Re: Note 4 camera help for sctaches and smudges
The phenomena is called lens flare. It happens on practically all cameras to some degree. Sometimes its well controlled and attractive, other times its very pronounced and annoying. Definitely more pronounced in the shots you posted.
I wish I could say there's an issue with your lens but looking back over a year of photos with my Note 4 I did find a couple of shots (out of thousands) that exhibited similar flare that is more pronounced in one direction than another just like your shots. It took some effort for me to find a photo like that though because I simply don't shoot directly into lights or a lot of low light situations. For the shot or two that I found in my collection the lights in question werre basically pointing directly towards the lens of the camera.
In general I don't shoot in low light but the shots that I do have on file do not display a lot of flare unless shot at an extreme angle to a direct point light source such as spotlights, flood lights or headlights. Photos in low light with diffused lighting sources such as florescent lighting or lights in diffusers/shades are fine. Attached are a couple of shots. The indoor restauraunt one exhibits no flare. The lights have diffusers on them. The arena shot well, the lights are much more intense and directional.
My advice in your case is clean and then examine your lens cover for scratches. Photograph an extreme light source at multple angles and see if the angle of your flare follows the rotation of the camera exactly, that could indicate that what your'e seeing is related to the scratches or smudges on your lens.