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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dunemessiah - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
No GPU comparisons to Tegra K1?snake2332 - Thursday, October 23, 2014 - link
Probably because the K1 is considered a tablet-only technology for now, at least until it shows up in a phone/phablet.the snob - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Could Amadtech include a more detailed analysis of the display technology of future phone reviews?I felt that in this regard, reviews from Displaymate trumps Anandtech. But while Displaymate reviews are more specialised and offer much more infomation, their reviews tend to be for popular phones which can generate hits and publicities for themselves. It might be Anadtech's interest to up their depth in this regard.
But other than that, I must say I am enjoying Post-Anand Anandtech as much as before. Good job Joshua, I hope Anadtech will go a long ways in their review contributions.
the snob - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
I kept spelling "Anandtech" wrongly, my most sincere apologies! : )edwardjames2014 - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Actually, a lot of people were wrong about big phones. When Samsung first came out with the Note in 2011,I wasn’t the only one who laughed at the idea of a 5.3-inch smartphone. But I was wrong.This is trendency! The Note 4 is the most comfortable large-screened phone, Case for Samsung Galaxy Note 4 htt p://www.ca secoco.com/?031fackamato - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Can we please get the OnePlus One in the charts as well?tralalalalalala40 - Saturday, October 18, 2014 - link
vapor phones? who cares about a phone with 10k users worldwide?Phantasmal - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Is there the latency shot charts/graphs in the article because I don't seem to see them. Thanks.SydneyBlue120d - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
I'd like to know more about audio quality and about the MDM9x35 real world performance. Thanks.heartinpiece - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
Will you be reviewing the Exynos version as well?If i'm not mistaken, it sports a A53+A57 (but running 32bit Android)