What is it?
An Android smartphone with a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED qHD dazzling (518 ppi) screen. Phablet in the upscale pen that really launched the fashion giant smartphones. The best smartphone from Samsung today.
Why is this important?
The Galaxy Note has always been at the forefront among the really big smartphones, not to say even giants, even today, the world is back in force. Apple has its competitor, Nokia also. That LG is not bad either and HTC and Motorola are gradually returning in the race. But the Note 4 is the only phone that takes great advantage of its size really unconventional. It has a stylus! And multi-window multitasking! With windows that!
But this is not a matter of size. The Note 4 has a fantastic screen. The best in all categories, according to experts. Add to that the often self-acclaimed range Note and its unique ability to use virtual reality helmet – approved by Oculus – and you end up with a Note 4 capable of many things. Apologies to the Galaxy Note but the S5 is positioned better as the true backbone of Samsung.
Design
Virtually unchanged from the Galaxy Note 3, except for a few minor changes But that makes much better. First, the camera is sweet. Finish the edges with bright colors metal plastic, here are real metal chamfers. And even if the Note 4 keeps back now feature leather Samsung, at least this time it is not a fake stitching. The Note 3 has always given the impression of premium sound without really being. Note 4 is clearly the premium. This is the first Samsung phone that does not have to be ashamed to face an iPhone or an HTC One. This is a strong phone well dressed, and very neat.
these bevelled edges are not a simple decoration. They make everything easier to hold. Angles provide a solid grip, as if a giant iPhone 5s are held. That’s perfect. It provides a sense of security that can not be found on any phone with rounded edges like the iPhone 6 Plus, previous versions of the Note or even smaller devices like the 2014 Moto X 5.2 inches.
Yes, the Note 4 is a great phone, but it is barely larger than the iPhone 6 Plus. Note 4 provides the very thin edges, which means that even with a greater than 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus screen, the smartphone offers substantially the same size. It is only two millimeters wide, two millimeters thicker and even four smaller More than 6 millimeters. And even with these few millimeters, its design makes it pass for smaller.
That being said, the Note 4 remains poor in areas where lots of big phones are bad. Typing with one hand is possible but difficult, especially when the thumb must reach the lower right corner of the screen, making it rather dangerous grip. Sweep down the screen to display notifications with a thumb and then try to do anything at the bottom of the screen request an adjustment of the grip, again rather dangerous.
This large frame is not useless: it can accommodate the incredible screen Note 4. By far the best we had the opportunity to see, by far. This Quad HD Super AMOLED (2560 x 1440 pixels) clearly stands out, it is stunning. Extremely sharp and detailed, with colors that literally spring. To take the phone out of standby to display the yellow background screen is like a first step outside when it’s hot sun – and every time you turn on the screen -. This screen will certainly attract the crowds to watch the smug, to ask any questions of the world …
Of course, the Note retains its characteristic pen, giving you the necessary precision when you need it . Unfortunately, the pen has not followed the revival of the rest of the design Note 4. In other words, there is all plastic with plastic that looks like metal. Remove the stylus reinforces even more the perfection of the design of Note 4.
In use
Note 4 is a pretty monster speed. This is one of the first phones to ship the new Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 805, and its power is evident. The Note 4 was able to turn everything we asked, never flinching. We played a little Dead Trigger 2 Hoplite, Threes, all standard sum games, and all were extremely fluid – not to mention the actions of all days, navigation screens, etc.
. 
Considering that Note 4 has a qHD screen full of pixels and the TouchWiz overlay – which has long tradition of handicap Samsung devices (such as Note 3 and S5) – these performances are great relief. Who knows what the new version of TouchWiz could offer … but for the time Note 4 is incredibly fast.
Speaking of this QHD screen, it really still looks fantastic. The only exception would remain outside in full sun, where it got stuck not being able to sufficiently increase the brightness. But inside, the maximum brightness would almost blind. It also happens sometimes that the dazzling effect vanishes, especially since everything is displayed does not necessarily takes advantage of all these pixels: find a wallpaper with a high enough resolution to display nicely and properly scaling was not an easy task. But on the other hand, applications and web pages were the best stunning, at worst very good. And watch as the text appears well:
But even with this crazy screen resolution, Note 4 maintains a strong autonomy. It has a battery of 3200 mAh, not greater than the Note 3 then, but we have not yet managed to overcome before the end of a full day. One day, after having removed the rating from its charger at 8am, we played for nearly three hours Hoplite – this game is really good! – And ended the day with 15% battery at 1am. In the worst case, the bar of the remaining 20% was reached at 22h, but the monochrome economy triggered, and we therefore easily ended the day in black and white.
Thanks to the loading rapid Note 4 – very useful! – Was able to return 45% of battery in just half an hour to load. What no longer have to hang around for an hour or two at Starbucks, handy
Software
Many people hate the changes made by Samsung on its phones. We have always been a part of them, but TouchWiz – Samsung raises the overlay over Android – has come a long way. She was less aggressive than ever on the Galaxy S5, but it is a turning point because for the first time, TouchWiz is more an asset than a liability.
It is also always the overlay Note that gave the giant’s own superpowers. Applications split-screen have always been a feature on the Note – perfect for watching a YouTube video at the top of the screen while doing something else at the bottom, or else to read your mail and consult your calendar at the same time -.
But TouchWiz goes further. Some applications (all those from Samsung, those of Google and others, like Facebook) can go in windowed mode with a simple gesture or small icon to be moved on the screen. The new rating is not only a great phone; it is a small computer on Android.
On the one hand, this kind of feature seems trivial if you’ve used a computer, but this is totally new on a phone. And for good reason! It would be totally impossible to achieve, even on a large screen of 5.7 inches if there were not these two elements: the incredible resolution to clearly read any text and stylus to remain accurate even with smaller elements. And it’s a role for which only the Note 4 is done and it comes out perfectly.
At first glance, all this seems totally unnecessary. Why would anyone want multiple windows on a phone? Well, we do not need it but it’s really convenient. After a few hours playing with the Note, we realized how it could be useful to keep the window of the tiny camera while they were playing a game, perfect for taking pretty pictures and share on the fly. Later, Gmail minimized over Google Maps proved perfect to ensure that we had the right number of rooms for a meeting without blocking the view of the route. All this would of course have been possible to change the application or opening applications split-screen , but it is much easier with these windows.
The options are not unlimited, however. We were unable to show a minimized Slack over part of Threes window – it was only a test, swore! – Because Slack has always refused to be minimized. Other large applications such as Twitter and Spotify have also refused. For the moment, anyway
And even if you can open as many windows as you want -. Samsung has also told us that there was no limit – Note the 4 seemed to bother since there were five. And anyway, when we tried to open more, we had more than enough room to manage them all.
If you stay two or three windows, it is also possible to drag / drop text and images from one to another. We did it once or twice but it’s pretty limited. Many Google applications – such as Hangouts – do not accept images for example. So if you really want to take advantage, it will go through the Samsung applications, at least initially
But the greatest strength of the Samsung software this time is certainly what it does not. It not beating down the unit. TouchWiz has always made the best rating with the support of the split-screen and pen but it was usually more difficult in particular by sealing performance, and adding menus awful. TouchWiz on Note 3 made us give up and return to Nexus before they can enjoy its benefits. Today, TouchWiz does scares
Camera
Note 4 camera is broadly the same as the Galaxy S5 -. 16 MP so – in terms of image quality at least. In other words, the images have a tendency to become somewhat saturated and score too strong contrast but they are still good – even very good – for a camera phone. At least as long as there are light; as the S5, the Note 4 does not come out very low brightness. You can read more about the sensor S5 compared to the competition in our big comparison, what put the score 4 in context
And here are some pictures taken with Note 4.
innovations in the Note 4 double. On the one hand, the rear sensor 16 MP is now equipped with Optical Image Stabilization. This is not new or unique, of course – the iPhone 6 Plus offers the same system -. But it is very convenient: Most pictures are very clear. More than those taken with the Nexus 5 for example.
There are also some new features (anecdotal) on the front camera. Its 3.7 MP and wide angle – for selfies and perfect for panoramas – for example. This is a feature both interesting and totally unnecessary. Yet well highlighted by Samsung. In addition, the pulse sensor (rather useless incidentally) of Note 4 can be used to trigger the shooting of the rear sensor. It is also possible to set the device to automatically activate when it detects a face. Nothing too revolutionary or completely unique, but small sometimes useful functions.
We liked
Note 4 is a nice phone. After years of plastic, Samsung enhances its design. We had already seen the potential of this new look with the Galaxy Alpha but it was not the right thing. The Note 4 has everything you need. This is a very good and very nice phone.
TouchWiz is not only less horrible than before but it also offers some features that really make sense to offer this large screen of 5.7 inches. The windowed applications are a nice little magic trick that is handy and, combined with the high resolution screen and stylus, they offer an experience that, even if it is not perfect, is much more interesting and useful than that provided by a single large screen.
For a phone with a huge qHD screen, the Note 4 offers an impressive battery life. Especially when we know that it embeds the same 3200 mAh battery as Note 3. And that’s without mentioning the different modes of power saving offered by the Super AMOLED screen of the Note ( as the monochrome mode), take a few minutes of what autonomy easily when the need arises.
We did not like
The built-in speaker on the back of Note 4 is poor. It is powerful and boasts a small bump on his gate that prevents him from being choked when placed on a flat surface but the sound quality is really not at the rendezvous. Unable to comfortably listen to music.
TouchWiz is much better than it has ever been and the Note 4 specifically, it happens to be most useful what it is (was ) handicapping. It is not yet fantastic though. Look for example at the settings menu. It is too clutter.
And even if the score 4 runs perfectly well there, at launch, all that will overlay a handicap for future performance with future versions of Android – or at least the next versions of TouchWiz. – that will require more power
The camera will not work if your battery is almost flat. With battery 3% impossible to take picture:
Some 4 Note that the features borrowed are not very useful. The heart monitor, for example, really offer anything except trigger selfies, and the fingerprint reader is too delicate to be really useful. In a world where the TouchID iPhone fits no problem in a button, having to spend his finger on a sensor seems very medieval.
So, I buy?
Do you want a great phone? If this is the case, you should buy this phone because it is neither more nor less than the best on the market. Multitasking in windowed mode, options split-screen or drag / drop the stylus make the score 4 a device that deserves its large size. Where giants like OnePlus One, the Nokia 1520, the iPhone and the Nexus 6 Plus 6 are just larger versions of their smaller predecessors, Note 4 actually provides something more.
And even if you do not use any of this, the Note 4 is fun to watch, easy to handle, has a great screen and great battery life, and runs perfectly. This is the best phone in its class even without all the extras. TouchWiz-like design and a low-end could be a big brake is absolutely no longer the case. And without these handicaps, the Note 4 has everything it takes to be really great.
No comments:
Post a Comment