Who's getting the Samsung Note 4 and why

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felt

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 17, 2009
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502
Im thinking of returning my LG G3 for the Note 4,however I think I'm switching for all the wrong reasons, example is the tech specifications of the Note 4 really appeal to me, along with the metal casing and volume rocker and power button on the sides (where I'm used to, coming from an S3).

However I hate how slow touchwiz made my S3 feel and hate all the bloatware. Thoughts?
 
The sluggish TouchWiz in ICS and KK along with all the useless and non-removable bloatware is exactly why I just purchased an LG G3 this past Sunday to replace my S3 instead of going with the S5, N3, or waiting for the N4 release. That being said, the processor of the N4 vs the aging S3 will chew through TouchWiz a hell of a lot better. Hell, the S4, S5, and N3 would, too.

The only things the N4 offers that I see as benefits over the G3 are:
Larger screen (5.7" vs 5.5")
Larger battery (3220 mAh vs 3000 mAh)
Snapdragon 805 + Krait 450 2.7GHz version
Adreno 420 version
S-Pen (kind of nifty, but not likely something I'd use a lot - unsure)
 
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Im planning on getting it, I think people whine to much about the interface. You can change the animation scale in developer options and its makes it much snappier.
 
Domini said:
Im planning on getting it, I think people whine to much about the interface. You can change the animation scale in developer options and its makes it much snappier.
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Fooled around with the dev options on my S3 and the damn thing still stutters (micro-freezes) for 1-5 seconds every 3-5 minutes no matter what. That's a big reason why I am getting away from Samsung this round.
 
DejaWiz said:
Fooled around with the dev options on my S3 and the damn thing still stutters (micro-freezes) for 1-5 seconds every 3-5 minutes no matter what. That's a big reason why I am getting away from Samsung this round.
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You have the US Galaxy S3 that has the Crapdragon S4 Plus? The international S3 with Exynos 4412 is quite nice and browser scrolling speed is faster than iPhone 6+. If you're on GSM carrier trade it for International S3.
 
DejaWiz said:
Fooled around with the dev options on my S3 and the damn thing still stutters (micro-freezes) for 1-5 seconds every 3-5 minutes no matter what. That's a big reason why I am getting away from Samsung this round.
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Ive heard touchwiz ran like crap on that model anyway. Looks smooth on the note 3 and S5

mi7chy said:
You have the US Galaxy S3 that has the Crapdragon S4 Plus? The international S3 with Exynos 4412 is quite nice and browser scrolling speed is faster than iPhone 6+. If you're on GSM carrier trade it for International S3.
Click to expand...


I don't think the international version supports any US cell bands
 
Done with Sammy until Knox is no longer on consumer phones.

Seeing as that will never happen...no mo Samsung here.
 
mi7chy said:
You have the US Galaxy S3 that has the Crapdragon S4 Plus? The international S3 with Exynos 4412 is quite nice and browser scrolling speed is faster than iPhone 6+. If you're on GSM carrier trade it for International S3.
Click to expand...

From what I remember, the S4 (not a plus either) wasn't that far behind the 4412 in performance or benches. Plus the S4/US variants had an extra GB of RAM (2 vs 1 GB) over the Exynos/International variant, which I think does a lot more for performance than the difference between the two SoCs. Plus there's the issue of the Exynos variant not supporting any LTE bands in the US, as Domini is referring to.
 
T4rd said:
From what I remember, the S4 (not a plus either) wasn't that far behind the 4412 in performance or benches. Plus the S4/US variants had an extra GB of RAM (2 vs 1 GB) over the Exynos/International variant, which I think does a lot more for performance than the difference between the two SoCs. Plus there's the issue of the Exynos variant not supporting any LTE bands in the US, as Domini is referring to.
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Qualcomm refers to it as S4 Plus:

https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-s-iii

Benchmarks don't tell everything. Exynos 4412 advantage over S4 Plus outweigh the DRAM advantage. If Exynos 4412 with 2GB DRAM and LTE are important perhaps a swap for Note II.
 
mi7chy said:
You have the US Galaxy S3 that has the Crapdragon S4 Plus? The international S3 with Exynos 4412 is quite nice and browser scrolling speed is faster than iPhone 6+. If you're on GSM carrier trade it for International S3.
Click to expand...

I have the SPH-L710 for Sprint CDMA.

The LG G3 I bought is AT&T's D850 so I can put in a Straight Talk SIM with 4G LTE enabled, which got delivered at my house this morning. I'll be porting my number over tonight and leaving major cell providers forever.
 
I've been on iphones for a couple years and considered the N4, but all the touchwiz hate scared me off. Why doesn't Samsung just make a way to disable touchwiz for those that don't want it?
 
soupcxan said:
I've been on iphones for a couple years and considered the N4, but all the touchwiz hate scared me off. Why doesn't Samsung just make a way to disable touchwiz for those that don't want it?
Click to expand...

It's their "signature", so to speak.
 
Touch wiz was ok on my galaxy s3. It did feel a bit slow at times though. That said custom roms were even worse. I would say you should try out a galaxy phone before you listen to everyone else's opinions. Some people love it, others hate it. Personally I don't mind it.
 
I've got my eye on the Note 4 Edge...seems like that might be a useful gimmick actually.
 
I haven't fully decided yet. I have the note 3 and am very happy with it. I wouldn't describe touch wiz as slow in this device. On my note 2... that's a different story.

I'm just not sure it the metal body, better camera, faster SOC and the QHD screen are enough to justify the upgrade. I waiting for the real hands on review and comparison videos to help me make my mind up.

I know the upgrade from the Note 2 to the Note 3 was definitely worth it for me. The screen is much more visible outdoors, looks a lot better and the phone is much snappier than the note 2.
 
On the few review videos on youtube, some mention that the Note 4's AMOLED screen seems kind of "unreal" and not very true to color, any comments on that? I loved how vibrant my Samsung S3 was, I believe that phone had an AMOLED screen.
 
felt said:
On the few review videos on youtube, some mention that the Note 4's AMOLED screen seems kind of "unreal" and not very true to color, any comments on that? I loved how vibrant my Samsung S3 was, I believe that phone had an AMOLED screen.
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Display mate reviewed and gave the note 4 the best score ever, said it was the best smartphone display ever made.

I don't see how the display could possibly be a negative
 
Nope. Had the Note 3 for about two months and hated it. Too big. It sat idle while I used my N5.
 
dave3533 said:
I've got my eye on the Note 4 Edge...seems like that might be a useful gimmick actually.
Click to expand...

Is kinda neat...but I have a feeling it'll be prone to image permanence, depending on exactly how it works.

That being said...I'd almost put money on it being a fringe handset with minimal 3rd party ROM/rooting support.
 
xIronCrossx said:
Touch wiz was ok on my galaxy s3. It did feel a bit slow at times though. That said custom roms were even worse. I would say you should try out a galaxy phone before you listen to everyone else's opinions. Some people love it, others hate it. Personally I don't mind it.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't let some opinionated poster on the internet scare you off, you should go check the phone first before writing off.

As for me, I don't have want for it, but that vr headset could prove to be interesting.
 
Just went back to Touchwiz from Cyanogenmod 11 M10 which is similar to Nexus device ROM on my Note II. Not much difference in performance but things just work with Touchwiz ROM and I find the unique features such as top row number for password input, split screen multitasking, smart stay, etc. useful.

Try a store demo and form your own opinion.
 
mi7chy said:
Qualcomm refers to it as S4 Plus:

https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-s-iii

Benchmarks don't tell everything. Exynos 4412 advantage over S4 Plus outweigh the DRAM advantage. If Exynos 4412 with 2GB DRAM and LTE are important perhaps a swap for Note II.
Click to expand...

Ahh, yeah I think they renamed that line when the Pros came out, but that spec listing is wrong on it. Says it's a quad core when it's a dual core.

And no, don't see how any processor is going to overcome RAM limitations. I didn't mean to say benches men anything, but it correlated to real world performance in comparison to the Exynos 4 series in that there wasn't much difference.
 
T4rd said:
Ahh, yeah I think they renamed that line when the Pros came out, but that spec listing is wrong on it. Says it's a quad core when it's a dual core.

And no, don't see how any processor is going to overcome RAM limitations. I didn't mean to say benches men anything, but it correlated to real world performance in comparison to the Exynos 4 series in that there wasn't much difference.
Click to expand...

The Exynos version did have quite a bit upsides though. It was extremely well documented being the biggest. Sadly this seems to be a practice since forgotten.
 
It boils down to this - is hate for TouchWiz > love for the amazing specs?

Honestly the G2, G3, S5, N3, N4 are amazing phones that would be so much better with a skin closer to stock.

Damn you Korean oems, and mostly damn Samsung because LG has to try and copy them to stay alive.
 
I am getting it because one of my contracts is ripe to renew if the phone doesn't have a glaring problem and ships as expected. And despite what other people say I rather like the old cell phone contract model. Because thus far I cant get anything cheaper any other way. That said sprint is going to screw us for $350 so I will be waiting for an online retailer to give a good deal and I always wait till a bit after release anyway to make sure the phone is OK. The real question still burning is how much are they going to charge for the galaxy note edge as I am undecided if I want to experiment with that.

The other issue is why, well the answer is simple because it has been a full 3 years and 4 phones now and not one of the competitors to Samsung has released a phone that can stand up to it. Why are all other OEMs so adverse to adding a stylus? Every other phablet seems to always be missing something.
 
Skripka said:
Is kinda neat...but I have a feeling it'll be prone to image permanence, depending on exactly how it works.

That being said...I'd almost put money on it being a fringe handset with minimal 3rd party ROM/rooting support.
Click to expand...

Hmm good points, I hadn't thought about that...
 
rudy said:
I am getting it because one of my contracts is ripe to renew if the phone doesn't have a glaring problem and ships as expected. And despite what other people say I rather like the old cell phone contract model. Because thus far I cant get anything cheaper any other way.
Click to expand...

You may want to double check how the plan pricing is for both the subsidized phone or the ez-pay/installment plan because...


That said sprint is going to screw us for $350 so I will be waiting for an online retailer to give a good deal and I always wait till a bit after release anyway to make sure the phone is OK.
Click to expand...

...I left Sprint literally just yesterday after waiting for my Straight Talk AT&T compatible microSIM to arrive so I could get it installed and port my number over. I had to pay full price for an LG G3 D850 ($609 after 7.5% tax), but I now pay $49.52/mo inclusive of taxes, fees, and surcharges vs Sprint $110+/mo (also inclusive of all the hidden fluff charges) for a single line.

I had been a Sprint customer for 16 years and was about 2 months past my upgrade eligibility date since my contract was fulfilled.
The same store I bought my AT&T G3 from was also selling the Sprint G3 for $49 with a 2 year contract, but they weren't offering all the plans that Sprint now has in their line-up.

Ended up visiting a local Sprint Corporate store to discuss my upgrade options and get a much cheaper plan than the $153/mo I was paying for 2 lines on a 1500min unlimited 4G data shared plan (and that's after a 25% service discount that we are no longer able to get).
The only two single line plans they could offer for a "lower" price were:
1. $60/mo before Easy Pay option and 1 year contract increments.
***$60 + $13 protection + taxes and fees = $74.20 + $50 LG G3 Easy Pay = $124.20 per month.

2. $80/mo with subsidy and 2 year contract increment (had a big wtf about this one!).
***$80 + $13 protection + taxes and fees = $111.60 per month.

And to top it off, they couldn't price match the $49 for the phone after subsidy.
Coincidently, Sprint was the cheapest major carrier that's available here (Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile plus all the little guys like Cricket, Boost, US Cellular, etc)

Now that I'm with Straight Talk that's using both Verizon and AT&T GSM networks (and I get 4G LTE on AT&T towers), the monthly savings alone will pay for the full-priced phone in about 10 months vs the cheapest route from Sprint.

...just something to consider before you consider signing another carrier service contract. :)
 
I currently pay under $290 for 5 lines out the door so it comes out to less than $58 / line. Yes that is more expensive but it includes the insurance which I have found to be the deal breaker quite often and would be forced to buy external insurance and of course I wouldn't have access to the thousands of sprint stores when I travel to get service which we travel alot. Most prepaid plans don't include insurance in the price. It also includes two airaves so we can get signals in our basements where no phone carrier has good signal. And of course it leaves us as priority customers. As with you I keep checking every time I come to renewal and there is always some catch. They might throttle me, they might not offer roaming, no insurance, etc.... And of course as you saw the of the big 4 sprint is cheaper. When you start adding all that up even the prepaids come close to the major carriers except they don't have priority access to the towers. So if things get overloaded or you have a spike in usage they boot you off or throttle you.

I also checked into framily but they wanted us to get rid of unlimited and once we added the $20 upcharge for unlimited it was more.

The funny thing is every year sprint raises prices on me and I get pissed off. Then I go try to find something cheaper, and I can't. Admin charges are like $2.50 / line now lol. They also really pissed me off charging $50 extra for Samsung phones over any other carrier to try and force people to buy the surplus iphones they cant get rid of. But ultimately I was subdued as online vendors tend to sell the phones at normal prices.

BTW has anyone seen this?
"To sweeten the pot, Samsung will offer a "guaranteed total trade-in of $200" on working smartphones that are swapped for a Galaxy Note 4 preorder. This means that even if your old phone isn't deemed worth more than $50, you still get $200 to spend on a Galaxy Note 4. The deal is available between Friday and October 16. "
 
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I really want to get the Note 4. Just tough because I'll have to either buy it outright or lose my unlimited data to get it.
 
Sell what you have now and take advantage of the $200 trade in on a junker $10 value phone that rudy mentioned about.

https://samsunggalaxypromotions.com/note4

This is a good way to rid of my HTC Thunderbolt so it looks like I'll be upgrading to the Note 4.
 
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mi7chy said:
Sell what you have now and take advantage of the $200 trade in on a junker $10 value phone that rudy mentioned about.

http://samsunggalaxypromotions.com/note4

This is a good way to rid of my HTC Thunderbolt so it looks like I'll be upgrading to the Note 4.
Click to expand...

I'd still have to drop like $$$ out of pocket on it and then wait for the $200 rebate or lose my Verizon unlimited data to go subsidized. I'll have to think about it.
 
I just played with it at best buy and wow the screen is amazing! Much better then my note 3. Check out the videos on it at your local best buy.
 
From weespeed

Just got to handle a White Note 4, at Best Buy.

It looks really nice. I'll say it looks a lot better than my Note 3.
Did Some comparisons with the screen, and it is much nicer depending on what you're viewing.
Looking at 1080p content on YouTube, the screens don't look too far apart. The Note 4 screen is crisper, the text is crisp and the colors look better.

Didn't get a chance to use the camera. Will try later.

TW on the Note 4 is miles ahead of what's on the Note 3. It looks nicer. S-pen menu changed. But the TW on the Note 4 looks like stock Android. Icons are round and the color is the google blue. While the Note 3 TW is like Windows 95.

The metal frame was nice to hold and the chamfered edges give it that premium feel. You have the white sides with a touch of silver around the edges. Looks nice. It's also nice how it's thinner in the middle and flares out at the top and bottom, like an hour glass. Makes it feel thinner to hold.

I put a iPhone 6+ on top of the Note 4 and it's almost the same width. It's so close that I would have to pull calipers out to make sure which one is thinner at the width.
And looking at it from the side, the thickness is almost the same. If the Note 4 back was more flat, it'll be the same thickness, I think. The white back had a curve to it. Also because it was white, the back plate didn't feel as nice as my black Note 3.

All that said, the iPhone 6+ feels thinner at the width, maybe because of the rounded edges. Felt like it was easier to grip and easier to drop compared to the Note 4.

The iPhone 6+ looks cool and hip, while the Note 4 looks all business.

Can't wait to get mine.
 
I recall reading an article back in the winter or Spring, where Google had a serious meeting with Samsung regarding Touchwiz and Google apps and stock Android, etc... And that Google would prefer if Samsung followed more of the stock Android look and theme closer, and not make Touchwiz so radically different.

And Samsung agreed to that, and would try to make Touchwiz follow vanilla Android a little better in future phones, and I think the Note 4 was supposed to be the first phone to do so. And the Galaxy S6 next year even more so.

Early word on the Note 4 Touchwiz is it's scaled down, not an ugly mess looking like Gingerbread anymore, the Note 4 TW is more lean and clean looking.
 
Zorachus said:
I recall reading an article back in the winter or Spring, where Google had a serious meeting with Samsung regarding Touchwiz and Google apps and stock Android, etc... And that Google would prefer if Samsung followed more of the stock Android look and theme closer, and not make Touchwiz so radically different.

And Samsung agreed to that, and would try to make Touchwiz follow vanilla Android a little better in future phones, and I think the Note 4 was supposed to be the first phone to do so. And the Galaxy S6 next year even more so.

Early word on the Note 4 Touchwiz is it's scaled down, not an ugly mess looking like Gingerbread anymore, the Note 4 TW is more lean and clean looking.
Click to expand...

This sounds very promising, but I don't see any pigs flying outside my window, and that's as likely as Sammy fixing TW :eek:
Also so far I think Galaxy S phones get the newer TW and the Note later that year uses it, so I wouldn't be surprised if Note4 has TouchWiz Magazine UX.
I think the Note timing is completely wrong. Its released just before Nexus each year and thus doesn't have new Android on launch.

edit: just as I feared, from early reviews: "TouchWiz experience remains largely unchanged on the Note 4."
 
Ha ha ha, I've never seen one of Zorachus's rumors getting shot down so quickly!!!

But I tell you what, the dream is definitely for Samsung to do TouchWiz like Moto does Blur... All the extra features could be uninstallable background apps. I suppose it takes time making 50 gimmicky if not completely useless apps...

I would certainly love to bring Samsung back into the fold for flagship consideration due to it having far more accessories than any flagships combined other than iPhone.
 
Nice deal in the trade ins. I will have to decide.. get rid of the HTC Hero, or the BlackBerry 9700... can these be stacked at all?
 
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