Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 4

It’s all too easy too overlook how the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has evolved from pioneering phablet to an all-around large smartphone solution with a solid ecosystem of accessories, apps and user-centered features. The new design and higher-quality build are sure to attract more users.

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Make no mistake about it, the Samsung Galaxy Note has become Samsung’s flagship device. While the Samsung Galaxy S 5 has been spun off in different variants to entice both fashion-focused users (Galaxy Alpha) and rugged users (Galaxy S5 Active), if you want to see and experience where Samsung is at for state-of-the-art devices, you want to look at the Note line.

The product that kicked off the Phablet genre of tweener devices that sit between tablets and smartphones has brought many impressive upgrades and features for its fourth iteration.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is available from TELUS on October 24 in Charcoal Black and Frost White. Here’s the link to their coming soon page. Bell is selling it for $299 on two year plans. Rogers has a preorder page here.

Most noticeable this year, is a new metal frame that runs along the entire side, top and bottom of the device to give it structural rigidity and a more premium feel. The display, a 5.7-inch 2560 x 1440 Quad HD Super AMOLED, is also drop-dead gorgeous and resplendent in most viewing conditions. 

The Galaxy Note 4 is powered by a 2.7 GHz quad core processor and 3 GB of RAM, it features 32 GB of standard onboard memory, easily upgradeable to up to 128GB by way of a microSD expansion card. 

I was generally impressed with the new 16 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization, something most flagship smartphones are including. A 3.7 megapixel front facing camera is designed with a wider angle, to include more actors next time the ‘world’s most awesome selfie,’ is attempted at an awards show.

High speed LTE at 150 Mbps is supported in over 9 bands and WiFi users get 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac for high speed wireless connectivity.

All of this is available in a package that feels reasonably compact and light for a large smartphone. The Galaxy Note 4 is 153.5 X 78.6 X 8.5 mm and weighs a respectable 176g. For many users who will carry this as their main and only device, it is quite pocketable and fits nicely in a jacket pocket or in your khakis.

The Good Stuff

I quite enjoyed using the Galaxy Note 4, it somehow felt less chintzy than its predecessors and, when coupled with a nice powder-blue Flip Cover S View, looked very professional and conceptually cohesive.

While I was a detractor of the earlier S Pen stylus because of its limited functionalty, I was bowled over at how accurate the new S Pen is. I like to draw and sketch and have found the experience on various devices to be less than ideal. 

 

The S Pen now has a lot to offer because there are a variety of apps that support it fully. I found it to be a bigger joy to use than the Surface Pro 2, which is super accurate (and obviously, offers a larger canvas), but feels less natural for some reason.

Part of the joy of using S Pen are the various apps that now support it. Here are a few that stood out for me.

Pen.UP is simply outstanding, it is a social network for people who like to draw and who can post and share their creations with other users. It allows you to see what users are producing, get inspired and make their own artwork. After interacting with this app, I knew it was something I’d look for once my time with the Note 4 was up.

Autodesk’s SketchBook Mobile is also a showstopper, they’ve managed to refine the experience and the accuracy of the pen in terms of pressure and precision.

So, while the Galaxy Note 4 is expected to do double duty as flagship device and ideal BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for the corporate crowd, I think it has come into its own as an artists tool, at least a good enough portable digital sketching tool. While I don’t see many users rushing to buy this phone for that feature alone, those who give it a chance will be quite delighted at what they can create and also the many ways they can share their work.

The camera of the Galaxy Note 4 is pretty darn good. It does an ample job at reproducing natural colours, skin tones and is reasonably fast. Looking at photos on that Quad HD screen is also a treat. While not as fast as many competing smartphone cameras, the Noe 4's makes up for this by capturing clear and well balanced images in most conditions. Video is quite good as well, thanks to the OIS.

I found that the Note 4’s camera would work well in most conditions, it seems specially tuned to portraits. I did find it tends to overexpose and struggle with some variably lit conditions (like light filtering through various trees in a forest).  

The new camera sensor lets in more light and seems better for low-light photography. Then, there’s the OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) which helps when shooting video or trying to get a clear shot in conditions where movement is inevitable. This is all good and while not perfect, I found the camera on the Note 4 to be better than previous Samsung cameras, easier to use, less fiddly and yielding generally nicer looking photos. Oh, and it can also capture UHD video (4K) if you like.

Battery life is even better now and a new Adaptive Fast Charging accessory, truly revolutionary, this special wall adapter quickly charges the Note 4 from zero to 50 percent battery life in about 30 minutes.

The not so good stuff

There’s really very little to dislike about the Galaxy Note 4. The new metal edge ups the look and feel, although the diamond-cut chamfered look (reminiscent of iPhone 5 and HTC One M7) feels a bit dated, specially since devices that introduced that design feature, have since moved on.  Still, great move towards a more solid look and feel that bolster's the Note 4's flagship status.

I still take issue with many elements of TouchWiz, specially the stock sounds and cutesy animations. Thankfully these can be muted and pared down, but it takes a bit of time to silence these holdouts of Samsung’s earlier UI.

Conclusion

 

There are rabid Galaxy Note users out there, and they will be satisfied with Note 4 since it is an accomplished and well rounded upgrade in every way. Anyone considering the best overall Phablet user experience in the market today will appreciate the work Samsung has put into the Note 4 in terms of hardware, software and accessories.

Stellar screen, beefy performance, a truly compelling set of apps for the S Pen, and some really useful accessory covers and cases really round out one of the best smartphone releases this year.

While competition has started growing in size to meet the Note 4, it’s clear that the king of the Android phablets retains its crown, at least for another year.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5