After their flagship phone Galaxy S6, the Note5 is finally here with some interesting changes and new features over the previous versions. With a 5.7 inch display, better camera and S-Pen stylus, Samsung has proved to be a pioneer in Phablet category. We are using the Note5 from quite some time and have shared our first impressions below.
Samsung Galaxy Note5 Specs:
- 5.7 inch Super AMOLED display, 1440 x 2560 resolution
- Running Android OS, v5.1.1 (Lollipop)
- 4GB RAM
- Exynos 7420 Chipset
- Octa-Core CPU – 2.1 GHz Quad-core and 1.5 GHz Quad-core (Cortex-A57 and Cortex-A53 big.LITTLE architecture)
- Mali-T760MP8 graphics for gaming
- 32 or 64 GB internal memory, No MicroSD support
- 16 MP primary camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and LED flash
- 5 MP secondary camera
- 3000 mAh battery (Non-removable)
The Design:
The phablet is strongly built with some huge improvements over previous generations. Interestingly, Samsung Galaxy Note5 design is similar to the flagship phone Samsung Galaxy S6 and as far as the design goes, the Note5 takes on everything that the Samsung Galaxy S6 started – the metallic frames, the glass on both sides, cameras etc. Almost everything is imported from the Galaxy S6 while the backing does taper down to the edges. People who seemed to have used Galaxy S6 before may not be extremely surprised, but the previous owners of Note series might be.
The design looks pretty premium as compared to the older versions. The Samsung Galaxy Note5 is no longer plastic as it features a protective glass on the front and also on the back. The mainframe carries the same metal and sturdy materials what we have already seen in Samsung Galaxy S6. The edges on the backside are curvy and designed very neatly which helps you to hold it comfortably. However, the screen is a huge fingerprint magnet and feels slippery when you sweat your hands.
The front has a 5.7 inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1440×2560 pixels. The oval-shaped home button is slightly above the glass surface but gives a nice feedback. The secondary camera is a 5 MP with 120-degree wide-angle field of view. We also noticed that the Samsung Galaxy Note5 comes with a fingerprint sensor on the home button.
Coming to the sides, there are two thin buttons on the left to control volumes and one on the right for power which exactly fits your thumb, rest of the area is made clean and free.
On the above, there is one nano-sim tray and a mic. The bottom has another mic, one Micro-USB Port at the center, mono speaker, a 3.5 headset jack and S-Pen at the right corner.
At the backside, there is a 16 MP primary camera with LED flash and a heart rate sensor. The camera has hardware Optical Image Stabilization support and records up to 4k videos.
Although the chipset ‘Exynos 7420’ is same from the Samsung Galaxy S6, the RAM is increased to 4GB. Unfortunately, the battery is no longer removable and there is no support for MicroSD Cards as what we have seen in the previous Note series. You will miss the expandable storage option.
The Software
The Galaxy Note5 comes with Android 5.1.1 and TouchWiz UI. Samsung did here a new design approach in the TouchWiz as compared to the older version. Samsung slimmed down their TouchWiz and removed most of the bloatware apps that came preinstalled. Some of the pre-installed apps are S Voice, S Health, and Multi Window. The TouchWiz experience was quite smooth, felt lighter and snappier.
S-Pen
S-Pen isn’t new, but it doesn’t mean that Samsung cannot bring innovations to it. Samsung has brought a few changes to S-Pen. The Air Command is modified and you will find some shortcuts like Action Memo, Screen Write, S Note, and a few more.
You can remove the S-Pen by pressing a small clickable head on it. As soon as you slide out the S-Pen, the screen activates automatically to write a variety of calligraphy. You can simply save the document and access it at a later time.
The Samsung Galaxy Note5 comes in Sapphire Black, White Pearl as well as in Titanium Silver and Gold Platinum. The price starts from ₹53,900 for a 32GB model and ₹59,900 for a 64GB model.
So overall, the Note5 faired quite well in our first few days of usage. We will soon be sharing a full review of Samsung Galaxy Note5.
