Gadgetory

hey guys this is Austin the Galaxy Note line has always been popular but how does the note 5 stack up it first looks like a big improvement instead of plastic and fake leather you'll find the same aluminum and glass that works so well on the galaxy s6 there's a new curved rear and while it's subtle it does a lot to make such a large phone easier to use all that glass can make the note a little slippery though which is why I'm marking a skin from deep brand there are several options to customize the phone without resorting to a case which is great because the note 5 feels every bit as expensive as the price tag suggests unfortunately the premium bill comes with a few trade-offs the removable back is gone which means you can't swap the battery and there's no microSD card slot with 32 gigabytes of storage standard the lack of microSD isn't a huge issue but the battery is now 3000 milliamp hours which is actually slightly smaller than the note 4 it's enough to get most people through a full day but it still Falls a bit short of phones like the iPhone 6 plus it's a bit of a shame since the note line has always been geared toward power users but the nicer build is likely worth the trade-off what really separates the note from other large phones is the s-pen it now pops out with one seriously satisfying click as far as styluses go this is hard to beat there's almost no lag which paired with the pressure sensitivity means that writing on the note is actually fun pop out the S Pen with the screen locked and it automatically opens up a new note so you can jot down something quickly there is one slight flaw put the S pin in backward and not only will you likely get it stuck but you'll probably break something - oops my buddy Don did a great article on 95 Google taking a look at what happens if you put the S Pen in backward but the TL DR is just don't do it seriously the rest of the hardware is nicely laid out the power button on the right side and volume rocker on the left is nice and comfortable and the micro USB and headphone jack on the bottom which is the way to go you won't find an IR blaster for controlling a TV like the note 4 and s6 but you can still measure your heart rate and blood oxygen level which pair with s health makes the note a good workout trackers there's also a fingerprint scanner built into the home button which works decently but it's not quite as accurate as I'd like nothing takes a couple tries to unlock for me hands down one of the best features on note 5 is the screen with a big 5.7 inch display and 1440p resolution this is about as sharp as screens get colors are absolutely on point and since it's an Imola display you get top-notch contrast it also gets impressively bright even when outside the only thing I can complain about is a slight bit of color shifting at an angle but that's about the only thing to nitpick the note 5 absolutely sets the bar for smartphone displays the same phrase doesn't quite apply to the software though it's running android 5.1 lollipop and like the s6 Samsung was much more reserved from making changes there are a few edit apps but they're useful for the most part I'm still not a fan of TouchWiz but use another launcher or download a skin and it's totally usable multi-window can actually be pretty useful for running a couple apps side by side and with a whopping 4 gigabytes of RAM the note does a good job of multitasking although it's hard to say how much of a difference the extra memory actually makes the rest of the specs are no joke with the same 8 core Exynos CPU from the s6 delivering one of the fastest mobile processors out there and the graphics are also top-notch which is helpful as you need some serious horsepower to push a 1440p screen in the real world there's more than enough power to handle the best-looking games out there and normal tasks are absolutely no problem also carried-over is the 16 megapixel camera from the galaxy s6 it remains one of the best in the business with lots of detail and good color low-light can be a bit of a challenge as it's a bit slow and tends to overexpose in darker areas but this is easily one of the best cameras on a phone out there video was solid as well 1080p footage is rock-solid for a phone with nice detail while you can shoot in 4k the stabilization makes things look a little like jello the Galaxy Note 5 takes what made the s6 great and has a bigger screen in the useful s-pen the battery could be slightly better and I'd appreciate it closer to stock build of Android but the note 5 is hands-down one of the best phones you can buy stay you