Gadgetory

this time it's a battle of the current Samsung flagships a charge of a guard from Android thority what's going on everybody and this is the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 versus the galaxy s4 the galaxy s4 was able to update the look of the Galaxy S line even if only slightly but these design cues were taken in the note 3 while making some very new and very welcome changes perhaps the best part of the galaxy s4 was its ability to bump up to a 5-inch screen without making its footprint at all bigger than the galaxy s3 the rounded look was somewhat done away with for flatter sides and overall more decisive profile the button layout is still very much classic Samsung with no real changes here glossy plastic was still a thing during the S Force time however but that did mean the back cover was removable giving access to the removable battery and the microSD card slots overall this is one of the best handling 5 inch screens available today so anyone looking for an accessible feel can look to the galaxy s4 for just that the note 3 on the other hand took a few of the design philosophies a flatter overall profile mostly while marking a new start for Samsung that we were all frankly waiting for if you were unhappy with the glossy plastic of recent Samsung offerings this is definitely a phone you want to look out for with its textured plastic bag that mimics leather pretty much everything else is the same especially the button layout though the s-pen is definitely waiting in its a little slot in the lower corner the larger 5.7 inch screen does make for a much larger device all around making this a phone that you shouldn't expect to use one hand all that often with that doesn't mean Samsung didn't try to make life easier on 4 Note 3 users however ultimately it comes down to what you want in size or let's say material there aren't too many fans of glossy plastic on Samsung phones anymore and if that is a strong point for you then perhaps the Note 3 is already worth it in terms of size you have to know whether or not using two hands is that much of a problem for you the galaxy s4 definitely is easier to manipulate with its smaller form factor after using the note 3 for a while however it's a pretty jarring change to come back to the nimble s4 again I'll tell you that much of course it is because of the sizes of those screens that we questioned the handling despite one being over half an inch bigger than the other the quality you can expect from either of these displays is what is without question the galaxy s4 being foray into the 5-inch screen game had to come with a good screen and this 1080p screen capable of 441 PPI does not disappoint yes Super AMOLED displays tend to mean quite a lot of saturation in the colors but in this new version of TouchWiz all of this is actually customisable nonetheless the high pixel density makes for great reading experiences and definitely enjoyable media viewing blow up that nice display and you get what the note 3 is packing though at 5.7 inches this is still a 1080p resolution display and the quality very much translates over the pixel density here does come down to 386 PPI but that is still okay considering this larger screen will typically end up farther away from your face anyway pentile has returned with the note 3 but that doesn't mean too much to anyone but maybe the super sticklers because everything is still rendered beautifully it's hard not to enjoy the larger version of basically anything that you do on this phone obviously it comes down to what size you want just like it did in the design section you'll get a great experience either way and it only matters how large of a screen you need to enjoy whatever it is that you do in performance the later released phone obviously gets a little bit of an advantage but that isn't buy too much in this comparison as the Snapdragon processors started gaining steam earlier this year the Galaxy s4 was sure to come with the then cutting-edge Snapdragon 600 clocked in at 1.9 gigahertz this meant smooth and snap your performance backed by the tried and true graphics processor in the audrina 322 gigabytes of ram helped to make multitasking a breeze even months and months after it's released the galaxy s4 is still just about as reliable as when I first got it I'm able to get everything I need done on it without really any slowdown so it's no surprise that the new Galaxy Note 3 continues that tradition but this time around gets the Snapdragon 800 that gets a speed boost up to 2.3 gigahertz that's a mammoth amount of power backed by the updated adrenal 330 and perhaps the most drawing change is the three gigabytes of RAM this is a phone made for multitasking and with the new enhancements made to the s-pen of course there had to be some breathing room all this power is put to good use and as I keep saying the only times I see slowdown are one initiated apps try to process everything before they're loaded up multitasking is definitely a defining feature of the note 3 and without all of this power it wouldn't really go anywhere thankfully it does and this is as true for the spen list s4 as well I won't go into too much detail with the hardware here as much of the core experience as the same between the two the base 16 gigabytes of storage in the galaxy s4 and 32 gigabytes for the Noor 3 is expandable the removable batteries allow for spares which is always nice though the larger 3200 milliamp hour unit in the note 3 makes for very impressive longevity getting over a day's worth on the note 3 is very much possible even with pretty much everything about it being bigger the galaxy s4 is capable of long battery life too but in my experience it didn't get over a day as reliably everything that set the galaxy s4 apart with its sensors and different new tools for navigation made it onto the note 3 further evening the playing field air gestures air views and controlling your TV and more are possible with either device so what differentiates the note 3 then is its s-pen obviously it's the more symmetrical version and nimbler version of the s-pen and all of its capabilities have been enhanced it made easier for the general user but we'll get to all of that in the software bit again the two flagship phones tend to have very similar capabilities and that trend continues into the cameras essentially the same 13 megapixel shooter of the s4 has been brought over to the note 3 and brings basically the same gray quality as far as the app goes all of the new enhancements originally introduced in the s4 also come over like the drama in eraser modes though the note 3 does add in a golf mode maybe Samsung knows its demographic a little better than we thought the main addition in the note 3 camera is the inclusion of a smart stabilization mode this is supposed to make low-light pictures better it's essentially a beefed up night mode but it doesn't show up in the mode selection and is instead in the settings full-day LED shots look great without much doubt in either of these cameras so here is a look at its main differentiator stabilization is shown in comparison to the night mode found on the galaxy s4 and you can see that it gets the job done quite well ultimately you'll get the same great camera experience either way so pictures should still turn out pretty well no matter which device you pick TouchWiz TouchWiz TouchWiz the operating system we either love or hate does get a few new enhancements but ultimately it has retained its look throughout either of these newer releases and the s4 we got a lot of new navigation features and they all made it to the note 3 so obviously its biggest differentiator is everything the s-pen is capable of multi-window however did get a bit of an update as it is able to run two of the same app at once now and it is able to easily transfer data between the two that are running as for the s-pen it got a new Air Command pop up that gives you access to five of it's easy to access and most use features action memo is especially good considering you can contextually plug anything that you write in it into one of the many different applications scrapbooking and general clipping helps you capture whatever you need for safekeeping and later viewing for a much better look at everything that the s-pen can do check out my future focus video on it now I know that plenty of people out there don't even touch the s-pen if you do get a note three and you don't do that which is perfectly fine at the end result is you get a smartphone experience that is much like the galaxy s4 only it's much bigger the galaxy s4 comes in at six hundred dollars unlocked currently which is a little lower than it was when it was first released in the u.s. two-year contracts will make you pay 199 upfront the much bigger and more feature pack 2 Galaxy Note 3 will run you $800 unlocked and $2.99 on a contract and so there you have it the point made in the software section is probably the best way to put it when you put away the s-pen you get an experience that is incredibly similar to the galaxy s4 but that's a good thing the s4 introduced so much in its inception that the note line was just dying to get all of those new enhancements it comes down to size and feature set for you because if you don't want the larger screen experience or you don't need the s-pen the galaxy s4 won't make you feel like you're really missing out on too much that s-pen though is definitely one of the best defining features of the note 3 and with its different design elements it might still be worth the admission price for you as always thank you very much for watching and I hope you got a lot out of this edition of vs. like I said before you can see my future focus video on the s-pen and the link is over on the side you can also see the full reviews for the samsung galaxy s4 and the galaxy note 3 in links on the side as well stay tuned to android authority for all of the best coverage make 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