Samsung Galaxy Note 5

Unboxing

Samsung Galaxy Note5 unsurprisingly features a retail box with the same design as that of Samsung Galaxy S6. Its contents include the handset, wall charger, microUSB cable, stereo headset, and replacement tips for the S Pen.
As far as basic accessory needs go, the Note5 has you covered right out of the box. Samsung is offering a range of optional accessories for the flagship phablet.
The hardware keyboard case is arguably the coolest accessory averrable for the Note5. It covers the bottom quarter of the display, but the UI adjusts accordingly, so you don't need to remove it to access the dialer, for example.
You also get hardware Task switcher/Home/Back buttons, since the ones underneath are inaccessible. When you don't need the keyboard, you can simply snap it on the back of the case and continue in full screen mode.

Samsung Galaxy Note5 360-degree spin

The Samsung Galaxy Note5 is undoubtedly a big device. It measures 153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6 mm and weighs 171 grams making it shorter, narrower, thinner and lighter than its predecessor Galaxy Note 4 all the while retaining the 5.7" display.

Design and build quality

Samsung Galaxy Note5 features the design language that debuted alongside the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, dominated by a decidedly premium fusion of metal and glass. The most distinctive design feature in the phablet is its back, which is curved towards the edges - a unique touch in a Samsung device for the time being.
There is no denying that Samsung Galaxy Note5 is the best looking member of the product family to date. The handset finally looks as premium as its price tag and industry reputation require, yet it cannot be mistaken for anything other than a Samsung Galaxy Note.
Samsung Galaxy Note5 will be available in four colors - Black Sapphire, White Pearl, Gold Platinum and the newly introduced Silver Titanium. It is worth noting that color availability will vary by markets.
Build quality of the Samsung Galaxy Note5 is exceptional. The handset is a crafted entirely from metal and Corning Gorilla Glass 4, so it will stand up even to the demands of the heaviest power user.
The only downside of having a smartphone made of glass is that the material might be prone to cracking in an accidental drop. A protective case is therefore highly recommended.
With physical measures of 153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6 mm, Samsung Galaxy Note5 is considerably more compact than Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5 mm). The 2.5mm difference in width between the two devices is particularly impressive - it makes the new Note feel considerably more compact than its predecessor despite packing a screen with the same size.
At 171 grams, the new Note is also lighter than last year's model despite utilizing more premium materials. All in all, the handset is a massive improvement over the outgoing model in terms of physical measures.
Samsung Galaxy Note5 is quite possibly the easiest device with a 5.7" display to handle thanks to its fairly compact measures, which allow many common tasks to be performed with one hand. Users with small hands however, might find the device a tad slippery without a case.
The tactility of the smartphone is superb thanks to the premium materials used in its making. However, the same materials make the Note5 prone to smudges.

Display

Samsung Galaxy Note5 comes with a 5.7" Super AMOLED display with QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution, which results in a pixel density of 518ppi. The diagonal sweet spot was already established with the Note 3 and for third generation in a row it has remained unchanged.
The Galaxy Note family has always boasted some of the best displays in the business and the tradition continues with the latest iteration. Alongside the usual infinite contrast, the screen boasts accurate colors (you can still make them saturated in the settings), as well as top notch brightness and viewing angles.
Viewing angles are great though you might see a minor blue/green tint at steeper angles (it's not uncommon with OLEDs).
If you boost the brightness slider you can reach the brightness levels of a good LCD. Keep in mind that in very bright conditions the auto brightness mode can push the screen brightness up to 620nits along with the screen contrast and color saturation. This alone makes it the brightest SuperAMOLED display by Samsung that we've tested – brighter than even the S6 edge+.
These sorts of brightness levels can be easily beaten by the competing smartphones with LCD screens, but the amazingly low reflectivity of Samsung's SuperAMOLED displays means you can keep the brightness slider down even in bright sunlight conditions and still enjoy legible screen contents.
The Screen mode setting allows you to choose a color temperature, contrast and saturation preset that best matches your preferences. We found the Basic setting to provide the most accurate colors (average DeltaE 2000 of 2.5 is at the level of calibrated display), though with this mode you might find the screen image to lack some contrasty punch.
If the screen looks too bland to your taste at Basic mode, we suggest you go for the AMOLED photo mode, which is still acceptably color accurate (average DeltaE 2000 of 5) but it boosts the contrast along with the saturation of some individual colors such as the greens or the magentas. The AMOLED video mode pushes colors even further and so does the Adaptive display mode, so it would be up to your personal preference which one you would use.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Samsung Galaxy Note5	0.000	183	∞	-	439	∞
Samsung Galaxy Note5 max auto	-	-	-	-	620	-
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+	0.000	172	∞	-	410	∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ max auto	-	-	-	-	540	-
Apple iPhone 6 Plus	0.17	208	1197	0.52	705	1361
Motorola Nexus 6	0	149	∞	0	372	∞
Samsung Galaxy Note 4	0	291	∞	0	399	∞
Samsung Galaxy S6	0	208	∞	0	473	∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge	0.000	208	∞	0.000	473	∞

Sunlight legibility is excellent too. Samsung has once again tuned the display to go above the brightness level that's available to the user when in bright environment. The feature allows you to read your email even under direct sunlight.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Overall, Samsung Galaxy Note5 deserves high marks for its design and build quality, as well as for its handling. The 5.7" QHD on the other hand, will once again be a measuring stick in its segment.

Controls

Above the display is where the earpiece resides, accompanied by an ambient light and a proximity sensor. The 5MP front-facing unit completes the setup.
Samsung's signature home button sits below the screen of the Note5 - it packs a fingerprint sensor and is surrounded by a metal ring. A duo of capacitive keys flank the button as always.
The volume control buttons of the phablet sit on its left side. Its power/lock key is placed on the right.
The top of the Note5 is home to the nano-SIM card slot and a secondary microphone for active noise canceling. There is no IR port this time around.
The bottom of the smartphone features similar layout as Samsung Galaxy S6, save for the S Pen slot. The device's loudspeaker, its 3.5mm audio jack, and its microUSB port are all located there.
Samsung Galaxy Note5's back is where the slightly protruding 16MP camera sensor can be found. The handset's heart rate sensor and LED flash sit on the right side of the camera.

S Pen

Samsung Galaxy Note5 features a brand new S Pen that's once again an improvement over last year's solution. The stylus utilizes a new release mechanism which requires a user to click its top before taking it out, thus eliminating the possibility of accidentally removing it.
The signature side button is once again present on the S Pen. Curiously, Samsung has opted for the smooth texture on the stylus, thus making it more slippery than its predecessors.
We really wish that the clickable top of the S Pen offered additional functionality. For the time being it can only act as a release mechanism and an occasional clicky stress reliever.

Battery life

This is arguably the part of the review that we were most curious about. As you probably know by now, Samsung equipped the Galaxy Note5 with a non-removable 3,000mAh Li-Po battery that's smaller than the swappable 3,220mAh Li-Ion battery found in last year's Galaxy Note 4.
As it turns out, despite its smaller battery, the Samsung Galaxy Note5 pulled off almost the same result as its predecessor in our battery test. The newcomer achieved an endurance rating of 85 hours, which means it will easily make it through three full days if you use it for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily.
Samsung’s quick charger can top up the battery in less than 90 minutes from empty, so it is incredibly convenient to use. Wireless charging, on the other hand is so fast and so liberating, that there'll be no turning back. You're fully charged in just 120 minutes.
As always, there are two battery saving modes available to the user - Power Saving and Ultra Power Saving. The latter turns off all, but the most crucial phone features and allows the phablet to last for hours with single percentage digits of battery left.
Combined with the plethora of options to rapidly charge the phablet, we reckon that the battery endurance of Samsung Galaxy Note5 should be good enough for even a seasoned power user. Yes, a removable battery would have been a great thing to have, but we find the sleek metal/glass body of the Note5 to be a fair tradeoff.
You can also always get an external powerbank as these accessories are at their cheapest now.

Connectivity

Samsung Galaxy Note5 packs a kitchen sink full of connectivity options, headed by Cat. 9 LTE connectivity with support for download speeds of up to 450 MB/s. If you have access to an HSPA network only, you'll get a maximum download speed of 42Mbps.
Samsung Galaxy Note5 supports Wi-Fi ac networks for fast local networking. Wi-Fi a/b/g/n at 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks are also supported, of course.
Then there's Bluetooth 4.2 LE with apt-X codec support (for high-quality audio streaming). Wired connectivity takes place over microUSB 2.0 port.
The USB has MHL 3.0 functionality, which allows it to output 2160p video at 30fps, coincidentally the top mode for the camera. The port also supports USB HID devices, like a keyboard and a mouse.
There is also NFC, which is used for Samsung Pay, which lets the Note5 replace the credit cards in your wallet. It's also used for pairing with other devices and reading NFC tags as well.
Oddly, Samsung opted to leave the IR blaster off the Galaxy Note5, so remote controlling your home appliances is a no-go this time around.