Samsung Galaxy Note 5 review

PROS

• Sleek, glass design
• Speedy overall performance
• Great camera
• Slimmer design makes it easier to hold in one hand

CONS

• S Pen experience not radically improved
• Smaller battery
• No micro SD card support or removable battery

KEY FEATURES

• 5.7-inch 1440x2560 QHD screen
• 16-megapixel main camera
• 4GB RAM
• Exynos 7420 octa-core processor
• 3,000mAh battery
• Fingerprint sensor
• Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
• 5-megapixel front-facing camera
• 4K video recording at 30fps
• Wireless charging
• Manufacturer: Samsung
• Review Price: £450.00/5500MAD.

WHAT IS THE SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 5?

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is the 5.7-inch smartphone successor to the Note 4, arguably one of the standout phones of 2014. 

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 5 – DESIGN

Samsung were more successful than most at making its big phone easier to use in one hand, and it's more of the same with the Note 5. In fact it's better. The screen bezel has been reduced significantly down the sides of the 5.7-inch screen and it's better-looking phone as a result.

Samsung has waved goodbye to the textured plastic back and replaced it with a glass panel, similar to that seen on the Galaxy S6. The bad news is the back is no longer removable. That means no micro SD card support or removable battery. 

The headphone jack has moved to the bottom of the phone alongside the micro USB charging port and single speaker. In its place is the Nano-SIM card slot. There's now even more sensors above the screen and both multitasking and back buttons are more prominent alongside a smaller home button with the improved built-in fingerprint sensor. It’s the same one as the S6, so you can tap instead of swipe to unlock your phone. IR blaster fans will be disappointed to find out that this is missing in action, so you’lll have to look elsewhere for a backup remote control.



The standby buttons and volume rocker are in an identical place not to forget about the S Pen. It's still tucked away at the bottom of the phone but you no longer have to dig your finger into the gap behind it to remove it. Now you simply press the top of the stylus in and it'll pop out thanks to the spring loaded mechanism.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 5 – SCREEN

The Note 5 has the same 5.7-inch screen with Gorilla Glass 4 as its predecessor, which means you get all the benefits of the 1440x2560 QHD resolution display. It also has the same Wacom digitized layer to help sense the pressure when you pop out the S Pen from its little compartment.

The Note's Super AMOLED screen is built for watching videos and that's inevitably where the Note 5 excels. You still get those deep blacks and the bump in PPI and brightness helps things feel all that more vivid. Brightness has been cranked up notch, not that things were dull on the Note 4, but it’s a notable improvement.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 5 – S PEN SOFTWARE AND APPS

As for the S Pen, it doesn’t feel like a radically different writing experience than it was on the Note 4.

There’s some changes in the UI and the features department though that should come as welcome additions for S Pen users. When you pop the S Pen out of its compartment and press down on the S Pen’s solitary button just above the screen, you’ll activate the new Air Command. This is a redesigned menu system, that groups together optimized Note features. These include Action memo, Smart select, Screen write and a slightly redesigned S Note.

NOTE 5 – PERFORMANCE

If there’s one thing you don’t need to worry about it’s the Note 5’s overall performance. Samsung employs the same custom-built Exynos 7420 octa-core processor with the new 14nm manufacturing process to improve efficiency. There’s also a 4GB RAM, which is 1GB more than the S6 and the S6 Edge is packing. Bottom line, the Note runs slick and speedy.

On the graphics front, the Note 5 packs a Mali-T760 MP8 GPU. Running Real Racing 3, it handles the graphically demanding title with ease. There’s no lag or framerate issues, just like the rest of the Samsung flagship family.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 5 – CAMERA

Again, it’s modelled on the setup used on the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge and S6 Edge Plus with key features like Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and the ability to capture RAW images included. The latter means you can now have more control with editing images without sacrificing detail. There’s an improved 16-megapixel main camera on the back with a new wider f1.9 aperture lens that should in improve low-light shooting and generally capture brighter images. 

Up front is a 5-megapixel camera sensor with a wide angle selfie option to help you badly mimic that famous Oscar selfie. On the video front, there’s still 4K video restricted to five minutes of recording but you do still of course have the ability to shoot more without restrictions at Full HD 1080p video at 60fps. The on board optical image stabilization will also help reduce the blur and keep things steady.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 5 – BATTERY LIFE

The Note 5 has a smaller battery than the Note 4. Now there’s a 3,000mAh battery down from the 3,200mAh on in the Note 4. It’s also enclosed in that glass back giving loyal Note users another reason to shake their collective fists at the Korean company for dropping one of the Note’s key features. Samsung's worked to make up for this via wireless charging and improved turbo charging.

When you do run out battery life, you do have a pretty impressive turbo charging mode. This only works with the charger Samsung supplies in the box and will power your phone up noticeably quicker than it does from a standard micro USB charger or wireless charging.

OVERALL SCORE

SCORES IN DETAIL

• Battery Life8
• Calls & Sound8
• Camera9
• Design8
• Features8
• Performance9
• Screen Quality9
• Software8
• Usability9
• Value8