Apart from the Samsung Galaxy S5 which was launched earlier this year, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has to be the second most anticipated Samsung smartphone for 2014. Samsung has already sent out invites to their Unpacked event which will be kicking off at IFA 2014 (and other parts of the world) along with teasers, but here’s what we know about the phone so far.
Redesign
As far as the possibility of a redesigned is concerned, recently leaked photos have suggested that Samsung could be more or less retaining the same shape and design of the Galaxy Note 3. We’re not sure if that’s a good or bad thing but if you liked what you saw in the Galaxy Note 3 then we guess the Note 4 could please you as well.
While Samsung is also expected to retain the use of plastic and what appears to be another faux leather back, the recent photos have revealed the possible use of a metal frame around the phone, which will hopefully help make the phone feel more sturdy and “premium”.
Display
For those who are starting to feel like smartphone displays are getting a little out of hand in the sense that they’re getting too big, you might rest assured knowing that the Galaxy Note 4 is expected to retain the same display size as the Galaxy Note 3, or so the rumors suggest. What this means is that the Note 4 could sport a 5.7-inch display, although rumors are suggesting an upgrade in resolution.
The rumors claim that Samsung could be bumping the resolution of the Note 4 to a QHD resolution, which will be an upgrade over the Note 3’s Full HD display. Assuming that this is true, this will be the second smartphone from Samsung to feature such a display, with the first being the South Korean exclusive Galaxy S5 LTE-A.
There have been no rumors which seems to suggest that Samsung could follow in Apple’s footsteps and introduce a sapphire display, so we can only assume that Samsung will continue using the same material as before, or perhaps it could be an upgrade, but either way we will find out come IFA 2014.
Under the hood
The specs of the Galaxy Note 4 have yet to be confirmed, but so far what we do know about the phone is that it appears to be packing some pretty impressive hardware. According to the rumors, the Galaxy Note 4 is expected to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset under its hood.
However as Samsung is wont to do, there could possibly be another Galaxy Note 4 variant that will feature the Samsung Exynos 5433 chipset as well. The Note 4 has also been rumored to be accompanied by a whopping 4GB of RAM which would give it the most RAM compared to other smartphones in the market at the moment, especially compared against the iPhone 6’s rumored 1GB of RAM.
The Note 4 is also expected to come in 16, 32, and 64GB storage options and it seems to suggest that it can be expanded upon via microSD, so for those who plan on storing a lot of media on their phones, hopefully this should be enough for you guys.
Fingerprint sensor
Samsung is also expected to bring over the fingerprint sensor found on the Galaxy S5 onto the Galaxy Note 4. In fact recent rumors have pretty much corroborated those claims and not only will the sensor be part of the Note 4’s features, but Samsung is also expected to introduce some changes to the sensor as well.
One of the new features would be Fingerprint Shortcuts which will allow users to unlock their device and launch apps directly from the lock screen via your fingerprints. This sounds like a convenience feature and could be used to launch particularly sensitive apps that you might not want others to access to.
Another one of those newly rumored features includes Web Sign-in, which as the name implies will let users sign into websites by using their fingerprints. Once again this is another convenience feature as it would save the user time from having to key in their username and password.
Camera
While the Galaxy Note series hasn’t exactly been known for their cameras, at least when compared to the Galaxy S series, it looks like Samsung could be making some serious upgrades. The rumors have suggested that the Galaxy Note 4 could sport a 16MP sensor made by Sony.
It is also expected to feature optical image stabilization and can even capture UHD videos at 30fps, which we guess can be watched on Samsung’s UHD television sets as well. Recent rumors have suggested that Samsung could be implementing a touch sensitive hardware on the side of the phone which will allow users to use it as a shutter button of sorts.
The camera software is also expected to gain new features like gestures, where users will be able to launch the camera app even when the phone’s display is off. There will also be several selfie modes, one of them being a wide selfie which will supposedly help to fit more people into your shot.
Smile and wink detection are also said to be part of the camera’s features which will trigger the shutter so that users won’t have to press a button.
Conclusion
Based on what we know so far, the Galaxy Note 4 does not sound like it will introduce new and radical changes to the phone, at least from the Galaxy Note 3. However given the success of the Galaxy Note series, we reckon there will still be plenty of interest from those who wants a phone with a huge display and stylus support, but either way do check back with us during IFA 2014 to see what Samsung has in store for us!
Filed in . Read more about Galaxy Note 4, IFA, IFA 2014 and Samsung.
