Galaxy Note 4

[gotluck]

I would also reccomend the app "nine" which I use personally. It will lock down the app as a sandbox rather than the whole phone. There are others, such as touchdown as well.

I did not know about the outlook web app, nice.

 

[spinedoc77]

For anyone rooted I HIGHLY recommend the xposed addon "No Lock Home", it's something I'd like to throttle an Android engineer with and ask them why it's not in stock Android. Basically when you connect to a "known" Bluetooth device or wifi network it disables the lock screen security, including fingerprint security. This is awesome because it means the fingerprint security is only enabled when I'm out of the office, out of my car and/or out of my home.

 

[gotluck]

For anyone rooted I HIGHLY recommend the xposed addon "No Lock Home", it's something I'd like to throttle an Android engineer with and ask them why it's not in stock Android. Basically when you connect to a "known" Bluetooth device or wifi network it disables the lock screen security, including fingerprint security. This is awesome because it means the fingerprint security is only enabled when I'm out of the office, out of my car and/or out of my home.

I believe they did implement this in lollipop, havent tried it yet, still using pattern but I hear you. doesnt seem to support trusted wifi though. I believe tasker can accomplish that or the app smart lock 2nd link below.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/1...fc-devices-that-let-you-skip-the-lock-screen/

this app seems to not require root and seems to work <5.0, just fyi

http://lifehacker.com/smart-unlock-enables-trusted-devices-and-locations-to-o-1674467562

I hope xposed comes to lollipop!

 

[spinedoc77]

I believe they did implement this in lollipop, havent tried it yet, still using pattern but I hear you. doesnt seem to support trusted wifi though. I believe tasker can accomplish that or the app smart lock 2nd link below.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/1...fc-devices-that-let-you-skip-the-lock-screen/

this app seems to not require root and seems to work <5.0, just fyi

http://lifehacker.com/smart-unlock-enables-trusted-devices-and-locations-to-o-1674467562

I hope xposed comes to lollipop!

I believe the Lollipop implementation is only for the passcode and not fingerprint, but I may be wrong.

 

[gotluck]

I believe the Lollipop implementation is only for the passcode and not fingerprint, but I may be wrong.

very well could be

 

[Fernandez21]

I'm weak....

 

[Menneisyys2]

Guys,

I started posting my detailed Note4 camera reviews & comparisons & tips and tricks. The first article in the series discusses low-light shooting:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3781966#forum-post-55079080

EDIT: fixed the URL

 

[spinedoc77]

Guys,

I started posting my detailed Note4 camera reviews & comparisons & tips and tricks. The first article in the series discusses low-light shooting:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3781800#forum-post-55079033

Hmm goes to a Fujifilm article.

 

[Menneisyys2]

Hmm goes to a Fujifilm article.

Sorry, indeed a bad URL - the right one is http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3781966#forum-post-55079080

 

[Savor]

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 looks prime to win multiple awards for best smartphone of 2014. Esp the GSMA award next month.

You really can't fault the device. As much as talk bad about Samsung, they are #1 for a reason that isn't just marketing. Good displays, sound, camera, battery life, heavy on features, etc. Samsung needs cosmetic tweaking here and there in both software and hardware. But in alot of areas, they do excel while others don't. I just saw the video of Michael Fisher comparing Note 4 vs Nexus 6 and it seems like it was not a contest and no-brainer for him.

I am an HTC fan and I know Xiaomi also ate up into Samsung's now declining profits. But kudos to Samsung for making one of the best, all-around, and most productive phablet series.

 

[Menneisyys2]

Sorry, indeed a bad URL - the right one is http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3781966#forum-post-55079080

And I've just published the second installment:

TIPS: Getting the most out of the Note 4 camera in broad daylight + using VERY high shutter speeds

 

[Tsepz]

I'm weak....

Yes you are

Don't blame you for getting both, if there was another phablet that I really liked I would get that and use it with my Note 4, but alas, nothing else out there does it for me, although I like the Nokia Lumia 1520, but thats old and I am not a fan of WP.

 

[Osamede]

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 looks prime to win multiple awards for best smartphone of 2014. Esp the GSMA award next month.

You really can't fault the device. As much as talk bad about Samsung, they are #1 for a reason that isn't just marketing. Good displays, sound, camera, battery life, heavy on features, etc. Samsung needs cosmetic tweaking here and there in both software and hardware. But in alot of areas, they do excel while others don't. I just saw the video of Michael Fisher comparing Note 4 vs Nexus 6 and it seems like it was not a contest and no-brainer for him.

I am an HTC fan and I know Xiaomi also ate up into Samsung's now declining profits. But kudos to Samsung for making one of the best, all-around, and most productive phablet series.

Agreed on pretty much every point other than sound. Having played with the Note 4 for about 3 weeks now, I would say sound was not done as best as possible..

OK coming from the Iphone 5S, yes the speakerphone volume and quality is about the same, but on a phone this size, I expect much better

Looking at audio out via the analog jack and bluetooth, same thing. Out put is actually weaker than Iphone.

Also running podcasts seems to drain the battery unusually fast, which is odd, as otherwise this is easily a two-day battery even with active use. In comparison Iphone 5S batter was not an all day battery but podcast really did not consume much power.

On all other counts, for me this is a brilliant device. But why oh why on the audio...

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Looking at audio out via the analog jack and bluetooth, same thing. Out put is actually weaker than Iphone.

I have to agree that I was also not too impressed with the BT or jack sound output. Not that it's bad, but I expected better.

I use ViPER4Android and it's freaking amazing. Sound output is more than I can ask for now. Although it requires Root and Busybox.

 

[spinedoc77]

I have to agree that I was also not too impressed with the BT or jack sound output. Not that it's bad, but I expected better.

I use ViPER4Android and it's freaking amazing. Sound output is more than I can ask for now. Although it requires Root and Busybox.

I'm a bit bummed at the BT output, even versus the note 3. The speakerphone is awesome though. I'm playing around with dynamic Kat rom that has viper4audio built in so should be an improvement.

 

[mKTank]

Unfortunately for this phone, Viper is only a software enhancement and doesn't change the power going through the 3.5mm jack. Despite being little more than an equalizer suite, it does well to boost music to listenable levels.

As it stands, we got the mediocre Qualcomm audio chip whereas the international version got the famed Wolfson (and they also get the Voodoo Sound mod, which is leagues above Viper). So yeah, I'll probably stick with my daily driver for music. Pretty bummed out about the low power; pretty much need a FiiO with this phone.

 

[spinedoc77]

Unfortunately for this phone, Viper is only a software enhancement and doesn't change the power going through the 3.5mm jack. Despite being little more than an equalizer suite, it does well to boost music to listenable levels.

As it stands, we got the mediocre Qualcomm audio chip whereas the international version got the famed Wolfson (and they also get the Voodoo Sound mod, which is leagues above Viper). So yeah, I'll probably stick with my daily driver for music. Pretty bummed out about the low power; pretty much need a FiiO with this phone.

I just installed Dynamic Kat ROM on my Note 4, it comes preloaded with a very nice Viper audio suite. I haven't played with it yet, but am excited to do so.

On another note (no pun), it looks like my GPS is failing on yet ANOTHER note device, sigh. I think this is the 3rd or 4th one between the Note 3/4 generations. I'm not looking forward to trying to warranty this with Samsung.

 

[mKTank]

I just installed Dynamic Kat ROM on my Note 4, it comes preloaded with a very nice Viper audio suite. I haven't played with it yet, but am excited to do so.

On another note (no pun), it looks like my GPS is failing on yet ANOTHER note device, sigh. I think this is the 3rd or 4th one between the Note 3/4 generations. I'm not looking forward to trying to warranty this with Samsung.

Honestly I think the GPS with these phones isn't too prime. I've been to many stores and tried many friends' Note 4s, and all of them, including mine, had pretty spotty GPS. Not a total failure but still a low amount of locked satellites in not a very short time.

Whatever, it's still sufficient for Maps. Just takes longer to get lock for some apps.

 

[spinedoc77]

Honestly I think the GPS with these phones isn't too prime. I've been to many stores and tried many friends' Note 4s, and all of them, including mine, had pretty spotty GPS. Not a total failure but still a low amount of locked satellites in not a very short time.

Whatever, it's still sufficient for Maps. Just takes longer to get lock for some apps.

Mine isn't sufficient, it drops GPS every couple of minutes. Makes navigating almost impossible. I have GPS status open in a multi window and I can see what satellites are locked on and when it drops. I've had good Note 3's and the GPS was rock solid.

 

[The Game 161]

Odd my GPS is great. Had no problems driving to Cornwall and back with my note 4. And this was 6 hour journey

 

[jamezr]

Odd my GPS is great. Had no problems driving to Cornwall and back with my note 4. And this was 6 hour journey

Same here the GPS on my Note 4 (Verizon) works great. No problems. I wonder if it has something to do with what carrier people are on?

 

[The Game 161]

Same here the GPS on my Note 4 (Verizon) works great. No problems. I wonder if it has something to do with what carrier people are on?

Maybe

When I was on Vodafone everything was shocking but on three signal is great

 

[spinedoc77]

Odd my GPS is great. Had no problems driving to Cornwall and back with my note 4. And this was 6 hour journey

Same here the GPS on my Note 4 (Verizon) works great. No problems. I wonder if it has something to do with what carrier people are on?

I suspect it's a hardware issue. I've had note 3/4's where the GPS worked perfectly as well. I'm just now realizing how cumbersome having a samsung warranty is, having to mail the phone in and wait for it to come back. With an ambiguous issue like this I fully expect it to be sent back unrepaired. Gah, I miss the Apple store right about now.

 

[jamezr]

I suspect it's a hardware issue. I've had note 3/4's where the GPS worked perfectly as well. I'm just now realizing how cumbersome having a samsung warranty is, having to mail the phone in and wait for it to come back. With an ambiguous issue like this I fully expect it to be sent back unrepaired. Gah, I miss the Apple store right about now.

Who is your carrier TMO? Have you tried going to a TMO store and getting it replaced? In the past when I have had issues with a phone I have taken it to a carrier store and had it replaced rather quickly.

 

[mKTank]

Honestly though, Samsung's always been kind of weak when it comes to quality control on these GPS modules. Blaming it on the carrier is kind of silly considering GPS doesn't use cell towers at all (it only uses cell towers to get an initial lock and pinpoint a satellite. After that, it's all satellite).

I'm gonna go ahead and say hardware fault and that you should just try to get it replaced. Mine's definitely broken too but I use my daily driver for GPS so I ain't even mad.