I just bought the Note 4 a couple of days ago and am really enjoying it with one exception that I'll get to.
On the plus side and not often noted by users, I shoot 4K video and the camera in the Note 4 is just amazing. I am coming from the S5 which had no image stabilization in 4K, making the video nearly useless. The Note 4's OIS really does the job! When viewed on my 4K monitor, the 4K videos are truly amazing and hard to believe they originate from a smartphone. I have 2 dedicated 4K cameras and it's surprising how good a job the Note 4 does in this area.
The only negative I am finding is that reception is somewhat worse than my S5, but only in weak areas. I have been swapping my SIM card back & forth to get comparative readings between the 2 devices. Where my S5 was getting 93dbm/47asu, my Note 4 is getting 98dbm/44asu. If I hold both phones in a different area that's somewhat weaker, but the same area for both, I'll get 98dbm/42asu for the S5 and 105dbm/35asu for the Note 4. A pretty significant difference.
The reason I was getting a bit concerned, was we had just been in a Petsmart store and I noticed I could not get a signal when I took the Note out of my pocket. Once I had it out for awhile it got a marginal signal, but I still wasn't getting reliable data. My wife's IPhone 5 was getting a decent, but not great signal, but she was able to access websites. I wonder if the metal perimeter is hampering reception at all.
Today I went over to an AT&T store where I compared my signal strength to their 2 demo Note 4s. My signal strength was almost exactly (within 1asu up or down depending on the moment) the same as their units, but this was a fairly strong area. So that made me feel better that the signal issue wasn't anything specific to my unit, at least in good areas. It also was very close to other models that were on display.
So I have no idea why, in some weaker signal areas, the Note 4 is outperformed by my Galaxy S5. I will say that the radio in the S5 has probably been the best radio I've dealt with in the many Samsungs I've owned. In the past though, I've generally noticed that a radio's performance will be fairly consistent across the board. If the signal strength is weaker in a weak area, that generally translates to a weaker performance in a strong area even though the signal is very usable in stronger areas. But seeing that performance is good and comparable to other units in a stronger area, it's a bit surprising to me that in weaker areas it seems a bit subpar. Perhaps this is not that unusual with some radios?
Given the other great aspects of the Note 4, I can live with it, but I thought it was worth mentioning and seeing if anyone had any feedback.
Otherwise the Note 4 is just awesome, without question the best smartphone I've ever owned. I'd be curious to hear from others that might also have been coming from an S5.
On the plus side and not often noted by users, I shoot 4K video and the camera in the Note 4 is just amazing. I am coming from the S5 which had no image stabilization in 4K, making the video nearly useless. The Note 4's OIS really does the job! When viewed on my 4K monitor, the 4K videos are truly amazing and hard to believe they originate from a smartphone. I have 2 dedicated 4K cameras and it's surprising how good a job the Note 4 does in this area.
The only negative I am finding is that reception is somewhat worse than my S5, but only in weak areas. I have been swapping my SIM card back & forth to get comparative readings between the 2 devices. Where my S5 was getting 93dbm/47asu, my Note 4 is getting 98dbm/44asu. If I hold both phones in a different area that's somewhat weaker, but the same area for both, I'll get 98dbm/42asu for the S5 and 105dbm/35asu for the Note 4. A pretty significant difference.
The reason I was getting a bit concerned, was we had just been in a Petsmart store and I noticed I could not get a signal when I took the Note out of my pocket. Once I had it out for awhile it got a marginal signal, but I still wasn't getting reliable data. My wife's IPhone 5 was getting a decent, but not great signal, but she was able to access websites. I wonder if the metal perimeter is hampering reception at all.
Today I went over to an AT&T store where I compared my signal strength to their 2 demo Note 4s. My signal strength was almost exactly (within 1asu up or down depending on the moment) the same as their units, but this was a fairly strong area. So that made me feel better that the signal issue wasn't anything specific to my unit, at least in good areas. It also was very close to other models that were on display.
So I have no idea why, in some weaker signal areas, the Note 4 is outperformed by my Galaxy S5. I will say that the radio in the S5 has probably been the best radio I've dealt with in the many Samsungs I've owned. In the past though, I've generally noticed that a radio's performance will be fairly consistent across the board. If the signal strength is weaker in a weak area, that generally translates to a weaker performance in a strong area even though the signal is very usable in stronger areas. But seeing that performance is good and comparable to other units in a stronger area, it's a bit surprising to me that in weaker areas it seems a bit subpar. Perhaps this is not that unusual with some radios?
Given the other great aspects of the Note 4, I can live with it, but I thought it was worth mentioning and seeing if anyone had any feedback.
Otherwise the Note 4 is just awesome, without question the best smartphone I've ever owned. I'd be curious to hear from others that might also have been coming from an S5.
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