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
Video Performance
In terms of video, the Galaxy Note 4 mainly benefits from the newer Snapdragon 805/APQ8084 SoC, and the addition of OIS. For the most part, there aren't any new video recording modes on the Note 4, as we see 4K30, 1080p60 and 1080p30 video available to the user.
For 1080p30 recording we see a 17Mbps bit rate with an H.264 high profile encoder. In practice I didn't really see any issues here, although on the exit sign at the end of the video there's noticeable aliasing
In 4K30 recording mode we see a 48Mbps bit rate with the same encoder as the 1080p30 setting. There's a significant increase in visible detail when compared to 1080p, but it seems that this mode is capped at a maximum of five minutes for video length and videos where temporal resolution is more important than spatial resolution will generally see relatively little benefit. EIS/video stabilization is also disabled for 4K recording, so OIS becomes quite critical for even casual video recording in 4K.
In 1080p60 mode we see a 28 Mbps bit rate with the same encode as in 1080p30. I don't really see visible detail degradation in this mode, and temporal resolution is clearly better than any of the other modes. This mode, as with 1080p30 supports EIS/video stabilization although using such a mode will reduce the field of view when compared to video with EIS off. One constant throughout all of these videos is the noticeably jerky nature of the OIS. It's hard for me to tell whether this is the result of an inability to damp certain motions due to the magnitude of the change or the OIS resetting itself during recording, but I suspect that this is a limitation of OIS that would require electronic image stabilization to compensate.
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KPOM - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
It looks like they focused on the design and the display this time. I like the trend away from over saturated displays.mkozakewich - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
No, they used movie mode. I didn't catch if they went there from where they were.Really, though, a larger gamut is a strength. All we need is for OEMs to create profiles so that we don't have the weird problems we had. They can create an sRGB profile, and an AdobeRGB profile, too. Then, when Android finally supports proper colour systems, they'll be able to introduce that immediately.
Wolfpup - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Disappointed that this isn't waterproof like the Galaxy S5 and S5 Active. I'd get the S5 just because of that.Samus - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Waterproof phones have never proven a big hit with consumers. The Kyocera Hydro and Galaxy S5 have a lot of inconvenient plugs and gaskets, with harder to press buttons. Then there is the added weight of the Active. There is always an Achilles heel to mil spec implementation.But it's good consumers have the option of waterproof devices, I just don't think the Note 4 being waterproof would be a compelling feature. I mean, if you drop the thing in the urinal its so big chances are the toilet cake would prop it up...and it's probably not on every sailors list of devices to have something so big.
Hrel - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
There's also the fact that it's not very important to most people, if you'll be by water on a boat or something a $10 bag/case will do. Or hell, even a ziplock bag really. If it's a major concern for you then you're probably willing to spend the $100 on micro-sealing.petar_b - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
I see waterproof feature it more like investment into protecting the investment rather than a feature. I would pay $100 on micro-sealing - just to be sure: if I am walking on the rain (following GPS), or phone accidentally falls in a puddle, or my kid accidentally drops it in the bath that it would survive. And protection bags are ugly, can't go on meeting with that, can't put on/off all the time. Additional frames to protect the screen or side sealing do reduce GPS signal; so no after market solutions.darkich - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
I think the lack of water resistance is actually the result of the stylus slot. I could be wrong, but it seems somewhat logical that waterproofing such design would be difficultTams80 - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
I don't think so, unless the plastic of the stylus slot couldn't be impermeable (something to do with thickness?). It uses Wacom Penabled technology, so it should be possible (the Fujitsu Q584 has some water resistance with such a AD stylus).darkich - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
I think the lack of water resistance is actually the result of the stylus slot. I could be wrong, but it seems somewhat logical that waterproofing such design would be difficultrobinthakur - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Disappointing really, not much wow factor here even if the materials have improved it just looks like a large Galaxy 5 with even less items of interest. Guess I will stay with the iPhone 6 plus.