Honest thoughts on the Note 4

[CTalman]

I've ordered the Note 4 should be with me on Monday.
My main concern though from looking at other threads within here is whether I stick with it on 5.0.1 or go on to 5.1.1?
It seems some people have problems on one and some have issues on the other!?!?

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[CTalman]

Also any comments about low light camera shots would be appreciated. Thanks again.

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[nahoku]

I've ordered the Note 4 should be with me on Monday.
My main concern though from looking at other threads within here is whether I stick with it on 5.0.1 or go on to 5.1.1?
It seems some people have problems on one and some have issues on the other!?!?

Posted via the Android Central App

The phone may actually come with 5.1.1. I seem to remember seeing some people mentioning this. I actually hate LP... that's why I'm still on KK!

Congratulations, by the way!

 

[D Android]

If you do get the Note 4 I advise updating to 5.1.1 immediately. Samsung messed up 5.0.1 but they bounced back in 5.1.1, it runs beautifully and so smooth.

If you're saying that 5.1.1 works properly on the Note 4 this time and it's more stable and reliable than 5.0.1, I will give LP another try and see how it behaves, I just don't want to end up with a phone that's full of bugs again, keep going back to KK to restore its full functionality and having to factory reset it each time. Also would you know if it's still possible to revert back to KK once 5.1.1 is installed?

 

[Tsepz_GP]

If you're saying that 5.1.1 works properly on the Note 4 this time and it's more stable and reliable than 5.0.1, I will give LP another try and see how it behaves, I just don't want to end up with a phone that's full of bugs again, keep going back to KK to restore its full functionality and having to factory reset it each time. Also would you know if it's still possible to revert back to KK once 5.1.1 is installed?

I am indeed saying it works properly. Always best practice to do a Factory Reset after updating to a new Android version, so if you do update to 5.1.1, I suggest you do a reset and have a nice fresh start.

The Recent Apps/Task Switcher lag is gone and the phone is a lot smoother.

I am going to do a format now, as I want my CSC to change to PHN, as I am happy with how Bloatfree the Netherlands FW is. Not bothering with DBT.

Sent from my Note 4 +64GB MicroSDXC via Tapatalk

 

[nahoku]

If you're saying that 5.1.1 works properly on the Note 4 this time and it's more stable and reliable than 5.0.1, I will give LP another try and see how it behaves, I just don't want to end up with a phone that's full of bugs again, keep going back to KK to restore its full functionality and having to factory reset it each time. Also would you know if it's still possible to revert back to KK once 5.1.1 is installed?

I'm surprised you're able to revert to KK from LP. AT&T, VZW and I believe Sprint (not sure) have incremented the bootloader, so any phone on these carriers are not able to revert to KK from any LP version. What carrier are you on?

 

[D Android]

I'm surprised you're able to revert to KK from LP. AT&T, VZW and I believe Sprint (not sure) have incremented the bootloader, so any phone on these carriers are not able to revert to KK from any LP version. What carrier are you on?

My Note 4 is an international unlocked model, not a carrier branded one. Maybe that's the reason why I can choose which firmware is installed on it, rather than carriers making the decision for me, telling me that's what I'm going to get and live with, whether I like it or not.

 

[pduffer]

For those questioning the Note 4 battery life.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[CTalman]

What worries me most is all the talk of lag from within the Note 4 forum.
I'm sure there are still plenty of people who don't have that experience but still... Its difficult not to be influenced by reading these forum threads!
14 day return policy on mine (which I should get today) in case I change my mind...

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[nahoku]

What worries me most is all the talk of lag from within the Note 4 forum.
I'm sure there are still plenty of people who don't have that experience but still... Its difficult not to be influenced by reading these forum threads!
14 day return policy on mine (which I should get today) in case I change my mind...

Posted via the Android Central App

I'm curious if it'll come with 5.1.1. Drop in and let us know.

 

[natehoy]

This is just so strange. I wonder why there's so much deviation in times noted on different phones. Here's a video I just shot of my camera to gallery delay. All my photos and videos are stored on SD by default. For me, it doesn't matter if it's a photo, or video, the gallery pops up quite readily when I hit the button.

You can tell when the gallery has launched by watching the icons change at the top of the phone. Also note that I showed the "recent apps" so you can see that both the camera and gallery were not previously launched.

I have to wonder if it's some kind of sync issue, or a Lollipop issue.

I dunno. I don't have another camera handy, but when I take a couple of shots (maybe it's more than one, lag on writing the last image to memory? No idea - wild guess there) and click on the preview, the camera just sits there running for several seconds with no ability to take shots, then the newest picture comes up.

It doesn't bother me all that much. Just strange that not all phones have it. I have no SD card installed.

 

[natehoy]

What worries me most is all the talk of lag from within the Note 4 forum.
I'm sure there are still plenty of people who don't have that experience but still... Its difficult not to be influenced by reading these forum threads!
14 day return policy on mine (which I should get today) in case I change my mind...

Posted via the Android Central App

Where it counts, there is no lag I have ever noticed.

 

[tsells]

I dunno. I don't have another camera handy, but when I take a couple of shots (maybe it's more than one, lag on writing the last image to memory? No idea - wild guess there) and click on the preview, the camera just sits there running for several seconds with no ability to take shots, then the newest picture comes up.

It doesn't bother me all that much. Just strange that not all phones have it. I have no SD card installed.

I had the same issue where the only lag I had was after taking a picture. That lag went away when I cleared cache data. (Settings>Storage>Cache data>Tap on cache data>Clear) I have no idea why this helped, but it did.

 

[natehoy]

I had the same issue where the only lag I had was after taking a picture. That lag went away when I cleared cache data. (Settings>Storage>Cache data>Tap on cache data>Clear) I have no idea why this helped, but it did.

I do that once a week, and the "problem" (I put it in quotes because it's just not that big a deal!) persists even after a factory reset I did for other reasons.

Meh. I know about it, and the 2-3 times a month at most that I feel a compelling need to look at a photo immediately after I've taken it, waiting a few seconds just isn't something I feel the need to go looking to "solve". I'd probably screw something else up much worse. LOL

 

[CTalman]

I'm curious if it'll come with 5.1.1. Drop in and let us know.

I'm in England so I have the European version of the phone, unlocked model SM-N910F.
And it has arrived with Android 5.0.1.
Only been playing with the phone for about an hour so can't tell if there's any issues with 5.0.1 on this device.
Any suggestions on options I need to turn on/off from the beginning?
Does ambient display waste more battery?

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[nahoku]

I dunno. I don't have another camera handy, but when I take a couple of shots (maybe it's more than one, lag on writing the last image to memory? No idea - wild guess there) and click on the preview, the camera just sits there running for several seconds with no ability to take shots, then the newest picture comes up.

It doesn't bother me all that much. Just strange that not all phones have it. I have no SD card installed.

I changed the saved location to the phone (instead of SD) just to see what happens and it didn't change anything. I even took a photo while my browser was playing a video on youtube, and it opened the gallery the same speed. Very strange. It works fine with multiple photos too. It's a mystery, but as long as it doesn't bother you, you're good. Well, maybe one day when you have to factory reset your phone, you can check this to see if possibly some app was affecting this.

 

[Tsepz_GP]

I'm in England so I have the European version of the phone, unlocked model SM-N910F.
And it has arrived with Android 5.0.1.
Only been playing with the phone for about an hour so can't tell if there's any issues with 5.0.1 on this device.
Any suggestions on options I need to turn on/off from the beginning?
Does ambient display waste more battery?

Posted via the Android Central App

If you can, I suggest updating to 5.1.1, all bits of lag has been removed, and the phone runs beautifully, very snappy and smooth.

Sent from my GALAXY Note 4

 

[George Monroe1]

Well, I never thought I would say this but since the latest update I can't use my phone inside. I may give the Windows phone or IPhone a go, not being able to have a phone call from a phone? What's the good in that?

 

[mookiekillsit]

Thanks for all the comments so far. All very useful and informative.
I do like my LG G3 but I'm ready for a change. I've not had a Samsung before and I like to try different phones each time.
The Moto X Pure/Style is also on my radar but the Note 4 may just win through.
A decent battery, very good camera and good screen are high upon my wish list for a phone and with the price of the Note 4 starting to drop it sounds like this could be a winner (despite being a year old).
Does anyone use the fingerprint scanner, sounds to me that this isn't particularly good on the Note 4?
TouchWiz is a concern but I'd probably just use Nova or another launcher... What is the experience of using these launchers on this phone?
Thanks.

Posted via the Android Central App

I haven't had the Pure but am switching to it from this Note. It's laggy and buggy. Hell, whenever I try to make calls, it just shuts down the dialer and takes me to my homescreen. I usually have to try and dial someone 4-5 times before it actually works. Just factory reset like 2 months ago also. I'll sell you mine if you want. It's on Verizon.

I'm done w/ Sammy products forever at this moment. The camera is absolutely stupendous and the main reason I bought it but now that Moto X Pure has a significantly better camera and world's better Android experience w/ extremely useful features, I will go back to them.

 

[mookiekillsit]

Well, I never thought I would say this but since the latest update I can't use my phone inside. I may give the Windows phone or IPhone a go, not being able to have a phone call from a phone? What's the good in that?

Don't rely on Sammy to give a good Android experience. Get Nexus or Moto.