By Ravi Sharma
Fast forward four years and for the first time we see that Samsung has not increased the screen size in the Note series (over the previous year). The Note 4 stylus too performs nearly all of the same functions as the one in its predecessor. In fact, there are only a few differences between the two phablets, but are they meaningful enough to warrant an upgrade? Should this phablet be your next buy at Rs 58,000? Find out in our Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review...
Display
The display has been the biggest selling point of Note phablets since the series' launch, and the situation is no different this time as well. Galaxy Note 4 has a 5.7-inch SuperAMOLED screen, the same as last year; however, Samsung has upped the screen resolution, from Full HD (1080x1920p) in Note 3 to 2K (1440x2560p) in Note 4. This increase in resolution leads to pixel density of over 500ppi; the pixels in this phablet are packed so closely together that it is nearly impossible for the naked eye to set them apart.
However, the pixel density is high enough in Note 3 as well (386ppi), as the human eye cannot differentiate individual pixels after approximately 330ppi. So, even the display of Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is gorgeous, it is pretty much similar to that of its predecessor's. Of course, a few display elements come to life on a 2K display, such as shadows in the Facebook app or markings in certain areas of games etc. But as we have said earlier in our Oppo Find 7 and LG G3 reviews, a 2K display is not necessary right now as the app developers are not making full use of having the extra pixels on the screen.
Moving past the screen resolution, you get a beautiful display that earns top marks on all counts. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 screen has excellent viewing angles, such that you won't see a change in colours even at the steepest angles. The SuperAMOLED screen performs okay-ish under direct sunlight, and colours appear a little oversaturated sometimes.
Samsung has added a layer of toughened plastic on top of the screen to make it harder to crack when dropped; this is in addition to Gorilla Glass 3. The plastic layer is characterized by a slightly glossy look and a noticeable curvature rising from the sides.
Design
The display covers most of the front panel of Samsung Galaxy Note 4, and leaves room for pretty thin bezels, hardware and soft keys and a bunch of sensors. In terms of looks, there are only a few differences in the design of Note 4 compared to last year's Note 3. In fact, you would be forgiven to mistake Note 4 as Note 3 from a distance. But a closer inspection reveals that there are more than just a couple of changes that distinguish the design language between the two.
The biggest change is the introduction of metal. Galaxy Note 4 features a metallic rim on the sides, making it only the second Samsung smartphone to feature this look. The metallic edge has been given a white paintjob all around, which creates a kind of contrast; in our white review unit, you see the white coloured front/back, then metallic chamfered edge and then the white paint-clad rim. Whether this looks good is pretty subjective, as some in the office like this look while other found it rather unnecessary.
Below the display is hardware Home key, the Task Switcher and Back button. The volume key is on the left side; for right-handed people, reaching the volume becomes a chore while operating the phablet with one hand due to its size. Samsung has used the faux leather back panel design that was introduced with Note 3 in its successor. However, the texture is a little less apparent this time and the widely-panned stitching on the sides is gone.
In terms of size and weight, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is only a hair bigger and heavier than its predecessor. The difference is nominal, so you won't actually feel any substantial change in dimensions and heft while operating the two. Note 4 is, however, a little smaller than iPhone 6 Plus but a lot bigger than LG G3.
Hardware
Galaxy Note 4 is a heavyweight player for Samsung and so gets the latest chipset available in the market today. It is powered by Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 805 silicon, clocked at 2.7GHz; it is actually the only smartphone in the market to feature this processor. The inclusion of this processor in the India variant is actually quite significant, considering that Samsung has always launched an Exynos variant of its top devices in India, not the Qualcomm-powered iteration. This means that Samsung is betting on proliferation of 4G in coming time.
This processor is coupled with 3GB of RAM. Internal storage maxes out at 32GB, but you can add a microSD card (up to 128GB) to add more data. Samsung provides 50GB of free Dropbox storage for two years as well. A 16MP rear camera and 3.7MP front camera constitute the imaging module.
You get all the standard connectivity options: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, Infrared and microUSB 2.0. The last one is actually a surprise since Note 3 has microUSB 3.0, which makes Note 4 inferior to its predecessor in this one aspect. The battery capacity of Note 4 is 3,220mAh, just 20mAh more than that of Note 3.
Like Samsung Galaxy S5 and Alpha, Note 4 also has a fingerprint sensor integrated in the Home button and a heart rate monitor on the back, beside the LED flash.
Software
This is where Samsung Galaxy Note 4 sets itself apart from the competition. Note 4 is a productivity device that has a lot of software optimized for just this purpose.
Samsung has tweaked the Android software heavily over the years, adding a number of features to the base OS. Many a times, the approach makes the phone feel cluttered and too confusing for most users; however, there has been a move towards making it a little easier for the consumer to use all the TouchWiz functions. If you are a Samsung user switching to Note 4, you will find the move easy; but if you are using a Samsung device for the first time, the software can be a little too much to handle.
Let's talk about the Note 4-exclusive features here. Last year's Note phablet could recognize contact info you jotted down on the screen; this year's model can recognize the data given on a visiting card and saves it directly in your address book. When we tried it out, this feature could recognize the name, email ID and phone number accurately, but for some reason would not copy the address correctly.
Then there's the feature that lets you copy various type of data, such as web pages and photos, by selecting certain portion of the screen using the S Pen stylus. This is neat function for those who regularly store troves of data for themselves or send it to others; for example, a travel enthusiast can simply copy the details of a tourist destination, pick up images from the web and mail it to anyone within a few seconds. This makes the S Pen another step closer to the mouse we have become used to on the computer.
Samsung's big-screen phones have been able to open two apps simultaneously for quite some time now. But with Note 4, you are not limited to keeping the just two apps open; with this device you can open multiple apps at the same time on the screen by resizing them. You can either open them in a smaller window like the Chrome browser given in the image below or keep them as a floating icon (see the small WhatsApp icon on the left side of the screenshot). You can switch an app from fullscreen view to a small-scale version by swiping from the top left or right corners of the screen.
These are the notable software added by Samsung that are actually useful in day-to-day operations of the phablet. Apart from these, Note 4 has all the software we have seen in previous Samsung devices, like S Health, fingerprint scanning, S Pen functions like S Note, Air Command, Action Memo etc.
Performance
With the best hardware in the market and software that pushes mobile multitasking to the maximum, you can expect tremendous performance from Note 4. The device is a powerhouse and easily the fastest we have seen till date; in fact, the difference between the Snapdragon 805-touting Note 4 and other Snapdragon 801 devices like Galaxy S5, HTC One (M8) etc is apparent to the trained eye.
With the super-fast 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor and 3GB RAM, Note 4 has enough power to handle any task thrown its way. Whether it's the most demanding games or heavy-duty apps, Note 4 can do it all with aplomb. The amalgamation of the software and hardware sometimes feels clunky instead of cohesive, but the feature-set is strong enough to mask this for the regular user.
Battery life of the phone was a concern to us before starting this review; of course we understood that the phablet would easily last a day on one charge, but we wondered if the 3,220mAh battery would be able to deliver more running time than that due to the resource consuming 2K display. As it turns out, Samsung has tweaked the software to ensure that Note 4 lasts at least a day and a half with moderate-to-heavy usage and nearly two days with moderate usage on one charge.
Note 4 also has fast-charging capability, and Samsung claims that it can go from zero to 50% in half an hour. In our tests, the phablet only goes from naught to 40% in 30 minutes, failing to hit the 50% mark each time we tried it.
Multimedia has to one of the strong suites of the big-screen Note 4. Watching videos is an amazing experience on this phablet because of the deep colours and excellent viewing angles. However, the audio needs to improve; the rear-mounted speaker is loud, but it's not clear. There is distortion at high volumes and the quality is just not good for a device that is the most expensive mainstream Android phone. Sadly, while HTC and Motorola have switched to front speakers, Samsung is still stuck with speakers on the back that easily get muffled when the phone is laid on the back.
Camera
The camera of Note 4 is easily among the best we have seen in the past year. As has become customary, the resolution has been increased from 13MP to 16MP, and Note 4 this time has optical imaging stabilization after missing out on the feature last year. Latching on the selfie craze is the 3.7MP front camera.
The rear camera of Note 4 takes photos that capture most of the details of the surroundings. The camera is quick to focus on the subject so that you don't lose shots while making home videos. The white balance in the photos is pretty accurate and shadows don't appear too grainy. OIS makes sure the photos and videos are blur-free even when you move. Lowlight image are actually better than we have seen on most phones.
The selfie camera is pretty feature-laden. You can take widescreen selfies by turning on the panorama-like feature that captures more area by turning the lens sideways. The heart rate sensor on the back can be used as a hardware button to click selfies on this phone. Just put your finger on the sensor and it the screen will show a green circle around your face; remove the finger from the sensor to take the selfie. In terms of photo quality, the selfies taken from this phone are pretty good even under low light, as the noise levels are rather low compared to those on other phones.
Verdict
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is a powerful, powerful phablet that does not falter on any count. Sure, there is room for the software and hardware to work a bit more smoothly, but most users would find that the features are more than sufficient for their requirements. The price tag of Rs 58,300 is pretty high for any gadget, but if you do want the best smartphone (with all the possible bells and whistles) in the business right now, then Galaxy Note 4 is the best choice you can make.
The other new phablet in the market is iPhone 6 Plus, Apple's first big-screen device. Stay tuned for our detailed comparison between Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Apple iPhone 6 Plus.
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