Customer Reviews

Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Frosted White 32GB (AT&T)

I've only had a little time to use this, so this is just my general overview. For technical specifications and professional reviews, there is always "Google it."
To make this review as efficient as possible, I will do a quick run-over, and also a comparison with other phones you might be most interested in comparing it to, especially the Note 3 that it replaces, the iPhone 6 Plus, the LG G3 since it shares more than a few similarities, and even the new upcoming Note 4 Edge.

Physical:

* The Note 4 is basically a Note 3 - if you've held one before, then you'll feel right at home. It's just a smidge taller, narrower, thicker, and heavier. But the main thing you'll notice is the design difference. Looking at it straight down onto the screen side, you might not notice much, but set it down and view it on all sides and you'll see a much better difference. It's like having a same car but the 2015 version over the 2014 version - at first you don't see any difference, until you go up close and realize the little things that make it really stand out. First of all, Samsung has finally paid attention to its best aesthetic competitor HTC, and followed suit with a real aluminum metal chamfered edges, and not the fake aluminum of the Note 3. It looks great. View it from the top and bottom edges, and you'll see an even more striking design change and upgrade. View it from the top edge especially and you'll see what I mean. Here is the first Samsung with truly beautiful edges - I would have never thought I would say that!

*The very next thing you'll notice once you turn it on is the screen. the LG G3 was the first QHD screen for America from a big company, but I can say that Samsung's AMOLED has come a long way, and is now the best on the market. The color gamut, saturation, contrast and black levels have always been great, but Samsung has also come a long way in terms of color reproduction, and especially making the screen still looking great in direct sunlight - it's only been two years since the Note 2, but Samsung has made amazing progress. QHD means 2560 x 1440 resolution - 515 ppi - and Samsung's is the brightest, clearest, and best screen on the planet right now.

*Other notable improvements are:
- Processor: upgraded Exynos and Snapdragon processors depending on where you buy it, upgrade GPU for you gaming aficionados. The Note 3 was one of the fastest and most powerful for its time, and is still one of the fastest phones right now(!), and yet the Note 4 is even faster! Swiping through screens, switching between apps, running a dozen apps, playing processing-intensive games, they all feel like a breeze.
- Upgraded cameras: 16MP on the back, 3.7MP on the front(instead of 13MP and 2MP). You can now record video in 4K mode!
- The pen/stylus is now made by Wacom, the famous stylus maker. Hardware and software improvements have made it more usable than ever.
- Samsung got rid of the USB 3 charging port of the Note 3 in favor of the more universal mini-USB 2, but improvements have made it possible to charge the battery from 0%-50% in 30 minutes. The battery is 3220mAh, up from 3200 in the Note 3. Both will get you through a whole day of moderate usage with a bunch to spare. I've never had it lower than 20% remaining using it from 10am-10pm with moderate to heavy usage. What you should know if you didn't already is that the screen uses the most battery. Keep leaving it on and it will drain fast, especially if you're playing a game. Other big battery hogs are leaving your GPS radio on - even if you are not actively using it - and apps that continually access your phone - like if you set your email to instant retrieval instead of every few hours.

By itself, this phone is a beast in many senses of the word. But how does it compare with the other phones, and is it a worthy buy or upgrade?

In comparison with the iPhone 6 Plus:
If you want a giant phone, the iPhone 6 Plus is a very intriguing option. If you're an Apple person, you're going to get this phone, that's just the truth. It has a beautiful 1080p screen(a very first for Apple), it's fast, and finally Apple has a phone that all Apple lovers who have been craving for a huge phone to have. The Apple ecosystem is still superior in terms of apps and userability. On the other hand, if you like Samsung, then you should absolutely get the Note 4. Samsung now has an almost perfect big phone, and each phone from now on will only get better. You will never regret getting this phone. If you're in the neutral, then it depends on your lifestyle. If you just want a big phone for everyday use, I personally think it's easier to use Apple phones. Everything is just right there - the learning curve is not very steep(until you get into iTunes and want to export stuff, but that's another issue). But if you want more control over your phone and you're more tech savvy, there is nothing better than the Android ecosystem - it has the best of all worlds, and for those more tech savvy, it's actually easier to use than Apple phones. As a user of both ecosystems, I can attest to this personally.

In comparison with the LG G3:
I wanted to include the G3 because both share the QHD-resolution screens. But the G3 is more compact, having smaller bezels and a smaller 5.5" screen. So if you still want a big phone, but feel the Note phones were just a tad too big, then the G3 has that perfect combination. It also has one of the best screens on the market, in LCD form, has a beautiful design, and the LG quality.

In comparison with the Note 4 Edge:
Personally for me, there is no comparison - I'm going to get and use the Note 4 Edge as my main phone. It has a smaller 5.6" screen, but that curve and design makes it oh so unique - it's the most unique and best-looking phone for me by far. Some will complain that with that form factor it will be very hard to have a case that can fully protect it, but so I will just be extra careful with it.

In comparison with the Note 3:
This might be most important comparison, because you own a Note 3. Moving from the Note 2 to Note 3 was easy for me, because my Not 2 had performance issues that my Note 3 doesn't(it would slow to a crawl when too many apps are installed/used, and when your text history is too large texting crawls to a stand still), plus the 1080p screen on the Note 3 is 10x better than the 720p Note 2's, not in just resolution, but brightness, color reproduction, sun-light legibility, etc. The differences from the Note 3 to the Note 4 is less pronounced, since at this size QHD over FHD resolution is not so pronounced - although if you put them side by side you will notice the difference. My advice is, if you resell your Note 3, then absolutely upgrade to the Note 4. If you can't, or can't upgrade and have to buy the Note 4 at full price, then I would say to wait until the Note 5. Or do what I will do, and get the Note 4 Edge.

By itself, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is a definite recommendation. As an upgrade, it is still highly recommended, with caveats. I will add to the review once I have used it more.

I pre-ordered the Note 4 through AT&T and it arrived on my doorstep on October 15, 2 days before it was
officially released in stores in the U.S.

I've been using it heavily for business and at home for a full week now, and I'm happy to report that the
Galaxy Note 4 is a phenomenal product. It's shaping up to be everything we (the tech community) had
hoped it would be and more. Hands down, this is the best phone on the market right now and the best
phone I've ever owned, having moved from iPhone to an S3. It's fast, powerful, clean, intuitive, reliable,
innovative, and just plain fun! Truly a pleasure to use! I have never been able to say that about a business
gadget before...it actually makes me look forward to answering all those emails and texts. It does things I'd
never dared to hope phones would be able to do, and is already making my busy schedule that much easier
to navigate and keep on top of. It's more of a handheld computer than a phone, though the call and text
features all function perfectly so far. And it's easier to use on the go than a tablet. I'm just in love with it,
and it's proving to be a great assistant.

The KitKat 4.4.4 OS is much faster than Ice Cream Sandwich, and the CPU/GPU combination is as fast as my
laptop. With 3Gb of Ram, pages and apps load faster, game play is smoother, and the graphics are beyond belief.
I plugged in a 64Gb Samsung Micro SD card and it was recognized immediately. Now I've got dozens of movies and
TV series on a phone that fits in my front pocket and I can take anywhere, no more lugging my laptop around everywhere!
And I'm getting a full day of use between charges, and the battery charges fast. There won't be any more complaints
about 4 hour charge times.

The stylus works perfectly, although its not a feature I use. And I especially love the textured leather-like back
of the case, its just feels good and very secure in your hand. The back of the case easily pops off and on if you
have a spare battery you need to change. The whole operation takes about 20 seconds. The fingerprint scanner
works flawlessly everytime and gives you an added layer of security and peace of mind.

The articles that have come out comparing the Galaxy Note 4 and the iPhone 6 Plus might just be an effort to make
loyal Apple buyers feel better, because there is no comparison between this and an iPhone (even the 6 Plus) -- the
Galaxy Note 4 is simply a superior tool. My hat's off to you Samsung. You've finally done it. Keep making products
as solid as this one, and I'll continue buying them.

BTW, the one recurring complaint I keep seeing about the Note is that Flash doesn't come pre-installed....well find a
copy on the web and download the damn thing. Adobe doesn't support Flash for Android anymore, its not Samsung's
fault, but there is a workaround. The only other change I made was to install the Nova launcher and its never worked
smoother.

Beautiful. I had a note 3 and it got wet and stopped working, so I tried to get another and they were out. However, the NOTE 4 had just arrived, so I bought it. First glance they look identical, but supposedly have many differences, so exactly what is different? I wouldn't even consider anything else, no apples or other galaxies, but only a note 3 at least.

First off--aluminum case--the sides have chamfered aluminum which looks SIMILAR to the note 3 but in this case it really IS aluminum. Second, the front camera is over 3 mega pixels, they claim for "better selfies" ==ok to each his own. - Processor: upgraded Exynos and Snapdragon processors depending on where you buy it, upgrade GPU for gamers. The Note 3 was one of the fastest and most powerful for its time, and is still one of the fastest phones right now(!), and yet the Note 4 is even faster!

- Upgraded cameras: 16MP on the back, 3.7MP on the front(instead of 13MP and 2MP). You can now record video in 4K mode!
- The pen/stylus is now made by Wacom, the famous stylus maker==which is high end--very quality. Anyone can make a stylus but FINALLY the software is catching up and its now very easy and very useable.
-No more 2 charging ports, the micro usb port will now charge the battery from 0%-50% in 30 minutes. The battery is 3220mAh, just a little more powerful than the 3200 in the Note 3.

The screen--the screen is a battery hog but its so beautiful sporting 515 pixels per inch, twice that of HD tv.

Specs: 6.04 x 3.09 x 0.33 in, 176 gm, 2560 x 1440 pixels, 5.7 in, 515 ppi, 3 GB RAM, micro SD upto 128 GB, 16 MP/3.7MP, Exynos 5 Octa 5420, Quad-core 2.7 GHz Krait 450 (SM-N910S)
Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A57 (SM-N910C),

This is a SPECTACULAR phone. Its high priced, and its worth it. Once you try a Samsung Note 3 or 4, nothing else is the same. No phone compares with the features or quality. No phone compares with the price either, but all phones are expensive, and my feeling is if I am going to have a 500$ iphone, I might as well spend a little more and get what I want.

I love my new Galaxy Note 4. I switched from an iPhone and its the best decision I could have made. The picture quality is the best. I love the selfie pictures and regular pictures I am able to take. I love how fast it is and it doesn't feel like it lags. The S pen is great and it has a lot of features. My favorite is if you want to update your Facebook status, you don't have to type it, you can simply write it and it will convert it to the typing format. How cool is that? The screen quality is amazing. So vibrant, clear and I think its the best screen out there. The fast charging is amazing. It charges in 30 minutes or less. Great feature. You don't have to wait so long for it to charge. Overall this is a great phone and I love it. I feel like I made the right choice.

I will write this review in comparison to last years Note 3 which I had as well. I will compare the sound, the UI, the display, and camera.

1. Sound:
I have to say that the most disappointing aspect of the Note series is the sound quality. I have used the HTC one M8 HK and
the iphone 6 plus and they both have better sound (quality + volume) both in the ear piece and in the speaker. As far as the
sound coming from the speakers is concerned, the speakers were moved to the back as opposed to the Note 3's speakers
at the bottom (which is a better placement). I am baffled by this decision. Why in the hell would speakers be put on the back
of the phone? So that you can disturb people sitting in front of you as well as having to turn the volume louder just to hear
sound from the phone. I understand the engineering aspect may have had to sacrifice for the design but come on, in this day
and age where HTC can put speakers in the front and Apple and even Blackberry can put them on the bottom of the phone,
this decision irks me the most. I'm an audiophile, so while the Note 3 had speakers at the bottom allowing me to tolerate the
lack of sound quality, the Note 4 places the speakers in the back of the phone causing me to constantly either choose my
iphone 6 plus or my HTC one M8.

2. The screen on this phone is pretty much the best in the industry right now, hands down. I don't want to get into specs here
but the screen is top notch and color reproduction is great. With that being said, I see minimal difference between the Note
3's display when compared to the Note 4's display. I'm a stickler for details so it means something to me, but for the average
phone user the difference is negligible.

3. The UI is the UI, Touch wiz. Touch wiz sucks, everyone on the surface of the earth knows this. But there are some
improvements between the 3 and the 4, mainly the S pen. Samsung improved the sensitivity in the pen to where it actually
feels like i'm writing with a real pen. The strokes and the line reproduction is almost exact to if one was using a real pen. If
you're a Note 3 user and use the S pen a lot this is enough of a reason to switch over, if not then really I really don't see
much of a difference in the UI of the Note 3 and Note 4 except maybe some minor changes to the side panel app shortcuts.
Yawn. On a side note, the fingerprint sensor works pretty well despite the criticism it received. I actually get about 80
percent accuracy on it.

4. The Camera:
I think the most improved part of the phone from the Note 3 to the Note 4 is the camera. I absolutely hated the Note 3's
camera. It was horrible in low light situations and it could not take a clear shot, unless everything was still, for the life of the
camera. The Note 4's camera on the other hand is incredible. It has drastically improved its visibility and quality of pictures in
low light settings. Additionally, the optical image stabilization which is embedded in the hardware not the software, creates
clear pictures even when there is movement during the shot. If I had to put a number on it, i'd say the camera is 80 percent
better on the Note 4 than on the Note 3. Moreover, the best added feature in my mind is the wide angle selfie mode. My
friends who have iphones and other phones were jealous that I could take such wide selfies to include many more
objects/people into the front facing camera pics. Overall, the quality of the pictures in daylight are only matched by the
iphone 6 plus.

Overall, I really like the Note 4. I do like it better than the Note 3 because of the better camera. Furthermore, the build quality is 100 percent better than the Note 3's corny plastic design. I use the Note series because they are the best phones that can open up and have replacement batteries put into them. I basically am always juiced up and ready to go. And, I put in a 64gb micro sd card and I have enough space on my phone to do whatever I please (music, videos, pics, etc). I remember when I had the Note 2 (one of my all time favorite phones) and I was constantly getting jokes and comments about the size of the phone. Now, nobody even notices what phone I carry anymore with the Note 4. The days of the phablet sized phones being the butt of jokes are over. Thanks apple.

I've had a cracked S3 ever since my new employee decided to walk through a GM plant while on his cellphone. Spun around so fast the S3 never saw it coming. Short of this story is that i've waited a LONG time to choose my new phone. I've read (p)reviews for months held out and decided against the HTC M8, LG G3 and GS5. The final competitor was the Nexus 6 (No, I have never bought into the Apple ecosystem so the Iphone wasn't an option for me).

I knew he Nexus 6 was going to be the Notes best challenge to date, why? Well let me explain my reasoning for switching to a Phablet before I get into that. Skip the next two paragraphs if you're already sold on the Phablet idea.

The cellphone market is saturated. Devices are begging to look all the same to me, besides a few leading specs a lot of what's out there fits the same form factor. When purchasing a phone I tried to think two years out. A few months ago I made the decision that I would embrace the wearable market. I held out for months and bought a Moto360. Why is this relevant? I see the Moto360 pairing beautifully with a phablet. After using it for 2 weeks I take my phone out of my pocket considerably less. Phablets are for power users, as a project manager the Note's large size and processing power will allow me to get work done faster in the field, but as a consumer I didn't want to dig in my pocket for every notification.

Let me tell you this. The moto will make your phone experience better. It's like you broke your phone into two parts, the wearable and the powerful. I can only imaging the technological advancements of the next two years that will marry these two together even better.

Back to the Nexus. Why the Note4 instead? I'm a phablet newbie, seeing that google's phone was bigger, heavier and thicker was an instant turn off. Yes true blooded android fans all seem to collectively HATE touchwiz, but I was okay with it. Also, true blooded android fans root and root often. I also hold the belief that Android L will improve touchwiz.

So we have big phones and then we have googles bigger phone. Next factor, price. I am getting my Note cheaper than the sticker price of the Nexus, how? Samsung had a friends and family discount in which pre-orders were gifted up to $200 for any working phone. That's right, this little old S3 made it to the end of its life and now reduced my phones cost by almost 28%.

Googles bigger, heavier and now more expensive. The last thing working against the Nexus was time. I can't get my hands on one for a month and by then the note offer would have been well over. Yes, I sacrificed true android, an easy to upgrade and silky smooth experience, but I can feel safe knowing that other rooters will be making beautiful skins for this phone as they always do.

The winner for me was Samsung and the Note 4. My GS3 did so well and took a beating so Samsung has earned my respect.

Pros:

I use the S-Pen FAR more than I thought that I would. It's not a gimmick and is useful on Job sites or during calls.

Taking notes during phonecalls allow you to reference them later on.

Battery life is great and the fast charger makes up for any of the shortcomings in that department.

IR Blaster is actually pretty amazing. I can control any TV within minutes.

Display is beautiful.

If you are interested in VR the Note can be used with a $200 device that samsung just released.

Cons:

None yet

Sidenote: LG-G3 was competitive by spec but I didn't like the color scheme and screen display. The colors seemed washed out and I was instantly turned off by it. I kept thinking that it was too dim. The colors definitely didn't pop.

PLEASE ask questions below. I take pride in my reviews and would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. Also, please press like if helpful. Happy shopping and best of luck in your decision!

Only bad part is At&T will not unlock the phone until you have reached 6 months on go phone service. So now I cant use it to go out of the country next month. Anyone wants to help me solve that problem feel free to give me some tips.

This is by far the best phone I've ever owned my entire life. Seriously, is samsung did any more would over kill. The camera takes cri clear pictures.The highly customizable interface is the best on the market, I'm still finding out everyday more things to make this phone unique to my personality. Video quality is also great, the wide selfie has finally but an end to cheek to cheek picture taking, you can even put a compilation of your favorite pictures and save it as an interactive lock screen or have your entire gallery float by when the device is charging. Phone quality is good, I haven't had any issues with it.The pop up feature is great you can adjust the size of the screen or completely minimize it and a floaty icon will appear, very similar to the chat heads on Facebook messenger. Very convenient when multitasking. The upgraded S Pen is simply amazing. It is impossible to cover every aspect of it, but to keep things short. I'd advise you to play with this device at a local carrier. Overall, 5 stars I have yet to find anything to complain about with this device.

I love this phone! I don't have a bad thing to say about it other than some minor touch wiz deficiencies. A little lag with the software with a couple things. .but it's nitpicking in my opinion. This is a great phone. I have bigger hands, so the size isn't an issue for me, but something to think about if you have smaller hands I guess.

I had an s4 a year or so ago, and I like the changes that have been made to the software and hardware since then. This phone feels great in the hand, not slippery. . .and the software continues to improve.

absolutely awesome phone. I swapped from a iPhone and never looked back. drag and drop music, movies, pics, etc.. onto the phone or SD card. Memory is upgradable which blows apple away. Stylus and note taking sold me.