Samsung Galaxy Note 4's Common Problems and How to Fix Them

[dgstorm]

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is one of Samsung's best creations, with legions of fans extolling its virtues across the world. Of course, as with any technology, it is not without its minor hiccups and issues. Here's a quick list of the top 4 common problems with the Galaxy Note 4 and a brief description on how to fix them. Many of these ideas will seem familiar and common sense to most of our more advanced users, but they will be handy for any of our newer members.

Battery Life problems - For most users the Galaxy Note 4 has excellent battery life, but some folks have run into some trouble in this area. Here's a list of potential fixes if you are experiencing this:

• Tap settings, then go to power saving and select power saving
• Deactivate any applications or features that aren’t being used, such as Wi-Fi, or GPS
• Uninstall apps that eat up too much power then factory reset your device and reinstall applications selectively until you nab the problem
  
• Make sure your Note 4 is fully updated - just tap on settings, then device, then install system updates and finally check now
• Reduce on-screen brightness and volume and deactivate vibrations
  
• Be sure to restart your phone from time to time

Screen Lag - Home Screen Pauses - Although the Galaxy Note 4 is a very high tech device, it also has a great deal of software overhead. Because of this some users have experienced some screen lag and random pauses on the home screen or apps. Here's how to cure that:

• Turn off the Open via Home Key option - do this by opening S Voice, and then tap it in the menu key
  
• As with the other issue above, make sure your Galaxy Note 4 is fully updated
• To go into the Developer options and adjust animations to be smoother just tap settings, then about device, and then tap Build number 7 times - You will then be able to see Developer options in your settings main menu - after that change your transition animation scale, your window animation scale and your animator duration scale from 1 to 0.5

Problems Connecting to WiFi - WiFi problems don't crop up that often with this device, but for those who are experiencing this issue, here are several steps you can take:

• Update the firmware on your router
  
• Power down your Galaxy Note 4 and your router for ten seconds and turn them both back on to retry your connection
• Restart your WiFi settings by going to settings, then WiFi and then long tapping the connection you are trying to get going - tap on "Forget" and then restart your process all over - this way you can make sure you get the details right and didn't mess up a digit somewhere
• Make sure that power saving in your settings is turned off - this feature disables WiFi, so when you need WiFi it will need to be deactivated
• Make sure the Galaxy Note 4 is fully updated (just as with the other issues)
• Take note of the MAC address on your Galaxy Note 4, and add it to the router's MAC filter - do this by going into your WiFi settings and then tapping advanced

Problems Connecting to BlueTooth - there have been quite a few reports across the web of issues with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 connecting to Bluetooth. Most of the time this is user error, but here's a list of easy fixes to get you on the right path:

• Make sure to read the manufacturer’s manual for your Galaxy Note 4 and for your car to make sure you are performing the proper steps - also double-check that you didn't skip any steps during the process
• Try resetting your connections.
• Finally, try heading into settings and then Bluetooth and delete all of your previous pairings to start over from the beginning.

Finally, if you experience any other issues than these, or the fixes above don't help, we have some great people in the forums who can help you out. Just ask your question in our dedicated Galaxy Note 4 section here: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Forum Android Forum at DroidForums.net

 

[jakenader123]

Last time I tryed the note 4. It was laggy with anything I did. Samsung needs to put a stop to touch wiz. My moto x 2013 doesnt lag and it has old specs.

 

[Ollie]

Last time I tryed the note 4. It was laggy with anything I did. Samsung needs to put a stop to touch wiz. My moto x 2013 doesnt lag and it has old specs.

You tried a bad Note 4 then. The Note 4 and Note Edge in our household have zero lag.

 

[bsweetness]

Last time I tryed the note 4. It was laggy with anything I did. Samsung needs to put a stop to touch wiz. My moto x 2013 doesnt lag and it has old specs.

You tried a bad Note 4 then. The Note 4 and Note Edge in our household have zero lag.

No lag here either. The only delay of any sort that I ever see on my Note 4 is when pressing the recent apps button. If there are a lot of apps in the list, it takes a bit for it pop up.

 

[mountainbikermark]

The cure for the Touch Wiz lag is Nova.

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[Ollie]

There is no lag. I haven't seen lag on TW since the S3.

 

[mountainbikermark]

There is no lag. I haven't seen lag on TW since the S3.

I noticed what some might consider lag on my Note2 after I got my G2. It's not so much a lag as it's an extra long animation. We're still talking eye blink time but it is noticeable , even on the Note4 before I turned off animations under developer options. It's not present on the G2 even with animations on.

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Beast Mode 4

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I haven't noticed pretty much any of these problems. Of course, I lowered the screen animation time in Developer Options as part of my setup and I don't really use bluetooth a WHOLE lot, but it's worked just fine every time I've used it.

As for wifi, I've never had issues there either, but yesterday's update claims to have addressed that problem.

Battery life, is it the best I've EVER had on a phone? By no means, but it gets me through a day. On really HEAVY use days, Adaptive Fast Charging gets me back in the game quick enough that I can't complain there either.

I'm also running Next launcher on the home screen, but even then I didn't have issues on the home screen except with Recent Apps as bsweetness mentioned. Thinking about switching back to Nova just for a change, but I might even go back stock since Next didn't have the option for the shortcut that I thought it did. Decided I don't need it anyway.

 

[buckhombre]

I had to lower the screen animation times due to lag when scrolling forums like this. I am using nova, not rooted,TMO note 4.

 

[Ollie]

I had to lower the screen animation times due to lag when scrolling forums like this. I am using nova, not rooted,TMO note 4.

Out of curiosity, did you do a factory data reset on your phone when you bought it?

 

[Jonny Kansas]

^I still think that's silly, but that's just me.

 

[Ollie]

I haven't had any issues OOTB after doing an FDR on a brand new device where tons of people experience hiccups on the same device who haven't done it.

Knock on wood!

 

[Jonny Kansas]

I haven't had any issues OOTB after doing an FDR on a brand new device where tons of people experience hiccups on the same device who haven't done it.

Knock on wood!

Guess I've just been lucky with new devices. Never experienced an issue with a brand new one that required an FDR.

Seems silly that you would need to do a factory reset on a phone that just came from the factory to reset it to the way it came from the factory.

 

[Ollie]

As an example there are people complaining about serious lag on the Edge. You read about it with the S5, Note 4, even the Note 3.

All phones that are in the family. None of which have that problem.

So is this a hardware issue or a software issue?

 

[bsweetness]

Guess I've just been lucky with new devices. Never experienced an issue with a brand new one that required an FDR.

Seems silly that you would need to do a factory reset on a phone that just came from the factory to reset it to the way it came from the factory.

Doing a FDR doesn't necessarily reset it to the way the phone came from the factory. A device may not be completely reset following the installation of the software at the factory, which can result in unneeded files and file fragments being left behind. Sometimes these can cause complications with the phone (depending on a wide variety of factors...so wide that it's nearly impossible to anticipate by the manufacturer). A FDR can often take care of some issues with unneeded files and file fragments that might have been left behind during the installation of the software.