There’s no other way to start this hands-on review other than with a little bit of disappointment: the Note 5 is not coming to the UK for the time being. Yes, you read that correctly, we’re not going to get the Note 5 and, if you want a large-screen Samsung handset this year, you’ll have to stick with the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus instead.
Taking to the stage at the unpacked event in London, Samsung executives made no mention of the Note 5, which suggests that there are no plans to bring the phone to the UK at all. That's a bit of a shame, as it's the Note range that got people excited by tablets, while the stylus control is a point of difference between this range and every other smartphone. That's not to say that the Note 5 won't be available on grey import, as we can imagine that there's significant interest in it. With that in mind, here are my first impressions on the phone, so you can work out if you're interested in trying to get hold of one. You can also read my Note 5 vs Note 4 comparison guide to find out if the older handset is still worth buying.
Build quality
It’s a shame that we’re not getting the Note 5 at the moment, as the build quality has been dramatically improved since the excellent Galaxy Note 4. Rather than the plastic rear, Samsung has used a glass back and front, complete with a metal chassis. In many ways, the Galaxy Note 5 is the larger version of the Galaxy S6, just as the S6 Edge Plus is the larger version of the S6 Edge.
While it’s the Edge handsets that have really attracted my attention, I can’t complain about the build quality of the Note 5. It looks great and feels tough and well made. Although it has a large 5.7in screen, the handset is smaller than the 5.5in iPhone 6 Plus.
Display
There’s little difference in the screen between the Note 4 and the Note 5, with both having a 5.7in 2,560x1,440 resolution display. This gives a pixel density of 518ppi. While this isn’t the highest pixel density of any handset, I found that the screen was plenty sharp enough and had plenty of detail. As it’s one of Samsung’s Super AMOLED displays, image quality looked excellent; I can’t wait to get a final sample to find out how the screen stacks up in the Expert Reviews labs.
S-Pen
As with previous Note handsets, the Note 5 has an S-Pen integrated neatly into the chassis. This new pen follows the style of the new handset and feels exceptionally well made. It’s also extremely comfortable to hold and to use to write on the screen. My only thoughts, as to why the Note 5 isn’t coming to the UK, is that the S-Pen could be an underused accessory in this country.
Performance
At the heart of the smartphone is the Samsung Exynos 7420 SoC, which has a high-power 2.1GHz quad-core CPU for when the phone needs to perform powerful tasks, and a battery-saving 1.5GHz quad-core CPU. It’s the same chip as used in the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, as well as the new S6 Edge Plus. The Expert Reviews benchmarks showed that the S6 Edge Plus had better performance than the S6, which is likely down to better thermals in the Edge model; it’ll be interesting to see how the Note 5 performs.
Battery
Samsung has fitted a 3,000mAh battery into the phone, which is slightly smaller than the 3,220mAh battery in the Note 4. However, the more efficient processor should help boost battery life, which means that I’m expecting this phone to last the same amount of time as the Note 4: around 19h in our video playback test.
This model doesn’t have a replaceable battery, which is going to annoy quite a few Samsung owners. I can understand the reason why, and the better build quality largely makes up for it. Throw in faster charging, even when using the wireless charger, and the lack of a replaceable battery if only really going to affect people who spend a long time away from a power socket.
Storage
There’s no microSD card slot, so you have to make do with the storage on the phone. Samsung has told me that the Note 5 will ship in 32GB and 64GB versions, which should be enough storage for most people, although a 128GB version would have been nice.
Camera
A 16-megapixel rear camera is pretty standard for Samsung, although the model in the Note 5 uses the company’s new sensor with 1um pixels. In effect, Samsung claims to have built a smaller sensor, which has the performance of a larger sensor. I didn't have the opportunity to take any test shots, so will have to wait until the review sample is available to pass judgement.
Samsung Pay
Samsung Pay is fully supported on the Note 5, which means that you’ll be able to use it to pay for goods in-store without having to pull your wallet out. It works in a very similar way to Apple Pay, although it will also work with terminals that don’t have contactless pay. Until the service launches in the UK we won’t know the transaction limits or how many banks support it.
Release date and price
Samsung hasn't released any pricing information for the Galaxy Note 5, although as it's not coming to the UK at the moment that doesn't really make much difference. If Samsung keeps the same pricing structure as for the Note 4, we'd expect the new phone to cost around £600. Should the phone come to the UK, we'll bring you more details.
Conclusion
It’s hard to say much about a handset that, currently, isn’t going to come to the UK. To my mind, it’s a shame, as the Note 5 is something quite different to other smartphones. Its S-Pen gives you a different way of interacting with the handset and it’s a shame to lose something so different from UK shelves. At the moment, all we can do is admire it from a distance. Those looking for a larger-screen Android phone will have to check out the S6 Edge Plus instead.
