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Galaxy Note 5 vs. Galaxy S6: What We Know So Far

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As we push closer to the fall, we’re starting to see early Samsung Galaxy Note 5 rumors tease consumers in the United States and around the world. With those Galaxy Note 5 rumors in mind, we want to take an early look at how the device is stacking up against Samsung’s Galaxy S6. This is our early Samsung Galaxy Note 5 vs. Galaxy S6 comparison.

In March, after months and months of rumor and speculation, Samsung took the stage at MWC 2015 in Barcelona to announce its sixth-generation Galaxy S. On stage, the company debuted two new Galaxy S models, a Galaxy S6 and a curved variant called the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

As expected, both devices arrived with a slew of new features including a new design language, Quad HD displays, enhanced 16MP cameras with OIS, and Android 5.0 Lollipop software with a toned down version of TouchWiz on board. In April, Samsung and its carrier partners around the world released the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge into the wild and they have quickly become two of the top Android phones on the market.

They will reign as two of Samsung’s best smartphone options for some time though there’s a good chance that they will be joined by a new flagship, or flagships, later on this year. In fact, we’re already starting to hear about their potential successor, a device that we’re calling (for now) the Samsung Galaxy Note 5.

Galaxy S6 Tips - 3

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 rumors have started to heat up and we’ve started to hear whispers about the Galaxy Note 5 specs, Galaxy Note 5 release date and Galaxy Note 5 carriers. There are still plenty of details that remain shrouded in mystery but we have enough to make an early comparison to Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.

This early Galaxy Note 5 vs. Galaxy S6 comparison will run down the latest Galaxy Note 5 rumors and show you how they would compare to Samsung’s current Galaxy S models. Here’s what you need to know as we push into May.

Galaxy Note 5 Release Date

If you’re trying to decide between buying the Galaxy S6/Galaxy S6 Edge right now or waiting to compare them to the Galaxy Note 5, you’re in for a wait. And probably a pretty long wait at that.

In the past four months, we’ve only seen one Samsung Galaxy Note 5 release date rumor emerge. The report, from Korean publication Daum, suggested that the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 release date could land in August. If true, this would be much earlier than the Galaxy Note 4 release date. Samsung released the Galaxy Note 4 in October after a launch in September.

Before you mark your calendar, it’s important to point out that the publication also claimed that Samsung would release the Galaxy S6 in March. The Samsung Galaxy S6 release took place on April 10th for most countries.

Verizon Galaxy Note 4 Lollipop Update Review - 1

If you’re at all familiar with the Galaxy Note series then you’d know that Samsung typically announces its new Galaxy Note at IFA. For those of you not familiar, IFA is a massive trade show that takes place every year in Berlin, Germany. The five Galaxy Note flagships in existence (Galaxy Note, Note 2, Note 3, Note 4, Note Edge) were all announced on stage around the start of IFA.

IFA 2015 kicks off on September 4th which means that September 1st-4th are the dates you should be circling in pencil on your calendar. If we had to bet, we’d bet against a release before September.

The important thing to note is that we’re probably still months away from a Galaxy Note 5 release date. It’s still extremely early in the Galaxy Note 5 rumor cycle. Nothing is concrete but we, like many others, aren’t expecting a release until September or October. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are two of the best phones on the market. We don’t envy those of you struggling with this decision.

Carriers

In the United States, the Samsung Galaxy S6 is available on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon, Cricket, Boost, and MetroPCS. The Galaxy S6 Edge is limited to AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon. If Samsung follows its usual release pattern, the Galaxy Note 5 carriers could match the Galaxy S6 Edge carriers.

A recent report from SamMobile outlines some potential Galaxy Note 5 release details. The publication claims that he Galaxy Note 5 is known internally as Project Noble. Samsung is well known for using codenames behind the scenes. The Samsung Galaxy S6, for instance, was known internally as Project Zero.

Galaxy S6 Tips - 1

The site says that Samsung will use model number SM-N920F for the international version of the Galaxy Note 5. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 model number is SM-N910x which makes the jump to SM-N920x a logical one. The leak also outlines several other model numbers including those for the Verizon Galaxy Note 5 and AT&T Galaxy Note 5.

  • Galaxy Note 5 – SM-N920F EUR XX (Europe)
  • Galaxy Note 5 – SM-N920S KOR SKC (Korea)
  • Galaxy Note 5 – SM-N920K KOR KTC (Korea)
  • Galaxy Note 5 – SM-N920A NA ATT (AT&T)
  • Galaxy Note 5 – SM-N920V NA VZW (Verizon)

This all but confirms a Galaxy Note 5 release for the top two carriers in the United States and it also suggests that the Galaxy Note 5 will be coming to at least two other key markets, Europe and Korea.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge displays are, in a word, stunning. Samsung’s AMOLED panels are two of the best available right now though they could see the Galaxy Note 5 display challenge their supremacy.

The curved Galaxy S6 Edge display looks cool and adds a few features.

The curved Galaxy S6 Edge display looks cool and adds a few features.

Current Samsung Galaxy Note 5 display rumors suggest that we could see Samsung leap forward. Samsung will reportedly start production on a 6-inch Ultra HD display at 700+ pixels per inch in the near future. If it’s able to get the panel ready in time for the fall, it could mean a shift from Quad HD resolution to UHD. UHD delivers 2160 x 3840 resolution.

A recent report from PhoneArena, citing slides from Samsung’s Analyst Day event, suggests that Samsung is at least considering 2160 × 3840 pixel resolution for the Galaxy Note 5 display. The company is rumored to be throwing around a 5.89-inch display for both a flat and “Edge” Galaxy Note 5 model. The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge both employ 5.1-inch displays which means that the Galaxy Note 5 display could be significantly larger.

The Korea Herald suggests that Samsung is at least considering the Galaxy S6 Edge’s dual-edge display technology for the Galaxy Note series. The report cites Roh Tae-moon, executive vice president of Samsung’s product strategy team who notes that “there is a possibility that Samsung will introduce the curved display for the Galaxy Note lineup.” The Galaxy Note Edge only features one curve though the display can do more than the Galaxy S6 Edge’s display.

In addition to new software there is an improved fingerprint sensor to unlock the Galaxy S6 Edge.

Need more evidence? A report from China suggests that Samsung will indeed be using a flexible display on the Galaxy Note 5. In addition, an old report from Korean publication Ledwn, which accurately predicted the Galaxy S6 Edge, claims that Samsung will be putting a flexible display on the Galaxy Note 5. Samsung’s not ditching the curves anytime soon.

Design

A new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 concept is making the rounds and while it’s gorgeous to look at, the design doesn’t come from Samsung itself. Samsung is well known for keeping its designs under lock and key. And because we’re still early in the rumor cycle, we haven’t heard much about the Galaxy Note 5 design. Here’s what we know right now.

Galaxy Note 5 concept.

Galaxy Note 5 concept.

We know that Samsung made a huge jump this year with the Galaxy S6. The two models come with a new design language that features glass and metal as opposed to metal and plastic like the Galaxy Note 4. It’s a huge shift but it does come with some tradeoffs, namely, the lack a microSD card slot and non-removable battery.

We can’t see Samsung shifting back to plastic designs now that it has finally taken this step and Samsung executives have seemingly confirmed that notion well ahead of the Galaxy Note 5 release.

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In recent comments made to Pocket-lint, Samsung UK’s vice president for mobile and IT Conor Pierce produced some interesting quotes that hint at what we could see from the Galaxy Note 5 and its design.

The company realised that it needed to do something different. We asked questions of people, what do they want? They want premium design, tick that box. They want the best camera, there you go. They want to solve battery issues. And they want choice. So I’m very confident that [the S6 and edge] materialised from what people want.

We’ve learned that bringing beautiful, premium innovations in design is what people want. I think the market needs this as well because the market has been very saturated.

I think it’s about us breaking new ground. It was a bold move to try to do something different, but if you go back to last year, we had the Note edge and you could see how well that was received. So we understand that this is what people want. They are looking for some inspiration, so yes you will see that across our portfolio.

It’s clear that Samsung is very focused on these key areas and Pierce himself suggests that the company’s upcoming products could come with some of these big changes:

What we have noticed is that typically the upgrade cycle is every 24 months because of the contracts, and people are generally offered an upgrade around six months before that.

That’s when they start to look at the phones on the market. So it’s very important that we don’t just do our best work in this current quarter. People don’t just turn up in this quarter, or July, August or September, looking for a new phone, it’s all year round.

I think the fact that we managed to deliver a new form factor with the Note, create a new category, shows the ambition to keep changing and keep innovating. Samsung puts $40 million a day into research and development, which is a massive injection of money into R&D.

It’s a lot to digest but what’s clear is that Samsung is not planning to dumb down its flagships. If anything, we could see the Galaxy Note 5 take a step up from the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge and take a seat at the table next to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.

Processor

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor. However, Samsung’s Galaxy S6 doesn’t feature Qualcomm chips. Instead, they come with Samsung’s Exynos 7 octa-core chip. This is a significant change from past Galaxy Note and Galaxy S releases which used both Qualcomm and Samsung CPUs.

A report from the hit-or-miss publication Digitimes suggests that Qualcomm is trying to get its Snapdragon chips back into Samsung flagship smartphones. That’s not surprising at all though it’s still not clear if the company will be able to sway Samsung in time for the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 release date.

The Galaxy S6 Edge battery life and performance is good.

The Galaxy S6 Edge battery life and performance is good.

According to a report from Recode “Qualcomm plans to have its next-generation Snapdragon 820 processor manufactured at Samsung’s chip-making plants.” What this means is that the relationship between the two companies, while fractured, isn’t completely broken.

The report claims that “Qualcomm is hoping that the move to use Samsung’s factories will help it win back business for the next Galaxy S flagship” but again, it’s still not clear if it will land in Samsung’s next Galaxy Note flagship.

Either way, expect the Galaxy Note 5 to feature an upgraded processor that helps to deliver better performance and perhaps, better battery life as well. That will come in handy if Samsung opts to use its new design language with the Galaxy Note 5.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Mikhail (@mikhail)

    05/02/2015 at 11:27 pm

    Android needs twice as much hardware to run its crap.
    …imagine if I can run iOS on my Note 3?
    My Note 3 is a laggy piece of crap, yes sure I will do a system reset… again, stupid Lollypoop… darn, maybe I should get an iPhone?

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