TAKE 5 FOR NOTE 5, By Samsung of course.

As you all know, the latest iteration of the Galaxy Note has come. It's the Galaxy Note 5 and it brings with it a new design language that Samsung started early on this year. What makes the Note series different is the inclusion of the S-Pen (a feature mocked by Apple) and what makes it popular is it's screen size that kind of defined the Phablet market by being the first of its category.

An overview of the key specifications of the phone:

• 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED Display 
• Exynos 7420, 8-core processor
• 16MP rear camera, 5MP wide-angle front camera
• LTE Cat. 6 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi
• 3000 mAh non-removable battery
• 32/64 GB with 4GB of LPDD4 RAM

Design
The New Note 5 now is built with metal and glass, something that Samsung fans have long urged Samsung to do. With the new built material, came a few restrictions such as a non-removable back Nonetheless, that has allowed Samsung to build curved edges back that makes the otherwise big phone more ergonomic and the Note 5 certainly has that premium look that could easily rival the iPhone. Needless to say, from the back it looks sleek and expensive.

The screen size is retained at 5.7-inch and is still  a 2K (QUAD HD) 2560x1440 pixel Super AMOLED display with 518 ppi, mumbo jumbos aside it's really sharp! Using the latest Gorilla Glass 4 , the  screen is also touted to be one of the best ever in a smartphone tested by DisplayMate (Note 5 has best smartphone display) What somehow is surprising is the fact that the Note 5 (153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6mm) is smaller in overall dimensions as compared to the Note 4 (153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5 mm)while being lighter as well (5 grams lighter at 171g).

Hot on the heels of the Note 5 was the rumour that the new S-Pen would include an auto-eject mechanism that simply in my opinion would not work (you had to press a button on the screen which obviously requires the phone to be turned on). Fortunately Samsung thought of a better idea, they equipped the S-Pen with the 'click pen' like spring-assisted auto-eject mechanism. Now you have to go through two steps to remove the S-Pen, click and pull, instead of the previous one-step removal, only pull. A new beneficial feature is a reminder message that would pop out on the screen when the S-Pen is far from the phone.

For the moments where you have no time to unlock the phone, wait for the S-Note app to open, you can now write on the screen even when it is turned off! Certainly makes the Note 5 a quicker note taking way. Other S-Pen features worth mentioning is the incorportation of the ability to edit PDFs files called "Write on PDF" and Scroll capture, which allows you to take a sort-if screenshot of the entire webpage and not just a portion of which you see on the screen.

Internals

Powering the device is Samsung's in-built processor, the Exynos 7420 (also found in the S6), an 8-core (ARM Cortex A-57 & ARM Cortex-A53) 2.1Ghz & 1.5Ghz processor.

The device can be found in 32GB and 64GB storage configurations. The RAM has been upgraded to 4GB and is using the faster LPDD4 type.

The slim design would certainly take a toll on something and that something happens to be the battery which is now reduced to 3000 mAh (from 3200 mAh in the Note 4). Interestingly PhoneArena tested the Note 5's battery to last even longer than the Note 4's (9hours 11mins vs 8hours and 43mins) and if that's not enough Samsung has included the Ultra Power Saving Mode in it as well. Samsung is also promoting the fact that to fully charge the Note 5 requires only 90 minutes when charging with a cable while requiring only 120 minutes when charging wireless (Fast Charge).

A phone would not be complete without an OS and the Note 5 gets the latest Android available to the public which is Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with their custom TouchWiz UI that continues to be trimmed down with only the essentials. I would personally bet that it would get the Android Marshmallow in the future, although I wouldn't dare bet on when. The phone certainly would not be sluggish (with the added RAM it scrolling through the interface would be a breeze),

Camera

Following the footstep of the S6, the Note 5 now has a 16-Megapixel Sony IMX240 shooter with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) while a 5MP wide-angle camera now caters you selfie needs. Both have an aperture of f/1.9.

Two modes available on the stock camera app is the auto mode and the manual "Pro" mode. Another similar feature from the S6 that can now be found on the Note 5 is the 'Quick Launch' that opens up the camera quickly by double-clicking the home button.

The camera can also shoot 4K videos, though the size of the video would certainly be huge.What's more, for Youtube broadcasters there is a YouTube Live Broadcasting mode which enables you to shoot and stream your video at the same time (well duh? that's what Live means) Helping you get great videos is the Video Digital Image Stabilisation (VDIS).

Connectivity
In terms of mobile connections, you can find that the Samsung Note 5 has LTE, HSPA, HSUPA, UMTS, EDGE, and GPRS. NFC is also available and latest wi-fi standard of 802.11ac with MIMO (2x2) support is included, GPS, Glonass and so is Bluetooth 4.2.

Features
Sad for tech-enthusiasts, the Note 5 does not have the latest USB Type C connector (unlike the OnePlus Two). Having it would have made the Note 5 a bit future proof as the new type C would be the next industry standard. But retaining the microUSB 2.0 port would make life easier (and cheaper) for consumers as they can re-use their old cables. Still, the New Note 5 supports rapid charging (soon to be a norm), built-in wireless charging, heart rate sensor, and a finger-print sensor similar to the one found in S6, where you have to only rest your fingers on it and not the one found in Note 4 that requires you to swipe down. The sensor is seemed improved as PhoneArena states that it senses faster than the S6's.

The keyboard cover that mimics Blackberry's, trying to revive something old.

All these positives features but no negative ones? Well here's the part that might be the deal breaker for an otherwise good offering.

The Note 5 gets rid of the removable battery (to re-emphasize), microSD slot that allows the option to increase storage and the IR blaster (for the times when you simply can't find the controller, or you're a really lazy ass).

No official announcements are made on when the Note 5 will arrive to Malaysia but don't expect to wait for a long time as Samsung is known to bring its latest devices to Malaysia quite early (usually within a month of its release as compared to a famous 'fruit' brand).

Oh and for the colours that are available: Gold Platinum, Black Sapphire, White Pearl and Silver Titanium.

Here's the official video introduction for the Samsung Galaxy Note 5



A video review by PhoneArena that shows the Note 5 in all its glory.



Source: PhoneArena, Samsung.com, Forbes,

SAMSUNG AUGUST UNPACKED 2015 - NOTE 5, S6 EDGE +,

So around 3 days ago Samsung had their August 2015 Unpacked Event, and as expected they launched two devices that has been leaked several times ahead: the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus (like Samsung doesn't have enough big screen devices right). Apart from that they also teased something that I guess would be pitted against the Apple Watch.

Not surprising, the Note 5 now has a curved back and like the S6 is made out of metal and glass. From the back it is actually hard to distinguish between the S6/Edge or the Note 5 from a far as they have quite similar placement of the camera lenses, flashlight and heart rate sensor (apart from the names of the device written, obviously). During the event, Samsung also launched a keyboard-cover for the Note 5, sort of like bringing back the physical QWERTY keyboard made famous by the declining and dwindling Blackberry (why Samsung?) .

Meanwhile the second device, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, is just an enlarged S6 Edge with all other specifications remaining the same. But they have a new colour for this model, the Silve Titanium. Personally I don't know why this device is even made. Wouldn't it eat into the Note 5's market share? Why didn't Samsung just made an Edge version of the Note 5? or just made the Note 5 with curved edges in the first place?
Yes their shotgun approach to making devices is working but isn't it time they started to refine their target? They have been in the smartphone industry for quite a long time, surely they would believe in the products that they release.

To top it all of, Samsung made a surprise announcement (because the Note 5 was really a no-brainer's guess while the S6 Edge Plus has long been leaked) with a new smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear S2. To be honest, I could not keep track of the iterations of Samsung smartwatches. They had a lot, trust me. This one sports a round-design quite similar to the Moto 360 but with a slimmer profile. Quite nice. We'll just wait and see for the review and the hands-on before passing judgement on this one.

The icons sure looks familiar 

I'll be trying to post reviews for the two devices as soon as possible, thanks for reading!

Here's a video by engadget that summarises the entire event in 6 minutes.

Source: engadget.com, Samsung