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.

Camera: Still Image Performance CPU Performance
Comments Locked

195 Comments

View All Comments

  • theduckofdeath - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link

    If you can't see or understand the difference between a Galaxy Note 4 and a Galaxy S5, I really don#t see what you're doing commenting technology. Cementing the prejudice that iPhone buyers have no clue about technology and should always be considered the last people to ask for advice from?
  • melgross - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link

    Really? I always thought it was Android users who thought that way. I guess you never know.
  • KPOM - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link

    I'm as big a techie as anyone on lots of subjects but am an Apple fan. There is a lot of advanced technology underneath the pretty Apple UI.
  • Ratman6161 - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link

    Little bit of trolling there? Since the iPhone 6 plus has only been out a couple of weeks I find it hard to believe that switching phones is actually an option. Unless you are fabulously wealthy then what a surprise...you aren't going to dump your brand new phone for something else.
  • KPOM - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link

    The OP could be within the return window for the 6 plus.
  • melgross - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link

    But no one would be nuts enough to do that.
  • mkozakewich - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link

    If you get a custom back plate with Doge on it, it will have wow factor. Such custom. Very shibe.
  • Tams80 - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link

    The iPhone 6 Plus just looks like a iPhone 6... oh, wait.
  • xype - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link

    "Overall, the design of the Galaxy Note 4 is massively improved. "

    Uh… it}s still ugly though. So maybe _slightly_ improved?
  • theduckofdeath - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link

    Uh, or we really couldn't care much less about you trying to BEND the interpretations of things here...

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now