A short while ago, Samsung finally confirmed the details of the latest device to join the every-popular Note series, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Being part of this specific line, brings with it a number of the more common Note features, however, as a next generation device, the Note 5 also looks to bridge the modern with the traditional and this seems to be the case with the latest Note device.
In term of the more standard specs, the Note 5 comes equipped with a familiar sized 5.7-inch display and like the Note 4, this is a Quad HD display sporting a 2560 x 1440 resolution. Inside, the Note 5 has been bumped up to 4GB RAM and comes powered by the Galaxy S6 processor, the Exynos 7420. The rear camera on offer is a the Galaxy S6’s 16-megapixel rear camera, while the front facing camera has been bumped up from the 3.7-megapixel Note 4 offering, to a 5-megapixel one. While interestingly, the battery on the Note 5 has actually dropped down to a 3,000 mAh battery, from the 3,200 mAh battery that was on the Note 4.
That said, the battery takes us to our first of the new special features which comes on the Galaxy Note 5. Unlike it predecessor, the Note 5 makes use of wireless charging and just like the Galaxy S6, offers the ability to be able to charged without the need to connect a physical cable. The Note 5 is compatible with all Qi chargers and will also make use of Fast Charge when directly connected to a physical charger. However, Samsung have also improved the wireless charging feature from the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge and now claim that the wireless charging is up to 30-percent better than before, offering a full wireless charge in two hours.
Moving to the main attraction of the Note series, the S Pen. Generally speaking there is not anything substantially different about the appearance of the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 5 although it is designed to be slightly sleeker, thinner and lighter. Not to mention, the sensitivity of the S Pen has been greatly increased offering for a much more responsive touch and limited lag. Samsung has also announced the launch of a number of familiar S Pen specific apps and features, as well as a few new ones including the ability to use the S Pen when the device is turned off. In short, you do not have to wake the device up but instead, can start writing with the S Pen and the device will know. Another newly added S Pen Feature, is that Samsung has now included a mechanism that allows users to pop-out the S-Pen. This means it is much easier to detract the pen from its housing, as it instantly ejects when pressed. Not to mention, comes with a new clicking sound too.
Adding to the features of the S Pen, Air Window has also seen some interesting improvements. The biggest and most notable is that you can now add apps to the Air Command function. So basically, you are not restricted to the limitation of Air Command apps like on previous Note devices.
Of course, there will be a ton more features included and these will be reported on as we get more hands on with the device. However, it does seem that the Note 5 has seen some interesting improvements. For those thinking about picking up one, Samsung has already confirmed that the Galaxy Note 5 is now available to pre-order and will be in stores from August 21st and available from T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint.