Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs. Galaxy Note 4 – 6 Major Reasons to Upgrade

There are masses out there who still don the 2014 Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and not so many of them are even considering a jump to a newer device.

Like any other Galaxy device released a few years ago, the Note 4 had its own flaws, but most importantly, it is basically the last Note handset to feature real power in the shape of a microSD card slot, removable battery as well as an IR blaster. Flash forward 2016 and the Galaxy Note 7 has even bettered what is on offer with respect to the Note 4. Between the two you find a Galaxy Note 5. Even though it was voted the best smartphone in the U.S. a few months ago, it lacked in some aspects, namely removable battery, reduced battery capacity and no microSD card support. It also came out without the IR blaster, but worse off, those in Europe couldn’t get their hands on this handset.

If you are still holding onto your Galaxy Note 4 for the sake of the IR blaster, you might be a little disappointed. Still, there are quite a number of good reasons that should you make you want to finally make the move. Here are the best seven so far.

Reduced bloatware

One of the major reasons why Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is still a favorite device for many is because it carried capable hardware that still performs to the highest level in today’s environment. However, the only issue that affected the handset’s performance was its laggy software that stems from the heavily customized TouchWiz.

With many customers showing their frustrations with the huge bloatware the skin added to the Note 4, Samsung worked hard to trim the same UI with respect to the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge as well as Galaxy Note 5. As for the Galaxy Note 7, it only gets better as the TouchWiz is much lighter than before, which means the phone should be as fast as lightning when it comes to performance, much far ahead of the Note 4.

World-class cameras

The Galaxy Note 4 has great photography, but the Galaxy Note 7 promises the greatest photography you can find on any smartphone at the moment. This carries on from the title already held by the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge as Samsung has retained the same 12MP DualPixel snapper on the back and a 5MP sensor on the front. Both sensors have an aperture of f/1.7, which means better photos when in poor lighting.

As for the Galaxy Note 4, there is a 16MP snapper on the back with f/2.2 aperture while the selfie cam has a 3.7MP sensor with f/1.9 aperture. Both units’ rear cameras have OIS and LED flash.

Iris scanner

This is a feature that will attract any smartphone user, be it from Android or iOS. With this feature, those on the Galaxy Note 7 will be able to unlock their devices as well as authenticate online transactions using an iris scan, similar to the way the same can be done using a fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy Note 4. Still, you get to use the fingerprint scanner on the Note 7 if that is your preference, but Samsung says that the new feature is more secure than what the former offers.

The good thing is that this iris scanning technology will also support other non-Samsung apps as long as the developers build in these capabilities.

Water resistance

Samsung kept the IP68 certification of the Galaxy S7 as far as the Galaxy Note 7 is concerned. This means the phone can survive up to 30 minutes in water that is about 1.5 meters deep. Of course, you won’t be needing this feature on a day-to-day basis, but you don’t have to be scared of raindrops or even receiving a call when in the shower. As for those with the Galaxy Note 4, stay away from water, unless you want to leave behind your phone for a new Galaxy Note 7.

The S Pen stylus also gets the same water resistance capabilities. This allows it to be used underwater as well, just like the Note 7.

Newer hardware and longer battery life

The Galaxy Note 4 was once the flagship handset from Samsung, meaning it also got flagship hardware back then. As for now, the Galaxy Note 7 is the flagship handset from the same OEM, which also means it packs the latest flagship hardware specs. With this in mind, expect the Galaxy Note 7 to outperform the Galaxy Note 4 in terms of hardware specs.

In comparison, the Note 4 has a Snapdragon 805 or Exynos 5433 SoC that is paired with a RAM of 3GB. There is an expandable storage of 32GB, with the microSD card slot able to carry up to 256GB. On the other hand, you get a newer Snapdragon 820 or Exynos 8890 SoC on the latest Galaxy Note 7, which is paired with a RAM of 4GB. You also get 64GB of onboard storage on the Note 7, with the same microSD card storage capability.

As noted earlier, the Galaxy Note 4 is the last Note to come with a removable battery. The unit was also sizeable at 3220mAh, but you get a non-removable unit on the Galaxy Note 7, which is also slightly larger at 3500mAh. You will still get fast charging on both handsets.

A better S Pen stylus

The Galaxy Note 7 has a highly enhanced S Pen stylus when compared to the Note 4. Apparently, the former can recognize up to 4096 pressure levels as opposed to the latter’s 1024 levels. What this means is that you will get more accurate with the Note 7’s stylus as compared to the Note 4.

There are also some nifty additions to the new S Pen stylus. These include the ability to magnify sections of the screen or text as well as get quick translations of content by simply hovering the stylus over your target area. Screen off memo has been taken to the next level where it can now be accessed even when the device is in the Always-On mode.