Pros Exceptionally sharp, vibrant screen Brilliant battery life Solid all-round camera Packs plenty of power

Cons S-Pen app discovery needs work Plastic back still feels tacky Some software features are not easy to find Very expensive

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Originally reviewed on 17 October 2014

What is the Samsung Galaxy Note 4?

One step in size and price up from the flagship Samsung Galaxy S5 comes the Galaxy Note

4, Samsung's phablet follow-up to the Note 3. The Note really isn't cheap. Bought directly

from Samsung it will cost you an eye-watering £629 SIM-free, but you can find it for less if

you shop around. You get a lot for that top-heavy price, though. A '2K' QHD screen, top-of-

the-range Snapdragon 805 processor, fast charging and a new, improved S-Pen stylus all

come as part an parcel. It also features a new premium metal design. Not too shabby, eh?

Particularly when you compare it to the similarly priced iPhone 6 Plus.

Thankfully Samsung has also listened to the moans of displeasure at the copious amounts of

bloatware it packs on its handsets, and has significantly cut down on its own, often

overwhelming, bundled apps.

The Galaxy Note 4 is one of those big phones that grows on you the more you use it. There

are slicker phones around, but there's a whole lot to like about this giant. With an update

to Android 5.0 Lollipop on the horizon, things can only get better for the Note 4, but it's

facing ever stiffer big-phone competition from the iPhone 6 Plus and the Google Nexus 6.

Watch our Galaxy Note 4 video review

Samsung Galaxy Note 4: Design

The Galaxy Note 4 is a big phone and big phones pose some handling issues. The Note 4,

much like the Note 3, actually doesn't feel too ridiculous to use in one hand or to hold up to

the ear to take a call. But it doesn't mask its stature as well as the LG G3, but even for our

smallish hands it didn't take long to adjust.

Compared to the Note 3, it’s taller, thicker and heavier, but the key difference is that it’s not

as wide. It’s not by a great deal but this does slightly reduce the area you need to stretch

fingers across to reach the other end of the virtual keyboard. You will want to type holding it

in two hands, but it’s not a pain to use it in one hand either. Samsung does include a one-

handed operation mode to shrink the screen size, which should help those who are really

struggling.

Inevitably comparisons are going to be made with the iPhone 6 Plus and having had the big

iPhone to compare, the Apple smartphone is taller and wider but slimmer than the Note 4.

The curved sides on the Apple make it slightly nicer to grip, but both designs have their

good and bad points.

SEE ALSO: Best Phablets 2015

image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/00002ec6c/0172_orh616w616/iphone6-

note4-note3.jpg

iPhone 6 Plus, Note 4 and Note 3 compared

When you peer into the Note 4 box for the first time, you could easily mistake the Note 4 for

the Note 3. It has the same sized screen and the bezel around the display is virtually

identical, although the decision's been made to use a slightly lighter shade of grey. Take it

out of the box and it doesn’t take long to notice the new design elements – and some of the

old ones that we're still not the greatest fans of.

The first change is the new aluminium metal trim that has a darker, cooler shade than the

one on the Galaxy Alpha. The metal-look plastic trim was one of the naffest features on the

Note 3 and thankfully it's gone. The lighter silver finish on the Alpha is nicer, in our opinion,

but on the whole this is a step in the right direction for Samsung. The corners on the trim are

slightly raised, which is barely noticeable and doesn’t really have an impact when holding

the Note 4.

Around the back is that thin, leather-effect plastic, now thankfully without the horrible fake

stitching and a little softer to the touch. It’s nice to grip and fits in with the more

sophisticated, business-like design approach of the Note 4, but it's still a bit tacky.

Compared to the all-metal One M8 or the iPhone 6 Plus, it simply doesn’t ooze class in the

same way. It’s a big step up from previous Note handsets, but it also serves as a reminder of

the design inconsistencies across the Samsung handset range. We’d have preferred to see

the softer-touch back finish on the Alpha, which is more comfortable to hold.

SEE ALSO: Galaxy Note 4 vs Galaxy S5

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speaker.jpg

The back is still removable and here you’ll find the microSD card compartment, along with a

removable 3220mAh battery and Micro SIM slot. Slip the cover back on and you'll notice a

small speaker, repositioned from the bottom edge, along with the protruding 16-megapixel

camera sensor, single LED flash and a heart-rate sensor.

Flip the phone over to its front and the big change here is the new curved glass display. It’s

the type of screen technology we’ve seen on Nokia Lumia smartphones and aims to promote

stronger viewing angles. What it also means is that because it doesn’t lie flat against the

metal trim, it creates a small gap that can be a magnet for the dust and muck from inside

your pocket. It's not the ridiculously sized gap that some people have reported it as, though.

The earpiece above the screen has shrunk a little and it’s very evident that there’s a larger

3.7-megapixel camera sensor now included for better-quality video calling and selfies.

There are some features you'll miss from the Note 3 and the S5. The Note 4 isn’t waterproof,

although the lack of a dedicated camera shutter button would have made it tough to take

photos submerged anyway. Samsung will no doubt suggest Note users don't want

waterproof phones, but we'd rather have the feature than not.

The micro USB 3.0 charging port is gone, just as it is on the Galaxy Alpha. The Note 3 was

one of the first phones to support the new faster data-transfer technology, which increases

the rate of recharging. If there was a Samsung phone where the technology made sense, it

was the Note, so it’s strange to see Samsung has dropped it.

Elsewhere, the better-looking volume rocker, standby button and headphone jack are all in

the same place, as is the home button, which also supports fingerprint recognition. We

found the biometric sensor far more responsive than it is on the S5.

The S Pen is still hidden away in a compartment at the bottom of the handset, where it sits

securely and shows no signs of falling out. The S Pen uses the same ribbed plastic and shiny

silver top

SEE ALSO: Galaxy Note 4 vs Galaxy Note 3

image: http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/00002ec6e/bb2c_orh616w616/Note-4-2.jpg

Samsung Galaxy Note 4: Screen

The Note 4 sticks to the same 5.7-inch screen, but it’s the resolution where things have

changed. Following the lead of the LG G3 and the Oppo Find 7, Samsung has moved from a

Full HD 1080p resolution display to a much sharper 1400 x 2560-pixel QHD (Quad HD)

display. That means it has four times the pixels as a 720p HD display like you’d find on a

Moto G for instance.

Samsung still uses a PenTile Super AMOLED panel to deliver the punchy colours and

excellent black levels, making it a great canvas for video and reading. The pixel count is

515ppi, which is less than the 534ppi on the G3, but it’s still more than the 432ppi on the

Galaxy S5.

One key benefit is that you gain the ability to view multiple apps on the same screen, which

will come in handy for the Note 4’s Multi Window feature. There are some disadvantages,

too, such as the impact on battery life with the extra processing power needed to deal with

the higher resolution.

Most will probably not appreciate what the higher pixel density adds, but there’s no

doubting that this screen is super sharp. It’s more noticeable when running video, but web

pages are exceptionally crisp as well.

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There are, of course, other qualities that make a good screen and the Note 4 does well on

those fronts as well. It’s much brighter than the Note 3 and on par with the iPhone 6 Plus,

making it useful for night-time use and offering great visibility in the bright outdoors.

It’s colourful, too – perhaps too colourful out of the box, so you might want to dip into the

Display options in the Settings menu to make adjustments. Samsung includes Adaptive,

AMOLED Cinema, AMOLED Photo and Basic display modes. The Adaptive and Basic modes

help to mute the erratic colours and high contrast for a more balanced experience.

Video watching is where it really impresses, though. Whites are exceptionally white, blacks

are gorgeously deep, and bigger is generally better when it comes to viewing pleasure.

Lying on top of that curved Super AMOLED Quad HD display is Corning Gorilla Glass 3 to add

some extra durability and protection, which is almost a necessity for a big screen like the

one on the Note 4. It also uses a Wacom digitized layer to sense the difference in pressure

when using the S-Pen to help create an experience closer to writing on a piece of paper.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/samsung-galaxy-note-4-review#kg5VI3j692aJZD3f.99