Hands On: Samsung Galaxy Note 4

Samsung had to do this. The new Galaxy Note 4 is a mostly obvious upgrade to Samsung's successful line of phablets, but it's still pleasing. That said, the Note 4 may be outflanked and eclipsed by a bunch of competing products - one, even, from Samsung itself.

The Galaxy Note 4 is
the same size as the Galaxy Note 3; Samsung didn't decide to pick up Apple and Huawei's gauntlet and go to 6.1 inches here. Instead, the company bumped up both tech specs and build quality. Most notably, you have a quad HD, 518 ppi 2,560-by-1,440 Super AMOLED display - the same quality as the Galaxy S5's spectacular screen, but much, much denser. It's driven by a 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, and the whole thing runs Android 4.4.4 with all of Samsung's usual extensions


On the bottom, Samsung's USB 3 port has been replaced by a more standard MicroUSB 2 port, which will make the Note 4 more compatible with standard accessories.

One trick the Note 4 has that no other phablet does is the Gear VR headset. The Note 4 will snap into Samsung's Oculus-powered headset accessory, creating a virtual reality gaming setup that doesn't require an attached PC. The Gear VR will be going on sale this fall, and if Samsung is smart, it'll be discounted and sold along with the Note 4.

The Note 4 is surrounded by a metal frame. Don't get too excited, though. The back is still textured plastic, so it can remain removable and so you can replace the SIM card, MicroSD memory card, and 3220 mAh battery.

That battery is just about the same size as last year's model, but Samsung says it will charge to 50 percent in 30 minutes thanks to Qualcomm's QuickCharge technology. That said, I'm concerned the denser screen will lead the Galaxy Note 4 to have shorter overall battery life than the long-lasting Galaxy Note 3.

Both of the Galaxy Note 3's cameras have been upgraded, too. The Note 4 has a new wide-angle, f1.9, 3.7-megapixel front-facing camera. 

The rear camera has been kicked up to 16 megapixels, with optical image stabilization and 8x digital zoom. And yes, there's a silly heart rate monitor on the back, but at least Samsung now has something useful to do with it: you can use it as a rear-mounted camera key when you're taking selfies.