Note 4 review: is upgrading worth it?

Samsung's galaxy note 4 really took the industry by storm last year in Q4. Being the fourth instalment to the note line, the note 4 definitely polished and shined over its predecessors flaws.This review will focus on five key things. Design, battery, camera, display, and overall usability.

Design:
From the metal trim around the edges to the faux leather on the back, the note 4 is a legend amongst phablets. The device is slim and is easy to to hold for the most part. The faux leather backing on this device ,was a big downfall for phablet fans when the note 4 was announced, but after slapping a case on it.... it really didn't matter. The phone lays flat in my hand , nearly the same size as the iPhone 6 plus (which is a little bit taller) and one handed usability is something this phone was designed for.

Camera:
The galaxy note 4 host a 16 mega-pixel snapper on the back with optical image stabilization ,which if you know samsung,  you know this is a good camera. Able to shoot up to 2k resolution,  with videos up to 60 fps. I still think the note 4 has one of the best cameras in the industry. Many argue it's better than the latest iphones, of course samsung has improved it's cameras on the s6 and s6 edge ,being the top ranked camera in the smartphone market. Images are clear, and the optical image stabilization really helps when shooting videos. The camera rarely looses focus and even introduced the wide selfie feature, which is great for parties. I'd rate the note 4 a 9/10 on camera quality. There's also a lot of other features in the camera that samsung added in like slow motion recording.

Battery:
Now here is something that may vary between different  users. The note 4 comes with a 3220 mah li-ion battery, and boy can it work. I personally am a heavy user whether I'm browsing the web, shooting videos, watching videos, scheduling, and so on. This phone can do almost anything and sung made sure it had a decent sized battery. With heavy users (like myself) the note 4 won't last a day in your hand, averaging about 5-6 hours of on screen time, Although I bought the zerolemon battery case from amazon and easily got 2 days out of a full charge. With days of lighter use I was able to go almost the full work week without charging! (Kudos to zerolemon). I'd rate the note 4's battery with an 8/10.

Display:
The galaxy note 4 is second in the world ranked for best displays on a smart phone, and yep you guessed it. ... the note 5 is in first place. With a 5.7 inch super amoled display, this device is beautiful. You will easily fall in love with watching movies, playing games, and even reading on this device. It's bright and vivid, with a 1440x2560 resolution and a 515 ppi pixel density. This phone can get bright! I warn people not leave the brightness up if you receive a lot of notifications at night, because when it shines it blinds. Many nights I would receive calls or text in my process of sleeping  (which is usually me laying in bed on my phone till I k.o.) only to be woken by what seems like the sun at first glance. The note 4 easily gets a 10/10 for it's display.

Overall usabillity:
This phone is stacked and packed with features that even I am still discovering on this device. The note 4 come with android 4.4 but will most likely prompt you to upgrade to android lollipop when you first turn it on. The UI is decent in my opinion, it comes with Samsung's touchwiz UI. The note 4 also come with a fingerprint scanner that (with a little tinkering) can become another one of your daily routine task. The scanner isn't as accurate as most newer phones are now being successful 7/10 times on the first try. To be honest a better fingerprint scanner would be one of the few reasons I'd give this phone up. The note 4 can still dance in the ring with a lot of flagship devices recently released. This phone still has one of the best cameras and displays on the market till this day (almost a year later)

Conclusion:
The galaxy note 4 is still a powerhouse device. Being the last "authentic" phablet released by samsung (which the note 5 has taken design cues from apple, as you can see on all of its other devices released this year) it really has some great longevity to it as far as build quality and design. The galaxy note 4 comes with a neat companion on the bottom right side of the phone called the s pen. The s pen has been upgraded and redesigned to feel more like your writing in a notebook or on a post-it note. It really feels comfortable in the hand and the handwriting  recognition is superb. You can use your s pen to make to do list, take a number down quickly or even if you wanted to make a quick sketch or the classic (bored doodling) in which I wasted a lot of time playing with. The note 4 is an amazing all-around daily driver. The only cons I have are it's fingerprint scanner, and sometimes the size. It fits in my hand, but I've noticed that my hand starts to hurt spanning across the back of the device and holding it for short periods of time. Overall this phone still has one of the best camera, display, and battery on the market. Thanks for stopping by for my review and stay tuned for more reviews in the future.