[custom:ifa2014] We're out at IFA 2014 where Samsung's announced their latest and greatest: the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. And as we're wont to do, we wanted to compare it to some of the most popular devices on the market today, which, of course, includes the iPhone 5s. Sure, the iPhone 6 is due out in a week's time, but that's never stopped us before. By the time the Note 4 hits the market, it will be contending with Apple's latest and likely biggest, but there's still a lot to compare here, and two very different takes on the smartphone.
The Note 4 does borrow somewhat from the iPhone 5's industrial design, bringing a beveled metal band around the edge to the Samsung party (just like the lesser Samsung Galaxy Alpha before it. Though in this case it drastically ramps up the resolution with a 5.7-inch 1440 x 2560 QHD display clocking in at 515ppi. It somewhat shames the Retina display iPhones with their 326ppi. The iPhone 6 may well have a denser display to rival the quality of these, but for now it's just not quite as dense. There is, of course, the LCD iPhone vs. AMOLED Samsung comparison to be made as well.
Question is, how does a 4.7-inch of 5.5-inch iPhone 6 compare to the eventual release of the 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 4?
Reader comments
Galaxy Note 4 versus iPhone 5s: Quick Comparison
And again iPhone is TOO SMALL!!!!!
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Looks like a great phone.
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Just wasted 1:53 mins in watching an year old device comparison with a latest device.
Well you knew you were wasting it by clicking on the damn video, right? What a surprise to you!
OMG! What an eye-opener for me! Just read the subject of this thread.. my bad.
So. Many. Typos.
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The main difference is: you look like a d¡ck holding the giant Samsung up to your stupid head when talking on the phone. That, and most people don't want to carry a frigging backpack just to hold their phone.
Dear GraphicMac, we're pleased to inform you that your 'smaller is always better ftw' Nokia 8210 is now ready for collection, so you can now stop looking ridiculous by holding that giant iPhone up to your head. Yours sincerely, the 1990s.
What will he look like holding a giant i-Phone to his ear? Apple is making a 5.5 inch phone. Think about it. I own both the Note 3 and the iPhone 5S.
He would look like an idiot, just like he would with the Note.
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Then don't stand in front of a mirror when making calls on your Note. Problem solved!
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Let's say that you have a screen where your eyes cannot see anything finer. Now double the resolution. The result? Half the information is lost.
Let's say that your ears have an upper limit on the pitch it can hear. Now have speakers that can produce double that frequency. What's the point if you can't hear it?
Once specs go beyond perception they are not only pointless but wasteful in power and processor cycles. It is about the experience, not pointless specs.
You've obviously have never held these 2k displays in person because I can assure you the difference between the iPhone these are definitely noticeable. Maybe when the iPhone 6 is released it won't be, but for now this "Half the information is lost" business simply isn't true.
It has to be true. That Apple's definition of "retina" is wrong might be the case. If you can't see it because you cannot discern anything that fine, then detail is lost lost on you. In other words, if you can not see it then it might as well not be there.
I did not say one display was superior to another. I said that once you go beyond what you can perceive it no longer matters. Comparing a larger screen with a smaller screen carries its own weirdnesses. If a screen does not display all the pixels, and the iPhone does not have enough pixels for 1080p, then information is lost in a different way.
I don't get where you think I have or have not seen something. I stated a simple point and said nothing about a specific device. You project that on me.
I only replied within the given context and since this post was referring to the Note 4 and the iPhone 5s it was safe to assume that when you brought up the "double the resolution" you were referring to the 2k display of the Note 4 and those alike. Since I have this same display on my Samsung tablet and I've had an iPhone 5, I was telling you the difference is definitely there and nothing is lost.
Maybe Apple's definition is the thing at fault here or rather the interpretation of what Apple meant, but that's because every human has a different perception. Some eyes like my own can definitely see the drastic difference and so can some reviewers. As with you, I wasn't inferring either display were superior just that the display of the Note 4's would definitely be noticed.
You will see it, in the text, while watching videos, while viewing pictures, surfing the net, and in unoptimized games. Basically, you'll see it even if you try not to. Sure I can't see individual pixels after the "retina" area, but the sharpness and clarity that comes with the higher density is very apparent.
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Yeah. I do find the iPhone 5 form factor to be too small for things like surfing the internet unless there is a mobile rendering of a site. I have an iPad Air for that. The iPhone has many good uses but in its present form it certainly has limitations and strengths. Portability and integration with my other devices is a powerful strength. And the screen is sharp enough to satisfy me. Adjusting the resolution for "retina" is simply a matter of adjusting the viewing distance. While the iPhone is indeed too small for my general video-watching preference, I can sit and watch my 55" TV set from the closest recommended distance of 4X the height of the screen and hold my iPhone at a distance where it and the TV set are the same subjective size. But that is an uncomfortably close distance for the iPhone to be.
It is interesting, the function of distance from the device vs resolution for a retina experience. Arguably every monitor is "retina" if you move far enough away from it. The real question is, then, what is a comfortable viewing distance for a particular device? The rule of thumb according to Sony is that to take in the entire screen while watching video to minimize fatigue and to have an immersive experience that distance should be 4-7 times the height of the screen. With my desktop computer I am remarkably closer than that, but my focus is not normally on everything on the screen all at once. So use case also falls into the mix for personal preference. I rarely watch video on my iPhone and not all that often on my iPad. The TV set is best for me personally there.
I do think I would like a larger iPhone. I don't care if the resolution is increased as the text on the current model is plenty sharp for me and for that matter pictures and video are generally very forgiving in lower resolutions; indeed, most videos are not in 1080p let alone 4K. Old Star Trek episodes do not benefit from super-sharp displays.
I've own a nexus 10 (2K screen) and to be honest, regardless the amount of pixels what matters more is the calibration of the screen and Samsung takes it away in its galaxy series (LCD, not so much in nexus 10 but I still like it). Our eyes can't distinguish after the screen reaches pixel density rendering it hard for the naked eye to count pixels. After that point calibration of the screens are crucial. AMOLEDs are beautiful but the IPS destroys it outdoors. Love the Samsung screens but just not outdoors :)
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I do think that the emphasis on screen resolution on these phones is misplaced given that it has a cost to battery life and is inevitably leading to tradeoffs on other features/specifications/price. With that said, there is one place in particular where you should notice benefits of higher resolution - reading text. Anyone that likes to sit and read the occasional news article (or, perhaps, more frequent/intense reading) will enjoy the super-duper-high resolution.
PLEASE let the iPhone 6 have a bigger screen!!!
Thanks for the comparison photos.
How about another comparison.. Last years ford mustang and a truck.
I agree. Lets compare a phablet that was introduced today to a phone released just about a year ago. Why not wait a week and compare the Note 4 to the iPhone 6? A little more apples to apples or we can just do this crappy comparison. People who don't get the Note 4 are going to look at the 5s. /s
To be fair, a comparison to the Note 3 would have been awfully similar. This is just more timely as it gives some perspective on the possible comparative size of the iPhone 6 maxi.
iSupport America. iSupport Apple.
Cool story, bro, I support Google....
You know, that company that made the first smartphone made 100% in the US.
If you're talking about the Moto X, it was merely "assembled" in the USA, not "100% made" in the USA. There is a difference.
Ok, ok, wrong terminology....
It's still a more "american" phone than the iPhone.
And now Lenovo is closing that plant in TX, so, so much for assembled in America. It's too bad.
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What was the point of this article?
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That's 5.7"? Gotta say it doesn't look THAT ridiculous next to the 4" 5s. I'm really starting to lean towards the 5.5" iPhone 6 over the 4.7" model.
Apple might keep the home button the way it is and therefore make the phone a lot bigger.
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Given how much they invested in TouchID, I don't see the home button changing at all
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