The Samsung Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ Review
by Joshua Ho on October 2, 2015 8:00 AM ESTThe Galaxy Note line has long been one of Samsung’s greatest assets in the mobile market. While other Android OEMs have made phablets before, Samsung was pretty much the first OEM to ship a high-end device in this segment. Although other Android OEMs have made phablets in the time since, Samsung continues to have a strong hold on this market.
For Samsung, unlike previous iterations of the Note family, the Galaxy Note5/S6 edge+ represents a significant change in design compared to previous generations, integrating many of the design aspects of the Galaxy S6 across the whole family. In many ways, the Galaxy Note5 resembles the Galaxy S6 in a different size. Meanwhile the Note5's companion device, the Galaxy S6 edge+, is effectively a second take on the Galaxy Note5, aiming for a design closer to a large format phone than a phablet as originially envisioned by Samsung. In this case the Galaxy S6 edge+ uses many of the design accents of the Galaxy S6 edge such as the curved display, all the while getting rid of the stylus.
Probably the easiest way to start is by looking at the basic specs. In order to make this easier, the usual spec sheet is below.
Galaxy Note 4 |
Galaxy Note5 |
Galaxy S6 edge+ |
|
SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 4xKrait 450 @ 2.7 GHz |
Samsung LSI Exynos 7420 4xA57 @ 2.1GHz 4xA53 @ 1.5GHz |
|
GPU | Adreno 420 @ 600 MHz | Mali T760MP8 @ 772MHz | |
RAM | 3GB LPDDR3 | 4GB LPDDR4 | |
NAND | 32/64GB eMMC | 32/64/128GB UFS 2.0 | |
Display | 5.7-inch 2560x1440 SAMOLED | 5.7-inch 2560x1440 SAMOLED | 5.7-inch 2560x1440 SAMOLED Dual edge display |
Network | 2G / 3G / 4G UE Category 6 LTE |
2G / 3G / 4G UE Category 6/9 LTE |
|
Dimensions | 153.5 x 78.6 x 8.3 mm 176 grams |
153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6 mm 171 grams |
154.4 x 75.8 x 6.9 mm 153 grams |
Camera | 16MP rear camera, 1.12 µm pixels, 1/2.6" CMOS size, F/2.2 OIS 5MP F/1.9 FFC |
16MP rear camera, 1.12µm pixels, 1/2.6" CMOS size F/1.9, OIS 5MP F/1.9 FFC |
|
Battery | 3220 mAh (12.397 Wh) Removable |
3000 mAh (11.55 Wh) Non-removable |
|
OS | Android 4.4 with TouchWiz (At launch) | Android 5.1 with TouchWiz (At launch) | |
Connectivity | 2x2 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + BT 4.1, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, NFC | 2x2 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + BT 4.2, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, NFC | |
SIM Size | MicroSIM | NanoSIM |
The Galaxy Note5/S6 edge+ and Galaxy S6 are definitely different in size - coming in at 5.1" versus 5.7" - but there’s otherwise a great deal of similarity this time around. The Galaxy Note5 shares a number of major components with the Galaxy S6, so the big differences between the two lines this generation will primarily be due to the S-Pen and larger size, along with an extra gigabyte of RAM. However, there are still some notable differences that are worth going over, as Samsung has been able to integrate a few months of lessons learned from the Galaxy S6 into the Galaxy Note5.
Design
The first, and easiest place to start is the design of this phone. If you’re familiar with the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy Note5/S6 edge+ is pretty much identical from a functional perspective. The front face of the phone has the same earpiece, home button, front-facing camera, and various sensors. Flanking the home button will be the two capacitive buttons, which are multitasking and back from left to right. The usual Samsung logo is on top, where the display driver for the display is. The bezel retains the same texture that it does from the Galaxy S6, which causes some interesting reflection effects, especially in the sun. The display also has noticeably thinner side bezels than what we saw on the Galaxy S6 or Galaxy Note 4, which is visually quite impressive but in the absence of palm rejection is pretty close to the limit of minimum bezel size.
Along the side of the phone, the buttons, headphone jack, USB port, and speaker are all placed in the same places as the Galaxy S6, which should help if anyone is transitioning to the Galaxy Note5/S6 edge+ from the Galaxy S6. This means that the USB port is centered on the bottom of the phone, with the 3.5mm headset jack on the left side, and the speaker on the right. The volume buttons are also on the left side and are still as clicky and impressive as they were with the Galaxy S6, with no creep or mush and a clean break when the switch triggers. The power button is similar in feel and placed on the right side of the phone, high enough that you won’t accidentally activate the button when you’re picking up the phone.
The top of the phone has the SIM slot for both variants this time around unlike the Galaxy S6, which had the SIM slot in a different position depending upon which variant you got. Unlike the Galaxy S6 or Galaxy Note 4, neither variant has a port for an IR LED/receiver for remote functionality. The Galaxy Note5 also adds a port for the stylus next to the speaker.
Depending upon what phone you get, the major difference can end up being the shape of the back cover. While the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S6 both have glass for their back cover, the Galaxy Note5 has a 3D curved glass back cover much like the Xiaomi Mi Note line. This really improves the in-hand feel compared to the Galaxy S6, which felt a bit blocky. The Galaxy S6 edge+ retains the same flat back cover from the Galaxy S6, but feels a bit easier to grip than the Galaxy S6 edge which had an incredibly thin metal rail to hold on to. Both phablets will be fingerprint magnets on the back cover, but due to the use of glass it’s pretty easy to wipe off fingerprints unlike glossy plastic.
Relative to the Galaxy Note 4, the changes are definitely notable. The metal frame of the Galaxy Note 4 was a relatively angular design, with flat sides and chamfered edges. This design made the phablet feel much bigger relative to something like the Note5 or S6 edge+, thanks in part to Samsung further reducing their device thickness with this latest iteration. The back cover of the Note 4 is faux-leather plastic that peels off much like the Galaxy S2's back cover, with a removable battery and microSD slot. The display has the same buttons, but the bezel had a striped design for unknown reasons. Some people might prefer the design of the Note 4, but I suspect most people are going to prefer the design of the Galaxy Note5.
Overall, in the hand I’d still prefer the Galaxy Note5 to the Galaxy S6 edge+, but pretty much either phone has acceptable industrial and material design. I still wish Samsung would work on cleaning up the front of the phone to be a bit more cohesive, but for 2015 the design of the Galaxy Note5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ is actually quite good. Samsung has sought to distance itself from their reputation of Hyperglaze, and with this phone it’s pretty fair to say that they’ve achieved just that. Both phablets have no real ergonomic issues and are generally well-designed, although aesthetically there are some symmetry issues.
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theduckofdeath - Thursday, October 8, 2015 - link
There are issues for desktop sized high resolution displays. The biggest one is volume and production cost. Just look at what you have to pay for an LG OLED telly compared to a nano LED telly. Like Kamus said, look up what professional display calibration companies says about SAMOLED. It's not "on par", it's in a league of its own.thedons1983 - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link
You are an idiot. The reason that top end monitor manufacturers don't use OLED, or AMOLED, is because they can't afford to. Eventually they will replace LCD, when they can afford to. LCD is crap technology and outdated, and will eventually be entirely replaced, when the costs make sense. Samsung can produce AMOLED screens, because they actually build them!! Apple builds nothing. At all. They buy their tech from others whom have the know how. Therefore, they pay through the nose for it, and aren't ever even offered the superior tech, because, why would you bother?! You'd maybe understand these issues, we're you not such an utter moron.sany - Monday, October 5, 2015 - link
HiI've been wondering, having the best chip to process still photos and good software - why still slow motion FPS rate is still kept too low compared to the slow motion fps for iPhone. Is this a limitation with hardware or can be fixed through an software update?
thedons1983 - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link
Dude, seriously, smartphones take terrible pictures. The camera tech they employ is light years behind that used in actual cameras. Any photographer using their smartphone as there primary photographic device, is an utter moron!! Probably an unsuccessful one too!!Peichen - Monday, October 5, 2015 - link
As an iPhone user that also played with Samsung and LG flagships extensively, I feel Samsung Galaxy S and Note are the only phone that can be mentioned in the same sentence as iPhone. No other Android phones come close to S and Note's Apple-like hardware and refinements. Android + TouchWiz still lags and not as stable as iOS but where Samsung did their homework it is at Apple's level. I hope the upcoming V10 and Z5 Premium is as well made and tweaked as Note 5.thedons1983 - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link
Your opinion is entirely meaningless, as you haven't used any flagship Android devices, other than Samsung. Sony make great phones, as do HTC, and Google and Motorola, and Huawei... Need I go on?? You might know this, if you weren't so entirely blinkered and pathetic.jrich7 - Monday, October 5, 2015 - link
Just picked up a Note 5 today, ugraded from the Nexus 6 and wow its way faster ! The batter drains a little faster but the fast charge feels just sweet and that see coming from another fast charge device. The screen is beautiful and the spen is going to come in handy. The only thing I really like better in the Nexus 6 was the two front facing speakers. I thought I would not like TouchWiz because I heard it's slow compared stock androld but the hardware on the phone makes up for it like 10 fold ! I'm very happy with this device :)coolhardware - Tuesday, October 6, 2015 - link
The Nexus 6 had splendid speakers! That was my biggest complaint switching from it to a smaller Galaxy S6.For another set of nice stereo phone speakers, check out the Moto X Pure Edition. My wife has one and the speakers sound good, better than any phone from Samsung or Apple IMHO. :-)
Speaking of Apple, I am excited to hear the speakers on the new iPad Pro. I'm *hoping* they really advance the tablet speaker situation to a new level!
thedons1983 - Sunday, October 18, 2015 - link
Thank you! The opinion of someone who has actually bought the device in question, is always going to be more legitimate, than the reams of idiots who have only ever used an iPhone. Good work, for bothering to add your two cents, it is appreciated.Thounee - Monday, October 12, 2015 - link
Hey staff @ Anand. I tried to look for any review of Xperia's (Z3, Z3+/Z4 or new Z5's) but came up empty. Since the sensors and image/video quality is considered as best by some benchmarks in the industry (look at dxomark), it would be nice to see your take on the latest versions.