September 3rd 2014 Samsung announced the most anticipated
next generation phablet in Note series, Note 4.
The new Samsung Note 4 is so special that the previous
generation Note 3. Samsung Note 4 comes with an all new sleek design, with a
soft leader like plastic back panel and a metal band around the edges giving
very impression look and feel. Samsung has been using cheap plastic to built
smartphones for a very long time, few years back they started using premium looking
plastic phones. Even after many competitors opted for metal body Samsung still
stick with low cost plastic. Last year Samsung started pushing in partial medal
based body until the arrival of the Samsung Alpha series, a premium high
quality smartphones with all metal body.
Design
Design
As in Note 3, the new Note 4 also have a metal band around
it but this time it look very premium last previous try. The medal band not
only gives a premium look but also an enhanced hands-on experience. Even the
power button and volume button are so good to use over Note 3. It has an USB 2.0
at the bottom, speaker moved to the back, headset jack and an IR LED at the top.
With IR LED the user can control IR enabled device from your smartphone.
It comes with a upgraded 15g S Pen the Note stylus more
sensitive, 15mm hovering detection for air command, pressure level 2,048 that
can measure more pressure variation while using it on the touch screen. Samsung
box few S Pen tips with the product for replacement with a replacement tool.
Display
Display
Samsung Note is still a big device, which make it nearly
impossible to handle with single hand. It has a 5.7 inch Quad HD Super AMOLED
with a resolution of 2560x1440(515 ppi) which makes it the best screen
available in market so far, Note 3 carries 386 ppi and even the new iPhone 6
Plus have 401 ppi. But the LG G3 has a slightly higher pixel density 538ppi
than the Samsung Note 4. Even it’s said that our eye can’t detect separate pixel
with a screen above 300ppi, we could clearly pin point the difference when we
use both. The display of the Note 4 is so
crisp and beautiful especially for 4k videos, display really does a great job
here.
Chip
Chip
The chipset inside the Note 4 is the real game changer.
Samsung have looks well in designing the product and the company has put almost
90% effort in its internal beauty. Note 4 is powered by a 2.7GHz Quad Core
Processor or 1.9GHz Octa Core (1.9GHz Quad Core + 1.3GHz Quad Core) processor. Two versions of Note 4 are available depending
on the region/country you are.
It has a massive 3GB RAM plus 32GB internal storage
and it also supports misroSD card up to 128GB. Both give an impressive performance
with multitasking, gaming, video etc. Note 4 also have a fingerprint scanner
for authentication. With fingerprint scanner a new feature called private mode
was introduced, which can be used to hide date from others until the user
switch into private mode with his fingerprint.
OS
OS
Note 4 runs Android 4.4.4 and is expected to be upgraded to
Android Lollipop as soon as Google releases it. The improvement in the software
is so admirable, with a huge update on TouchWiz. Earlier versions of TouchWiz
also had a problem even it’s running on a high end smartphone, but with the new
updated TouchWiz the performance is buttery smooth. Slow multitasking was a
serious issue with the previous version of TouchWiz which is made to an almost negligible
in the new update. Multitasking in Note is
have stacked card resembling Android Lollipop multitasking.
Camera
Camera
Note 4 have an upgraded 16MP back facing camera with smart
ISO/faster AF and Live HDR, it also have a 3.7MP f1.9 with an option to take 120
degree selfie. The rear camera sensor is one of the best sensor Samsung makes,
capable of recording 4k video, slo-mo video etc. Even the camera app is updated
with minimal interface and even voice command enabled. Unfortunately, Note 4 is
not water resistant so no to underwater photography.
Software Features
Note 4 bring so many software updates that make the device
more attractive. Many features are bought to make single hand operation easier
and faster. Floating windows, TouchWiz allow you to pop out each app window on
to any place and work on them simultaneously (up to 5 windows are allowed)and can
be resized it too. These each window can be minimized to a circular like heads
in Facebook messenger. It allow you to reduce the size of the whole display to
a desired size and can moved to the side you like to enable easy one hand
usable. Quick menu still exist like the previous version, with that you can
slip the screen into two or more and place apps one above other and use it. S
finder is another great feature that enables us to search anything within your
device or even in web.
Battery
With Quad HD 5.7inch display, high performance processor and
new UI still it got a great battery to make it a prefect full pack. It comes
with a removable 3220mAh battery and it’s also a fast charging battery, which
can charge from 0% to 50% within 15 minutes.
There are still tons of new features on Note 4 which can
make my post even longer and uninteresting to read. Samsung have delivered all
in this device with the display, performance and the software.
| OS | Android 4.4.4 |
| Dimension | 153.5 X 78.6 X 8.5 mm / 176g |
| Display | 5.7” Quad HD Super AMOLED (2560 x1440) |
| Chip | 2.7GHz Quad Core Process 1.9GHz Octa Core (1.9GHz Quad + 1.3GHz Quad Core) Process |
| Memory | 3GB RAM 32GB Internal memory Supports microSD up to 128GB |
| Network | 2.5G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE) : 850/900/1800/1900 MHz 3G (HSPA＋ 42Mbps): 850/900/1900/2100 MHz 4G (LTE Cat.4 150/50Mbps) or 4G (LTE Cat.6 300/50Mbps) |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2X2 MIMO) Download Booster NFC Bluetooth® v 4.1 (BLE) ANT+ USB2.0 MHL 3.0 IR LED (Remote Control) |
| Battery | 3220mAh Fast Charging |
| Audio | Codec: MP3, AAC/AAC＋/eAAC＋,WMA, AMR-NB/WB,
Vorbis, FLAC Adapt Sound, Sound Alive, Wise Voice 2.0, Extra Volume 2.0 3 Mics (Directional Voice Recording) |
| S Pen | 15g, Hovering 15mm Pressure level 2,048 |
| Sensor | Gesture Accelerometer Geo-magnetic Gyroscope RGB ambient light Proximity Barometer Hall Sensor Finger Scanner UV HRM |
In US, Samsung Note 4 on contract is priced at $300 and off contract is $700.