There’s something really glorious about Samsung’s Galaxy Note series of handsets from a purely journalistic perspective. Samsung is absolutely consistent with how it approaches the brand and in particular it releases the new model the same time and place every year; September at the annual IFA expo in Berlin, Germany. Of all the things Samsung does this is where it’s most consistent, open, and ‘matter-of-fact’, to the extent that you can time the new Note’s arrival like clockwork.
Samsung also sticks to a pretty standard approach to the Note 5’s design and features too; broadly speaking, it closely mirrors the Galaxy flagship of that year, meaning the same chipset, similar camera hardware, design and build parallels, and the ever-improving Super AMOLED display tech. Obviously another easy one to predict is the emphasis on productivity, making use of larger display real-estate, multitasking and, of course, the S-Pen stylus.
So combine all this with the rumour mill being in full swing and we have a pretty good idea of what to expect when the Galaxy Note 5 launches in September 2015. We thought it’d be fun to take a look at the top five best features you’ll probably be seeing when it arrives.
1. Stunning Premium Design
In short, the Galaxy Note 5 will almost certainly align VERY closely with the Galaxy S6 in terms of overall shape. It will, naturally, be bigger, to accommodate a larger display, but it probably won’t be massive, because Samsung has effectively “capped” the Note series at 5.7in for the last few models while keeping the bezels razor-thin and surrounding bodywork tight-fitting; making for a nicely compact phablet , as they come. Samsung does NOT want a massive, oversized, Nexus 6-like beast on its hands (or in anyone else’s).
We already saw last year’s Galaxy Note 4 land with a metal frame, and as the Galaxy S6 has this too we can be pretty certain this will return on the Note 5. Then, keeping the ties with the Galaxy S6 we are likely looking at glass panels on front and back rather than the old faux leather plastic we saw on the last couple of Note handsets.
What else could change? Well generally speaking the “thinner, lighter” mantra is a good one to follow, although it does run into trouble with certain display sizes, and power hungry display (QHD) and processor tech which needs big battery cells. However, Samsung’s use of its super-fast, super-cool, super-power-efficient 14 nanometer Exynos octa-core processor in the Galaxy S6 has produced a very svelte bodyshell together with some damn impressive battery life from a comparatively low milliamp-hour cell. In other words, Samsung’s figured out a pretty good hardware optimisation setup which could allow for the Note 5 to be a nicely thin, lightweight and relatively compact phablet without sacrificing performance, display prowess, or battery life. Winner.
Lastly on the subject of design is the issue of Samsung’s parallel EDGE series of special edition phones. This started with the Note 4 last year, which was accompanied by a Note EDGE with a display that curved around one side of the device; this was a touch-sensitive panel curve with some tied-in software functionality, but in truth it was mainly Samsung testing the waters for curved displays while also showing off a bit.
The Galaxy S6 was then accompanied by the Galaxy S6 EDGE with curved sections on both sides of the display, but these didn’t have any added functionality, they’re just for the cool factor, and mighty fine they look too! Rumours surrounding the Note 5 have STRONGLY suggested there will be two editions once again, but this time it’s thought the Note EDGE (which may be called the Note 5 EDGE?) will have a display that curves down both sides like the Galaxy S6 EDGE. Whether the functional aspects are maintained or ditched still isn’t known.
2. Gorgeous Ultra HD 4K Display
Oh it’s going to be good. It’s going to be very, very good. Samsung has consistently delivered some of the best displays on the market for a while now. It had a few teething problems with complaints of PenTile fuzziness and poor colour accuracy earlier on, but the company listened to the critics and upped its game - and we honestly can’t remember the last time we saw a top-tier Samsung display that failed to impress. Super AMOLED keeps going from strength to strength with excellent colour accuracy and contrast, as well as brightness levels and viewing angles that make the phones a joy to use in virtually all conditions.
We’ve seen a lot of talk of Samsung using QHD for the Note 5 and now that the Galaxy S6 has that resolution it seems almost certain that this will be the absolute minimum of what we can expect. Also Samsung can fit a bigger battery cell into the phablet, and this combined with the efficient Exynos chip means high-res on a large scale is a real possibility without lacklustre battery life.
However, Samsung may ramp things up even further, as the latest info implies we could see the first 4K smartphone display aboard the Galaxy Note 5. It’s thought this panel might be ever-so-slightly larger than the existing Note 4, clocking in at 5.89 inches, 2160x3840 pixels and 748ppi. The Note 5 EDGE is quoted at 5.78 inches and 762ppi. Samsung is said to be readying this technology for mass production in early August, which would point to a September arrival inside the Note series.
3. Processing POWER
This is a big deal. As mentioned earlier, Samsung almost always uses the same CPU inside its Galaxy Note phablet as whatever it used inside the Galaxy S launched in that year.
For the Galaxy S6 this year, however, Samsung parted ways with Qualcomm and exclusively used its own hardware: an Exynos 7420, 64-bit octa-core chipset built on 14 nanometer FinFet production processes.
This thing is insanely fast, runs cooler, and is much kinder to battery life than pretty much anything else on the market. So, yeah, it’s promising that this will likely appear inside the Note 5.
4. Multitasking & Stylus Features Galore
This is the cornerstone of the Galaxy Note series and what really makes it stand out as THE phablet to go with in a sea of other phablets trying to keep up, but failing to deliver by offering nothing more than an inconveniently over-large display. It’s not just about the big screen, it’s about a gorgeous big screen with some software tweaks to make the most of it, and a handy little S-Pen stylus to let you do oh so much more.
Samsung teams up with Wacom, the undisputed master of the capacitive stylus space, to produce the most sensitive, accurate, and flexible stylus experience we’ve ever seen anywhere. Period. Handwriting recognition and pressure sensitivity simply works, very well indeed. You can actual sketch, annotate, and take notes effectively to your heart’s content. Meanwhile, Samsung’s unique UI changes allow you to split the massive display between apps, or create small windowed applets; it’s close to a desktop like experience, and that’s great on a handheld device with a big ol’ screen and super accurate touch.
All of these elements have become progressively more impressive with each iteration, the stylus has become more accurate and sensitive, the software has become more intelligent and easy-to-use, with more thoughtful, useful features added each time.
5. BIG Battery Life
Battery life on the last few Galaxy Note handsets has been top notch, partly because they’re bigger devices with room for bigger battery cells, and, in the case of the Note 4, because Samsung introduced its awesome Ultra Power Saving mode which has almost always got your back if you do make use of it. But, with the Note 5 we have the prospect of combining these already impressive features with what appears to be an extremely battery-friendly processor; the 14 nanometer Exynos 7420. The Galaxy S6 already displays fantastic battery life on this hardware and the Note nearly always upstages the flagship, so we’re expecting great things, potentially some of the best battery performance ever!
by pbriden via Featured Articles
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