note 4 lcd panel free sample
Knowledge of cell phone parts:Because of the assembled Lcd material are different. There are several kinds of quality for Samsung Lcd complete. Please tell us which quality you prefer.
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Unlike the Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices which both used the same baseband processor, the Qualcomm MDM9525M, Samsung brings the Intel X-Gold PMB9933 XG726G into the Alpha, and Samsung’s own Shannon 303 into the Galaxy Note 4. There are rumors the basebands will be different in the models released for the US market.
In the Galaxy Note 4, Samsung used many of their Shannon chipsets to support other functions such as power management, RF, and one IC who"s function we have not yet determined. TechInsights first spotted Shannon in the Samsung Galaxy Lite SGH-T399 in 2013 and again in the recently released Samsung S5 Mini SM-G800F. However in those devices, Shannon was only used for power management and the RF transceivers. With the addition of so many of the Shannon ICs in a flagship like the Galaxy Note 4, it would appear Samsung is expanding Shannon into becoming an entire design solution.
Overall, Samsung takes the majority of the design wins in the Galaxy Note 4 with the Shannon ICs and other Samsung components such as the Exynos 5433 processor. Both the Galaxy Alpha and Note 4 use S3FWRN for the NFC controller, S5C72C for image processing, as well as the Samsung memory ICs.
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Many Apple products use liquid crystal displays (LCD). LCD technology uses rows and columns of addressable points (pixels) that render text and images on the screen. Each pixel has three separate subpixels—red, green and blue—that allow an image to render in full color. Each subpixel has a corresponding transistor responsible for turning that subpixel on and off.
Depending on the display size, there can be thousands or millions of subpixels on the LCD panel. For example, the LCD panel used in the iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) has a display resolution of 5120 x 2880, which means there are over 14.7 million pixels. Each pixel is made up of a red, a green, and a blue subpixel, resulting in over 44 million individual picture elements on the 27-inch display. Occasionally, a transistor may not work perfectly, which results in the affected subpixel remaining off (dark) or on (bright). With the millions of subpixels on a display, it is possible to have a low number of such transistors on an LCD. In some cases a small piece of dust or other foreign material may appear to be a pixel anomaly. Apple strives to use the highest quality LCD panels in its products, however pixel anomalies can occur in a small percentage of panels.
In many cases pixel anomalies are caused by a piece of foreign material that is trapped somewhere in the display or on the front surface of the glass panel. Foreign material is typically irregular in shape and is usually most noticeable when viewed against a white background. Foreign material that is on the front surface of the glass panel can be easily removed using a lint free cloth. Foreign material that is trapped within the screen must be removed by an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Apple Retail Store.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 LCD & Touch Screen Assembly Replacement - Blackis the part you require in yourNote 4has any of these issues: top glass cracked or scratched or shattered,lack of touch sensitivity, the image is blurred orbleeding withspots ormissing pixels. If the image hasink blot appearance, wrong colorsorblue liquid on the screen. All of these issues require anew Touch Screen Digitizer & LCD Assembly to solve the problem.
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Your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is broken or damaged and you are looking to get your Galaxy Note 4 repaired? Compare now and find the best price for the required service for your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and go directly to the store.
Repairing your broken Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is in most cases cheaper than buying a new smartphone. You can expect costs of about USD 50 for repair services of your mobile device. Replacing the display is normally a bit pricier than that. However, in almost all cases it is cheaper to get your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 repaired than buying a new device.
The following diagram (infographic) shows the distribution of the most common repairs / damages of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The statistics are based on the repair requests (multiple requests possible).
The LCD display repair or replacement of your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 can be required for a variety of reasons. E.g. the display of your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 does not respond to your touch anymore after it got dropped, the screen stays black, has broken pixels or the display glass is scratched, cracked or completely broken. Most of the time the screen can not be fixed anymore and the screen of your Galaxy Note 4 has to be replaced. The problem is that components like touch sensor, screen and backlight are glued together and come as one unit.
Replacing or repairing the touchscreen of your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 becomes necessary if the touch functionality doesn""t work properly anymore for example due to damaged display glass (cracked, scratched). Symptoms can be that the touchscreen doesn""t react to touch at all, only delayed or just when applying a lot of pressure. In most cases a damaged Galaxy Note 4 touchscreen can not be repaired and needs to be replaced.
The LCD display repair or replacement of your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is necessary, if the glass and display are still in tact (no cracks or broken screen), but the screen has other issues. E.g. the screen stays white, grey or black, has broken pixels (spots, stripes or similar) or the background light does not work anymore. In most cases the display can not be fixed and the LCD display of the Galaxy Note 4 needs to be replaced.
Diagnostics/assessment of the damages is recommend when your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 stopped working (e.g. does not turn on anymore) and you are not able to determine the problem. Once a technician was able to analyze the issue and has estimated a price for the repair of your Galaxy Note 4, you are able to decide what repairs will be performed.
If you have dropped your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 into water, you should act fast. Consequences of a water damage don""t always appear right away. Immediately drying the device thoroughly, turning off the phone and if possible removing the battery can help increasing the chance of a successful repair. A professional assessment of possible damages of your Galaxy Note 4 are recommended in any case. This way serious water damage can be avoided or affected parts replaced. A technician can perform diagnostics, find all affected parts and recommend fixes. Then you can decide for yourself what repairs are actually performed.
If your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 does not charge properly anymore or you experience problems connecting to your PC or MAC a repair or replacement of the phone connector port could be necessary. Often it can also be a problem with the charger/charger cable or a broken USB cable. In any case a professional smartphone repair shop can help finding the problem and replace or repair the broken parts.
The battery of your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 does not hold charge or doesn’t charge anymore at all? In this case you should consider getting the smartphone battery replaced.
If thespeaker of your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is too silent, you can hear cracks, the tone is cutting out or there is no sound at all, despite the correct settings, it is recommended to get a repair or replacement of your speaker or earpiece.
If your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 won""t turn on or off anymore, it is often caused by a Hardware damage of your Power button (On/Off Switch). A broken Power button of a Galaxy Note 4 is mostly fixed by replacing the element.
A microphone repair or replacement for your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is necessary if people can not or almost not hear you anymore during a phone call. Also constant lags, tone that cuts out or cracks can point to a microphone problem of your Galaxy Note 4.
If the front or back camera of your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 only takes blurry photos or the camera only shows a black screen, a camera repair is able to fix the problem.
Repair or replacement of the headphone jack of your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 can be necessary, if your working earphones stopped playing sound on your smartphone or stopped providing the expected sound quality. The cause for damages of the headphone jack or commonly wear and tear, dirt or a dropped phone.
If you have dropped your phone, it can happen that the volume control of your Galaxy Note 4 breaks or does not work properly anymore. In this case you can""t change the volume physically via the buttons. The only option left is to use the user interface and control the volume through the software. A repair or replacement of the volume control buttons of your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will fix the problem.
Unfortunately we are not offering a comparison of repair shops that would be able to fix this particular issue with your Galaxy Note 4 at the moment. We are working hard to keep adding additional repair services to our comparison. You might still want to check in with our partners whether they offer the required repair for your Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
Rear camera16 MP (5312×2988), f2.2, 1/2.6inch sensor, with autofocus, OIS, 2160p at 30fps(limited to 5 mins), 1440p at 30fps, 1080p at 30/60fps, 720p at 30/60 fps, slow motion video recording at 720p at 120fps
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is an Android smartphone developed and produced by Samsung Electronics. It was unveiled during a Samsung press conference at IFA Berlin on 3 September 2014 and was released globally in October 2014 as successor to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.stylus-related functionality, an optically stabilized rear camera, significantly increased charging rate, revised multi-windowing, and fingerprint unlocking. It is the last in the Samsung Galaxy Note series with interchangeable battery. Its subsequent model, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, was unveiled on 13 August 2015.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 features a 2560×1440 Quad HD (“WQHD”) Super AMOLED 5.7-inch display with 2.5D damage-resistant Gorilla Glass 4 and provides a pixel density of 515 ppi (pixels-per-inch).
The Note 4 came in two variants, one powered by a 2.7 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset with Adreno 420 GPU, the other powered by Samsung"s ARMv8-A Exynos 7 Octa SoC with two clusters of four cores; four Cortex-A57 cores at 1.9 GHz, and four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.3 GHz, which is the same processor cluster sold for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in markets that mostly use or only have 3G (such as HSUPA and HSPA), and/or "2G", such as unaltered GSM and CDMA networks, similar to how the Galaxy Note 3 is sold. The phone has metal edges with a plastic, faux leather back.
Both devices that use 4G, LTE/LTE-A and Hybrid 4G-LTE Networks were only sold in Canada, Australia, the U.S., the United Kingdom (for some carriers), Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and South Korea, which have widespread 4G LTE Markets, or are solely 4G/LTE/LTE-A dependant such as Canada and Denmark, which did not use any 3G or older networks, except for HSUPA (Used as a fall back network should the signal strength be weak due to being underground or in the middle of a building), as well as HSPA+, which is a 3G network, though considered by some to be the Original 4G.GPU in charge in the Exynos chipset is the Mali-T760.
The Note 4"s back-cover has a strong resemblance to the Note 3, with a faux leather texture (although without the simulated stitching). It has a new aluminum frame design, bearing resemblance from the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, but lacks an IP67 certification (water and dust resistance), which was present in Samsung"s other flagship, the Galaxy S5, released half a year earlier.
The Scrapbook feature introduced on the Galaxy Note 3 has been extended by a so-called Intelligent Selection feature that allows for optical character recognition of highlighted screen areas.
Like the Galaxy S5, it is also equipped with heart-rate monitor, oximeter, among other, more common sensors (barometer, digital compass, front-facing proximity sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope). However, the Note 4 lacks the thermometer and hygrometer sensors which the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 from 2013 were equipped with.
The capacitive key on the left side of the home button is now a task key, whereas it has been a menu key for previous Galaxy Note series models. However, holding the task key for one second simulates a press of the menu key.
The S-View cover, a horizontal flip case with preview window, shares the functionality of the predecessor"s, except the ability to create Action Memos (digital post-it notes) without unfolding the cover.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 originally shipped with Google"s mobile operating system, Android, specifically KitKat 4.4.4, with its user interface modified with Samsung"s custom skin named TouchWiz Nature UX 3.0. The Note 4 contains most of the original Note"s software features and functions, but also adds more significant upgrades from the predecessors, such as a new multitasking interface, expanded S-Pen functions, gestures, and refreshed menus and icons.
However, some Samsung Smart Screen and air gesture control functionality which was present on the Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Alpha, including Air Browse, Smart Pause, Smart Scroll and Air Call Accept, has been removed.
Most Note 4 devices can also be updated to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, bringing Android features like Android Doze (a feature introduced in Marshmallow that saves battery life) and greater control over app permissions to the device. The Note 4 TouchWiz UI was also evolved featuring the home screen icon pack known from the Galaxy S6 and also features new S Pen features known from the Galaxy Note 5 such as the new Air command menu design with custom shortcuts and Screen-off memo. However, the UI is still very similar to the previous UI and slightly similar to the S6 UI, but most of the TouchWiz UI resembles the original UI for the Note 4.
The new multitasking interface merges the Galaxy Note 3"s “S-Pen window” feature and the split-screen feature known from the Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S5, into one feature. Applications (including the camera application
The Galaxy Note 4 uses a gallery software very similar to the one of the Galaxy S5, with support for functionality such as "Shot & More" and "Selective Focus". Additional camera modes can be downloaded from a store provided by Samsung.
The main (rear-facing) camera is a 16 Megapixel (5312×2988) autofocus camera with 16:9 aspect ratio image sensor (Sony Exmor RS IMX240),Samsung Galaxy Note series and the first original variant Samsung flagship phone to feature an optically stabilized rear camera.
It allows optically stabilized 4K (2160p) video recording at 30 fps, 1080p video recording with 30 fps and 60 fps (Smooth Motion) options and also 120 fps slow-motion video recording in 720p resolution. An option for 1440p video has been added in the camera software. Like the Galaxy S5, its rear camera supports high dynamic range (HDR) video recording with up to 1080p at 30fps.
While the camera software and user interface is largely inherited from the Galaxy S5, some changes have been made. Digital zoom is allowed up to eight times, twice as much as on the S5, Note 3 and earlier. The option to separately preserve the standard dynamic range version from high dynamic range (HDR) photographs and the Wi-Fi Direct remote viewfinder have been removed.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 was released around the start of October 2014 and was available in most major markets by the middle of October. The first regions to receive the device were South Korea and China where it gained huge popularity. In the first month only, the Galaxy Note 4 reportedly sold 4.5 million units, which is a little less than its predecessor, the Galaxy Note 3, which was able to report 5 million sales in the first month after release.
Only Snapdragon variants of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, sold by US and European mobile carriers, may be plugged into the Samsung Gear VR headset, which was created in partnership with Oculus VR.
The phone was met with critical acclaim. When the Note 4 was released in late 2014, DisplayMate measured the performance of the display and said it was the best performing smartphone display ever tested and raised the bar for display performance.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (branded and marketed as Samsung Galaxy Note 5) is an Android phablet smartphone developed and produced by Samsung Electronics. The Galaxy Note 5, along with the Galaxy S6 Edge+, was unveiled during a Samsung press conference in New York City on 13 August 2015.U.S. on 21 August 2015.
In Europe, the successor to the Note 4 is the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, as the Note 5 was never released in that region,Note 7 was withdrawn from sales due to battery hazard.
Since Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note line in the fall of 2010, it has stood as the "tock" to the Galaxy S" "tick" in the product cycle year after year. The leading Galaxy S device of the year introduces all of the new software features, a new form factor and a new internal specs, while the Galaxy Note later in the year refines the physical design, enhances the software with new S Pen features and often fixes the pain points introduced with the Galaxy S — all while doing a little something extra with the increased screen real estate.
In many ways you could say the Galaxy Note is the device that Samsung really uses to push its limits. Where it tries things to see what sticks, then integrate it back into the next-generation Galaxy S.
This year is no different, and the Galaxy Note 4 is tocking right along, improving dramatically on the Galaxy S5. With a brand new aluminum exterior that looks and feels great, optical image stabilization on the camera, a new higher-resolution QHD display, top-end internals and small refinements on the software, this is a device any manufacturer would be happy to call its leading flagship.
Despite generally playing second fiddle to the Galaxy S5, it"s actually not hard to say that the Galaxy Note 4 contains all of the features we wish were in the GS5 — if not for its larger screen size that"s physically too much to handle for many. This is the real 2014 flagship for Samsung, and it"s called the Galaxy Note 4. Read along for our full review.
We"re writing this review after a week using a white, AT&T-branded Galaxy Note 4 in the greater Seattle area with great LTE coverage from the carrier. Our Note 4, provided by Samsung, was running software build UCU1ANIE. For the majority of our time with the Note 4 we had an LG G Watch connected over Bluetooth as well.
Samsung"s switch from plastic to metal for its primary smartphone build material has been a long time coming. Although the Galaxy Alpha — which has nearly identical design and materials — may have spoiled the surprise for some by being released first, the Galaxy Note 4 will likely be the first time regular consumers get their hands on a metal phone from Samsung.
The metal — a combination of aluminum and magnesium — curves around the edges of the Note 4 in a solid band, with the flat portions taking on a very slightly textured color that matches the rest of the phone. The shimmery chamfered edges above and below the colored stripe add contrast and give it that "Samsung" kind of bling, showing off that this is indeed a metal phone. The metal runs deep into the device as its frame, adding rigidity as well.
The inclusion of a plastic back lets Samsung work in its (in)famous faux leather pattern — though it does lose the stitching introduced on the Note 3 — but it also reduces the overall weight of the device to just 176 grams. That"s just 10 percent heavier than the HTC One M8 in a much larger size. The plastic also lets Samsung keep its trademark removable battery, as well as stow the SIM (which is a Micro, not Nano, by the way) and SDcard slots underneath so that nothing breaks up that lovely metal band around the edges.
The front of the Note 4 is distinctly Samsung, with a logo and speaker above the screen balanced out by a large rectangular physical home button on the bottom. A pair of sensors and a new 3.7MP front-facing camera join the speaker on top, while capacitive multitasking and back keys flank the home button on the bottom. The screen glass has a very light lined pattern underneath it on the bezels, while the glass itself flows nicely into the metal edges.The Note 4"s size means it"s still a bit of a hassle to use one-handed.
At 153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5mm it comes in a touch taller and thicker, but narrower, than the Note 3, which in itself is still considered quite large. For further reference, that"s 7mm taller and 4mm wider than the LG G3. Samsung isn"t trying to mislead anyone into thinking this phone is manageable in one hand on a regular basis, and as I"ll get to in the software section of this review it has expanded the one-handed use features to act as a crutch when you only have one hand free.
Lurking beneath the beautiful exterior of the Note 4 are internal specs that follow a logical evolution from the Galaxy S5 (but match the Korea-only GS5 LTE-A), keeping the phone on the bleeding edge of what"s available in late 2014. A Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor is clocked at 2.7GHz and paired up with an Adreno 420 GPU and 3GB of RAM — all necessary materials to push around a brand new 2560x1440 Super AMOLED display.
Rather than increasing the physical size of the display coming from the Note 3, Samsung has just pumped up the pixel count to a rather impressive 2560x1440 and improved many characteristics of the panel. Though they were beaten to this high resolution by the LG G3 it doesn"t make the display any less impressive, and it"s no stretch at all to say this is the best display Samsung has ever put in a phone.This is the best display Samsung has ever put in a phone.
Even with the notable improvements in outdoor viewing and brightness introduced in the Galaxy S5, the Note 4"s display kicks things up another level. There"s a reason why DisplayMate said this is the best screen out there, bar none — it"s bright, insanely crisp and easy to see in daylight, even with the white model I have that has more reflective bezels.
I"m hard pressed to find a single flaw in the Note 4"s display, but the one minuscule gripe I have is that in very low light situations when you have the brightness all the way down the screen tends to look a bit blue. That"s something that often comes with the territory when you use an AMOLED panel, and thankfully color reproduction is great in all other situations, but it"s something you notice in that very specific situation.
But that"s like criticizing one subpar brush stroke on a work of art — there"s still no reason to say that this display is anything but the absolute pinnacle of what"s available in a phone today. I put it right up along the LG G3, with the tiebreaker being your personal choice on LCD versus AMOLED. But even that choice is a tough one, as Samsung is doing some very interesting things with the AMOLED technology that it has refined over the years.
For all of the praise I can heap on the Note 4"s display, its speaker quality isn"t worthy of such kind words. A small, fingernail-sized loudspeaker is found on the back of the phone, and a small bump in its grille keeps it lifted off whatever surface it"s on. Despite that clever design choice the Note 4"s one small speaker just isn"t that loud, and with the huge size of this phone — presumably to be used for media watching — you expect a bit more in terms of audio.
For all the major notable changes in the Note 4 when compared to the Galaxy S5, the software on this phone is nearly identical to that on its smaller cousin. When you set the two side-by-side you do notice subtle differences, and I have to say that they"re all for the better.
After a full week with the Note 4 using the stock launcher, keyboard (which is actually a joy to use on this huge screen) and lock screen I wasn"t left clawing my eyes out, and I think that says something about how Samsung has refined things. It isn"t going to change dramatically — barring some complete 180 with the release of Android L — so we better get used to it. And if you don"t really care for Samsung"s software no matter what, go ahead and toss your favorite launcher and keyboard on there — I think you"ll come out happy in that situation.
The S Pen potentially is the area that has seen the least amount of change, and that isn"t necessarily a bad thing. Samsung"s don"t-call-it-a-mere-stylus has always been great, and now just like many other areas of the Note 4 it has been notably — but not substantially — improved.
The pen itself is now ribbed to help you hold onto it better, and the single button still opens the same "Air command" interface for launching into often-used S Pen features. The old "Pen window" feature is gone, but you get the familiar Action memo, Smart select, Image clip and Screen write options. Action memo has been beefed up to let you pin quick notes to your home screen as widgets, but it can still of course launch you directly into S Note if you choose.
S Note has received a big visual makeover, but the functionality is much the same as before. You still get hand/palm rejection when writing intensely, as well as a smattering of brushes, colors and other options.Samsung hasn"t really reinvented the S Pen, but it"s beefed it up in a few areas.
Building on the Multi Window, the Note 4 also includes the ability to run small windowed apps — called "pop-up apps" — on top of other content on your phone. There"s also a new gesture that lets you accomplish it — just swipe in diagonally from the top-right corner of the screen to shrink down the current app into a small window. It"s a little too easy to accidentally do when you"re swiping down the notification shade, but once you know not to go near the top-right corner for notifications you"ll be OK.
But wait, there"s more. Samsung has also improved the so-called "one-handed operation" options from the Note 3. "Reduce screen size" is the feature that lets you shrink down the display to a much smaller size, making it reachable with one hand. Simply swipe in from either edge and quickly back out towards the edge to enable it, and your screen will shrink down to the side you swiped on.
If you want to keep your window large but just making it easier to reach the navigation buttons, Samsung"s "Side key panel" is a pop-out bar on the edge of your screen that houses softkey versions of the Recents, Home and Back buttons that save you from reaching down to the bottom of the phone.
Sadly, the "reduce screen size" mode is actually a life saver for using the Note 4 in one hand on a regular basis. I say "sadly" because you"re putting to waste over half of that brilliant 2560x1440 display to use your gigantic phone in one hand and not drop it on the sidewalk while sending a text message. But without one-handed operation features enabled, the Note 4 is entirely a two-handed device. If you want to play with a large device, you"re going to have to deal with semi-awkward software features that helps you forget the physical size sometimes.
My biggest concern going into using the Note 4 was how much of a drain the new 2560x1440 display was going to put on performance. But it turns out the combination of upgraded hardware under the hood and software optimizations on Samsung"s part have the Note 4 silky smooth performance right on par with that of the Galaxy S5, even with more pixels to push.
I can"t think of a single instance in which the Note 4 stuttered, even with heavy multitasking and graphics-intensive apps in use. I never saw as much as an animation jitter or a dropped frame, let alone a full-scale OS slowdown. It"s insanely impressive to see everything running smoothly on such a high-resolution display, particularly after experiencing frequent software slowdowns on the LG G3 with the same QHD resolution. And that"s not always been the case with Samsung"s software, particularly in early release builds on a new device.
The Note 4 continues its positioning as a powerful device with the latest iteration, and there isn"t a single reason to think you could push this phone beyond its boundaries with current apps.
Big phones give manufacturers the ability to include equally big batteries, and in some cases that leads to big battery life as well. You"re getting a 3,220 mAh battery — in the tall and skinny shape of the GS5 — behind the 5.7-inch display here, and that big cell is being used heavily on the Note 4.
Though Samsung is (albeit loosely) positioning the Note 4 as a "two-day" device in lighter use, I found it capable of getting through just a single day with the way I use a phone.
With a standard day of use on auto brightness, with a mix of Wifi and LTE, handling multiple chat apps, push notifications from social networks, two email accounts and podcast listening, the Note 4 made it with me to bed after 15 hours off the charger (and three hours screen on time) with roughly 15 percent battery remaining. Night after night the Note 4 was consistent — a full day of use, and somewhere around 15 to 20 percent battery remaining when I hit the hay.
On an extremely heavy usage day with multiple hours of podcast listening, mobile hotspot use to my laptop, over four hours of screen on time and flying for two hours (with the phone on in-flight Wifi) I had the Note 4 tapping out after eight hours away from the charger. That"s pretty admirable for the heaviest use scenario I could put it through, and usage that has had many of my past phones dead hours earlier.A two-day battery champion it is not, but the Note 4 is capable of getting through your work (or fun) day without turning you into a wall hugger.
In an effort to smooth out those issues, the Note 4 takes that same 16MP sensor with phase detection autofocus and adds the one feature that was sorely missing on the GS5 — optical image stabilization. OIS is quite the buzzword (buzzacronym?) in mobile photography nowadays, but this neat little feature that physically stabilizes the camera module in its housing — to counteract movement in your hands — is no joke. It really enhances what a camera is capable of, so long as the software is done right to take advantage of it.
It seems as though the software still doesn"t entirely know what to do with the data it"s handed in low light situations — there"s no dedicated "night" mode, and it isn"t always a foolproof solution to leave HDR on either. The camera can always focus, but you"re kind of stuck with a "shoot and pray" approach with too few manual controls to tweak it yourself and too much uncertainty with auto mode. Even late at night the Note 4 doesn"t seem to slow the shutter speed down enough to make a difference and really take advantage of having OIS in there.
In low light the Note 4 is more often than not offering up images that are worthy of Instagram or showing your friends on your phone the next day, and that"s about it. It"s a huge step in the right direction, but it"s clear to me that Samsung has more work to do to strike the balance of performance in a variety of shooting situations.
But to Samsung"s credit, it actually isn"t positioning the Note 4 as a low-light photography champion. And the phone, just like the Galaxy S5, takes absolutely stunning photos in more ideal lighting conditions with slick software and insanely fast capture speeds. It was hard to take a daylight shot on the Note 4 that wasn"t worthy of showing off, and the fast capture in HDR means you can always get subtly punchy photos with good contrast.
Given the choice of having OIS or not, I"ll take having it every single time — but in the case of the Note 4 it feels like you"re not getting the full value of this hardware feature just yet. In contrast, one of the Note 4"s big competitors, the LG G3, is absolutely taking full advantage of its OIS to take really great pictures in low light without any noticeable hit to daylight performance. It"s a head-to-head duel for another article, but right now the G3 still seems to have the better all-around camera.
The Note 4 records UHD (3840x2160), as well as 1080p and ½-, ¼- and ⅛-speed slow-motion video just like the Galaxy S5. The inclusion of OIS helps with video stability, and just like still pictures Samsung has removed software stabilization entirely to let the hardware handle it. Slow motion (particularly ⅛-speed) dramatically darkens the video, as is the case on any slow motion camera, but is still quite good. OIS helps a ton with camera shake in handheld shots, and standard video comes out well. Be sure to watch the video samples above.
Samsung sure knows how to add just the right things to each iteration of its leading Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lineups to make the decision difficult as to whether you should upgrade from the previous model. But in the case of the Note 4, the enhancements from the Note 3 and even the Galaxy S5 have this device on an entirely different level.The Galaxy Note 4 is a big, important upgrade from the Note 3, and even the Galaxy S 5.
The move from plastic to metal on the Note 4 is a welcome one, and it"s not just a checkbox feature. The design is well-executed and tied together cohesively, while retaining Samsung"s trademark design traits. It feels better in the hand than any chintzy plastic phone Samsung has made before by a wide margin, and there"s really no downside to be seen here.
But for many people who have already given in to having a huge phone that"s physically tough to manage, understanding the tradeoffs at play there, the Note 4 marks a dramatic improvement in hardware, specs, display and camera that will assuredly be welcomed with open hands (emphasis on needing two hands) by many. You no longer have to have a phone that"s made out of ugly, creaky plastic in order to have a larger screen or some of Samsung"s catchy features.
There"s no doubt in my mind that the Note 4 is the best device Samsung has ever made relative to what"s available from others in its respective launch year — the one big question is whether or not you think you can handle the size of this phone. If you can, you"ll be rewarded with one hell of a device.
The iPhone 6 Plus is the biggest phone Apple has ever made. Moving to a 5.5-inch screen meant it was finally joining the phablet party with the likes of HTC, Samsung, Sony and LG. Judging by the figures in its last earnings report, it has been well received. But it’s not quite as big as the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, the latest S Pen-packing handset that’s arguably one of the standout phones of 2014 and has been succeeded by the Note 5.
We’ve been living with both handsets taking up a little more space than usual in our jeans pockets to help you decide whether the iPhone 6 Plus or the Note 4 should be the phablet to own right now.
Samsung gets a lot of stick for its phone designs, but like the Galaxy Alpha, the Note 4 embraces metal for the first time and it really pays off. Replacing the naff plastic trim with a cool anodized aluminium gives the phone a much sleeker profile.
Samsung has also ditched the cheap-looking fake stitching we saw in the Note 3 and despite packing a bigger screen, it’s still one of the most manageable big phones to use in one hand. For a purer, more aesthetically pleasing design, it doesn’t quite match the new iPhone 6 Plus’s much sleeker, slimmer design.
The curved aluminium body of the new iPhone is simply nicer to hold. It’s a little taller than the Note 4 but it’s also significantly thinner than the Samsung phablet. It’s 7.1mm thick, against the Note 4’s 8.5mm, and it shows. As for the bendgate issues, well, we can safely say we didn’t have any problems with the iPhone 6 Plus going wonky.
One big advantage the Note 4 has over the 6 Plus is the ability to access to the battery via the removable back. That’s going to make it a little easier to service than the fully enclosed 6 Plus. Lurking behind that plastic cover is a microSD card support slot to expand storage, something you’ll never find on any Apple phone.
The Note 4 has an important feature the iPhone 6 Plus lacks too – the S Pen. This is a digitiser stylus that offers pressure sensitivity and a frankly excellent writing/note taking experience. It’s pretty great, and is the most convincing reason to buy a Note 4 over the iPhone 6 Plus. Or any other large-screen phone.
With the iPhone 6 Plus you get a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS LCD, while the Galaxy Note 4 offers a slightly larger 5.7-inch QHD screen with a much higher 2,560 x 1,440 pixel resolution. On the numbers alone there’s only one winner – Samsung.
We don’t think this is a war about resolutions, and what really matters are the qualities of the differing screen technologies these two use. The iPhone 6 Plus has an IPS LCD screen, the Note 4 a Super AMOLED one.
Super AMOLEDs trounce all LCDs for black level and contrast, meaning the Note 4 will look a good deal better in a darkened room. Colours are punchy and vibrant as well making it a great for gaming and watching video. Out of the box you’ll want to tinker with the display settings to get the best viewing experience, though.
Apple’s LCD panel might not be able to match the Samsung’s AMOLED display for super-sharp resolution but it’s still excellent in many ways. It’s bright, offers good outdoor visibility and both contrast and black levels impress.
Both have Bluetooth 4.0 support to wirelessly connect to headphones, speakers and wearables like an Android Wear smartwatch. NFC has been around on Samsung phones for some time and unlike its introduction to the iPhone 6 Plus, it’s not just restricted to making mobile payments.
Both phones offer 4G support although the 6 Plus offers a more comprehensive list of 4G/LTE networks. iOS 8 also adds some great connectivity features – as long as you’ve bought into the Apple ecosystem that is.
On paper the Note 4 has the most brute force. It runs on the latest Snapdragon processor, has more RAM and the latest Adreno GPU to handle the most demanding mobile gaming.
The story the benchmarks tell is that the Note 4 is way ahead of the 6 Plus. In Geekbench 3 tests, the Samsung phone scores an impressive 3,162 multi-core score compared to the 2,871 the 6 Plus manages. It’s a little more even for single core scores though.
To live with on a day-to-day basis both phones are well equipped to handle everyday tasks and more intensive elements like streaming, gaming and music playback. The Note 4’s power is more suited to multitasking, one of its most impressive features, while the 6 Plus wins when it comes to games.
The Note 4, though, sees Samsung take an approach to its operating system where it has begun to strip away some of the bloatware and the more gimmicky settings that are largely left untouched by most users. The iPhone 6 Plus in comparison doesn’t pack the OS with additional apps and the core ones it does include provide a solid overall experience.
If you are after more quirky software additions, then the Note 4 is the one to go for. Features like Multi-Window, where you can run multiple apps on the same screen, makes good use of the large display while apps like S Health take advantage of the new heart and UV sensors to monitor health and fitness. Samsung has now updated the Note 4 to run Android 5.0 Lollipop, but there’s still no sign of Android 5.1, which makes a series of fixes while adding features like HD voice calling and improved device protection.
Having spent a decent amount of time with both cameras, it’s fair to say that they are both fully capable of taking great photos. You don’t need to read a great deal into the megapixel count, the Note 4 and the Plus both shoot detailed images up close or from afar.
The big change here is the addition of optical image stabilization. This is the first iPhone to include it and likewise, if you discount the Samsung Galaxy Zoom range, this is the first big Samsung phone to pack it as well. The chief benefits here are to shoot better quality photos in low-lit conditions. While you won’t get dedicated camera quality, it’s a big improvement especially for the Note 4.
Despite that, the Samsung phone still manages to go for two days without tapping into the handy ultra-power saving power mode. The 6 Plus boasts impressive battery life, but in our more intensive testing the Note 4 manages an extra hour more than the Apple smartphone.
Both are quick chargers and thanks to the Note 4’s Snapdragon 805 processor, the Samsung phablet now supports Quick Charge technology. This means the Samsung phone can get up to 40% of charge in thirty minutes. It’s very impressive.
The Note 4 is only available in a 32GB model and at £599 SIM-free, it doesn’t come cheap. The iPhone 6 Plus in comparison starts from £619 for the 16GB model moving to £699 for the 64GB model and a whopping £789 for the 128GB 6 Plus.
That’s a whole lot of money to own an iPhone 6 Plus, even at the entry-level price. If you wanted to match the Apple’s top-end storage capacity an additional 128GB microSD card is going to cost you around £60 pushing the Note 4 up around the £660 mark, which is still cheaper than the 64GB iPhone 6 Plus.
It doesn’t take very long living with the Note 4 and the iPhone 6 Plus to see that these are two great big phones and arguably the best options available at the moment.
Which is the best? If you are basing your purchase on design and ease of use, it’s the iPhone 6 Plus. For innovation, the Note 4 is the one to go for. Samsung’s phablet also promises the better battery life despite having a bigger, more demanding display. The stylus is a bonus as well if want to mix things up.
These are two phones that really grow on you the more time you spend with them and discover their strengths and weaknesses. Apple’s first stab at a phablet is a good one, while Samsung’s Note series just keeps on getting better.
Our advice: Don"t buy a Galaxy Note 7, even if you can still find one. And if you already own one, you should immediately turn it off and exchange it for a phone that isn"t a Note 7. All US cellular carriers and Best Buy (among others) will exchange your Note 7 for phones of equal value on the same network. Similar schemes apply in the UK and Australia.
The Galaxy Note 5, which Samsung still sells, however, remains a great, nonexplosive phone. Though it doesn"t have all of this year"s hardware or software enhancements, it features a great camera, a terrific stylus and extensive battery life. And it is safe to own and use.
In fact, there is no shortage of terrific alternatives. Apple has released its iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which take great photos, provide long battery life and deliver fast performance, though they lack some of the Galaxy Note 7"s cutting-edge features such as an iris scanner and wireless charging. Google recently released its Pixel phone. And there is Samsung"s own Galaxy S7 Edge, which is the most similar to the Note 7, just without the stylus.
Editors" note:The original Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review, first published in October 2014 and updated since, follows. The rating, originally 4.5 stars (9/10) has been reduced because of competitive changes in the marketplace.
The "s S-Pen -- the narrow stylus tucked handily inside Samsung"s surprisingly successful, giant 5.7-inch Galaxy Note phone -- stands out in a crowd. No other popular phone comes with a stylus, and this one makes the most of its mouselike properties, and an ability to write and draw on the screen. Every day, I"ve used it instinctively to jot a list or note, and to keep the screen clean from finger smudges.
The Note 4"s specs also earn outstanding marks across the board, including its eye-poppingly vibrant display and a mostly-excellent 16-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization. Rapid LTE data speeds and a robust processor join a host of other specs and features that easily make the metal-rimmed, Android-powered Note 4 easily equal to other top-rated handsets -- and often better. The phone"s drawbacks, though present, are minor and few.
As someone who enjoys the physical act of writing, I love the Note 4"s stylus skills. However, if the act of putting digital pen to paper baffles you, skip this handset in favor of other big-screen phones that potentially cost less and perform core tasks just as well. This year"s Galaxy Note makes only incremental improvements over last year"s runaway
The Note 4 sells for $300 on-contract and $600 off-contract in the US; £600 or £650 in the UK; and AU$940 in Australia. Scroll to the end for price comparisons.
There"s big and then there"s big, and the definition seems to swell by the day. You"ll find the Note 4"s exact dimensions and weight in the chart below, but what I think you really want to know is what it"s like to hold and carry around, especially compared to other supersize phones.
As a relatively short person with smaller hands, the Note 4 technically squeezes into my back pocket, though it looks comical sticking out of it. The same scenario goes for its palm-stretching effects: I find one-handed use pretty much pointless and almost impossible, even with Samsung"s software modes turned on. However, several CNET editors with larger mitts and pockets didn"t have much trouble with the Note 4"s size, commenting on how nice it feels to grip.Size and weight
Samsung Galaxy Note 4iPhone 6 PlusLG G3Sony Xperia Z3 Dimensions 6 x 3.1 x 0.34 inches (153.5 by 78.6 by 8.5mm)6.2 x 3.1 x 0.28 inches (158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1 mm)5.76 x 2.94 x 0.35 inches (146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9mm)5.75 x 2.83 x 0.29 inches (146 x 72 x 7.3mm)
Although it"s got the same 5.7-inch display as last year"s model, the Note 4 has jumped in display resolution, from 1080p HD up to a 2,650 x 1,440p quad HD AMOLED display. Its pixel density of 515 ppi soars over the Note 3"s 386 ppi and the iPhone 6 Plus" density of 401 ppi (but is less pixel-packed than the slightly smaller LG G3"s at 538 ppi).
These are big, impressive numbers on a big, impressive display that is undoubtedly clear and sharp. I spent a lot of time scrutinizing the Note 4"s presentation of many HD images, Web sites, and even 4K video against the iPhone 6 Plus and LG G3, all of them with brightness cranked to the max. I also threw in the Note 3 for good measure. Apart from predictable differences in color temperature and tone between the LCD iPhone and G3 versus the AMOLED Notes, differences in lettering and image quality were minor, if visible at all.Display resolutions, compared
Samsung Galaxy Note 4iPhone 6 PlusLG G3Sony Xperia Z3 Display 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED (2,560x1,440)5.5-inch 1080p HD LCD (1,920x1,080)5.5-inch Quad HD LCD (2,560x1,440)5.2-inch 1080p HD LCD (1,920x1,080)
I will say, though, that the G3 looks noticeably dimmer at full brightness than the rest, and that the Note 4 exhibited smooth color gradients and strong contrast. It was perhaps just ever so slightly better than the rest, but not nearly enough to warrant a rowdy debate. Even when viewing 4K video, hawk-eyed CNET editors and photographers gathered around the phones could only tell slight differences in the amount of detail on display.
Music plays nice and loud out of the speakers, though its certainly passable audio quality is a little tinny and thin, not quite the rich, rounded audio of the HTC One M8, for example. Behind the scenes, the Note 4 supports Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC.
Android 4.4 KitKat is practically a given on this phone, as is Samsung"s custom TouchWiz layer. If anything, Samsung seems to have scaled back from the Galaxy S5 rather than piling more on top like it usually does.
Otherwise, you"ll find a slew of ways to customize things from motion control to the notification panel. Blocking mode and private mode are present, and those who find the UI a little too frenetic can switch to a simpler Easy mode. As a security measure, the biometrically-minded can set up the fingerprint scanner as well (though its time-saving property is dubious).
Large phones like this one often come with settings to turn on one-handed operations. New in the Note 4 is a persistent panel hosting icons for your home-button functions, plus one to shrink down the application window for theoretically better one-handed use. You can expand or hide it on any screen, and of course, customize the icons.
Just two more notes on apps before we move on. You may notice a few tiny changes to S Health. In the US at least, S Health gets a new optional "coach" you can use that"s sourced by healthcare provider Cigna. In addition to checking your heart-rate, the app can also monitor your blood-oxygen level (SpO2).
The Note 4 still supports a split-screen mode that lets you resize two app windows from a list of supported programs. You can now launch it several ways, including from the Recents tab, and can also create smaller pop-up windows to drag around the screen.
This year"s Note adds the ability to select text (as in a website) and multiple Gallery images by clicking the S-Pen button and dragging. Further, you can pull these items from select apps to others when in multi-window or popup mode. I was able to drag images from the gallery to the Messaging app, for instance, but not into Facebook or Gmail, two places where the shortcut would make a huge difference.
One 2014 addition I did glom onto is the sticky Post-It style of the Note 4"s Action Memo. Now, after writing a note, you can also pin it to the home screen as a visual reminder. Here"s another beneficial change: being able to share and annotate photos after hovering over them in the gallery.
It may look like a little plastic toy, but the roughly 4-inch plastic S-Pen stylus is the crux of what makes the Note series what it is. The Note 4"s square-sided S-Pen is almost the exact same design and dimension as the Note 3"s, only a touch shorter.
What"s different is the tech within the wand, which makes the Note 4"s S-Pen a smoother, more responsive writer than last year"s model. To test it, I wrote the same sentence several times with both S-Pens, first on the Note 3 and then on the Note 4. Text handwritten with the Note 4"s S-Pen consistently came out heavier and darker than with the Note 3"s pen, even at different ink thicknesses. This is because the new S-Pen has more than 2,000 levels of sensitivity versus 1,000 levels on last year"s model.
As I said, that assessment applies most to photos taken with ample natural light. Like a lot of other phone cameras, the Note 4"s indoor and low light shots often processed with less detail and sometimes with a quality I can only describe as a mask over the scene -- and this is after taking the time to set up a photo on a stationary object. Low-light shots also tend to kick in Samsung"s automatic night mode, which often asks you to hold still for several seconds while it processes the image. Most rival phones aren"t that demanding.
Video capture is excellent and is one area where optical image stabilization makes a difference. Videos capture in 1080p HD by default (with a 16:9 aspect ratio), but can go up to Ultra HD 3,840 x 2,160-pixel resolution for 4K video. These will be gargantuan files. If you"re into saving space or need to shoot in lower-resolution, 720p HD and VGA are other options.
Performance is nothing short of impressive for any category, and that"s when looking at diagnostic test scores as well as real-world usage. LTE-A Category 6 means you can theoretically get speeds as high as 300Mbps down and 50Mbps up. In San Francisco, the Note 4 consistently yielded double-digit downlink speeds in the 20s and 30s; 16Mbps was the low and 50 the high. Uplink speeds ranged from 11 to 15Mbps, with one outlier at 0.92.
On the processing side of things, you"ll either get a 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset (with an Adreno 420 GPU) like I did, or a 1.9GHz octa-core Exynos 5433. I had no complaints with the speeds at which tasks complete, like loading up S Notes, for example. you"ll get 3GB of RAM.
A phone like this was made for taking photos and viewing the screen at length, which is why its 32GB of internal storage is crucial. If you need more, you can buy a microSD card that holds up to 64GB more.Geekbench 3
Even when you do tax the battery with resource-draining activities like navigating long trips, the fast-acting charger that comes in the box hops to it, charging up to 50 percent of the battery"s capacity in half an hour. Note, of course, that battery efficiency tends to flag over time on any phone, and that out-of-the-box tests will outshine those down the road. We"ll update this section with results from our in-house battery run testing.Call quality
Call quality was pretty good when I tested the Note 4 in San Francisco using AT&T"s network. I found volume nice and loud at medium and medium-high levels, without any background noise. I did notice, though, that my caller"s voice, while natural, sounded a little off, with a little artificially breathy quality.
Speakerphone was good on both sides. My calling partner noted that I sounded almost the same through the speaker as I did through the standard ear pierce. He only heard a slight echo. On my side, volume was surprisingly loud and clear, though he sound a bit muffled.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (32GB)iPhone 6 Plus (16, 64, 128GB)LG G3 (16GB)Sony Xperia Z3 (32GB) Full retail price US $700-$825, depending on carrier$750; $850; $950$600$600
Its specs and design undeniably put the Note 4 near the top of the food chain, though some rival phones have sexier builds and competitive performance, and often take cleaner, more reliable low-light and indoor shots. While the hardware is a step up from the Note 3, changes aren"t dramatic enough to warrant an immediate upgrade.