Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review: Four of a kind

Internet and Chrome

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 comes with both the stock Android browser (customized by Samsung) and Google's Chrome. Both support Multi-window, but only the stock browser supports Air View.

Internet

Anyway, the interfaces of both browsers are virtually identical. Both show favorite web sites on their new tab page and can sync bookmarks and open tabs across devices. The browsers handle multiple tabs (with Incognito mode), but in Chrome you can switch between tabs by horizontal swipes from the side, which is pretty handy.

Voice input is available if you don't feel like typing up a query.

Chrome

Note that Chrome has an option to reduce traffic by compressing web pages on Google's servers before they are sent to the device, similar to how Opera's Turbo mode (and Opera Mini) work.

Looking at out page completely zoomed out there's no line of text that isn't readable on the sharp 515ppi display of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

Other apps

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has a number of features that enhance the security of your data. There are basics like encrypting the phone and the external memory card in addition to the more selective Private mode option.

There's also Find my mobile out of the box. It has remote controls so you can reset and lock the device if you lose it and check its location on a map. Once reset, you can prevent the phone from being reactivated. The phone can send out a message the moment a new SIM card is inserted.

There's also a backup function that keeps your phone logs, messages, wallpaper and several other settings backed up in the cloud.

S Health is there as well. The step counter is always working in the background, keeping track of how many calories you've burned. For more accurate measurements, the Galaxy Note 4 also features a heart rate monitor.

You just press the tip of your finger against the sensor (below the camera, next to the flash) and in a few seconds you see the reading. For continuous readings, you can pair the phone with a Gear smartwatch or a dedicated sensor made by Samsung, Timex or Garmin.

Besides the basic pedometer, S Health can also track running, cycling and hiking. Goals can be set based on distance, time or calories. During an exercise the app can play music and report your progress out load.

S Health

Having burned up some calories, you can tell the app what you've had to eat in great detail. The app has extensive lists of various foods and their energy value. Calories - both eaten and burned - can be tracked on graphs by hour, day and month.

Smart remote uses the built-in infrared port. It's a truly smart app - it carries a large database of countries and TV providers and gives you the TV schedule along with information for the different shows and movies.

Naturally it has a large knowledge of TV and set top box systems and can setup a remote even if it doesn't recognize the hardware. If you install third party apps you can control more than TVs with the IR port of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

Smart remote

S Planner is the calendar on board of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. t features six different views: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, list and tasks. For the month view, events on the selected day are listed in a panel on the right.

Hovering the S Pen over a date will show you a popup of the events for that date, which is very nifty.

S Planner

The clock app has a World view along with the rudimentary alarm, stopwatch and timer modes.

Clock

A calculator is preloaded. Getting to the scientific mode requires you to rotate the Galaxy Note 4 although there is ample space in portrait mode.

Calculator

Finally, aside from the Google Play store you get Samsung Galaxy apps - the store for exclusive content for Galaxy smartphones. It has many titles and free content.

Galaxy apps