Note 4 (now $200 rebate with any $10+ trade-in!)

[Oyeve]

Anyone else having issues activating note 4 Verizon? Been trying past 4 hours but always fails.

Might try my note 2 sim card on it tomorrow but wanted to activate it first on my limited line first. Do not want Verizon an excuse to pull my unlimited plan.

I got my vzw note 4 yesterday but I popped in my T-Mobile Sim prior to turning it on. Worked like a champ.

 

[cbrunny]

So.. stylus, bigger screen, QHD, S805... anything else special about this phone? Is build quality premium? Speakers premium? Battery life?

Considering this... considering everything. I've hit paralysis by analysis. haha. Can't make a decision.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Is build quality premium?

Nicest Samsung ever. The real metal edge is sweet.

 

[trmiv]

Love the phone, hate the Spigen case I bought. Waiting for the official Samsung Protective+ cover to come back in stock.

 

[Red Storm]

So.. stylus, bigger screen, QHD, S805... anything else special about this phone? Is build quality premium? Speakers premium? Battery life?

Considering this... considering everything. I've hit paralysis by analysis. haha. Can't make a decision.

For me, it came down to how much I value certain features. The S-Pen is pretty neat, but I can live without it. Dual front facing speakers are much better than a single, non-centered rear speaker. On screen buttons are better to me than bezel buttons. Stock Android L (with prompt updates) >>> Touchwiz without question. Nexus 6 has a slightly bigger screen, so it gets the edge over the Note 4.

 

[Oyeve]

So.. stylus, bigger screen, QHD, S805... anything else special about this phone? Is build quality premium? Speakers premium? Battery life?

Considering this... considering everything. I've hit paralysis by analysis. haha. Can't make a decision.

The phone, while heavier than my Note 3, feels great in the hand. Its a shame I must cover it up with a minimalist case. Camera is great, but the OIS makes me dizzy. When I take a pic and it focuses the lens moves a bit while OIS is doing its thing and the view shifts a bit, causes a dizzying effect at least to me. Wish I could turn it off somehow. The speaker, even though it was moved to the rear as opposed to how the Note 3 had it, actually sounds louder and better than the Note 3. Screen is amazing. I was watching some QHD sample videos and was blown away. I played the same video at the same time on my note 4, note 3 and galaxy s5 and the difference on the note 4 is very noticable. I wish the streaming apps like netflix, hbo go and so on streamed in qhd. It is definately very nice. I got the white note 4 so the back is just plastic like the note 3. Apparently the soft rubber feel on the black version would discolor the white version so they went with regular plastic.

Now to hunt for a this case. I always used the Spigen neo-hybrid in yellow orange but for the note 4 the closest they have is champagne gold which as seen on an iPhone in gold is hideous. Poweramp sounds great with it as usual so at least they didnt mess up the SQ on the 4. Some apps that ran fine on the note 3 didnt make it to the 4 but maybe someday they will. In particular, Max GO.

 

[AnMig]

Finally activated, had to call verizon and they had to manualy activate it.

Still on the fence if I shoudl retrun this and get the Nexus 6, I have 3 days after activation to return it but the Nexus 6 reviews wont be out yet.

Darn decisions, if Samsung just stopped locking the boot loader, cant they leave us alone.

 

[Muadib]

It's not Samsung, it's Verizon and att you need to blame for having the bootloader locked.

 

[Radeon962]

It's not Samsung, it's Verizon and att you need to blame for having the bootloader locked.

Just buy the Developer Edition. That should take care of the bootloader issue.

 

[Muadib]

Just buy the Developer Edition. That should take care of the bootloader issue.

I already have an att one, but that would solve his issue.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Anyone else having issues activating note 4 Verizon? Been trying past 4 hours but always fails.

Might try my note 2 sim card on it tomorrow but wanted to activate it first on my limited line first. Do not want Verizon an excuse to pull my unlimited plan.

Took me 3:15 to get mine ported from ATT to Verizon. They tried at least 7 times and failed 7 times. Then they ported it to a temporary number and then called to change it back to my number -- that finally worked. Got the flip case for $9.99 for my trouble.

Liking it so far...


Brian

 

[chimaxi83]

For me, it came down to how much I value certain features. The S-Pen is pretty neat, but I can live without it. Dual front facing speakers are much better than a single, non-centered rear speaker. On screen buttons are better to me than bezel buttons. Stock Android L (with prompt updates) >>> Touchwiz without question. Nexus 6 has a slightly bigger screen, so it gets the edge over the Note 4.

All of this is why I decided to pass on a Note 4 for the N6. My Note 2 almost had a big brother 😛

 

[dawheat]

TWRP released their recovery for the T-mobile version and there are already several custom ROMs. They've mainly debloated, optimized stock ROMs with greater customization. Glad that my fav Note 3 dev has already released a v1.0 ROM for the T-mobile Note 4.

 

[ibex333]

How's the earpiece on the Note 4? In-call sound quality? My note 3 is horribly quiet even on max volume. Speakerphone is abysmal too. Not because I cant hear them through it but because they cant hear me unless I am talking right into the phone which defeats the purpose of a speakerphone function.

And no, there's nothing wrong with my Note 3. I even had it replaced for an unrelated issue and the sound quality is still abysmal.

So.. Any improvement on the Note 4 in this specific area?

 

[richierich1212]

How's the earpiece on the Note 4? In-call sound quality? My note 3 is horribly quiet even on max volume. Speakerphone is abysmal too. Not because I cant hear them through it but because they cant hear me unless I am talking right into the phone which defeats the purpose of a speakerphone function.

And no, there's nothing wrong with my Note 3. I even had it replaced for an unrelated issue and the sound quality is still abysmal.

So.. Any improvement on the Note 4 in this specific area?

Does your Note 3 have adapt sound? My S4 had that and if you didn't go through setting it up the volume would be insanely low.

 

[dawheat]

So I'm running DynamicKat 1.2 on my T-mobile Note 4 while on AT&T network.

With everything on (high accuracy location, bluetooth to my Gear Fit, Google Now widgets on, multiple apps syncing, on LTE all day and wifi only at night, I'm ending the day at around 25% after just under 4 hours SOT and 17hr off charger.

It's about what I was seeing on my Note 3, also on DK, on similar usage though with Google Now disabled.

As a side note, when working from home and with wifi all day, battery life is much better as expected.

 

[Oyeve]

So, the vzw version of the note 4 has the mic in a different area than all other note 4s. My spigen hybrid case was off by 3mm. Had to Dremel a tiny hole in the case. Thanks for being a dick Verizon.

 

[EvilYoda]

I'm traveling for work until 11/6 so I'm trying to find a BB with Note 4s in stock...no luck so far. Anybody know what days BB gets new stock shipments? I thought it was Tuesdays but nothing in the area (Boca Raton at the moment).

 

[NutBucket]

So, the vzw version of the note 4 has the mic in a different area than all other note 4s. My spigen hybrid case was off by 3mm. Had to Dremel a tiny hole in the case. Thanks for being a dick Verizon.

I really want to believe there's a technical reason behind this but I know there isn't....

 

[Dari]

So I'm running DynamicKat 1.2 on my T-mobile Note 4 while on AT&T network.

With everything on (high accuracy location, bluetooth to my Gear Fit, Google Now widgets on, multiple apps syncing, on LTE all day and wifi only at night, I'm ending the day at around 25% after just under 4 hours SOT and 17hr off charger.

It's about what I was seeing on my Note 3, also on DK, on similar usage though with Google Now disabled.

As a side note, when working from home and with wifi all day, battery life is much better as expected.

Thanks for the update. So, it seems like there is nothing really special about a high res AMOLED vis-a-vis LCD wrt battery life. Your phone is new so that can only get worse over time. They're all the same.

 

[dawheat]

Thanks for the update. So, it seems like there is nothing really special about a high res AMOLED vis-a-vis LCD wrt battery life. Your phone is new so that can only get worse over time. They're all the same.

I don't think you can make that conclusion - usage scenarios are too different across people to really compare. I only listed my experience to contrast with my Note 3 as they were setup similarly and experienced identical usage scenarios.

My work day (using LTE data all day with poor signal strength) has always put me on the low end of battery life compared to other owners.

There's only one G3 owner in my office and he has relatively similar usage patterns and he tends to have to top off being leaving. He's said that standby drain is excellent but SOT could be better. I think he gets about 4 hours SOT total while at the office and needing to recharge, and that's with running relatively low brightness (my Note 4 is notably brighter side by side - I'm running Lux Brightness, he's using stock auto brightness).

It's hard to compare across scenarios as a few times on my Note 3 when I worked from home sick - I got 7 hours of SOT while on strong wifi all day and still battery to spare.

 

[Dari]

I don't think you can make that conclusion - usage scenarios are too different across people to really compare. I only listed my experience to contrast with my Note 3 as they were setup similarly and experienced identical usage scenarios.

My work day (using LTE data all day with poor signal strength) has always put me on the low end of battery life compared to other owners.

There's only one G3 owner in my office and he has relatively similar usage patterns and he tends to have to top off being leaving. He's said that standby drain is excellent but SOT could be better. I think he gets about 4 hours SOT total while at the office and needing to recharge, and that's with running relatively low brightness (my Note 4 is notably brighter side by side - I'm running Lux Brightness, he's using stock auto brightness).

It's hard to compare across scenarios as a few times on my Note 3 when I worked from home sick - I got 7 hours of SOT while on strong wifi all day and still battery to spare.

I really don't care about the usage of others unless it's relative to their previous phone in the same environment with the same usage pattern. According to you, nothing has changed when going from Note 3 -> 4. Therefore, I can only conclude that higher pixels in AMOLED does not mean more efficient battery usage.

 

[dawheat]

I will say I wish I could get another 20% or so battery life. Note 3/Note 4 battery life is pretty good and probably for most people a non-issue, but on heavier days the phone is in low single digits before I sleep. If on those days I could still be at 20%, I'd be completely happy.

It's funny that on weekends when I'm out in the city (Manhattan) all day on cellular data (but not in my renovated warehouse office) I get way better battery life. 4hr SOT easy with 40% left.

 

[dawheat]

I really don't care about the usage of others unless it's relative to their previous phone in the same environment with the same usage pattern. According to you, nothing has changed when going from Note 3 -> 4. Therefore, I can only conclude that higher pixels in AMOLED does not mean more efficient battery usage.

Fair enough - battery life is pretty similar.

<edit> haha I actually realize you're doing your normal Samsung hate thing. Wasn't the power draw of the Note 4 screen measured to be lower? It's not a POV thing - it's an objective measurement. I imagine the SOC has to work a bit harder in the Note 4 than the Note 3 to drive the extra resolution so things basically balance out. I'm just glad battery life didn't go backwards like in other 1440p phones.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Therefore, I can only conclude that higher pixels in AMOLED does not mean more efficient battery usage.

Wait, who ever said that? The trick is its as good on the battery as the old 1080p one was, unlike the G3.

The Nexus 6 has a SAMOLED for a reason.