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Live on stage during Samsung’s Unpacked event in New York, Samsung Mobile CEO JK Shin has officially taken the wraps off the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (the S6 Edge Plus too, which you’ll find here). Shin really drove home the point that Samsung is single-handedly responsible for creating the phablet category and that the Galaxy Note 5 is the next evolution of their popular flagship. While there isn’t too much here we didn’t already see in previous leaks, Samsung did manage to keep a few surprises secret. Let’s dive in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CppgLnNM1PE
Hardware
There’s a lot here to love about the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, while long time fans may find a few of their favorite hardware features missing: namely micro SD expansion and a removable battery. Really, no surprise there as we saw Samsung move away from this in the regular S6 and S6 Edge. Notable Galaxy Note 5 specs include a large 5.7-inch 2K display, 16MP/5MP cameras, NFC, 4GB of RAM (more than the regular S6 Edge), 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, and a small-ish 3,000mAh battery (it’s a tad bit smaller than last year’s Note 4). Here’s the full spec sheet:
Samsung Galaxy Note 5
- 5.7” Quad HD Super AMOLED
2560 x 1440 (518ppi) - Octa core (2.1GHz Quad + 1.5GHz Quad), 64 bit, 14 nm process
- 4GB RAM (LPDDR4) , 32/64GB (UFS 2.0)
- Rear : 16MP OIS (F1.9) , Front : 5MP (F1.9)
- 3,000mAh, Fast Charging both on wired and wireless
Wireless Charging compatible with WPC and PMA - Fingerprint sensor
- Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
- 153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6mm, 171g
Fast Wireless Charging
Most of that stuff we already knew, but the Ace under Samsung’s sleeve is something they’re calling Fast Wireless Charging which can charge the Note 5’s battery to completion in 2 hours — 30% faster than conventional wireless charging. It’s not a huge difference, but slow charging was one of the pitfalls of dealing with the “convenience” of wireless charging. Because the Galaxy Note 5 is compatible with both Qi and PMA wireless charging standards, that means you can wirelessly charge at Starbucks.
New S Pen features
The S Pen has learned a few new tricks as well. Samsung showed off the ability to jot down quick notes on the Galaxy Note 5’s display, even with the screen turned off. Samsung also mentioned that input lag was reduced, something that should make writing with the S Pen feel more like traditional pen and paper. And for those that use Air Command, you can finally customize which apps appear when hovering over the display.
Samsung Pay
The Galaxy Note 5 also marks the long awaited debut of Samsung Pay which gives users the versatility of tap-to-pay like functionality at POS terminals whether they’re using NFC or traditional magstripe readers. Samsung does this using Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) and tokenization which allows the phone to create virtual credit cards that work anywhere physical ones are accepted (in theory, anyway). The service wont go live for Note 5 users in the US until September 28th.
What’s missing?
Some of this stuff — like the smaller, non-removable battery — we’ve already mentioned, but we’ll just lay it out in bullet list form. Here’s some of the bigger things we noticed was missing from the Galaxy Note 5.
- No removable battery
- No micro SD card slot
- No USB Type C
- No IR blaster
- No 128GB option
The verdict is out on this one. Samsung’s press release says the phone caps out at 64GB, while some carrier variants are showing a 128GB option on Samsung’s site. We’re waiting for official confirmation on this one.UPDATE: It’s confirmed, there is no 128GB model.
Availability
Both the Note 5 and S6 Edge Plus will be available for pre-order today at 3PM and officially on sale August 21st. In fact, if you would really like to play with the phone want to get your hands on the phone before launch, Samsung says the phone will be available on display at more than 7,000 carrier stores around the US tomorrow, August 14th. As for European availability, the Note 5 will not be making its way overseas this year. Instead, Samsung will focus on the Galaxy S6 Edge for Europe, which loses out on the S Pen functionality in favor of a curved display.
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