Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Specification Released With Quad HD, Wi-Fi AC & LTE Category 6

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is coming out shortly to give iPhone 6 potential buyers some pause for thought. And the specifications of this “phablet” are impressive for the most part with a couple of possible exceptions.

Design Choices

The design says “Note” in loud lettering. Big, rectangular with the Samsung hardware control buttons at the rear. It's still larger and plastic with a faux cover on the back (but most people should have this phone in a protective casing anyway).

Size & Display Screen

The size of the phone is 153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5 mm. The screen size hasn't changed from the Note 3 and is still 5.7-inches using the impressively colorful Super AMOLED display screen. The over-saturation of the colors isn't photo-realistic so it's not for everyone but on bright high streets is can sure make it easier to see what's being displayed.

The resolution will be one of the main talking points having risen up now to 1,440 x 2,560 pixels which is an eye-blistering 515 ppi. Just to compare, the Note 3 has a 1080p display and still decent 386 ppi. So you won't be able to view an Ultra 4K recorded video on the device and see all those pixels, but the screen is incredibly sharp and can happily zoom into high megapixel shots easily and well.

The device weighs 176 grams which is getting up there in weight in your hand. With that said, unless you have gargantuan-sized hands, you're likely to be holding this baby in two hands anyway in which case the added weight won't be a bother at all.

Processor, Memory and Battery

The main processor for the Galaxy Note 4 is a swift quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 Krait 450 processor clocked at 2.7 Ghz. There will also be other versions that share faster and slower processors but this is market dependent. 3GB of RAM is supplied which is a pretty common amount of memory for top-end Android phones now.

The 3220 mAh battery should be enough to keep the Note 4 running for a few hours. The QHD display and faster processor will drain a lot of battery so you'll still need to turn the screen off as often as possible and carrying around a spare power bank to charge from wouldn't be a bad idea..

GUI

Android 4.4.4 KitKat is the OS with the Note 4. Not the Android 4.5 which comes with the sought after “kill switch” feature. Samsung can tend to fall behind with their software updates but lets hope they let early buyers of the Galaxy Note 4 upgrade later to 4.5.

The Note 4 obviously comes with the useful stylus and associated Note software to scribble away to your heart's content. You either love the stylus which harks back to Palm computing days or you find it antiquated but for a smart phone this size the stylus does come in handy. It helps to keep greasy fingerprints off the screen and when you have dirty hands and don't want to touch the screen at that time, having a stylus comes in surprisingly useful in such moments.

Storage - Internal & External

The 32GB of internal storage should be ample for this model. A lower amount of storage is not currently offered. The disappointment with the microSD card slot is that it is only capable of handling 64GB microSD cards, not 128GB ones. The Samsung Galaxy S5 handles 128GB so this is disappointing for those people who store lots of media on their microSD cards. This will be especially true for snap-happy owners who will be taking many 16 megapixel shots and 4K video clips on their travels.

Cameras

The rear camera has been beefed up to a 16 megapixel isocell rear shooter with a LED flash. The front-facing shooter has a decent 3.7 megapixel camera which takes “selfies” up to a more practical resolution.

The addition of the optical image stabilization feature is a good improvement for people who have trouble holding the phone steady while taking that shot or video clip.

Video has also been improved with the ability to take 4K video now just like Hollywood does. The rear-facing camera can shoot the 4K video and the front-facing camera can record a not to shabby 1080p as well. There are some helpful focusing additions this time and basic editing software included in the Note 4. Serious video recorders will not be able to ditch their PC or Mac editing software though.

Connectivity

The Galaxy Note 4 is mainly a 4G LTE phone. It's now compatible with category 6 which is capable of downstream speeds of up to 300Mbps and upstream of 75Mbps. Most cellular providers still offer 4G LTE category 4 which is closer to 150Mbps downstream. However, local speeds will be much closer to 20-30Mbps downstream for most users.

Wi-Fi now uses dual-band technology and the ac Wi-Fi standard for grabbing Wi-Fi signals from greater distances and broadcasting a Wi-Fi Hotspot signal farther too. Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC are included for easier wireless sending and wireless payments.

Sensors

The sensors are a more full range in keeping with the S5. Health sensors for UV and heart rate will help health apps get more accurate during exercise. A gesture sensor will make it easier to set gestures for frequent actions. The usual accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass and barometer round out the sensors.

The Galaxy Note 4 is one of the best “phablets” on the market. It's highly responsive, has a screen to die for and offers top of the line features.