Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is a 2015 flagship that debuted the company’s changed intentions as far as this smartphone category is concerned.
Moving on from the plastic material build that had dominated previous Samsung Galaxy flagships, the Galaxy Note 5 picked up from where the Galaxy S6 had left, coming in with a magnificent glass and metal design that features a premium finish and curvy rear, which makes it easy to hold in one hand.
The good doesn’t end there as the phone goes further to include an impressive display screen that is also roomy enough to let you enjoy a movie, but you might be a little disappointed by the fact that there is no microSD card storage. In essence, this is the only major downside of this phone, even though some are still adamant that the lack of a removable battery is a major let-down.
Considering the woes facing the Galaxy Note 7, it is easy to say the Galaxy Note 5 is the best and most powerful Note that Samsung has ever released. This can be backed by the fact that the phone is also the leading seller in the U.S., well ahead of the iPhone 6S Plus.
Keeping the Note trend, the Galaxy Note 5 has a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED screen with a QHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The resulting images from this screen are super amazing and you will feel like watching from an HDTV. The ever-unique S Pen isn’t missing on the Galaxy Note 5. In fact, the only major addition on the Galaxy Note 7 S Pen’s is IP68 certification, but as for the most part, you should be able to get software updates that enhance the functionality of this pen.
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has an Exynos 7420 octa-core SoC under the hood. This is paired with a RAM of 4GB, similar to what was used on the Galaxy Note 7. However, there is no Snapdragon variant and as noted earlier, you also don’t get a microSD card slot. Still, Samsung took care of this shortage by releasing three storage options of 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB.
In term of cameras, you get a 16MP snapper at the back alongside a 5MP selfie shooter. The back has a dual-tone LED flash, OIS, PDAF as well as all the goodies you expect to find in a flagship phone. The phablet is kept alive by a 3000mAh battery that supports not just fast charging, but also fast wireless charging.
At launch, the Galaxy Note 5 was priced at $700 for the base model of 32GB while the 64GB variant called for about $800. Now that it is about a year old and the Galaxy Note 7 is already out, although, with its own share of problems, you can grab yourself a new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (32GB) for $496.88 via eBay. This is a whole $200 less than the initial price and the given that it’s a new device, there is no better deal. The eBay seller, tropical_mobile, has a rating of 99.9%, but keep in mind that this price tag does not include shipping charges.