Blog

Now that almost every smartphone comes in a jumbo-sized package, Samsung’s Note isn’t the outlandish monster phone it once was – but it’s still one of the only phablets to truly make the most of all that screen real estate. The S Pen is what sets the Note apart from every other phablet (at least in the U.S.), and each year, Samsung perfects its stylus a little bit more.

With its slick, Galaxy S6-like body and brand-new S Pen, the Galaxy Note 5 is Samsung’s best Note yet. But it could be its last. Samsung seems to be edging away from the Note series – It introduced the Galaxy S6 Edge+ at the same time as the Note 5. The Edge+ offers all the same specs in a nearly identical package, minus the S Pen. The unasked question seems to be: Just how important is the stylus to the phablet?

We’re about to find out. Samsung will undoubtedly analyze sales figures to discover which unique tool customers prefer: a curved edge or a stylus. After a quick hands on with both devices, we found ourselves decidedly with the trusty Note. Here are our first impressions of Samsung’s finest phablet.

Curved glass body and metal edges feel slick

Samsung’s Note has finally grown up – It’s done playing with pleather, imitating band-aides, and shining cheaply in plastic. The Note 5 is a stunner – just like the Galaxy S6. Its metal frame gleams subtly, and the glass back glows like a pearl. There’s a slight curve to the glass backs edges that makes the massive 5.7-inch phablet more comfortable to hold than every other Note before it.

Only the edges curve in, though, so it’s not a fully curved back like the Moto X or LG G4. The curved edges also give the otherwise slippery phone some grip, so you don’t feel as though it’s going to slip through your fingers and shatter on the floor. Its buttons are sturdy and well placed along the metal frame as well. From the side, it’s easy to mistake it for an iPhone or the Galaxy S6, and that’s a good thing.

The glass back is not without its downsides. It’s slippery, so you’ll probably want a case for protection. Also, no matter how strong the glass, it could easily shatter if you’re a butterfingers. Speaking of fingers, glass also happens to be a huge fingerprint magnet. If you want your phone to be fingerprint-free, you’ll have to wipe it off every time you use it.

This S Pen is Samsung’s best yet

The S Pen stylus nestles into a cutout in the metal frame along the bottom of the Note 5. The S Pen itself has a nifty little eject button on the end, so popping it out is easy. The stylus is as sleek as the phone with a nice shiny cap (for lack of a better term) and its very own clicky button. Clicking the button doesn’t seem to actually do anything, but if you’re a notorious pen clicker, the S Pen’s new clickity clacking will give you so much pleasure.

As soon as you pop the stylus out, you can use it – even if the screen is off. It’s the best brand-new feature Samsung came up with for the S Pen this year. It eliminates several steps that used to impede the natural writing experience with the stylus. You no longer have to turn your screen on, unlock your phone, pull out the S Pen, wait for the app to pop up, and then start writing. You simply whip the stylus out and get writing or drawing right away on the fresh, black screen.

Another superb new feature is the Scroll Capture option, though it’s harder to activate. When you’re reading an article online or checking directions that you want to save for offline viewing later on, you can save it as a scroll capture. You simply use the screenshot option in the Air Command menu, and take a screen capture. The option for a scroll capture will pop up afterward, and then you can select the capture moreoption until everything you want has been saved. The software stiches your screen grabs together into a single continuous scrolling screenshot.

Other new features include the ability to mark up PDFs, write on the screen, and a new scrapbook with topical folders that should make it easier to find the clipping you’re looking for.

Malarie Gokey/Digital Trends

Samsung also improved the Air Command menu, so now it blurs out the screen to better show you your app options, which are customizable. Once you’ve made your selection, everything goes back to normal. A little bubble with a pen in it will float along the home screen while the S Pen is out, too, and a simple tap on it brings up the Air Command Menu again. You can move the bubble around or remove it if you hate it. It’s very useful for those who like to use the S Pen as much as I do.

If you haven’t guessed, the S Pen is one of my favorite things about Samsung’s Note series. It’s a genius addition to the phablet, and it turns the Note into something more than a phone. The Note can be a sketchbook, a scrapbook, a canvas, and yes, a notepad. It’s a versatile tool that makes the Note stand out in the overcrowded sea of phablets these days.

Meanwhile, the curved edge on the S6, the S6 Edge Plus is much less useful. If Samsung has to hedge its bets in the phablet category, we’d rather it stuck with the Note and left the curved edges to the flagship S series.

Specs are super high-end

As is the case with most high-spec smartphones these days, the specs are actually the least interesting and unique part of the phone. Even so, the Note 5 is chock full of impressive numbers, from its 5.7-inch Quad HD screen (2,560 x 1,440 pixels), to its octa-core Exynos processor and 4GB of RAM. Samsung offers both 32GB and 64GB versions of the Note 5, so you won’t have to worry too much about storage – unless you’re a real hog.

The 3,000mAh battery charges wirelessly on both of the popular standards and quickly – Samsung says it can charge just as fast wirelessly as the Galaxy S6, even though it’s a much bigger phone. Obviously, we can’t comment on the speed at which it charges or the battery life yet, but we’ll keep you updated.

Malarie Gokey/Digital Trends

Samsung popped a fingerprint sensor on the home button for added security andmobile payments (more on that later). With a single press, you’re in the phone, which is much nicer than the swiping you used to have to do to unlock Samsung phones with fingerprint sensors before the Galaxy S6 launched.

The 16-megapixel camera on the back of the Note 5 should take great photos, based on the performance of the Galaxy S6’s camera. Of course, we’ll need to do more testing to know for sure. The 5-megapixel shooter on the front has become more or less the standard on Android phones these days, thanks to the selfie craze. Anyone coming from an older phone or an iPhone will certainly notice the difference in quality.

We haven’t mentioned it yet, but built in live broadcasting via YouTube is also a fun new feature, allowing you to broadcast video without downloading an app.

Samsung Pay will be a game changer

The most intriguing thing about the Galaxy Note 5 is a feature that isn’t yet available: Samsung Pay. The mobile payment service is truly like no other. Inside the Note 5 is a special coil that mimics a magnetic strip on a credit or debit card using MST technology. This special coil allows Note 5 users to make mobile payments at almost any terminal – even if it doesn’t have NFC wireless payments built into it. Samsung boasted about the technology back at Mobile World Congress when it debuted the S6, but we finally got to see a demo of it, and came away impressed.

How it works: A simple swipe up from the bottom of the screen brings up your credit cards. You choose a card, pop your finger on the fingerprint sensor, hover your phone when you’d normally swipe your card, and you’ve paid. It seems almost as effortless as Apple Pay, and it has the advantage of working nearly everywhere (except your bank, ATM, and some places where you usually have to insert your card, not swipe it).

Samsung is aiming for a “fall” launch, has already tested it in South Korea, and will bring it to the United for testing soon. Once Samsung Pay is live, it’ll be a killer feature on the Note 5, the S6, the S6 Edge, and the S6 Edge Plus.

Conclusion

There are several aspects of the Note 5 that bear further scrutiny, but based on our first interaction with the device, Samsung is still the king of phablets. The S Pen is the Note 5’s killer feature, and the main thing that sets it apart from other big phones like the LG G4, iPhone 6 Plus, and Moto X.