Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Review

It seems like only yesterday when people were staring at us manhandling the (at the time) giant 5.3in Samsung Galaxy Note.

It single-handedly kickstarted the phablet revolution, and Samsung has been at the forefront of supersized smartphones ever since.

The Note 4, with its gorgeous pixel-packed display, powerful innards and stylus smarts has fought off the over-sized competition to remain top of the pile, but it can’t hold out forever.

Now, after weeks of leaks and speculation, we finally have confirmation on the latest in Samsung’s highly-successful line of phablets.

Perhaps nobody will never ever ask you “Where were you when the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 launched”? But, we can confidently say we were right there during its official unveiling at Samsung Unpacked 2015 in New York City.

We even got some exclusive hands-on time with the device, and we have to say, long live the phablet.

It’s really shaping up to be the Neville Longbottom of the smartphone world.

BEND IT LIKE BACK-HAM

Looks like the leaks were for real. The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 indeed comes with full metal-and-glass construction for a seriously slick, premium device that’s very much in line with Samsung’s new design language found in the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

Besides being made of glass instead of its predecessor’s faux leather, the Note 5’s rear end is subtly curved at the sides, letting the phone sit very comfortably indeed when held.

That also means it feels significantly thinner, lighter, and more expensive than the Note 4 at just 7.6mm thin and 171g. Other decidedly S6-esque features include a rear heart-rate sensor and LED flash that have moved to the side of the centre camera module, and the same array of microphone, microUSB port, and speaker grille on the bottom.

There’s one notable addition though - an all-important slot in the corner for the S Pen, which we’ll talk more about below.

FORM OR FUNCTION?

However, as with the Samsung Galaxy S6, this upgrade in material construction has come at a cost – the Note 5 doesn’t have a microSD slot, and you can no longer remove the new 3000mAh battery.

You will however, have a selection of two large internal memory sizes. Samsung has equipped the Note 5 with a starting memory size of 32GB, with a larger 64GB option. The fact that they’ve done away with the 128GB version won’t sit well with power users, but the free 100GB of Microsoft OneDrive Cloud storage should soften the blow.

On the battery front, Samsung’s additions might mean you won’t miss being able to swap the battery to a fresh spare either. The Note 5 comes with Ultra Fast Charging, with built-in support for Fast Wireless Charging via a separate pad.

Both options are claimed to be faster than those found on the Galaxy S6 – wired charging can take as little as 90 minutes for a full charge, and going wireless is up to twice as fast than a regular wireless pad – though we haven’t had the opportunity to see for ourselves yet.

PIXEL-PACKED DELIGHT

While it shares the same resolution as the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge and LG G4 with a 2K 2560 x 1440 display, the Note 5’s screen is not quite as crisp.

Due to its larger 5.7in size, it comes in with a pixel density of just 518ppi, which falls short of the Galaxy S6’s mammoth 577ppi and LG G4’s 538ppi. Not that you’d be able to tell without using a loupe.

We had no cause for complaint either way, because it’s still a scorcher in terms of screen quality. Everything from text to graphics were sharp enough to shave with, with the Super AMOLED display delivering outstanding colour, vibrancy, and contrast.

Blacks were deeper than the mental void before your A’ level chemistry exam, with a brightness that should hold up well even in bright sunlight. We’ll update further when we actually do get the phone outside closed doors.

THUMBS UP

Another welcome addition on the Note 5 is the same touch-based fingerprint scanner as that on the Galaxy S6. We’re getting pretty tired of writing about all these features that have made the transition from Samsung’s smaller flagship, but there’s no getting round it seeing as it’s true.

Simply resting your finger on the home button unlocks the phone in almost no time at all, with functionality extending to other applications such as the new and improved Samsung Pay (more on that later). No more awkward swiping.

PEN PUSHER

Sitting in the corner, encased in aluminium, is the new S Pen, which sadly does not come with a magnetic self-ejecting feature as speculated. Instead, you press the exposed end, which pops the stylus out a little so you can manually pull it free. More handy than plain sliding it out, but decidedly not as cool as it could have been.

The Note 5’s S Pen remains pressure sensitive, and lines become thicker as you press harder while drawing, which gives doodlers more control while sketching. Latency has also been shortened, which means handwriting is a lot smoother and more natural.

Pulling out the S Pen itself activates features too. When unlocked, the phone automatically brings you to the new enhanced Air Command menu, with shortcuts to bring you straight into a variety of aps.

More handily, even when the screen is off, you can start writing on the blank screen right away, which is great for times when you have to take quick notes and don’t want to waste time unlocking.

Other added functionality includes being able to write directly on PDFs, and a Scroll Capture feature that lets you screenshot long web pages up to 22 screens long. That’s worth at least a +2 to work productivity in our role-playing books.

SAMSUNG SMARTS

With Samsung’s very own 14nm 64-bit Exynos Octa Core processor and a massive 4GB of RAM under the hood powering Android Lollipop 5.1.1, the Note 5 is now the world’s most powerful smartphone on paper.

Operating the Note 5 was one of the smoothest experiences we’ve ever had on a smartphone, with creamy performance all-round. Opening multiple apps, switching between them, and prolonged use saw nary a stutter, but we’ll have to run benchmarks at a later date to be sure.

IMAGING PEDIGREE

Due to the fact that the Galaxy S6’s camera has taking our crown as the best smartphone camera in the world – both in our own comparison and reader-voted blind test – the Note 5 had a lot to live up to in the imaging department.

We’re glad to say that from what we’ve seen, Samsung has delivered.

You can’t go wrong if you’re sporting the same f/1.9 16MP rear camera with OIS and 5MP selfie snapper, after all. The few images we got to shoot during our hands-on session looked crisp and clear, with great colour balance to boot. Taking multiple photos is a breeze, with autofocus and the phone capably adjusting on the fly, even at speed.

We’d have to bring the camera out to get the full picture though. The app itself is mostly unchanged, with one notable exception. The Note 5’s camera is able to shoot in RAW in Pro Mode right off the bat, which is great for those looking to take their images to the next level with post-processing. Previously, you had to use a third-party app, even though Android Lollipop supports RAW shooting. This also marks the first time a Samsung phone is able to shoot in this format.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 5: INITIAL VERDICT

We used to make fun of phablets. We did. And now, large screen sizes are such a big selling point (pun intended), that even Apple has started making them. And they've done so with sterling results that've made Samsung sit up and take notice, since it was eating so much into their market share.

With the Galaxy Note 5, Samsung has built on the Galaxy S6, which has been the number one phone in our Top Ten list of smartphones for months now, and have made one of the best phablets ever.

It delivers on almost every front: looks, feel, quality, features, and performance, and we have no doubt a full review will only serve to reinforce these initial findings.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Review * 2015@profitclickingmondial.blogspot.com

Source: Stuff.tv