Planning to upgrade to Note 4? Here's my experience after 3 weeks.

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galaxynote2

Senior Member
Sep 26, 2012
822
1,089
Buenos Aires - Argentina
I've been user of the first generation of Galaxy Note franchise: the Galaxy Note GT-N7000, since 3 years. The phone that back in 2011 was ridiculously big and most of the people said that nobody would use a phone bigger than a 4.5 inch device. The phone that started a new era that now any brand has his own phablet (Xperia ZL, LG G3, HTC One Max, Nokia Lumia 1320 etc). After three years, I've decided to go for the next big phablet, the Note 4.
This is not a review. My english is not so good to elaborate a proper review of every feature of this phone. You can see amazing reviews at Engadget, Android Police, Youtube or even here in XDA)

Size Comparasion:
153senn.jpg

If you thought that your N7000 was reeeeaally big, then get prepared for the Note 4. It's taller than his grandfather, but also is less wide so it's nice in hands.
The N7000 is 78,6 x 153,5 mm while the N910C is 82,95 x 146,85 mm. The weight is almost the same, just 4 grams less than the Note 1.
Build Quality:
I think this is the most important difference between both phones. We all know that Samsung ditched polycarbonate in favor to metal. The ORIGINAL (later I will explain why I call it original) Note 4 comes with a brand new metallic frame with chamfered edges and a soft matte strip with the same color of the phone (cold white, pearl black, pink). Personally I don't know why they're still using polished metal for phones, did they not learn the lesson with the iPod touch? The HTC One? The iPhone 4, 5, 5S? Two days after using my Note 4, I saw a lot of scratches on on them, and after a week, it started to oxydize due to hands sweat. I was so angry that I've took metal polisher and started to polish it. The scratches disappeared, but then I polished the matte white strip.. HOLY DIFFERENCE! The phone now have a glossy finish and, due to this, a better grip. Take a look:
sq17r9.jpg

Screen
I never saw a better screen than the one in my N7000, until now. The Note 4 comes with a incredibly sharp 2K Amoled screen clocked at 60Hz. It's fast and inmerssive, and the best? There's no input lag. View angles are nice in both phones, the colors are morea accurate, the brightness is nice at direct sunlight and in dark enviorments.
16bx36o.jpg

Battery and OS:
I never thought that a phone could run out of battery after 2 days of heavy use. AMAZING BATTERY USAGE. My Note 1 can't stay turned on more than 6 hours. Also, Ultra Power Saving mode does his job pretty well. About the OS, it comes with Kitkat 4.4.4. If you're using AryaMod in the GT-N7000 and switch to the Note 4, you will not notice too much difference. And that's due to Samsung's Touchwiz. Belive or not, Touchwiz is getting better. Almost lag free and very, VERY smooth than before. The only lag issue I found is trying to open the recent apps menu for first time, but that's something that Lollipop claims to fix so I'm not too worried.
2zf51zo.jpg



So that's it. Belive me, the 700USD that this phone costs are totally worth. If you can afford it, go and get one. You will never regret. Thanks to everyone in this community, it's time to turn off my N7000, pull out the battery and save it in my desktop's drawer. Good luck!
 

elevul

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2012
368
50
Travelling
Thank you.
I am with a N7000 as well (bought at launch, and still in perfect condition!) but was thinking of upgrading to the Note4 because the Note1 is getting too slow even with custom roms.
As soon as the Note4 drops under 500€ I'll get one! :D
 

ankydu

Senior Member
May 16, 2010
384
44
M also dying for note 4, but waiting for a good price drop. My note 1 also lags like hell even on custom roms.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA Free mobile app
 

elevul

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2012
368
50
Travelling
Got it a few days ago. The upgrade from 1 to 4 was impressive, especially on the pen.

SM-910F@5.0.1 BOC5 stock, for now.
 

Amv4

New member
May 30, 2015
1
0
I have the note 1 and I would like to buy the note 4 but I'd like to know if the 720p videos look pixelated in the note 4 because most of my music videos are in 720p and they look superb in the note 1, but the 480p videos look pixelated, i believe that because of the high resolution of the galaxy note 4 ( 1440 x 2560 pixels "2K") my 720p videos will look pixelated :(.
 

Strategist

Senior Member
Dec 2, 2011
177
80
I upgraded from the Note 1 to Note 4 a few months back and yes it was quite stunning right from the beginning with that unlock animation which shows off the amazing screen. I knew I had made the right choice when I took my first photo outdoors and compared it with the Note 1; of course the latter was no match either in terms of the photo itself or the screen to watch it on. The Note 1 was amazing back in the day and we should be glad how much progress was made in just three years. I rather suspect that this will slow down and and I doubt the gap between the Note 7 and Note 4 will be nearly as large.
 

-Jinx-

Member
Oct 5, 2015
15
1
I was planning to upgrade to the note 4 asswell but decided to wait for the xiaomi mi5 plus.

The difference in processing power is waaay too big and xiaomi doesn't have a problem with people rooting their phones

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
 

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    I've been user of the first generation of Galaxy Note franchise: the Galaxy Note GT-N7000, since 3 years. The phone that back in 2011 was ridiculously big and most of the people said that nobody would use a phone bigger than a 4.5 inch device. The phone that started a new era that now any brand has his own phablet (Xperia ZL, LG G3, HTC One Max, Nokia Lumia 1320 etc). After three years, I've decided to go for the next big phablet, the Note 4.
    This is not a review. My english is not so good to elaborate a proper review of every feature of this phone. You can see amazing reviews at Engadget, Android Police, Youtube or even here in XDA)

    Size Comparasion:
    153senn.jpg

    If you thought that your N7000 was reeeeaally big, then get prepared for the Note 4. It's taller than his grandfather, but also is less wide so it's nice in hands.
    The N7000 is 78,6 x 153,5 mm while the N910C is 82,95 x 146,85 mm. The weight is almost the same, just 4 grams less than the Note 1.
    Build Quality:
    I think this is the most important difference between both phones. We all know that Samsung ditched polycarbonate in favor to metal. The ORIGINAL (later I will explain why I call it original) Note 4 comes with a brand new metallic frame with chamfered edges and a soft matte strip with the same color of the phone (cold white, pearl black, pink). Personally I don't know why they're still using polished metal for phones, did they not learn the lesson with the iPod touch? The HTC One? The iPhone 4, 5, 5S? Two days after using my Note 4, I saw a lot of scratches on on them, and after a week, it started to oxydize due to hands sweat. I was so angry that I've took metal polisher and started to polish it. The scratches disappeared, but then I polished the matte white strip.. HOLY DIFFERENCE! The phone now have a glossy finish and, due to this, a better grip. Take a look:
    sq17r9.jpg

    Screen
    I never saw a better screen than the one in my N7000, until now. The Note 4 comes with a incredibly sharp 2K Amoled screen clocked at 60Hz. It's fast and inmerssive, and the best? There's no input lag. View angles are nice in both phones, the colors are morea accurate, the brightness is nice at direct sunlight and in dark enviorments.
    16bx36o.jpg

    Battery and OS:
    I never thought that a phone could run out of battery after 2 days of heavy use. AMAZING BATTERY USAGE. My Note 1 can't stay turned on more than 6 hours. Also, Ultra Power Saving mode does his job pretty well. About the OS, it comes with Kitkat 4.4.4. If you're using AryaMod in the GT-N7000 and switch to the Note 4, you will not notice too much difference. And that's due to Samsung's Touchwiz. Belive or not, Touchwiz is getting better. Almost lag free and very, VERY smooth than before. The only lag issue I found is trying to open the recent apps menu for first time, but that's something that Lollipop claims to fix so I'm not too worried.
    2zf51zo.jpg



    So that's it. Belive me, the 700USD that this phone costs are totally worth. If you can afford it, go and get one. You will never regret. Thanks to everyone in this community, it's time to turn off my N7000, pull out the battery and save it in my desktop's drawer. Good luck!