Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Preview

The phablet levels up

Today at the IFA 2014, Samsung announces a handful of new devices. One of them, the ultimate anti-iPhone known as the Galaxy Note 4.

Once mocked for being ridiculously oversized, Samsung’s Note series has proven its relevance in the smart device market which is why the Note 4 has been highly anticipated prior to any announcements. The Galaxy Note 4 is Samsung’s latest flagship phone will be available this fall across the world including all four of the major US carriers.

Although there are no drastic changes in the design of the device, the Note 4 offers a handful of internal incremental upgrades from the Note 3. Here’s a look at the specs that have been revealed at today’s conference:

• 2.7Ghz Quadcore Snap Dragon 805 (Worldwide LTE) / 1.9 Ghz Octacore Exynos 5433 CPU (Korea)
• Android KitKat 4.4.4
• 3GB RAM
• 5.7-inch QuadHD 2560 x 1440 Resolution Screen 550ppi
• 16MP Rear Facing Camera / 3.7MP Front Facing Camera with Optical Image Stabiization
• 32GB/64GB Internal Storage with MicroSD expandibility
• 3220 Mah replaceable battery with Quick Charge 2.0
• Heart rate monitor, finger print scanner, enhanced S-Pen stylus

One of the most noticeable design changes is that Samsung has done away with the tacky plastic chrome band and replaced it with a metal band that wraps around the phone. Remember the faux leather backing with the stitches on the Note 3? Well you can now forget about it because Samsung got rid of that as well. The Note 4 now feels like a much more premium device without feeling like plastic.

The Snapdragon 805 is a processor is a nice leap from the 800 from the Note 3 which will definitely make the Android 4.4.4 OS with Touch Wiz skin run as smooth as possible.  Paired with 3GB of RAM, that’s a definite bonus.

Speaking of Touch Wiz (yes I know some of us hate it), Samsung has tailored the interface to better suite the Note 4 with enhanced multi-window / multi-tasking capabilities which works great with a 5.7-inch screen. The S-Pen stylus has also grown up as well with improvements to note taking and navigating through the OS.

One minor downgrade however is that Samsung has dropped the USB 3.0 support and move down to USB 2.0 which they have justified  by saying that not many people have utilized the new USB standard and they will save more space on the device this way for other hardware. The Note 4 however supports Quick Charge 2.0 which means that you can go from a dead battery to 50% charge is just 30 minutes.

Overall, Samsung has made the right upgrades and improved on what works vs making silly drastic changes on the flagship line of the Note series. I am definitely looking forward to the release of this phone in the fall and seeing how this will directly complete with Apple’s rumored 5.5-inch iPhone

The Note Edge however… that is a different story altogether…

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