Returned my Note 4 today

[bimbert84]

This is in reference to my other thread here: http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-4/534644-note4-not-note4-question.html

Two weeks ago I picked up a Note 4, but ultimately decided to return it for several reasons:

• I couldn't use it one-handed. Since the phone is so big, in order to reach either the near or far side of the screen with my thumb, I had to pull my fingers off the opposing edge and rest them on the back. But the back was so slippery I simply couldn't hold on to it. I tried the one-handed modes to no avail, and bought the "grippiest" case I could find reviews on. Apparently what others call "grippy," I call ice-like. I even found a store at a local mall that sells nothing but phone cases -- out of the several dozen they had for the Note 4, not one of them gave me a sure grip. I finally sprayed my case with spray-on rubber, and that worked quite well... for a couple hours, anyway, until it started peeling off.
  '
• Sluggishness. I found the lag unacceptable for a $700 device. It was faster than my Droid Razr Maxx HD, but not by enough to make me happy. I expected it to fly, and it just didn't. I blame software for this, but it doesn't really matter why it was sluggish, only that it was.
  '
• Battery life. I'm a heavy user, and I found myself needing to recharge by late afternoon or early evening. I guess I've been spoiled by my Razr Maxx HD. In 2 years of heavy use, I think I've seen a low battery warning maybe 5 times before I hook it up to the charger at night. I never fuss about brightness or GPS or Wifi or anything else, either, I just leave it all turned on. It's hard to give up the freedom that comes with that.

Since there's nothing else out there that interests me right now, I'm going to stick with my old phone and just wait it out. Hopefully by fall when the new units arrive, Lollipop will either be fixed, or obsolete.

-- Rob

 

[Bosbouer]

Glad to hear that you have come back on Note4. Which was before?

He returned the note 4 and is sticking to the old Razrmax

@bimbert.. Did you try the "one-handed" mode at all?

 

[chevyman29]

Well I own the Droid Max and I never got any better battery life out of it than I do with note 4.
The only thing I miss is the active notification.
I regularly get 4 hours screen time and 3 hours talk time with 25 % or so left on my note 4.
While the Maxx was a little smoother it wasn't enough to make up for the horrible camera.
I use a otter box commuter case with out the plastic shell it offers a very grippy surface with ample protection. If you ever get use to the larger size of the note you'll be hard pressed to go to something different.
Edited to add I just realized you said the Max hd. I got that phone for my mom and it's a nice well made phone but I wouldn't call it smooth by any stretch. It came out before the Droid maxx with the x8 system or whatever it was called.

 

[bimbert84]

I regularly get 4 hours screen time and 3 hours talk time with 25 % or so left on my note 4.

Now that my Razr Maxx is getting old, I only get double that. It was a lot better when it was new.


While the Maxx was a little smoother it wasn't enough to make up for the horrible camera.

Yeah, the camera is horrible on mine, too.


I use a otter box commuter case with out the plastic shell it offers a very grippy surface with ample protection. If you ever get use to the larger size of the note you'll be hard pressed to go to something different.

I tried that one at the store. It's grippier than most, but not enough to keep my fingers from sliding off. The only protection I want or need is protection from dropping in the first place. I was legitimately surprised I couldn't find one single (small) case made out of tacky rubber, or even one with vertical ribs on the back. I found horizontal ribs, but I'm not sure of the usefulness of that. The Speck Candyshell sold at the Verizon store had a nice grip, except in another maddening example of style over function, there's a smooth, slick, plastic stripe right down the middle of the back, precisely where my fingers would land.


Edited to add I just realized you said the Max hd. I got that phone for my mom and it's a nice well made phone but I wouldn't call it smooth by any stretch. It came out before the Droid maxx with the x8 system or whatever it was called.

Up until a couple months ago, my Razr Maxx was always very snappy. Now it's pretty bad, though, and thinking back, I'm pretty sure it happened around the time of an OTA software update. In any event, performance is one of the reasons I want to upgrade. The Note 4 was a definite improvement over my Razr Maxx as it is today, but not when it was new. For a $700 device, I expected the Note 4 to have better performance out-of-the-box. Again, I blame software. My hope is that will be fixed with the upcoming fall releases, and I'll reconsider my options then.

-- Rob

 

[Tsepz_GP]

Sorry to hear your experience with it was now great. The Note 4 is one of those love it or hate it devices, IMO.

I hope you find something that suits you better.
Maybe look at the Galaxy S6 Active (if you are in the States) or look at the successor of the RAZR
Maxx, the Moto Maxx:
Motorola Moto Maxx - Full phone specifications
Droid Turbo:
Motorola DROID Turbo - Full phone specifications

 

[bimbert84]

The Note 4 is one of those love it or hate it devices, IMO.

Well I certainly didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, either, which is why I returned it. I can't justify spending that much on something I don't love.


Maybe look at the Galaxy S6 Active (if you are in the States) or look at the successor of the RAZR Maxx, the Moto Maxx, or Droid Turbo.

Yeah, Motorola is king of battery life, but they have other problems like poor cameras and now, lack of external storage. It really sucks having to choose between things I find important rather than having them all in one phone. I simply don't understand the obsession with thinness. They'll put 6" screens on these things so you need 3 hands to carry them, but they won't add an extra couple mm in thickness to accommodate a large battery. Nor do I understand the obsession with pixel density. The human eye can't discern the difference, but the battery sure can. And how about using efficient software? All this feature-laden, bug-ridden, wiz-bang UI nonsense serves little purpose but to consume power. Sigh.

I intend to wait it out. When something comes along that I think is worth buying, I'll buy it. Hopefully that'll be in the fall. But in the meantime, I see no point in spending a bunch of money to be frustrated when I can be frustrated with my current phone for free.

-- Rob

 

[Tsepz_GP]

The Note 4 is one of those love it or hate it devices, IMO.

Well I certainly didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, either, which is why I returned it. I can't justify spending that much on something I don't love.


Maybe look at the Galaxy S6 Active (if you are in the States) or look at the successor of the RAZR Maxx, the Moto Maxx, or Droid Turbo.

Yeah, Motorola is king of battery life, but they have other problems like poor cameras and now, lack of external storage. It really sucks having to choose between things I find important rather than having them all in one phone. I simply don't understand the obsession with thinness. They'll put 6" screens on these things so you need 3 hands to carry them, but they won't add an extra couple mm in thickness to accommodate a large battery. Nor do I understand the obsession with pixel density. The human eye can't discern the difference, but the battery sure can. And how about using efficient software? All this feature-laden, bug-ridden, wiz-bang UI nonsense serves little purpose but to consume power. Sigh.

I intend to wait it out. When something comes along that I think is worth buying, I'll buy it. Hopefully that'll be in the fall. But in the meantime, I see no point in spending a bunch of money to be frustrated when I can be frustrated with my current phone for free.

-- Rob

Fair enough.

The Note 5 is rumored to bring a 4100mAh battery, a 5.9inch display at the same res as Note 4, and a more efficient Exynos 7422. Maybe worth a go, hopefully with MicroSD slot.

 

[bimbert84]

Fair enough.

The Note 5 is rumored to bring a 4100mAh battery, a 5.9inch display at the same res as Note 4, and a more efficient Exynos 7422. Maybe worth a go, hopefully with MicroSD slot.

I'd be lying if I said that wasn't in the back of my mind, although bigger isn't the way I hope it goes (although I'm sure it will). I'd like to see Samsung lighten their software and stop chasing display specs, too, but I doubt that'll happen. 4100mAh sounds nice (side note -- at what point do we start referring to this as 4.1Ah?), but I fear for elimination of the SD card. My biggest hope is it won't be running 5.0. IMO, Lollipop is to Android what Vista was to Windows.

-- Rob

 

[Sammuel1973]

My experience has been very different from yours. I have left the Note 4 twice, only to come back to it recently...and boy, did I miss it. I totally enjoy all the features it has to offer, and the only lag I have ever experienced was/is the camera auto focus. As a power user myself (6-8 hours of video streaming with sporadic calls, emails, texts, and web browsing), I simply pop in a spare battery without ever needing to charge it during the day. One handed use is so convenient when I am driving. Gripping the phone also has never been an issue for me.

Glad you did give the Note 4 a shot though.

 

[Gunny94]

I've had issues with my Note 4 battery like you guys, my issue was that I didn't factory reset after each update.

I did that with 5.0 and now my Note 4 is lasting up 2 days! With medium-heavy use.

I recommend you doing that or at least clean the cache partition.

In terms of phones I recommend you waiting for 2016 phones, because let's be honest.. Besides Note 5 (who we dont know nothing for certain at this stage) there isn't really another Android Phone to look out for this year especially because we need to discard the SD810 devices due to heating issues.

But, I've been using a Z3 for a while and I'm really loving how the battery life is treated.. It has a huge battery life even when compared to Note 4 on some cases.

 

[Tsepz_GP]

I'd be lying if I said that wasn't in the back of my mind, although bigger isn't the way I hope it goes (although I'm sure it will). I'd like to see Samsung lighten their software and stop chasing display specs, too, but I doubt that'll happen. 4100mAh sounds nice (side note -- at what point do we start referring to this as 4.1Ah?), but I fear for elimination of the SD card. My biggest hope is it won't be running 5.0. IMO, Lollipop is to Android what Vista was to Windows.

-- Rob

Unfortunately it seems it will go bigger, the Chinese OEMs are bringing 6inch phablets in the bucketload so I guess Samsung are feeling the pressure now.
Apparently they have lightened TouchWiz in the S6, so hopefully the Note 5 follows.

I'm sure the Note 5 will either have 5.1.1 or Android M, depending on when M arrives and how much time they have to implement it, if the Note 4 is anything to go by, we must expect the Note 5 to arrive with 5.1.1 and then later get the update to M.

I agree, 5.0 is to Android what Vista was to Windows, it is incredibly buggy and heavy on resources.

 

[Jude526]

My experience has been very different from yours. I have left the Note 4 twice, only to come back to it recently...and boy, did I miss it. I totally enjoy all the features it has to offer, and the only lag I have ever experienced was/is the camera auto focus. As a power user myself (6-8 hours of video streaming with sporadic calls, emails, texts, and web browsing), I simply pop in a spare battery without ever needing to charge it during the day. One handed use is so convenient when I am driving. Gripping the phone also has never been an issue for me.

Glad you did give the Note 4 a shot though.

I don't think its a good idea to be driving. A friend of mine was hit by a distracted driver. Its dangerous

Sent from my SM-N910V using Android Central Forums

 

[goin_nil]

I'd be lying if I said that wasn't in the back of my mind, although bigger isn't the way I hope it goes (although I'm sure it will). I'd like to see Samsung lighten their software and stop chasing display specs, too, but I doubt that'll happen. 4100mAh sounds nice...

I doubt that Samsung will "stop chasing display specs". I see them really improving the displays a lot. One reason is Gear VR.

I got the Gear VR for my Note 4 and there is a slight "screen door" effect meaning what you see appears a bit pixelated as if there is a screen door between you and the screen. So higher resolution is needed for this.

Despite the "screen door", Gear VR is an amazing experience and I think it's a game changer. It's going to be a huge market in the future. It takes gaming to a new level that no one has experienced yet (outside of the early adopters).

There is a even a company that can stream live sporting events in fully immersive 3D. They are bringing this to Gear VR. Can you imagine sitting courtside for NCAA Final Four, game 7 of the NBA Finals, or ride along in a NASCAR car and be able to look in any direction?
http://fortune.com/2015/05/01/nextvr-virtual-sports-concerts/

All the big names (Sony, HTC, Microsoft, etc) are getting into virtual reality headsets/systems.

So Samsung needs to keep its market lead and improve on the experience. This means higher resolution screens in the Note and S series line of phones.

4K and 8K displays are in our future. Maybe they will create a separate, higher cost, line for the Note series for super high-res screens just like they did for the Note Edge and the S6 Edge editions. These could be tagged as "Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, Gear VR edition" - I really hope their marketing dept. does better than that.

 

[Sammuel1973]

I don't think its a good idea to be driving. A friend of mine was hit by a distracted driver. Its dangerous

Sent from my SM-N910V using Android Central Forums

Yes, I agree. Don't mean to be implying I was using it while I am driving vs checking incoming texts at a red light.

 

[soldier45]

Use mine one handed all the time, no sluggishness here with a better launcher than touchwiz, Heavy user here get 10 hours of use on average. Just goes to show its not for everyone.

 

[H3aTeRzz]

I got rid of my baby (Note 4) after falling into the hype of the LGG4...had it a week and came screaming back to a note 4, like a little lost girl! Love my note 4!!!

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[drelewis]

my note 4 is pissing me off at the moment. Random battery drain for no reason apps crashing. Its this sort of behavior that made me leave droid a few years ago. Also my pen has stopped working as well. This is my 3rd note on warranty as well I called Samsung and they would not help me after I told them how badly this has sucked. I have extra batteries wireless charging back and a moto 360 but I will just sell the lot.

I can buy out my note and keep it for $350 and get an iPhone to avoid all this crap.

 

[bassplayrguy]

my note 4 is pissing me off at the moment. Random battery drain for no reason apps crashing. Its this sort of behavior that made me leave droid a few years ago. Also my pen has stopped working as well. This is my 3rd note on warranty as well I called Samsung and they would not help me after I told them how badly this has sucked. I have extra batteries wireless charging back and a moto 360 but I will just sell the lot.


I can buy out my note and keep it for $350 and get an iPhone to avoid all this crap.

If you decide to sell your accessories, let me know.

 

[LordAndroid]

This is in reference to my other thread here: http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-note-4/534644-note4-not-note4-question.html

Two weeks ago I picked up a Note 4, but ultimately decided to return it for several reasons:

• I couldn't use it one-handed. Since the phone is so big, in order to reach either the near or far side of the screen with my thumb, I had to pull my fingers off the opposing edge and rest them on the back. But the back was so slippery I simply couldn't hold on to it. I tried the one-handed modes to no avail, and bought the "grippiest" case I could find reviews on. Apparently what others call "grippy," I call ice-like. I even found a store at a local mall that sells nothing but phone cases -- out of the several dozen they had for the Note 4, not one of them gave me a sure grip. I finally sprayed my case with spray-on rubber, and that worked quite well... for a couple hours, anyway, until it started peeling off.
  '
• Sluggishness. I found the lag unacceptable for a $700 device. It was faster than my Droid Razr Maxx HD, but not by enough to make me happy. I expected it to fly, and it just didn't. I blame software for this, but it doesn't really matter why it was sluggish, only that it was.
  '
• Battery life. I'm a heavy user, and I found myself needing to recharge by late afternoon or early evening. I guess I've been spoiled by my Razr Maxx HD. In 2 years of heavy use, I think I've seen a low battery warning maybe 5 times before I hook it up to the charger at night. I never fuss about brightness or GPS or Wifi or anything else, either, I just leave it all turned on. It's hard to give up the freedom that comes with that.

Since there's nothing else out there that interests me right now, I'm going to stick with my old phone and just wait it out. Hopefully by fall when the new units arrive, Lollipop will either be fixed, or obsolete.

-- Rob

If battery life and a fast experience seem to be your selling points why not go droid turbo? You seem to like mtoto.

Sent from the mighty Tab S

 

[drelewis]

I will let you know buddy. I was thinking of bundling the lot on ebay but I just got the iPhone yesterday I will see how this goes for a week.

Already its not as noisy as my droid less needy in terms of notification's and email. It's smoother as well nqat.