aNewDomain — If you like a really big phone and you love to scribble on napkins, make lists or jot down handwritten notes, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 may be the smartphone for you.
Specs
Note 4 has a speedy Snapdragon 805 chip with 3 GB of RAM. It also has a bright and clear 5.7-inch 2560 x 1440 Super AMOLED screen, offering more pixels per inch than most other phone displays. Colors are rich with true blacks and blues. Its dimensions are almost identical to those of the iPhone 6 Plus, as shown below. At 6.04″ x 3.09″ x 0.33″, it’s a massive phone, but weighs only 6.21 oz.
Design
Although it has a plastic build with metal trim, the textured back and straight sides make the Note 4 easy to grip. The back is removable, which offers the ability to replace the battery and add to the 32GB of internal storage with a micro-SD card. This Note is also armed with a fingerprint recognition and a heart rate monitor. The most unique feature included is the stylus, called the S-Pen, which can be storied right in the phone. When you pull it out, the stylus software automatically appears on the screen.
Software
The Note 4 features a slew of excellent applications and features that take advantage of the S-Pen stylus. One such feature lets you write on top of whatever is displayed on the screen and then save or share that image along with your annotations. I found using the stylus quite convenient, especially to cut, copy and make quick notes. It is pressure sensitive for drawing and as long as your writing is readable, it quickly converts handwritten notes to text accurately.
Note 4 runs Android 4.4.4 (Kit Kat), which is dressed up with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface. Call quality is good, although I find the speakers a bit tinny, which is especially noticeable when I play music.
Battery life is excellent and I easily got a full day’s use out of this phone. The adaptive quick charging makes powering the phone speedy. I was able to go from 0 to a 50 percent charge in 30 minutes. There’s also a spare battery kit available from Samsung.
The 16 MP camera has decent optical image stabilization, which means pictures come out crisp and clear even when you zoom in on an image. The front-facing camera is a wide-angle 3.7 MP lens. This gives you a 90 degree field of view so you can fit more into your selfies. Although the camera and camera software are adequate, low light and indoor shots don’t come out as clear as some other smartphones.
The Note 4 sells for about $299 with a two-year contract and is available from most major carriers. Although the phone is on the expensive side, it offers a lot for the price.
For aNewDomain, I’m Sandy Berger.
All Image Credits: Sandy Berger
