Samsung started the trend toward larger smartphones with the original Galaxy Note and perfected the concept of pen-enabled handsets with last year's Note 3. With competitors like Apple, whose iPhone 6 Plus measures 5.5 inches, entering the phablet space, Samsung has responded with its most versatile phone yet. The 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 4 adds a 16-MP camera with optical image stabilization, a metal frame, a sharp 2560 x 1440 display and a stylus that feels more like a real ballpoint pen on paper. At $299 with a two-year contract, this high-end handset doesn't come cheap, but if you want a productivity powerhouse in your pocket, it's worth every penny.
Design
Samsung has taken a lot of flak for using plastic in its phones instead of the aluminum that Apple and HTC employ. However, this has allowed the company to equip its devices with a removable back panel that allows users to replace the battery, a critical feature its competitors lack.
On the Note 4, Samsung has found a good balance between form and function, building the phablet with an attractive aluminum frame that rims the sides, but employing plastic for the front and back. The back has a new soft-touch surface that looks and feels even more like real leather than the Note 3's rear panel.
The front bezel is made of glossy plastic with the same physical home button as its predecessor, with capacitive back and task menu buttons to its right and left. Having a dedicated task menu button is a notable improvement over the Note 3, which used its left button to launch in-app menus and forced users to hold down the home button to see a list of open programs.
As with previous Galaxy Note phones, the Note 4 is available only in white or black, with the darker version looking much more refined and polished. Unfortunately, unlike the Galaxy S5, the new Note is not IP67 rated for dust or water resistance so don't even think about dropping it in a bucket of water or using it outside in the rain.
Size and Weight: Easy to Hold
At 6.0 x 3.1 x 0.33 inches and 6.21 ounces, the Galaxy Note 4 is about the same size as the Note 3 but weighs 0.3 ounces more due to the metal frame. It's a subtle difference but one that I immediately noticed when I held both models in my hand. The iPhone 6 Plus, which has a smaller, 5.5-inch display is about the same size but thinner and lighter at 6.22 x 3.06 x 0.28 inches and 6.07 ounces.
Despite its relatively large size, the Note 4 was easy to grip and fit comfortably in a front pants pocket. As long as you're using one hand to hold the device and another to tap or write on the screen, Samsung's phablet is an extremely comfortable device to use. For those who want to grip and interact with the Note 4 using the same hand, Samsung has a "One-handed operation" menu in settings that moves certain objects such as the keyboard and dialing pad to the left or right side of the screen. However, I found typing with my thumb while gripping with my middle fingers to be an exercise in frustration.Display
Where most high-end handsets, including the iPhone 6 Plus, offer 1920 x 1080 resolution displays, the Galaxy Note 4 kicks it up a notch with a 5.7-inch, 2560 x 1440 Super AMOLED panel that's one of the sharpest and most colorful I've seen. The Note 4 has a pixel density of 518 ppi, compared with 400 ppi for the iPhone 6 plus. When I played a 1080p trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy, fine details like the creases in Star Lord's leather jacket or the scales on Drax's chest were much more prominent on the Note 4 than the iPhone 6 Plus.
When I fired up a high-quality 4K video of a locomotive rolling down some tracks, fine details like the droplets of water dripping off the steam stack were sharp and clear.
Colors like the green in Gamora's skin and the blue in Drax's back were much more vibrant on Samsung's display and black objects like the shadows on Chris Pratt's face were much blacker than on Apple's screen, where they had a white tinge. However, in many cases, the colors on the Note 4 are richer than in real life, with a tendency to skew toward blue.
According to our color meter, the Note 4 can display 163 percent of the sRGB gamut, which means that it can display a really wide array of different shades. That compares favorably to the iPhone 6 Plus' 95 percent and HTC One M8's 116 percent, but is about on par with the Galaxy S5's 158 percent. Its hyper-saturated colors lead the Note 4 to a Delta-E accuracy rating of 4.2 (0 is perfect), which is about on par with the 4.6 smartphone average. By comparison, the Galaxy S5 has nearly flawless rate of 0.9, while the iPhone 6 Plus registered 1.9.
The Note 4 may be one of the most colorful phones on the market, but it's nowhere near the brightest. The phablet registered as 318 nits on our light meter, less than the 373 nits returned by the Galaxy S5 and way short of the iPhone 6 Plus' 537 nits. The difference was particularly stark when I took the Note 4 outside and compared it to the iPhone 6, which was a lot more legible.
Audio
The Galaxy Note 4's rear-facing speaker is loud enough to fill a medium-size room and clear enough for watching videos, listening to speeches or making calls. But listening to music on it is only slightly more pleasant than using a wrought iron Q-tip. When I played Sister Sin's heavy metal song "One Out of Ten," the guitar and drums sounded like a chainsaw mowing down a tree. The percussion in Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda Song" sounded more like someone dropping coins on a wood table.
- See more at: http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-note-4#sthash.c6R78ysi.dpuf
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