Hi everyone, I would like to share my very disappointing experience with the Note 4.
Before I start though I'd like to say that I previously had a Note 2 and a Note 3. Since I liked the Samsung Note so much buying the Note 4 seemed to be an easy decision, especially since many of the reviews I read were generally favorable and claimed that the Note 4 had better camera, better build, faster processor, etc... Unfortunately, these reviews I realized are apparently not made from the point of view of someone who had used the device day in and day out, as I experienced the following rarely mentioned issues/problems:
(1) Removal of voice recognition control for the "SNOOZE" and "STOP" commands in the stock alarm. This was a BIG MISTAKE in my opinion since those features were so convenient. I tried downloading an app called "WakeVoice" but the voice recognition on the app was awful and there was no widget available. Frankly I am bewildered at why they would remove voice recognition from the stock alarm.
(2) Removal of USB 3.0 transfer speed, also a BIG MISTAKE! I regularly download and/or backup large files and transfer them to my computer and/or flash drive. Samsung apparently decided this wasn't an important consumer need. Seems kind of unusual to move back to USB 2.0.
(3) Inaccurate GPS on Google Maps. My location is wrong by AT LEAST 50 meters even with location on and with high accuracy mode switched on. I never had this problem with the Note 3 and Note 2!! To be fair, the problem was alleviated when I would switch Wi-Fi on. However, I never needed Wi-Fi on the Note 2 and Note 3 to get an accurate location reading. This is important to me since I occasionally go to remote areas in Kuwait (where I live) which don't have proper road signs or markings and of course which have no available Wi-Fi.
(4) Internet browser stalls/freezes when using address bar to perform web search. A really irritating problem.
(5) Phone restarts for no reason
(6) SD card error message appears regularly, some users have described this error in this thread. Irritating, but generally harmless problem. I have a SanDisk 64GB card which never gave me any problems in the Note 2 and Note 3.
I subsequently tried formatting the phone and SD card but it did not fix problems 3-6. I also ensured that my phone had the latest software updates. I emailed Samsung Support in the Middle East, and here is their condensed and somewhat apathetic reply:
"We appreciate the chance of being able to assist you here in Samsung Gulf technical support.
For the inquiries 1 and 2, compared with previous devices, Galaxy Note4 have made the simple UX design for user convenience. According to this device simplification concept, some of unnecessary and unused frequently features are deleted and new enhanced functions to replace this are added where some hardware was removed."
I'm not a software expert, but this answer seemed unconvincing. How much harm did the stock alarm voice recognition do to the user experience? Or USB 3.0 for that matter?? In fact I even detected a hint of arrogance in the reply, i.e., they are basically saying that they are deciding for the consumer what features are useful and what aren't. In my view it is ridiculous to remove useful features that were available on older Note versions. Their reply continues as follows:
"For GPS and browser freezing issues, we recommend you to bring the handset to one of the Authorized Service Centers in Kuwait to be able to diagnose and fix the problems even restarting and SD card error."
They then proceeded to give me the addresses of the technical service centers, as if I couldn't find them on my own. The problem is there was nothing wrong with the phone and these bugs were commonly mentioned on internet forums. And frankly I don't have the time and patience to leave my phone with the service center and wait for what I felt was a REMOTE chance that they would correct problems 3-6.
In the following days I noticed that the S-Voice became more erratic (and this was after a full phone and SD card format), i.e. it would stall often when given a command.
I concluded that this phone was making me miserable, so after a month of usage I sold it and bought a Note 3 again. The people at the store were surprised since the Note 4 is quite popular apparently, but from my point of view I found it disappointing despite some of the hardware and software improvements for the previously mentioned reasons. I guess in the end it depends on your perspective, maybe some of these issues are more important to some users than others. In any case, when the Note 5 comes out I will make sure I wait for a few months and read tons of user reviews in forums before making a buy decision.
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