The wait is finally over for fans of the Galaxy series as Samsung has just revealed the fourth generation of its hugely popular phablet series, the Galaxy Note 4. The update to the Galaxy Note 3 will be up against some pretty stiff competition, as Apple is widely expected to announce its first phablet-sized device at a special event in Cupertino, California on September 9.
So the Galaxy Note 4 needs to do something pretty special to capture consumers’ Imagination. And the consensus of opinion so far is that the Galaxy Note 4 might just deliver this.
Galaxy Note Edge
The first thing to note about this new Galaxy Note phablet is that the long rumored curved screen has in fact materialized. Well, sort of. The standard Galaxy Note 4 device is actually extremely similar to the Galaxy Note 3 in terms of design, although there are a few alterations which will be discussed later in the article.
However, Samsung has also announced a Galaxy Note Edge device which does feature a curved edge to its display. It is thought that this particular model of the Galaxy Note will retail at a heftier price, but it will effectively act as a promotional vehicle for the concept of a curved screen, which Samsung is pushing extremely strongly in its premium range of televisions.
Design changes
Samsung has also decided to make a few design changes to the Galaxy Note 4. Firstly, the metal strip which runs along the side of the smartphone is noticeably more straight-edged, and has also been made an identical colour to the phone itself. This remains the same regardless of which of the numerous color you choose for your personal device. The phone also has the same faux-leather removable back featured in the Galaxy Note 3.
Super AMOLED Display impresses
Internally, the Galaxy Note 4 is a significant upgrade over previous versions of the phablet. Above all else, the display of the Galaxy Note 4 is extremely impressive, and could reasonably be asserted to be the best screen in any mass-market mobile device. Samsung has long since prioritized display quality in its devices, which is a sensible strategy given the fact that it is such a huge producer of televisual displays.
But the Super AMOLED display included with the Galaxy Note 4 will be the standout feature of the device. The Galaxy Note 4 features a 5.7-inch 2560×1440 Quad-ultra HD display, meaning that the screen represents 518 pixels per inch. This is a pretty significant 30 percent increase from the Galaxy Note 3, and when the smartphone becomes available consumers will benefit from a hugely increased clarity of image produced by the device. Anyone who has switched from a HD capable laptop to the Apple MacBook range which features a similar screen resolution will be able to confirm immediately the huge difference that this makes.
Internal specs
In terms of internal specifications, the predictions of the Samsung following community were pretty close with their efforts. The Galaxy Note 4 is fitted with 3 GB of RAM, and will come in 32 GB and 64 GB storage variants. This will be expandable to 128 GB via micro-SD.
As was also expected, the Korean and Western versions of the Galaxy Note 4 will be based around differing processors. The Korean Note 4 will feature an octa-core Exynos 5433 chipset, which is niftily split up into a 1.9GHz quad-core processor for bigger activities and a 1.3GHz quad-core for less processor-intensive tasks. When released in the United States, the Galaxy Note 4 will boast a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 with a 600MHz Adreno 420 GPU. This should make it a swifter performer than its predecessor; the Galaxy Note 3 was fitted with a 2.3 GHz Krait 400.
Improved cameras
As reported previously by ValueWalk, Samsung has also put a great deal of effort into the camera in the Galaxy Note 4. This is the first iteration of the Galaxy Note series to feature Optical Image Stabilization, which instantly places the smartphone in line with the Apple iPhone series. With a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera, and an unusually powerful 3.7-megapixel camera which has been equipped with features especially designed to produce high quality ‘selfies’, the Galaxy Note 4 delivers excellent photograph taking functionality. The Galaxy Note 3 was pretty strong in this department, but the snapper in the Galaxy Note 4 is a significant upgrade to the 13-megapixel camera featured in the previous model in the series.
Battery life tweaked
Another area where Samsung has always excelled is battery life. The iPhone has not exactly been panned in this department, but it has been subjected to serious criticism for the rather puny battery life that the iPhone delivers. The Galaxy Note 4 has only slightly upgraded its battery in terms of size, with the device boasting a 3,220 mAh battery compared to the 3,200 device that was included in the Galaxy Note 3. But Samsung has also included an ultra-low battery saving mode, and charging of the battery has been greatly improved, with the Korean manufacturer suggesting that users will be able to achieve 50% of battery life within 30 minutes of charging (this would obviously imply that the device can be fully charged within an hour, but whether or not this turns out to be the case remains to be seen).
S Pen stylus improved
Possibly the most iconic feature with the Galaxy Note series is the S Pen stylus, which enables users to write on the screen of the handset. In the new version of the Galaxy Note 4, this stylus now operates like a mouse, and Samsung has also made alterations to the pen so that it is considerably more natural and fluid for handwriting. Additionally, the Galaxy Note 4 has added the ability to drag and drop devices more easily using the stylus, as well as upgrading its copy and paste facility.
Interface improvements
In terms of the interface, the Galaxy Note 4 delivers split-screen technology akin to the Galaxy Note 3, but Samsung has included the ability to change window sizes, minimize them completely, and move them around to more convenient parts of the smartphone’s display. The Galaxy Note 4 will, unsurprisingly, run off Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
The Galaxy Note 4 looks like a very impressive device, and a more than significant upgrade on the Galaxy Note 3. Fans of the series will already be itching to get their hands on one.
Galaxy Note 4 Image Gallery
