Thursday, March 26, 2015
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review – GSMinfo nl
Then in early September Samsung Galaxy Note 4 revealed the expectations were high. Samsung dominates since 2011 phabletmarkt, but with the introduction this fall of devices such as the LG G3 and iPhone 6 Plus competition is harder than ever. If they made it over at Samsung worry, it was at the announcement in any case not notice. The Note 4 was unveiled confidently as the phablet this fall.
We can Samsung at first sight difficult to blame. The Galaxy Note 4 has the most powerful hardware, the sharpest and brightest screen, stylus software and the most comprehensive of all phablets. If there is one manufacturer understands what is important in a phablet, then it is probably Samsung. But the competition has not been idle, and phablets Apple and LG threw high eye in recent months. GSMinfo.nl tried the Galaxy Note 4 recent weeks expanded and asks, still offers the best Samsung phablet of the year
Design
That the Galaxy Note 4 a very large smartphone is we probably do not tell you. A 5.7 inch device is too large to be pleasant to operate with one hand and you wear skinny jeans then you should probably quite up to get the four discs in your pocket. But that’s all part of a phablet. In addition, Samsung has managed to keep the device relatively compact. For example, Note 4 is smaller than the iPhone 6 Plus, even though the screen Samsung’s device it is 0.2 inches bigger.
After Samsung had years of complaints about the sometimes cheap-feeling design of its flagships the manufacturer this year the design of high-end appliances really addressed. The back of the Note 4 is made of a faux leather that provides good grip and firm to the touch. Some users will doctrine may be seen as slightly kitschy, and it’s certainly not something that will appeal to everyone. But it’s definitely a lot more “premium” than the flapping pieces of plastic that Samsung in the past stopped behind its smartphones.
The side of the device is made of metal and pulls the premium look even further by . The Note 4 is not solid black as it may seem in the pictures, but has tiny horizontal lines from bottom to top. As a result, the front seems almost a krijtpak. It’s a business look that looks good, one small detail. Below the screen sit next to the home button a physical Rewind and Multitask button with LED lights underneath, but the pinstripes are still about those lights back. If the buttons light than its parts so even black, while the rest okay now white. A minor irritation perhaps, but something that just stands still in further premium design.
Like the Galaxy S5 is the Note 4 equipped with a fingerprint scanner. That should be easier in theory and faster to unlock your smartphone, but appears to work in practice moderate on such a large smartphone. With Samsung’s scanner you should be clear with your finger from top to bottom swipe on the home button. This can be used with the Note 4 only the device with two hands. Try it with one hand then you will thumb slightly tilted swipe on the button, and your fingerprint then never recognized. This in contrast to Touch ID on iPhone 6 Plus, where you can put your finger on any way places to unlock the device. It’s a lot faster (and less frustrating) to just use a pattern or PIN.
It is a pity that the Note 4 is not waterproof. That the Galaxy S5 was in fact still a welcome addition to the features of Samsung’s flagship. Water resistance is still a way to distinguish yourself from the competition, and is also quite useful. The certainty that you can use your phone in the rain without trouble, or worry in the shower or during washing, is a nice extra. Note that the four that can not is still a bit of a loss.
Display
In a smartphone with a big screen like that of the Note 4 is the quality of that image of course extremely important. Fortunately, Samsung does not disappoint here: the AMOLED screen is very colorful, sharp and clear. The colors burst off the screen, so you still have a very vivid picture even on relatively low brightness. Samsung’s screen tends to give a little white image a blue tint for a little extra liveliness, but if you’re not a fan of are you there that possibly correct in Settings.
The brightness of the Note 4 is almost unbeatable. The maximum brightness of the device is 700 nits, similar to the Galaxy S5 and a lot brighter than bijvoorbeed the iPhone 6. That means the Note 4 actually always easy to read. Even in direct sunlight, the screen is still bright enough to see everything goes.
But even if you just do not feel in a brightly lit screen works the Note 4 excellent. In the dark, the brightness of the unit so that there is hardly light of the image is coming. Layer The contrast of the Note 4 is good enough to still make it readable. For example you can before going to bed a little things on your smartphone check without a huge light does shine is right on your face.
Note 4 is one of the first smartphones with a QHD- resolution 1440×2560 pixels. That equates to 515 pixels per inch, 150 ppi more than the Note 3. These are good figures to join brag and provides an incredibly sharp image, but in practice you will probably hardly notice. The resolution of the Note 3 was already quite sharp, and the extra pixels add little something.
Put your the Note 3 and Note 4 to each other and you stare pretty intense to the appliances you need to press the Note 3 might still be able to count some individual pixels, but just use the difference in resolution is negligible. The usefulness of QHD should in our view be proven.
Hardware
Note 4 is equipped with a powerful 2.5 GHz quad-core processor and a spacious 3 GB of memory. That’s more than powerful enough to run Android smoothly. The LG G3, another qHD smartphone, seemed to stutter and sometimes succumb to the high resolution. The Note 4 does not usually suffer from there. Quickly swipe through menus is smooth and even apps perform well.
Even the Multi Window feature does well. Who worked in the past does not always ideal, as one example, but app was active at a time, or because they were both slower during heavy action. In Note 4 you will not notice: you can feel in one app and watch video in another open a heavier site without causing the hassle.
The only hitch was that we saw more often when opening the app switcher. Return Press the button under the screen that open, it sometimes takes a second (or even two) for this appears. Especially if you have many apps open the Note 4 just need some time. Once the app switcher has been opened however, you can quickly scroll through your apps, and is once you tap an app opened again within a fraction of a second.
S Pen
Of course, the Note 4 also includes a stylus called the S Pen by Samsung. The stylus itself is comfortable in the hand and is very light, but feels a bit cheap. The plastic material used Samsung feels a lot less than the Note 4 itself. Premium The button on the pen that you use such as opening Air Command is not ideal to find by touch and offers enough feedback when pressed.
Functional still works fine pen . You can easily make notes, and handwriting recognition to convert to ‘normal’ text seems better than ever. The Air Command dropdown that you can open at any time you make notes on a screen, or you capture a small part of a website to send to a friend. If you’ve never used the S Pen is only really getting used to. Before you know it you notes anywhere to create and share your quickly your handwritten messages with friends and colleagues. The S Pen is still a meaningful extras that Samsung takes full advantage of the large screen of the Note 4.
Software
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A few years ago, each new Samsung smartphone with more than the previous model. own software Many of these bundled applications were bad in each other or were mostly useless. The last year Samsung seems to realize that this is not a good strategy, and that the Korean manufacturer so the app offering appropriate to limit to it.
However, there are still a lot of apps on the new Note. In addition to the standard Google applications like Gmail and Google Maps Samsung supplies its own version of almost any stock app. There is a private file manager, own browser, own agenda and even its own app store. Especially the latter is incredibly redundant: the app offer at Galaxy Apps is severely limited, and the store itself is a lot less than the Play Store
By the way you use the Galaxy Apps store probably at least one more time. open. Namely Samsung gives quite a few ‘Galaxy Gifts’ away free apps and services for all Note 4 users. There is still quite some valuable between: so you get 6 months free Deezer, three months, the New York Times, and free (audio) books from Kindle and Audible. Plenty of extras that suits you and just make the Note 4 more appealing.
Most of the apps that Samsung supplies power to work fine, and we have, in many cases already discussed in our Galaxy S5 review this year. Apps and S Health did when all good their thing, and still do. What is new is that many of Samsung’s apps suddenly fill the entire screen; even the notification bar disappears from S or S Health Planner open. Now fullscreen perhaps useful when watching a video, but should the notification bar just open our opinion remain with the average app, especially with such a large screen as the Note has four. An incomprehensible adaptation of Samsung.
Camera
Note 4 makes excellent pictures in almost any conditions. The images we made are colorful, bright and usually quite sharp. Even with considerable movement knows the Note 4 camera still clearly capture the image without being too blurry. Compared to some other high-end cameras like the photos are vibrant and colorful to be less, but fading and with noise.
Note 4 camera shoots in Full HD standard, but there are still quite a few other options available. The UHD resolution of 3840×2160 are supported, if you want to advance film in 4K resolution. Funnier (but still mostly a gimmick) is the ability to film slow motion or fast motion with slow or very fast image. In practice you probably rarely use, but it works fine in any case. The videos that the Note 4 does look otherwise fine:. Sharp, little noise, and brightness close to the real world and colors
Battery
The Galaxy Note 4 has a battery capacity of 3220 mAh, making it one of the main battery in smart phones is up to now. Unfortunately, the Note 4 breaks no battery usage records with this battery, presumably by QHD screen. The high resolution ensures that the battery draining a lot faster than a Full HD device, something we already saw in the LG G3.
That does not mean the Galaxy Note 4 lousy performance in this area. The unit easily fetches the end of the day, even if you go on the Internet between meals, check your mail, play games and listen to music. With relatively heavy use we still had a few percent over the end of the day. But even in medium to use, there was often less than 50 percent over the end of the day, so you’ll really get two days.
And that’s a shame because other smartphones this fall as the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact and the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 prove that it is not impossible to get two full days without charging. If you would give between a battery that lasts really long or QHD screen, our choice then we prefer the battery. From You have a lot more to that. In practice,
Fortunately, Samsung makes a lot of good with the rapid charger that comes with the Note 4. This charger you go from an empty battery to 50 percent full in less than half an hour, a full charge takes less than two hours . In the afternoon we just half an hour to charge your phone at the office before driving home again is as yet enough to reach without problems the end of the day.
Value
The competition from other phablets is fiercer than ever this fall. Apple brings almost simultaneously the iPhone 6 Plus off. This device seems on paper a lot less than the Note 4 powerful but is not that bad in practice. Apple’s iOS needs to run smoothly, no powerful quad-core and the difference between Full HD and QHD will usually barely noticeable. The cameras are on both devices of excellent quality, although the Note 4 has double the number of megapixels.
The price of the Note 4 is a few bucks less than that of the iPhone 6 Plus, but experience shows Samsung’s smartphones a lot faster in price bags. Chances are that you can find at the end of this year, Samsung’s device for less than 700 euros, while the 6 Plus still costs 800 euros. In addition, Samsung has years of experience with phablets, and that pays off in extra software convenience. The Note has four Multi Window, the S Pen, and other tricks that exploit the big screen, while the largest phabletfeature Apple the ability to slide the top half of the screen down. Will talk about the design tastes differ, though the 6 Plus something thinner and more than Note 4.
premium | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 | Apple iPhone 6 Plus 16GB | LG G3 | Huawei Ascend Mate 7 | |
Display | 5.70 inch | 5.50 inch | 5.50 inch | 6.00 inch |
Resolution | 1440 x 2560 pixels | 1080 x 1920 pixels | 1440 x 2560 pixels | 1080 x 1920 pixels |
Pixel density | 515 ppi | 401 ppi | 534 ppi | 367 ppi |
OS | Android 4.4 (KitKat) | Apple iOS 8 | Android 4.4 (KitKat) | Android 4.4 (KitKat) |
Processor | 2.7 GHz quad-core | 1.4 GHz dual-core | 2.5 GHz quad-core | 1.8GHz octa-core |
Memory | 3 GB | 1 GB | 2 GB | 2 GB |
Internal Storage | 32 GB | 16 GB | 16 GB | 16 GB |
Camera | 16.00 megapixel | 8.00 megapixel | 13.00 megapixel | 13.00 megapixel |
Weight | 176 grams | 172 g | 149 g | 185 g |
Standby time | – | 384 Hours | 565 hours | 648 hours |
Talk | 1200 minutes | 1440 minutes | 1260 minutes | – |
By subscription | Free from € 35 , 00 | Free from € 41 , 00 | Free from € 25 , 00 | Free from € 26 , 00 |
Los device | € 732 , 00 to € 799 , 00 | € 797 , 39 to € 938 , 00 | € 404 , 02 to € 569 , 00 | € 494 , 99 to € 509 , 00 |
Two other recent phablets the LG G3 and the Huawei Ascend Mate 7. The LG G3 drops lately sharply in price, and includes LG’s cashback action already available for less than 400 euros. For that amount you get a device that is hardly inferior in performance to Note 4, and has a very nicely finished design. It must be said that the G3 is almost absurdly cheap for what you get, and with a price difference of more than 300 euros with the Note 4 is LG’s device is worth considering.
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 another affordable alternative to Note 4, though the price difference is slightly smaller. The Mate 7 has a slightly larger screen, but a lower resolution. In contrast, puts the Mate 7 a much better battery life down, and the unit is fairly effortless two days. In terms of performance does the Mate seven fine, though it’s just a little less than the Note 4.
Another possible alternative if you are looking for an affordable phablet monstrous is the model of last year, the Galaxy Note 3. now available for less than 500 euros and hard sinking in price since the introduction of the Note 4, but in terms of functionality, there are hardly any differences between the new and old model. The resolution is higher and the processor is more powerful in Note 4, but they were in Note 3 good enough to make any complaints. You might miss a few apps, but chances are that the Note 3 beginning in 2015 gets an update that many of the Note adds four features, something happened with previous Samsung devices.
With a suggested 750 euros is Samsung’s new phablet one of the most expensive smartphones this fall. However you about the best hardware of the moment into your home, but a really good value for money’m certainly not offer the device. LG proves that it can be less with the G3 for a few hundred euros, making it thus quite difficult for Samsung by price range
Conclusion
When Samsung a few years ago the first Galaxy Note was launched but whether there really was a large market for smartphones. Three years later, the discs more competitive than ever, and it seems the answer to that question is clear. Phablets are here to stay . Fortunately, Samsung has not been idle, and managed to improve every year.
Therefore, the Note Note 4 is still the best phablet of the moment. The combination of a large, bright display with multifunction S Pen makes four discs an ideal smartphone to be productive. Working, playing games, watching videos, reading, the Note 4 still makes it more comfortable than any other smartphone that is currently available. Add to that the excellent camera and decent housing in and you have a rock of a smartphone.
However, the Note 4 more than a revolution. Evolution The resolution compared to last year became higher, the slightly more powerful processor and there are some added minor new features, but you still have a three discs are then you have nothing to envy. Extra features like the fingerprint scanner and heart rate are moderate enough that you’ll barely use after the first week. They Hopefully Samsung knows next year with the Note 5 to renew more thorough, because the distance between the Korean manufacturer and the competition is slightly smaller
+ Fantastic screen every year:. Sharp, bright and colorful
+ Powerful hardware that rarely falters
+ S Pen and Multi Window take full advantage of large screen
– Battery life is good, but not excellent
– S Pen feels somewhat cheap to
– Pretty expensive compared to some other phablets and QHD smartphones
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 buy?
GSMinfo.nl we compare prices from over 50 online stores, so you always have the cheapest Galaxy Note 4 can find. There is already a free Samsung Galaxy Note 4 getting in combination with a subscription from € 35 , 00 per month. If it is loose gear on sale from € 732 , 00 . The Note is available in four different colors, including black and white.