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Samsung and Verizon always seem to be cuddle buddies when it comes to developer editions of their phones. The two have once again come together to offer a developer edition of Samsung’s latest flagship, with said flagship being the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The device won’t be offered on-contract and presumably won’t be available through Verizon Edge, so you’ll have to fork over $660 if you want it.
Developer Edition devices tend to be a hot commodity as their unlockable bootloaders make way to easy hacking and custom ROMs. Unfortunately the grass isn’t all that green across the entire field as developer devices don’t tend to be on the same upgrade path as your typical carrier-provided option. The device would have to attract a pretty big development community to get the most out of it, but that’s not always something that’s guaranteed (even if the device is intended to appease those tinkering types).
Adding more adversity to its plight is the advent of the Nexus 6, the first Nexus smartphone to be offered on Verizon’s network since the Galaxy Nexus. The Nexus 6 will likely capture everyone’s attention and be home to a much larger development community, especially considering all North American Nexus 6 units are identical under the hood. We’re sure many will still find a need to have a Galaxy Note 4 free of carrier and OEM chains, but we wouldn’t be surprised if its popularity fails to live up to its promise. You can order one on Samsung’s site right now, and read our Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review if you’re on the fence about whether the device is worth your money.
Verizon huh, that’s surprising. Samsung needs to release unlocked phones in the U.S.
i’m not on VZ but why would i want a dev phone with a fucking carrier logo on the back and front ?
Because it doesn’t matter?
yes it fucking does. it’s called ” dev edition” shouldn’t have any shitty logos on it. see, M8 dev edition
So, you can’t dev on it because of the logos?
lol, you missing my point but sure, whatever
I guess I am. I hope I never get to the point where a carrier logo on a phone pisses me off, though.
It’s a Dev Edition, not a Google Play Edition. If VZW sells it, they can put whatever logo they want on it. You don’t have a vaild point, sorry.
I sympathize with you as I’m not fond of carrier branding either, but the fact that it’s a dev edition hasn’t any bearing on the device’s exterior appearance.
…now if they called it a dev edition but had the bootloader locked down…that would be ridiculous.
Too bad I can’t get this on my EDGE program :/
Sorry big red. This is just not enough to pull me away from the Nexus 6.
Well written article. I was almost more interested in this than the Nexus.
So this costs less than buying the regular Note 4 at full price?
Wouldn’t a developer edition of the Note 4 mean you are giving up most of the S-Pen features? Aren’t most of those specific to TouchWiz?
All Developer Edition means is an unlocked bootloader.
Ugh, I’m more conflicted than ever over Nexsis vs Note4
Same. I’m leaning towards the Note though…it has expandable memory and, if I’m not mistaken, a removable battery…neither of which are among the N6s arsenal.
…I will say though that I prefer the appearance of the Nexus 6, and the turbo charge feature and forward facing speakers are a very nice touch.
Nexus on Verizon is an oxymoron, Verizon will never allow a true Nexus device with all their slow as molasses roll outs, just look to people who had the Galaxy Nexus on Verizon and they will tell you
I can vouch for that. I’m still on my Galaxy Nexus in fact. If you’re on Verizon’s network it’s in your best interest to find a device that will be rooted easily and have a large dev base. Because if you want the latest and greatest of Google’s delicious deserts your going to have to resort to custom roms or a great deal of patience.