Samsung Galaxy Note5 review: The 5blet

21 August, 2015
As the fourth successor of the product that defined what a phablet should be, Samsung Galaxy Note5 is arguably the most radical release in the product family to date. The newcomer marks a noteworthy departure (no pun intended) from all of its predecessors in terms of both design and available hardware features...

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  • AnonD-364786
  • XNa
  • 22 Aug 2015

AnonD-669, 22 Aug 2015The only thing that's stopping me from getting the Note 5 i... moredon't think so .. even after massive price cuts no one cared abt S6 and S6 edge

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    • Anonymous
    • 3YY
    • 22 Aug 2015

    Tom-Helge, 22 Aug 2015Let me first say that i own a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. And i'... morenote 4 is a trash. Better camera in the market lol

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      • Hks
      • 3YY
      • 22 Aug 2015

      AnonD-669, 22 Aug 2015The only thing that's stopping me from getting the Note 5 i... moreGive it a month from now price will drop 40%.

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        • apo
        • RJ7
        • 22 Aug 2015

        I would love to see the same "main disadvantages" on iPhone 6s when it gets reviewed.

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          • Anonymous
          • 3YY
          • 22 Aug 2015

          Anonymous, 22 Aug 2015dude, iphone is a joke upcoming or otherwise.If iPhone is joke, then why Samsung and other OEMs copy Apple?!.



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            • Anonymous
            • mTV
            • 22 Aug 2015

            i know one thing after experiencing this common phenomenon in many samsung premium sets...

            it hangs after using for few months regardless of how high are its specs

            I used lg g2 for more than a year not a single time that it hanged or lag
            in the same period my friend was using galaxy s4 and there was a clear difference in performance in both sets, S4 started hanging after few months

            Same happened with S5...
            When you see their benchmark they are doing quite well but in reality its vise versa
            samsung you are a cheater in short....

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              • Anonymous
              • mIg
              • 22 Aug 2015

              Samsung starts showing ads inside its devices' notification panes




              Now you can get note 5 with ads
              No sdcard
              No ir
              No removable battery
              No vu
              Price tag

              samsung know what we want..

                • D
                • AnonD-669
                • thd
                • 22 Aug 2015

                The only thing that's stopping me from getting the Note 5 is the price

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                  • AnonD-364786
                  • XNa
                  • 22 Aug 2015

                  AnonD-255623, 21 Aug 2015Potential? Are you high? Let's see, Note5 has twice the cam... moreThey need more ram and more processing power, because they are running samsung software.
                  15 GB+ dedicated for software .. Lok

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                    • Sam9teen
                    • t7k
                    • 22 Aug 2015

                    Gibby, 22 Aug 2015I concur with all the negative comments below The ONLY re... moreI share your pain buddy, even i didn't liked note 5 but what other alternative do we have?? No other manufacturer have s pen stylus or super amoled displays. Want to buy a new phone soon but seriously don't have any other option right now.

                      Let me first say that i own a Samsung Galaxy Note 4. And i'm extremely happy with it.

                      Now, i actually think the Note 5 is an alright phone. Yes, just alright, not really good in any ways.

                      Here are what i think about the Note 5 compared to the Note 4.

                      1. The design and material choice on the Note 5 is NOT better than the design and material choice on the Note 4. The difference is just a new design and a different material choice.

                      The combination of the design and material used on the Note 4 are spot on / really nice.

                      2. The display on the Note 5 is the best one out there. PERIOD. But is it THAT good over the Note 4's display that it's going to be a worthy upgrade just for that?

                      I don't think so. The Note 4 display still have one of the best displays out there by a large margin over other brands.

                      3. A slightly better camera on the Note 5 over the Note 4. The difference in the camera quality in bright environments from the Note 5 to the Note 4 is minimal. So the differences here are so small that i don't see the need for the Note 5 here alone.

                      However, the camera on the Note 5 is a bit better in low-light environments. This is where the Note 5 camera shines. However, the differences from the Note 4 isn't that huge that i would consider the Note 5 for this.

                      4. No IR Blaster on the Note 5. Well, even though i don't see this as an important thing to have, i still see it as a nice feature to have as i use it from time to time on my Samsung LED-TV. I still have my old Samsung Galaxy S4 (that i wont sell) that i also can use as a remote control via the IR Blaster, so even though the Note 5 doesn't have this, i would be fine without the IR Blaster as i have the S4 to use for that.

                      5. No MicroSD card slot on the Note 5. Well, before the Note 5 was released, i was switching alot between if the faster internal storage (UFS 2.0) was going to be more worth it or not over having a MicroSD card slot. In the end i found out that it would be worth it with the 128 GB version as that's the only version i would be able to use as i store alot of musics and videos on my phone. But then, Samsung then released the Note 5 and they basicly shoot themself in the foot HARD by ONLY giving us a 64 GB variant as the biggest storage option on the Note 5. Massive failure.

                      In that case, the Note 5 isn't directed to the power users like me anylonger who use alot of storage space. Yes, this is one reason why i never will buy a Note 5 over my Note 4. EVER.

                      6. No removable battery. I was thinking for a long time over this aswell. And i found out that i can live with a non-removable battery as i haven't really bought me a 2nd battery for any of my phones so far for extra power. I have only used bigger powerbanks for extra battery when i'm on longer trips. So in that case i'm fine with that.

                      However, my biggest problem is that the batteries today, only have some few years of usage time before they get's really bad. This means that after those few years and when the battery have gone bad, you don't have a warranty anylonger and you are out of luck if you want to fix your battery, because it won't be covered by the warranty.

                      So you have 2 options then. 1. Change out the battery at a Samsung service center for an INSANE HEFTY price, or 2. Just buy a new phone.

                      And that's a 2nd reason why i wont be buying a phone with no removable battery as long as the batteries isn't getting REALLY improved very soon.

                      7. No removable battery removes another option aswell. That means no options to choose a back cover in a style that you like. On my Note 4, i have a Carbon Fiber back cover that looks really great on my Note 4. The fact that i can choose my self on what kind of material i want to have on the back of the phone is a 3rd reason why i wont buy the Note 5.

                      Here you can see my Note 4 with the Carbon Fiber back cover: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7309753/Bilder/Smarttelefoner/Samsung%20Galaxy%20Note%204/20150109_145534.jpg

                      The picture is taken with an old Galaxy S3, so the picture quality is a bit meh.

                      8. Samsung Pay. Well as i'm loving the Note series and that's pretty much the only phones i'm buying nowdays, this is something that i won't be able to enjoy in europe as the Note 5 with that won't come to europe as i'm not buying the new Galaxy S series (that have Samsung Pay) anylonger (i did that before).

                      9. Lesser software features on the Note 5 over the Note 4. I know it's a good thing to slim down several things and make things more cleaner and so on. But when that goes out over the functionality, then no, i'm not gonna support that choice. Because you can still make things much easier and cleaner to use without removing the core features that makes the Note series to be a Note pablet.

                      Not only that, the few new software features that the Note 5 have got will be ported over to a Custom ROM for the Note 4 anyways. So, this is a downgrade for the Note 5 this way.

                      10. Price & availability. The price on the new Samsung Galaxy S and Note phones have gone sky high lately. I was really happy that i could buy my Note 4 at a much lower price than even an iPhone 6 with 32 GB would cost. The Note 4 was reasonable priced for what you got. Not only that, i could buy it here in the city where i live in Norway.

                      The problem with the Note 5 is that it won't even come to europe. Not only that, the Note 5 is at the level of iPhone prices which is stupid because a new design and more glass doesn't make the phone more expensive to make.

                      But hey, maybe Samsung is selling so many Note 4's in europe that they don't really see the need for the Note 5 here as it's just a minor update from the Note 4. Who knows?

                      So in short, here is what i'm happy with on the Note 5.

                      1. The awesome screen. But the screen on the Note 4 is still the best display in the world after the Note 5 screen.

                      2. Still an alright batterytime. So i could live with that.

                      3. Slightly better camera over the Note 4. But then, Note 4 had the best camera on the market until the Note 5 came out.

                      4. Samsung Pay.

                      5. Really fast internal storage.

                      So now my question comes. Is those 5 points over really worth to spend 300+ dollars extra on after what you will get for selling your Note 4 for?

                      It's not worth it by a LOOOOOOOONG mile in my opinion. Do you agree or disagree on my points here?

                      Let me know.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • 7q9
                        • 22 Aug 2015

                        AnonD-364786, 21 Aug 2015gsmarean ?? Forgot to add iPhone 6+ or the upcoming 6S+ ... moredude, iphone is a joke upcoming or otherwise.

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                          • AnonD-422333
                          • Qh6
                          • 22 Aug 2015

                          Anonymous, 22 Aug 2015But it is sleek and beautiful so it more than justifies the... morethat's Samsung thing. Everyone else is doing just fine bringing looks and features.

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                            • Anonymous
                            • q8P
                            • 22 Aug 2015

                            AnonD-428432, 22 Aug 2015Poor battery and bad design Just i say a bad phoneLOL. riiiiiiiiiiigght. Wrong page buddy

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                              • Excelly
                              • fmg
                              • 22 Aug 2015

                              Well what smartphone out there is beter than Samsung Galaxy Note 5??? Answer: Not even close!!!

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                                • AnonD-428432
                                • fpp
                                • 22 Aug 2015

                                Poor battery and bad design
                                Just i say a bad phone

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                                  • AnonD-428432
                                  • fpp
                                  • 22 Aug 2015

                                  Just a bad phone
                                  .
                                  Impressive specifications with the lack of quality in the product

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                                    • AnonD-385420
                                    • pJM
                                    • 22 Aug 2015

                                    So Glad we do not get the Note 5 in Europe,as it way to Expensive,Glass might look o.k but it is a Fingerprint Magnet & Breaks easily and too Slippery to hold,Samsung better change there Designs soon or loads will be leaving them.hope the Apple iPhone 6s is Cheaper and this will make Samsung panic and have to cut the Prices Again,how can a company that makes micro sd cards not produce phones that offers the slots,this just shows that Samsung is going struggle more,at least i do not have to worry about my battery life on the Note 4

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 4$1
                                      • 22 Aug 2015

                                      AnonD-303171, 22 Aug 2015I have been using Samsung since Duos, s3,S4,now note 3. Was... morePoor battery? It got 10 hours better than the Note 3. I can understand you dislike it not having a removable battery or sd card, but the battery life is better than the Note 3 at least.

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