Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review

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

WHAT IS THE SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 4?

You get a lot for that price, though. A '2K' QHD screen, speedy 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.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 4: DESIGN

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

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 corners on the trim are slightly raised, which is barely noticeable and doesn’t really have an impact when holding the Note 4.

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.

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.

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 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

Fingerprint Scanner

Samsung included the Fingerprint Scanner joining the Galaxy S5, Galaxy S5 Mini and Galaxy Alpha in the fingerprint scanning stakes.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 4: SCREEN

The Note 4 sticks to the same 5.7-inch screen. 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.

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.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 4: PERFORMANCE

The Note 4 features a 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 420 GPU. That’s some pretty impressive specs and it’s no surprise to find that the Note 4 is well equipped for all that you can throw at it.

But let’s start with that Snapdragon 805 processor, which sees the move from a Snapdragon 800 processor, which was by no means slow and sluggish, to Qualcomm’s most advanced chip technology.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 4: CAMERA

The Note 4 has a 16-megapixel camera, matching the Galaxy S5's megapixel count, but where they differ is the fact that the bigger Samsung now includes optical image stabilisation. Using optical image stabilisation over digital image stabilisation ensures the phone does a better job of reducing the blur and movement when shooting in low light, helping you to get better night-time shots.

Samsung hasn’t neglected the selfie generation, either, so there’s a 3.7-megapixel front-facing camera with a fast f/1.9 aperture, and it can shoot Full HD 1080p video as well. If you're more of a group selfie fan, you can even use the main camera for higher-resolution images that can fit more into the frame. You can adjust the area you want to shoot on the screen then, when you flip it over, it'll detect anything in that frame and automatically take the photo.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 4: BATTERY LIFE

The Note 4 packs a 3220mAh battery, which is just slightly bigger than the 3000mAh one in the Note 3 that didn't overwhelm us with its staying power.

OVERALL SCORE

SCORES IN DETAIL

• Battery Life9
• Calls & Sound7
• Camera9
• Design8
• Features8
• Performance9
• Screen Quality9
• Software8
• Value7