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Galaxy Note 5
- Thread starter The Game 161
- Start date
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Went to Best Buy and just scooped up the Black 64GB, setting everything up as we speak.
I got the 32 but it hasn't shipped. I'm still debating if I should dump att and jump on TMobile. I'm a rooter at heart so I know I'm gonna want to ability to do that. I'm just concern of the coverage in Mia.
Personally, I would go with the 64GB because I would rather have tons of un-used space for storage then regret not having the storage space when I could of gotten it. You have 20 days if you bought it online and 14 days if you buy it in a store, so that should give you plenty of time to test out coverage. GL
My office is in the basement floor of a building that usually gets bad signal on my Note 3 & 4 and Nexus 6 but with my Note 5, I don't have bad signal as much as before.
Testing firmware Pre-Root for Galaxy Note5
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note5/development/dev-pre-root-firmware-twrp-testing-t3183877
Looks like root is coming to the T-Mobile and International Note 5's
Yeap, if you're a flasholic or rooter then Int, Canadians and TMO are the phone of choice.
I had the Note 5 in airplane mode and opened 4 games and played a little of each:
Dots
Subway Surfers
Beach Buggy Blitz
Temple Run
I went back after I eat lunch and switched been each of them, no refresh as they were in exactly the same place I left them on their main menu.
If I close all of them and establish a wifi or cellular connection and try that again and stay in the same locale, my gut feeling is they will refresh.
More later.
Dots
Subway Surfers
Beach Buggy Blitz
Temple Run
I went back after I eat lunch and switched been each of them, no refresh as they were in exactly the same place I left them on their main menu.
If I close all of them and establish a wifi or cellular connection and try that again and stay in the same locale, my gut feeling is they will refresh.
More later.
I got the 32, since that is all they had in the store.
If I need more than that I'll just jump to a higher storage variant.
But I have everything I want installed and still have 15 gigs free.
If I need more than that I'll just jump to a higher storage variant.
But I have everything I want installed and still have 15 gigs free.
Anyone in here ever used or is currently using SquareTrade for their device insurance? Thinking about getting it for my Note 5.
I have. Month to month is nice since you can cancel whenever. It used to be five bucks but now I think it is eight?
Never had to file a claim though.
Cool yeah thats what I wanted to hear, sounds like it a way better deal than your carrier insurance since the claims are so high if something was to happen to the device.
I will be on 4G at work on Monday so that will be a good test. But that 80% brightness hurts my eyes.........
I always have my phones around 35 to 40 percent. Just a personal preference.
Alright, so ill do a mini review here (while the in-laws are watching a movie).
This phone is far above any android phone I have had recently (including the g4 or nexus 6), so I will compare it to the most relevant phone...the iphone 6 plus.
Now I know there is a new new one coming, but the design and screen most likely won't change. The processor may get faster, but will that make a big difference on iOS (or even android anymore, look at the moto g). The camera will get better, but the note 5 camera is so good, that either phone should make you happy. Force touch could be cool...but that is an unknown, and I forsee it being something that takes a generation or so to evolve. Either way, force touch may be great, but so is the note 5 stylus. The stylus is great, and invaluable if you use it right. There really isn't much else to say about it. You will love it or care less, but if you do appreciate it, you will know what I mean. I am just going to do a review from the general consumers eyes.
Design: The material is top notch. I know some people complain about having a glass front and back, but the iphone 4 and 4s had a glass front and back, and people still praise that design. The glass is actually really strong. My 6 edge was put through hell, without a case, and the glass never scratched or etc, only the metal. So with that being said, the design is near perfect for a phone this size. As my wife said, when I handed it to here this morning; "I thought you were getting the new note, this isn't a note, its too small". The slim, curved, and slim bezel design is top notch. You have to hold it and use it to understand. Apple has always been at the forefront of design, but for now, and this coming generation (assuming the design doesn't change), samsung has them beat. It really make the 6+ feel a bit outdated, and you can't deny it feels downright large next to the note 5, whom has a larger screen. Also, not to beat a dead horse, but this phone is sturdy. It won't bend, despite its thinness (I understand that the next iphone will be stronger, but forbes rumors it may be more expensive as well).
Screen: Best on the market. Samsung seems to have combined the best display tech/matrix with minimal air gap in the display. The icons almost seem to float off the display. The iphone has a great display in its own right (so does the lg G4), but the note 5 is just better. If you don't like the saturated colors, then put it on basic mode. The display kind of reminds we of the first macbook pro retina display, when it was compared to competing laptops at the time (these days we have the likes of the dell xps 13, which has a gorgeous). It is just better than anything else out there.
OS design: Its android. You either have a disposition for it, against it, or have no idea. Android L itself is a beautiful, modern operating system. The note 5 has touchwize on top of android. This version of touchwize isn't bad, but it doesn't look as good as stock. Fortunately, all you need to do is apply a material theme from the theme store; bam, you have the next best thing look-wize, and you get the features of touchwize on top of that. Its actually is a really nice combo. Personally, I applied a material theme, installed action launcher 3 (highly recommended), and couldn't be happier. I also use some third party icon pack. This is android, so that is part of the equation, so why not change it to how I want it to look? If I want my phone icons to be unicorns and gremlins, thats my choice.
OS performance: It is the fastest, most fluid experience I have had thus far. I am sure the new iPhone will match it, but I don't see how you can surpass it. The phone opens apps (except games, of course) faster than the animations. I have had zero crashes, freezes, lag, etc on this phone. I can't fully say this for my iphone 6. There isn't a whole lot use to say. The experience is exactly what I would expect from a high dollar device like this. Touchwize, which doesn't look bad now, when given a material make-over, really shines in the feature department. Smart stay, spen features, etc are all great additions. I know there have been complaints about multitasking, but using the phone like I normally would (email, web, tapatalk, social networking, microsoft office, games, etc), I haven't noticed a problem. If the apps are refreshing, its happening so fast I don't notice it...but I do notice that I can type a long post (like this), leave the app to take a screenshot (like below), check an email, and come back an my post is still present. Either way you cut it, the mutlitasking situation is much better than on the 6+. Mutliwindow mode is actually handy, in certain situations, as well.
Battery: Absolutely great so far. As I mentioned in another post, my phone enters deep sleep readily, and thus the standby is pretty great. Is it has good as the iphone 6+? I am not a fanboy, so I am not going to make an claim unless I am certain. So the answer is that, first hand, I don't know. The phone is lasting me just as long as my iphone did, or close, and I am using it more, being a new phone and all. Objectively, based on what I have read from users, I doubt it will surpass the iphone 6+ or the next gen 6s+ in battery life....but, honestly, does it matter? This phone has enough stamina to last all day, and if you are worried it might run out, you can plug it into a turbo charger in you car, office, house, etc...and charge the phone in no time. For example, I got the phone from the store and it was at 20%. I drove 15 minutes to work, with the phone plugged into a aftermarket car turbo charger, and the phone was at 57% by the time I got to work. That is fast. The slight difference in battery life is offset by the turbo charging. Also, wireless charging is nice to use, and convenient to have by the bed and at the office.
Camera: As I said above, its great. It is everything you want in a smartphone camera. Still, as I mentioned before, smartphone cameras have hit a point where you are generally going to be happy with the camera. Give the average consumer a note 5, lg g4, iphone 6, iphone 6+, next gen iphone, whatever....the photos are going to be good enough to impress the person. That said, the note 5 does have the be6+st camera, for now, and it really can produce some impressive shots.
Apps: Closer and closer to being dead even. I have even found replacements for apps like fantastical 2 (sunrise).
Integration: The iphone integrated well with my ipad air 2 and my retina macbook pro. My note 5 seems to integrate just as well. Chrome offers a great way to sync across devices, and so does pushbullet. Slidesync 4.0 looks to improve on this, and may offer functionality unique to galaxy phones. Honestly, this isn't as big of a deal as some people make it out to be. Maybe it is to them, but I am all about new features like handoff...but I find the note 5 integrates just as well.
Misc: iOS 9 is neat. I ran the beta on my 6+, and am running it on my ipad air 2. Its a big improvement for the ipad, and a small improvement for the iphone. The "proactive assistant" is nice, but still behind google now. I haven't tried android M, but in a generation in which both operating systems seem to be concentrating more on under-the-hood improvements, I think android M brings more to the table. With "Google on tap" and the new sleep mode, the former sounding like a great feature, and the later possibly solving battery woes on various android devices; it seems to me the next version of android moves the platform further along then iOS 9 does. The deep sleep mode, and the integration of the fingerprint scanner into the android M operating system will further improve the note 5, which is already a great device.
Overall: The best smartphone I have ever used, and I have been using smartphones since the HTC Hero. I have owned more smartphone that anyone should (kindred spirits with some of you one here). People may complain about features lost on this iteration of the note 5, but this is what a smartphone should be. Samsung has created a phone that can go head to head with the current, and next generation iPhone. The choice, IMO, will come down between iOS and Android. IMO, android is advancing at a quicker rate than iOS, but that can change any day. Anyway, you may like that iOS does something one way, or like that android does something another way...but the old argument of "LAG" is no longer valid. Actually, I recommend people just get the phone they want and leave it at that, no reason to defend it so vehemently. This isn't the crusaded.
Disclaimer: I am not a fanboy, and I don't have a bias, beyond what is natural for any human being. I own an ipad air 2, because it is still the best tablet experience, combined with top notch hardware. I also recently got a 13 inch retina macbook pro (last week), because I think it offers the best combination of hardware and compromises. I think dell is catching up, but the macbooks are still the best laptops on the market. I also love windows 10...so again, not true preference in the tech field. I use what I think is the best. If a random Australian company owned by snake farmers come out with a dynamite phone...I'll buy it; hopefully it gives a temporary Australian accent.
This phone is the first phone in a long time that I can see myself keeping for a full year. The only thing I may do is jump to a higher storage variant if I find the 32 gb is too limiting, but so far so good.
Side rant: I know that android is "fragmented", but the flagship phones stay relatively updated, unless your motorola, in which all their phones do. 18% of android devices now run lollipop. There is close to 1 BILLION devices in the wild running android, which is close to 200 million. The nature of android, with it spanning crappy budget devices from your local grocery store, all the way to high dollar phones like the note 5 make it a unique beast. Its not fair to compare it to iOS. iOS gets updated more frequently, based on percentage, but an older iphone may be running the new os, which out all the features. If you device has lollipop...it has all the features of lollipop. That combined with the unique way a large part of android is updated through the playstore now (google apps, etc), also contribute to the uniqueness of android. It is better to compare how long it takes your particular brand of device to be updated. For example, if the galaxy s6 came out this last march/april, and it has an android M updated before or around the 1 year mark (april/march 2016)...then it equals or best the yearly iphone update. Just keep that in mind. Again, its a unique beast.
Thanks for reading, sorry it got long, and I did not proof read, so sorry for that as well.
TL/DR....I spent to much time writing this to try and sum it up.
This phone is far above any android phone I have had recently (including the g4 or nexus 6), so I will compare it to the most relevant phone...the iphone 6 plus.
Now I know there is a new new one coming, but the design and screen most likely won't change. The processor may get faster, but will that make a big difference on iOS (or even android anymore, look at the moto g). The camera will get better, but the note 5 camera is so good, that either phone should make you happy. Force touch could be cool...but that is an unknown, and I forsee it being something that takes a generation or so to evolve. Either way, force touch may be great, but so is the note 5 stylus. The stylus is great, and invaluable if you use it right. There really isn't much else to say about it. You will love it or care less, but if you do appreciate it, you will know what I mean. I am just going to do a review from the general consumers eyes.
Design: The material is top notch. I know some people complain about having a glass front and back, but the iphone 4 and 4s had a glass front and back, and people still praise that design. The glass is actually really strong. My 6 edge was put through hell, without a case, and the glass never scratched or etc, only the metal. So with that being said, the design is near perfect for a phone this size. As my wife said, when I handed it to here this morning; "I thought you were getting the new note, this isn't a note, its too small". The slim, curved, and slim bezel design is top notch. You have to hold it and use it to understand. Apple has always been at the forefront of design, but for now, and this coming generation (assuming the design doesn't change), samsung has them beat. It really make the 6+ feel a bit outdated, and you can't deny it feels downright large next to the note 5, whom has a larger screen. Also, not to beat a dead horse, but this phone is sturdy. It won't bend, despite its thinness (I understand that the next iphone will be stronger, but forbes rumors it may be more expensive as well).
Screen: Best on the market. Samsung seems to have combined the best display tech/matrix with minimal air gap in the display. The icons almost seem to float off the display. The iphone has a great display in its own right (so does the lg G4), but the note 5 is just better. If you don't like the saturated colors, then put it on basic mode. The display kind of reminds we of the first macbook pro retina display, when it was compared to competing laptops at the time (these days we have the likes of the dell xps 13, which has a gorgeous). It is just better than anything else out there.
OS design: Its android. You either have a disposition for it, against it, or have no idea. Android L itself is a beautiful, modern operating system. The note 5 has touchwize on top of android. This version of touchwize isn't bad, but it doesn't look as good as stock. Fortunately, all you need to do is apply a material theme from the theme store; bam, you have the next best thing look-wize, and you get the features of touchwize on top of that. Its actually is a really nice combo. Personally, I applied a material theme, installed action launcher 3 (highly recommended), and couldn't be happier. I also use some third party icon pack. This is android, so that is part of the equation, so why not change it to how I want it to look? If I want my phone icons to be unicorns and gremlins, thats my choice.
OS performance: It is the fastest, most fluid experience I have had thus far. I am sure the new iPhone will match it, but I don't see how you can surpass it. The phone opens apps (except games, of course) faster than the animations. I have had zero crashes, freezes, lag, etc on this phone. I can't fully say this for my iphone 6. There isn't a whole lot use to say. The experience is exactly what I would expect from a high dollar device like this. Touchwize, which doesn't look bad now, when given a material make-over, really shines in the feature department. Smart stay, spen features, etc are all great additions. I know there have been complaints about multitasking, but using the phone like I normally would (email, web, tapatalk, social networking, microsoft office, games, etc), I haven't noticed a problem. If the apps are refreshing, its happening so fast I don't notice it...but I do notice that I can type a long post (like this), leave the app to take a screenshot (like below), check an email, and come back an my post is still present. Either way you cut it, the mutlitasking situation is much better than on the 6+. Mutliwindow mode is actually handy, in certain situations, as well.
Battery: Absolutely great so far. As I mentioned in another post, my phone enters deep sleep readily, and thus the standby is pretty great. Is it has good as the iphone 6+? I am not a fanboy, so I am not going to make an claim unless I am certain. So the answer is that, first hand, I don't know. The phone is lasting me just as long as my iphone did, or close, and I am using it more, being a new phone and all. Objectively, based on what I have read from users, I doubt it will surpass the iphone 6+ or the next gen 6s+ in battery life....but, honestly, does it matter? This phone has enough stamina to last all day, and if you are worried it might run out, you can plug it into a turbo charger in you car, office, house, etc...and charge the phone in no time. For example, I got the phone from the store and it was at 20%. I drove 15 minutes to work, with the phone plugged into a aftermarket car turbo charger, and the phone was at 57% by the time I got to work. That is fast. The slight difference in battery life is offset by the turbo charging. Also, wireless charging is nice to use, and convenient to have by the bed and at the office.
Camera: As I said above, its great. It is everything you want in a smartphone camera. Still, as I mentioned before, smartphone cameras have hit a point where you are generally going to be happy with the camera. Give the average consumer a note 5, lg g4, iphone 6, iphone 6+, next gen iphone, whatever....the photos are going to be good enough to impress the person. That said, the note 5 does have the be6+st camera, for now, and it really can produce some impressive shots.
Apps: Closer and closer to being dead even. I have even found replacements for apps like fantastical 2 (sunrise).
Integration: The iphone integrated well with my ipad air 2 and my retina macbook pro. My note 5 seems to integrate just as well. Chrome offers a great way to sync across devices, and so does pushbullet. Slidesync 4.0 looks to improve on this, and may offer functionality unique to galaxy phones. Honestly, this isn't as big of a deal as some people make it out to be. Maybe it is to them, but I am all about new features like handoff...but I find the note 5 integrates just as well.
Misc: iOS 9 is neat. I ran the beta on my 6+, and am running it on my ipad air 2. Its a big improvement for the ipad, and a small improvement for the iphone. The "proactive assistant" is nice, but still behind google now. I haven't tried android M, but in a generation in which both operating systems seem to be concentrating more on under-the-hood improvements, I think android M brings more to the table. With "Google on tap" and the new sleep mode, the former sounding like a great feature, and the later possibly solving battery woes on various android devices; it seems to me the next version of android moves the platform further along then iOS 9 does. The deep sleep mode, and the integration of the fingerprint scanner into the android M operating system will further improve the note 5, which is already a great device.
Overall: The best smartphone I have ever used, and I have been using smartphones since the HTC Hero. I have owned more smartphone that anyone should (kindred spirits with some of you one here). People may complain about features lost on this iteration of the note 5, but this is what a smartphone should be. Samsung has created a phone that can go head to head with the current, and next generation iPhone. The choice, IMO, will come down between iOS and Android. IMO, android is advancing at a quicker rate than iOS, but that can change any day. Anyway, you may like that iOS does something one way, or like that android does something another way...but the old argument of "LAG" is no longer valid. Actually, I recommend people just get the phone they want and leave it at that, no reason to defend it so vehemently. This isn't the crusaded.
Disclaimer: I am not a fanboy, and I don't have a bias, beyond what is natural for any human being. I own an ipad air 2, because it is still the best tablet experience, combined with top notch hardware. I also recently got a 13 inch retina macbook pro (last week), because I think it offers the best combination of hardware and compromises. I think dell is catching up, but the macbooks are still the best laptops on the market. I also love windows 10...so again, not true preference in the tech field. I use what I think is the best. If a random Australian company owned by snake farmers come out with a dynamite phone...I'll buy it; hopefully it gives a temporary Australian accent.
This phone is the first phone in a long time that I can see myself keeping for a full year. The only thing I may do is jump to a higher storage variant if I find the 32 gb is too limiting, but so far so good.
Side rant: I know that android is "fragmented", but the flagship phones stay relatively updated, unless your motorola, in which all their phones do. 18% of android devices now run lollipop. There is close to 1 BILLION devices in the wild running android, which is close to 200 million. The nature of android, with it spanning crappy budget devices from your local grocery store, all the way to high dollar phones like the note 5 make it a unique beast. Its not fair to compare it to iOS. iOS gets updated more frequently, based on percentage, but an older iphone may be running the new os, which out all the features. If you device has lollipop...it has all the features of lollipop. That combined with the unique way a large part of android is updated through the playstore now (google apps, etc), also contribute to the uniqueness of android. It is better to compare how long it takes your particular brand of device to be updated. For example, if the galaxy s6 came out this last march/april, and it has an android M updated before or around the 1 year mark (april/march 2016)...then it equals or best the yearly iphone update. Just keep that in mind. Again, its a unique beast.
Thanks for reading, sorry it got long, and I did not proof read, so sorry for that as well.
TL/DR....I spent to much time writing this to try and sum it up.
Last edited:
Great well thought out and very well written review. Thanks for writing this.
Also, on an interesting side note:
The screen on the note 5 doesn't appear to be oversaturated...maybe that is just something reviewers are used to saying?
The screen shot from my review about, I just held my phone next to the screenshot displayed on my macbook pro retina. Both looking equally "saturated".
The screen on the note 5 doesn't appear to be oversaturated...maybe that is just something reviewers are used to saying?
The screen shot from my review about, I just held my phone next to the screenshot displayed on my macbook pro retina. Both looking equally "saturated".
BGA great write up, thank you.
You had a Nexus 6 too ? I'm currently with the N6, really like it, but one of my fav all time phones was my Note 2 back in the day.
Compared directly to the Nexus 6, how's the Note 5 stack up ? Screen ? Speed ? Animations ?
You had a Nexus 6 too ? I'm currently with the N6, really like it, but one of my fav all time phones was my Note 2 back in the day.
Compared directly to the Nexus 6, how's the Note 5 stack up ? Screen ? Speed ? Animations ?
They have improved since Note 4 (essentially when they jumped to QHD). I always prior used to choose 'basic mode' to dial down colours and make whites more accurate, but note 4, S6 edge I found Adaptive Display to be more colour accurate and no where near as over saturated as it once was. So I've left it on that since ..
I did have the nexus 6, from when it was released until the galaxy s6 edge (so 5 or so months). It was a great phone.
Screen: There really isn't any comparison. The Nexus 6 by itself is great, but next to the note 5, it just looks outdated...which makes sense. I believe the nexus 6 display used samsung tech similar to what was in the note 3. As such, the note 5 is two generations improved, and is above anything else on the market. Like I said, the nexus 6 is good by itself, if not great. Just don't compare it to the note 5, unless you want to buy it. I just can't stress enough how good the display is.
Speed: Note 5 is faster, but the nexus 6 isn't slow. At this level, I don't really think the user experience, on a day to day basis, will be a defining factor. The nexus 6 is still fast enough, and performs great. I didn't get rid of my nexus 6 because it was slow. So yes, the note 5 is superior in this aspect, but it should be, with the power the Exynos 7420. I remember the nexus 6 having some bugs, but maybe they have been fixed/rooted away? The note 5 is completely stable, fast, and smooth.
Animations: This is a bit subjective. I like animations in general, and thus am not one to speed them up with the developer options. I also use a 3rd party launcher. That being said, the animations are smooth, quick, and fluid no matter how you set the phone up.
Honestly, the note 5 is a superior phone is all respects, unless you MUST have stock android...but like I said you can get close to this on the note 5. That being said, the Nexus 6 is still a great phone.
I said this in another thread: it's TouchWiz that causes oversaturation. If you're browsing the web, or viewing photos and videos, it's a different story. That aside, I'm very impressed with Samsung's displays this year. The screen is what ultimately makes a good phone for me, and I'm very happy Sammy got it right. Looking forward to getting an Edge+ in October.
I have a Diztronic TPU on the way but I am also going to order my usual UAG case that I order for all my devices.
Actually her S6 is way more extreme at closing than either my S6 Edges were/are.
As you can see in my video in the S6 Edge + thread my S6 Edge with the new update can cycle at least through 5 apps without having to aggressively reload.
She only had 3 things open !!!
Hopefully she does a better video later showing the point at which she gets refreshing on the Note 5, but showing just 3 apps is not something we should be impressed about given something like the cheap Zenfone 2 can have 4 or 5 full games and half dozen other apps all kept in memory without refreshing.