Your first impressions on the Note 4

[Crf450r420]

Looks better than the store one. Wish I did a video, but you couldn't know how much pressure I was applying. Thanks for the help. I'll try one if they still have one.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Yeah. Hard to say how much pressure without a gauge. The tip kinda pushes in just a little as you apply pressure, So I did my best to avoid that & just graze the screen.

Like I said, I write hard anyway, so light for me might still be hard to you...

Sent from my Note 4

 

[bsweetness]

I go through a lot of different new phones, and because of that, each new phone seems like an incremental increase from what I was just using. It's rare that I'm completely taken back by how awesome one is these days, and the Note 4 is the first phone that's really made me go "Wow!" in quite a while.

Here are a few first impressions:

- The phone feels tremendous in hand. I was impressed by it in the short time I was able to handle one at Best Buy a few weeks back, but I'm even more impressed after spending a longer period of time. It's a huge step forward for Samsung.

- The screen is gorgeous. Until the Note 4, the S5 had what was widely considered to be the best smartphone screen ever released. The Note 4 builds on that by upping the resolution while maintaining a fantastic brightness range. The screen can get incredibly dim and super bright (auto brightness needs to be on to achieve the brightest settings). Like the S5, I've had no issues viewing the screen in direct sunlight.

- Touch Whiz continues to get toned down, even from the S5, but it's still a heavy skin. I really like several of the features Samsung adds, but it's still a pretty ugly interface. Nova was one of the first apps I installed, which helps alleviate that a bit.

- It's fast. Really fast. It's noticeably faster to me than other 2014 flagship devices to date (save for the Moto X), even with Touch Whiz. I'd love to see what a Google Play Edition of the Note 4 would do.

- The fast charging works, and it works well. I can see it being a very useful feature. My concern is that it will negatively impact the battery in some way over time.

- I'm incredibly critical of smartphone cameras since they're important part of the device for me. With that said, the camera here is a knockout. In just the short time I've had it, I can already tell it's the best all-around shooter I've used on an Android phone to date. The S5 had a camera that took incredibly shots in good light, but it's low light performance was pretty much a joke. The Note 4 maintains that same high level of quality in good light, and the OIS helps tremendously with low light photography. The front facing camera is also much improved, and the extra features added to it are fantastic (such as using the heart rate monitor to take pictures).

- The fingerprint scanner works much better than on the S5. I never used it on my S5 beyond testing it, because it didn't work well enough to be useful. With the Note 4, I might actually use it.

- While I don't have much to go on for battery life, it's held up extremely well through the mass app downloading and general playing with the phone.

- The quality of the speaker is about average, it does get incredibly loud.

Overall, my first impressions are extremely good. I really wish it had an IP67 rating like the S5, and Samsung really needs to realize how ugly and heavy Touch Whiz is, but this is easily the most impressed I've been with a phone since the original Droid.

 

[bsweetness]

Just played with one at the store and the Pen is not different in a better way from my Note 3. If I liked how that worked I'd be on a 4 now. I didn't like how you have to press just to write and not just to get thicker lines. I lift a little when writing an it would not get everything. Also, when I kept even pressure and ran all over the screen it would cut out and come back it. Mostly cut out in the middle of the screen. Is there a way to adjust the needed pressure of the pen or was that just an issue with those to floor models? I guess it could just be something to do with S Note too.

I've not had either of those issues. The S-Pen experience has been top notch for me so far.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Update on ART - My phone just froze up & then restarted. When it came back on, it optimized 116 more apps. It was charging & started to smell like hot plastic. It also got quite hot earlier when it was optimizing 400+ apps after I switched to ART. Seems to be ok now though.

Sent from my Note 4

 

[Moulton]

Johnny you have 400 apps? Lol. What?!

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Johnny you have 400 apps? Lol. What?!

I guess? That's what it said...

Sent from my Note 4

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Is there a way to tell without counting manually. Now I'm curious, but can't find it.

Sent from my Note 4

 

[cr6]

I go through a lot of different new phones, and because of that, each new phone seems like an incremental increase from what I was just using. It's rare that I'm completely taken back by how awesome one is these days, and the Note 4 is the first phone that's really made me go "Wow!" in quite a while.

Here are a few first impressions:

- The phone feels tremendous in hand. I was impressed by it in the short time I was able to handle one at Best Buy a few weeks back, but I'm even more impressed after spending a longer period of time. It's a huge step forward for Samsung.

- The screen is gorgeous. Until the Note 4, the S5 had what was widely considered to be the best smartphone screen ever released. The Note 4 builds on that by upping the resolution while maintaining a fantastic brightness range. The screen can get incredibly dim and super bright (auto brightness needs to be on to achieve the brightest settings). Like the S5, I've had no issues viewing the screen in direct sunlight.

- Touch Whiz continues to get toned down, even from the S5, but it's still a heavy skin. I really like several of the features Samsung adds, but it's still a pretty ugly interface. Nova was one of the first apps I installed, which helps alleviate that a bit.

- It's fast. Really fast. It's noticeably faster to me than other 2014 flagship devices to date (save for the Moto X), even with Touch Whiz. I'd love to see what a Google Play Edition of the Note 4 would do.

- The fast charging works, and it works well. I can see it being a very useful feature. My concern is that it will negatively impact the battery in some way over time.

- I'm incredibly critical of smartphone cameras since they're important part of the device for me. With that said, the camera here is a knockout. In just the short time I've had it, I can already tell it's the best all-around shooter I've used on an Android phone to date. The S5 had a camera that took incredibly shots in good light, but it's low light performance was pretty much a joke. The Note 4 maintains that same high level of quality in good light, and the OIS helps tremendously with low light photography. The front facing camera is also much improved, and the extra features added to it are fantastic (such as using the heart rate monitor to take pictures).

- The fingerprint scanner works much better than on the S5. I never used it on my S5 beyond testing it, because it didn't work well enough to be useful. With the Note 4, I might actually use it.

- While I don't have much to go on for battery life, it's held up extremely well through the mass app downloading and general playing with the phone.

- The quality of the speaker is about average, it does get incredibly loud.

Overall, my first impressions are extremely good. I really wish it had an IP67 rating like the S5, and Samsung really needs to realize how ugly and heavy Touch Whiz is, but this is easily the most impressed I've been with a phone since the original Droid.

Thanks for a great write up! I'm looking forward to test driving this bad boy over the weekend. The only thing I don't like is the lack of IP67...especially since I know first hand, just how well the S5 performs in the rain. Of course it may be something I can live with if it excels in so many other areas. That said, I'm still looking forward to test driving the Nexus 6 & the Turbo, so we'll see.

S5 tap'n

 

[bmwnick]

ok

I tend to press quite hard when writing with a normal pen, so I haven't had the issue you mentioned with the floor model. I'll attempt to write a bit lighter later today and see if I can duplicate it on my brand new model. I'm not aware of a setting for the pressure required. The first thing I do when I get a new device (after logging in and starting app downloads, of course) is to go through ALL settings, so I'm fairly sure it's a case of it not being there and not me missing it.

As for ART, yes, it's possible to switch. My phone is currently optimizing apps after having restarted itself to switch to ART. Thanks for reminding me!

If you have other questions about the phone, feel free to ask and we'll dig deeper for you than you'd have time for in the store. I'm still loving the phone, but it's such a switch coming from the s4. It's definitely less of a switch for those of you already using a Note device.

EDIT: For those who want to switch to ART, here's the guide I used. Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Change Runtime from Dalvik to ART

Long story short, enable developer options by tapping on build number 7 times, go into developer options, tap on "Select runtime system," and select ART.

The phone will reboot to make the switch and then optimize apps. Takes a while to optimize all 427 apps I have, so I'd definitely recommend doing this before installing all of your apps if you've just gotten the phone if you want it to be a bit quicker.

I am new to samsung phones had a razr love it so far but def would love to know more tricks for the phone. Thanks for art info did it no issues at all easy.

 

[bsweetness]

ok


I am new to samsung phones had a razr love it so far but def would love to know more tricks for the phone. Thanks for art info did it no issues at all easy.

Make sure to check out the video in this thread: 50+ Tips and Tricks for Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

Other tips and tricks will be added to that thread as we all learn more about the phone.

 

[bsweetness]

Thanks for a great write up! I'm looking forward to test driving this bad boy over the weekend. The only thing I don't like is the lack of IP67...especially since I know first hand, just how well the S5 performs in the rain. Of course it may be something I can live with if it excels in so many other areas. That said, I'm still looking forward to test driving the Nexus 6 & the Turbo, so we'll see.

I was hesitant about moving to the Note 4 for exactly the same reason. I really like the peace of mind that the IP67 rating of the S5 gives. Where I live, rain pops up out of nowhere all of the time. It was nice to not have to worry about that any more.

But I'm extremely glad I did switch to the Note 4. The pros far outweigh that single major con I had about it.

 

[RemyL75]

OK, sorry I didn't get this up sooner, as I had company last night and didn't want ot say "get out, can't you see i have a new phone, you rude bastards??" lol

Experience and current phone: I had a Note 3 since launch day, but when they announced the Note 4, I gave my Note 3 to my mother, as she wanted it since i got it lol. Since then I was using a backup phone (S4), so while I do remember my Note 4 (very fondly), I was using a S4 until last night.

Initial Start-up: Fast as hell. I use an app to edit the list to start-up apps (All-In-One Toolbox) and it speeds up boot time. Fastest I ever got it to work on my Note 3 was 1 min and 12 secs. S4 was 1 min 4 secs. Initial startup was under an minute (58 secs) before any changes. That is fast, even for an initial boot for a new phone

Setup: pretty standard, nothing changed there that i notice.

General suage: I was expecting some sappiness, but it exceeded those expectations. Even turning the screen off and back on and swiping seems faster than the Note 3 was after a full wipe.

Screen: OMG I was not expecting it to be as bright and crisp as it is. This will keep me from getting a Galaxy Tab S, at least for a while lol.

Camera: OIS on a Note phone is a beautiful thing. I usually don't take a lot of pictures, but when i do need to, it's usually of something small that i need to see on a larger scale (wattage information on a charger, for instance). The focus and stabilization was far and beyond what i expected. Definitely will be taking more pictures now.

I have not really gotten a chance to play with the S-Pen, but i do really like that it's ribbed now. The one for my Note Pro 12.2 feels smooth and has been known to slide out of my hand at times.

Also, You now have a choice to run either Dalvik or ART, something that was missing in previous Samsung phones.

Overall, I love this phone. Will not be getting rid of it for some time.

 

[cr6]

Thanks for the input Remy! Enjoy your new toy!

S5 tap'n

 

[bmwnick]

Make sure to check out the video in this thread: 50+ Tips and Tricks for Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

Other tips and tricks will be added to that thread as we all learn more about the phone.

great have it in my favorites will check daily!!