (inb4 jokes)
   
3. Download Booster: Uses both 4G and Wi-fi to boost speeds
   
4. U.Power Saving: Turns off all background apps and uses grey scale so the screen will be more efficient.
   
5. Split Screen: splits your screen so you can use 2 apps at once.
   
6. Screen mirroring: The best use for this is using one phone as a camera and the other as a remote view finder. 
   
7. Side Key panel: Puts all hardware home, back, and recent apps buttons on the side of the screen
   
8. Smart Stay: Phone will stay on as long as you're looking at it
   
9. Touch sensitivity: Makes the touchscreen more sensitive, to be used when you have gloves
   

 

Anyone looking for a phablet that is *just* the right size and does a lot of multitasking or picture taking should take a good long look at the Note 4. The stylus makes selecting text as easy as it is on your PC, makes sharing screen grabs a breeze, allows for text to be collected (Although its formatted for mobile use, its not plain text) and the multi-window features should all be selling points (Yes, you can use Youtube and browse the LTT forum at the same time!) But be warned, there can be lag when using the recent apps menu, which is a deal breaker for some but is out weighed by, once again, the multitasking features available only on the Note 4.

 

 

If you're looking for the best phablet on the market, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 seems to take the cake.

 

 

5K WARNING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@Bubblewhale Your turn to review the Note 3 and IPhone 6 you're using

 

@LinusTech @Slick @nicklmg

 

[Katsu-K1L]

Jesus christ the post is fucking gorgeous.

[dizmo]

Have you tried installing a launcher like Nova?
I'd love to know if it affects the S Pen at all.

If I could have my Nova, then TouchWiz probably wouldn't be such a burden. I assume you can change the sounds, yes?

 

Also props, this is probably one of the nicest posts I've seen.

[TheHolyCawCaw]

Jesus christ the post is fucking gorgeous.

 

Ok now let me read that beauty

[ZetZet]

Jesus christ the post is fucking gorgeous.

It's because the text is not centered.

[Clyne]

@Bubblewhale Your turn to review the Note 3 and IPhone 6 you're using

MY NOTE 3 HAS USB3.0, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT YOUR NOTE 4 DOESN'T HAVE.

[A.D.A.M]

Such a nice post. 

[Rekx]

MY NOTE 3 HAS USB3.0, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT YOUR NOTE 4 DOESN'T HAVE.

REKT! 

[s3ns3]

its preety much the best phone out there right now. it has many features that really takes advantage of the high res screen unlike others (looking at you google with your stupid nexus 6. where is nexus 5 2015 ???)

 

sorry,sorry . im just mad.nice review

[Ericde95]

I absolutely love mine as well. I came from a HTC One M8 (the 2nd best phone) and still think it's leaps and bounds better. 

[IBIubbleTea]

@XTankSlayerX Are you using any screen protectors, skins or cases on that phone currently? 

[arnavvr]

@XTankSlayerX How did you make the banners, I want one for my upcoming Toshiba Chromebook 2 Review

[XTankSlayerX]

@XTankSlayerX Are you using any screen protectors, skins or cases on that phone currently? 

No cases yet,  what i will put on it is one of these bad boys: 

 

@XTankSlayerX How did you make the banners, I want one for my upcoming Toshiba Chromebook 2 Review

I made them using Photoshop. Its a little time consuming but its not hard at all. I could make you a very simple variant of mine for your review if you like.

[Maheshvara]

Hmmm, i'm not a fan of Samsung and TW, but Note 4 was their only phone that made me say "I want it, like now", but it's damn expensive... Also, that picture quality... You don't need  a dedicated camera when going on a vacation

 

Okay, they just now need to release GPe and a lot, lot more people will be happy

 

A great review @XTankSlayerX

 

Also, does it have any lag It's TW, so i think there should be atleast some I know you said it's the fastest one you've ever used, but did you compare it to a Nexus or some other powerful, minimal Android phone TW usually creates lag around 6months-1year of use, depends on the phone...

[VerticalDiscussions]

Well i had 2 galaxy note 4 (defective one the first was), and its a remarkable phone truly hard to beat, but honestly its not as good as i expected . But since its the first true smartphone i have its very quick and effective at most tasks. But the review is at least everything we should know of it . The Gorilla Glass 4 defenetly packs a punch to place the note 4 in top of all others.

[arnavvr]

No cases yet,  what i will put on it is one of these bad boys: 

 

I made them using Photoshop. Its a little time consuming but its not hard at all. I could make you a very simple variant of mine for your review if you like.

 

Yeah, I still have to write the review, but will GIMP work as I do not want to pay for photoshop.

[XTankSlayerX]

Yeah, I still have to write the review, but will GIMP work as I do not want to pay for photoshop.

You can use the trial for photoshop if you want. Otherwise i think gimp should be fine.

[GamerDude]

My bro bought the Note 4 Edge and it's a beaut! :wub:  So tempted to get one myself, but awaiting a rumored Sony flagship phone that packs 4GB of RAM, so I'm gonna bide my time with my present phone, an LG G Pro 2. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious review btw!

[spwath]

dem pics

[Asgarth]

You spelt battery wrong in the Specs paragraph but very nice post!

[RogueCow]

It really blows that consumers didn't like the USB 3.0 for whatever reason (mostly compatibility with every cheap little charge out there from what I've read),

and that samsung reverted the 4 back to 2.0

 

I will stick with my Note3 and USB3.0 for now then and hope the Note5 goes back towards the light

[Ericde95]

It really blows that consumers didn't like the USB 3.0 for whatever reason (mostly compatibility with every cheap little charge out there from what I've read),

and that samsung reverted the 4 back to 2.0

 

I will stick with my Note3 and USB3.0 for now then and hope the Note5 goes back towards the light

As a Note 4 owner, I have to agree. However, I RARELY use a cable to transfer files and enjoy using my old chargers since I lost my original on vacation (OUCH).

[Grimlorn]

Have you tried installing a launcher like Nova?

I'd love to know if it affects the S Pen at all.

If I could have my Nova, then TouchWiz probably wouldn't be such a burden. I assume you can change the sounds, yes?

 

Also props, this is probably one of the nicest posts I've seen.

Im running Nova and the S pen works like a charm/same.

 

TouchWiz always need a launcher in my opinion

[Hoppa]

Great post.

Planning to get the note 4 myself but it's too expensive atm.

[fallendigital]

Great Review! Love the format you use for the review!