The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Review
by Joshua Ho on October 15, 2014 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Android
- Mobile
- Galaxy Note 4
WiFi Performance
While the Galaxy S5 LTE-A Broadband had a Qualcomm Atheros solution (QCA6174), the Note 4 moves back to Broadcom's WiFi solution. In this case, we see the BCM4358, which is a revision of the BCM4354 that was first seen with Samsung's Galaxy S5. This shouldn't have any major differences outside of improved Bluetooth coexistence but antenna design can and does change between revisions. In order to test this, we use iperf and Asus' RT-AC68U router to try and achieve maximum performance.
As one can see, the Galaxy Note 4 has a strong showing in this test, easily surpassing every other device we have available for testing.
GNSS
At this point, it really goes without saying that the GNSS solution of choice is the one built into Qualcomm's modem. This allows for fixes based upon initial location and time data that the modem has, and therefore in practice every GPS fix is a hot fix and takes around 5 seconds for a lock in good conditions. In the case of the Note 4, with airplane mode on and no assistance data I saw that it took around 50 seconds to achieve a lock, but this is strongly dependent upon environmental conditions. Once locked, I found that the Note 4 had quite a strong lock and quickly went down to 10 foot accuracy level without issue.
Misc
Similar to the new Moto X we see a Cypress CapSense solution in the Note 4 but this is likely used for the capacitive buttons rather than any impedance-matching antenna tuner. The UV sensor appears to be a Maxim design win, although there's no information on the specific part. The battery's fuel gauge is also a Maxim part, as is the speaker amplifier and pulse sensor. The NFC chip used is NXP's PN547, so host card emulation should be supported and therefore Google Wallet's tap and pay system should work as well.
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JoshHo - Monday, October 27, 2014 - link
As noted in the review, the Note 4 doesn't use PDAF for continuous AF so that number isn't representative of the total "AF speed" as there's significant lag between recognizing that a scene is out of focus and the start of the focus run.Drumsticks - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
It really amazes me (and is a testament to their engineers) that the A8 seems to deliver near twice the IPC/per clock performance as Krait.Also: good review in general! I think phablets are too big for me, but I like keeping up with where the market likes to go.
Calista - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Fully agree, the Apple A-series are amazing. Half the frequency, half the core count, one third the memory and still the fastest SOC more often than not while still being very frugal.danbob999 - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
CPU benchmarks are not designed to test the benefit of having more RAM. One could design a benchmark using 2GB RAM. The iPhone would be slower than a Galaxy S3 because it would be swapping (or even failing).Javascript benchmarks test the browser more than the CPU. That's why the iPhone 5s still performs well in these benchmarks even tough it has a very slow CPU with no ARMv8.
mudman - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Wikipedia states that the a7 in iPhone 5s is based on armv8-a.kokono - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Does this mean iPhone6+ lags when compared to the new Galaxy?melgross - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Android needs more RAM to begin with. It's not a useful comparison.tipoo - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
That's true, but not to the point of making 1GB on iOS moot vs 2-3GB Android phones. It definitely swaps apps out of memory more.KPOM - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
How many phone apps really use more than 1gb right now? The iPad Air 2 will have 2 GB and my guess is that the iPhone 6s will too. But for now 1GB is fine.akdj - Thursday, October 30, 2014 - link
You're entirely TOO WRONG!Lol, what crap. I've got a Note 3, specifically for my business. The 5s as my personal, daily driver. I love em both for different reasons. Especially with what we do, the stylus on the Note for when we're doing it ...& collecting the pay for it with our clients using the SPen to sign their credit card receipt.
Other than that...nope. Nothing is 'better' on the S3, 4, 5 or Note 3 than the iPhone 5s. Display preferences aside, as an owner of both, for over a year can attest to their performance. It's ridicukius realily. My Note, again being a business line doesn't have a whole lot of apps other than productivity, a couple of 'creative' types and some excellent games to kill time on sites.
Any and EVERY app in 'parity' (available on both platforms) overwhelmingly plays more fluently on the iPhone. Productivity, cloud access and any type of 'creative' apps are abound, and they're excellent ...well optimized to a single, specific type ID hardware
It's amazing to me, in a stock cold boot of a Note 3 (I've reset a couple times), it's ALREADY using 19-2.1GB of RAM! The OEM and carrier crap is a silly joke
Apps come to iOS first. Are optimized for a single platform (& able to be played for years, fluently and with updates!). Crazy, a ⅓ the RAM, twice the processors at twice the clock speed is definitely the more 'usable' system. Customizing aside, I enjoy my home screen but for seconds ...it's the apps, their design UI and ability to 'run with reliability'. That's where iOS Smokes iOS. Secondarily, it's for a vertical & horizontal system, ala OS X.
Android has Chrome
The SPIII is a nice piece. If Windows gets ohine's figures out, Samsung's screwed.
Oh, sorry. They already are!
Then there's the tablets. Windows, again ..the SPIII is special
The Air2, incredible.
There's NOT a comparable tablet running Android. Nor will Chromebooks become anything other than a home appliance.
Sorry. You certainty don't understand RAM.