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Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs Galaxy Note 3 - Comparison

What kind of WiFi router are you using at home? Sometimes those routers are the actual culprit, not the device.

It could be older firmware on the router, or the IP scheme is not set up properly, so you get devices kicked off at different points. If the router is 3 years old or older, and you've never done a firmware update, I would check into that as a possibility as well.

I had a hard time integrating mobile devices on our home network a few years ago. Had to get rid of my almost 10 year old WiFi router and it was amazing how much better the network ran once we had a new router.
 
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for AT&T, battery life is good (not amazing, based on my 'real life usage'); camera is amazing and wifi has no issues.

check your router, for the wifi issues because I had that same problem with a Nexus 10 and the wifi router was the issue. I swapped it with another device and the problem went away.

edit: looks like someone beat me to the "wifi router" suggestion :)
 
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What kind of WiFi router are you using at home? Sometimes those routers are the actual culprit, not the device.

It could be older firmware on the router, or the IP scheme is not set up properly, so you get devices kicked off at different points. If the router is 3 years old or older, and you've never done a firmware update, I would check into that as a possibility as well.

I had a hard time integrating mobile devices on our home network a few years ago. Had to get rid of my almost 10 year old WiFi router and it was amazing how much better the network ran once we had a new router.


Using a Asus N66U with 3 other wireless devices that have no issues on 5ghz and 2.4ghz. Note 3 issues with mine continue no matter what location including:

Various starbucks,
University school
Bus stops
Restaurants.
Sisters house


But please, continue to tell me that "my" router is the problem....
 
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Using a Asus N66U with 3 other wireless devices that have no issues on 5ghz and 2.4ghz. Note 3 issues with mine continue no matter what location including:

Various starbucks,
University school
Bus stops
Restaurants.
Sisters house


But please, continue to tell me that "my" router is the problem....

I don't think he was implying that these phones aren't without fault. I genuinely think he was giving you good advice that older routers can be problematic. Maybe it isn't your router. But the attitude isn't going to get you much more help from this community if that is the way help is received.
 
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But please, continue to tell me that "my" router is the problem....

You came here asking if certain problems were fixed from the Note 3 to the Note 4. The first problem you described is not something that has been widely reported as an issue with Note 3 users. You described a problem that sounds a lot like a possible incompatibility with an older WiFi Router. I simply offered that suggestion in case you have not looked into it. I even couched it with "it's a possibility" I never made it an absolute statement.

In your original OP, you made it sound like the issue only occurred at home, which is another reason why it sounded like the router was worth investigating.

Now you come back in, provide us with information that would have been very useful in the OP, get very defensive about the suggestion, and close with a completely unnecessary patronizing comment.

Good luck with your Note 3. I hope the rest of the forum will overlook your poor attitude and still try to answer your questions for you.
 
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Also, I'm sure you've already ruled this out, seeing as you have figured out that the router is definitely not the culprit, but I'll throw it out as another idea to consider anyway.

Maybe double check your settings and make sure your phone isn't accidentally hitting the guest network on the N66U. Sometimes those guest nets only allow a certain number of devices at any time, and they kick out users after a set period of time.

Again, I'm sure you're already aware of this and have ruled it out, based on the confidence in your previous reply.

In my experience the question we don't ask ends up being the troubleshooting idea that would have saved us all a lot of time.

But I'm sure you know that already. Good luck!
 
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I just upgraded from the Not 3 to the Note 4 on the 17th. Very much worth it.

My issues with the Note 3 were the GPS was completely broken after the 4.4.2 update. I could not use navigation at all. The camera was the second issue. It was complete comprised. It would take at least 15 seconds to process the photos when taking them. It was actually easier to take a video and take photos while recording.
I've never had Wi-Fi issues with the Note 3. It got a way strong signal than the LG G3. It's battery life was beyond excellent. It lasted me two days with moderate to heavy use. I had no problems with the SD card after the minor update following the main KitKat update.

The Note 4 fixed those problems. I only have 2 issues with the Note 4. One is whenever I'm watching a video on any app, it forces me to be on ring mode. It will not let me have silent of vibrate on at all the second a video starts. Even YouTube and Netflix. I just turn it in blocking mode. The other is I've been randomly switching to AT&T from T-Mobile. It's bizarre. I'm gonna call T-Mobile tomorrow about it.

But yes, totally worth the upgrade. Even next year's flagships won't hold a flame to the Note 4. Best phone out. Any HTC dis nothing compared to the Note.

I don't know if your Note 3 is rooted but that fixed a lot of my issues with the phone. I could have kept the Note 3 for another year but I wanted the ultra power saving and fast charging. Yes, they really work as advertised.
 
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I also read on tmonews.com, I believe it was, that the Note 3 and s4 are getting 4.4.4 in the next 45 days. That may fix everything for you.

There has not be a single bit of information in regards to Lollipop coming to older Samsung phones beyond Note 4 and S5 getting maybe December/Janurary. ONLY Sony's entire phone lineup is getting Lollipop, that has been confirmed.

And yes, I frequent T-monews frequently and no such article exists
 
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There has not be a single bit of information in regards to Lollipop coming to older Samsung phones beyond Note 4 and S5 getting maybe December/Janurary. ONLY Sony's entire phone lineup is getting Lollipop, that has been confirmed.

And yes, I frequent T-monews frequently and no such article exists
I didn't say Android L. Why would Android Lcome out on the note 3 when it isn't even out? The article I saw said 4.4.4 is going to be rolling out on the note 3 within 45 days as Samsung already finished it and is sending it out to carriers.

Further, I guarantee that Android L will be released to both s4 and Note 3 at some point anyway. Every manufacturer is going to update their current and last year flagships to Android L.
 
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1. Continual droppage and reconnecting of Wifi at home. No matter what i've done and no matter what wifi network I connect to, my Note 3 continually just "drops" and "reconnects" to wifi, and YES I have taken off the smart switch. This problem has been continual even after 3 Note 3 replacements. Using a Asus N66U with 3 other wireless devices that have no issues on 5ghz and 2.4ghz. Note 3 issues with mine continue no matter what location including:

Various starbucks,
University campus
Bus stops
Restaurants.
Sisters house

Some of this can be due to the hotspot. I notice a lot of public hotspots are just... terrible. Even at the facility I train its like that, on both my Note 3 and my M8. Sometimes the phone cannot connect at all (always have 2 phones with me, so I know the Note 3's WiFi is not the issue).

See the Issue at McD's, Panera Bread, Starbucks, and other places.

2. Horrendous camera quality. My Note 1 would take awesome photos, even in low light situations. My Note 3's camera quality all around is outright terrible. 90% of my decent indoor lighting shots are blurry or smudged, and you can pretty much guess that low light shots are utter crap all around with very high amounts of ISO grain noise and not to mention poor contrast and outline of subjects. Only in very nice, outside sunlight days does my Note 3 give me decent quality shots. Beyond that, it sucks, VERY hard.
Turn Smart stabilization off on the Note 3, many people it seems have issues staying still while the camera is processing (it's almost like HDR, you don't move until its done). It takes decent photos as long as it isn't dark.

And I cannot take seriously someone saying a Galaxy S2 'S', which is basically what the Note [1] was, takes better pictures than the Note 3, cause it didn't.

The Note 3 actually doesn't go up to ISO levels as high as other phones like the Xperia Z3 and HTC One M8. It does use Image Stacking in low light if you have smart stabilization enabled. The Note 4 will still be clearly worse than those phones in low light. It still opts for higher ISO and faster shutter speed than even the Note 3 in some low light scenarios, so YMMV. Its camera is clearly better than the 3's though, so it's worth the upgrade if you want a better camera.

It's still not going to be a great point and shoot replacement, IMO, since it lacks Sony's Superior Auto Mode, HTC's Extreme Low Light Prowess, and/or Apple's superior image processing. It's just an all-around decent camera and a clear upgrade over its predecessor (I still think the S5's camera performs better, in many areas that matter (white balance, color reproduction, post processing, etc.)).

3. Crap battery life. Most likely due to KitKat software issue that STILL HAS NOT been fixed with T-Mobile. This has been a known issue about Kitkat 4.4.3/4.4.2 since earlier this year and im wondering if 4.4.4 has fixed this issue, especially on T-Mobile.
I get 6-7 hours of screen on time. About 5 if I'm doing lots of more aggressive things with the device with the latest KK update. My battery life went up with the update, not down. I do factory reset after every update, though. I recommend.

4. SLOW SD response/reading/writing. I've used two Class 10 microSD cards from Samsung and Sandisk and photo browsing/copying/deleting on local phone or over USB 3.0 and i've been really dissapointed on the overaul performance of Note 3's ability to use a high quality SD card.
That's true for any phone. Sorry, but you aren't going to get USB3 speeds using the SD Controller on the phone - it's really there for going to and from the NAND Flash storage on the phone. For SD Transfers, you're better off taking out the card and putting it into your computer... Most OEMs are not going to use the high end SD controllers that camera manufacturers put in their higher end devices. The cards don't perform that well in the phones. They perform well enough, but generally not at Ultra Speeds (maybe read, not write that's for sure).

Additionally, the Note4 drops USB 3.0 support, so transfers will be slow even if you're going to NAND storage on that device. That goes for HTC and other phones as well. Even transferring to internal storage, the M8 takes forever to transfer large data loads over USB 2.0.

The phone does support WiFi Direct, and unless you have an old computer running an Old Operating system, you may be able to use that to get faster transfer speeds (which will still be bottlenecked by the IO Speed of the SD controller).
 
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Hey all, been awhile since i've been around. So it looks like a new generation of Note is here once again and once again, I find myself wondering if its worth shelling out the money to pay off the remaining "half" of my Note 3 cost with T-mobile through the Jump! program as I don't have a full year of payments on my Note 3 as I got in in March this year.

I've been a Note user since Note 1 after I left VZW to get it on ATT and by far, the Note 1 was my favorite of them all. The Note 2 was pretty good over all but the lag on the Touchwiz was annoying and the camera was a bit less friendly and by far, the Note 3 has been the worse with T-Mobile. I had to go through THREE phones with T-Mobile due to the HORRENDOUS battery life loss after Kit Kat was installed on the Note 3 on T-Mobile.

Yes, I did EVERYTHING I could to help troubleshoot the following issues from clean cache wipes, to reformatting the SD card, to resetting the entire phone ect..ect.. but the following are STILL issues with my Note 3 that I'm wondering that are FIXED and or are IMPROVED with the Note 4 on T-Mobile before I decide to shell out $200 plus Tax to switch to a Note 4 or just wait until next year and see what Sony or HTC has out that may end my Note ownership days.

1. Continual droppage and reconnecting of Wifi at home. No matter what i've done and no matter what wifi network I connect to, my Note 3 continually just "drops" and "reconnects" to wifi, and YES I have taken off the smart switch. This problem has been continual even after 3 Note 3 replacements. Using a Asus N66U with 3 other wireless devices that have no issues on 5ghz and 2.4ghz. Note 3 issues with mine continue no matter what location including:

Various starbucks,
University campus
Bus stops
Restaurants.
Sisters house


2. Horrendous camera quality. My Note 1 would take awesome photos, even in low light situations. My Note 3's camera quality all around is outright terrible. 90% of my decent indoor lighting shots are blurry or smudged, and you can pretty much guess that low light shots are utter crap all around with very high amounts of ISO grain noise and not to mention poor contrast and outline of subjects. Only in very nice, outside sunlight days does my Note 3 give me decent quality shots. Beyond that, it sucks, VERY hard.

3. Crap battery life. Most likely due to KitKat software issue that STILL HAS NOT been fixed with T-Mobile. This has been a known issue about Kitkat 4.4.3/4.4.2 since earlier this year and im wondering if 4.4.4 has fixed this issue, especially on T-Mobile.

4. SLOW SD response/reading/writing. I've used two Class 10 microSD cards from Samsung and Sandisk and photo browsing/copying/deleting on local phone or over USB 3.0 and i've been really dissapointed on the overaul performance of Note 3's ability to use a high quality SD card.


Any information, incite or feedback would help me decide if I should ditch my Note 3 and its crappy issues or suck it up until next year and see if HTC M9 Prime or Sony Xperia Ultra 2 prove to be worth giving up on the Note lineup and Samsung in general.

I have had the N3 for a year now. None of those issues with mine (I have had 2 of them). You might have gotten a lemon N4. Consider taking it back.
 
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To me the note 4 has a much better camera..the screen is a improvement (have you guys seened 1440p videos?!!?!) The s pen is more refined..the battery is better plus the faster charging..better build quality..love the wide front camera for taking pictures.. the heart rate sensor I use at times while working out....has volte...doesn't have fake leather stitching... that's what I took from it since the time I had it and I been on it since day one.. on the bad is that it reset one time.. the speaker I wish wasn't behind the phone on the bottom was fine.. the earpiece at times feels to low..that's my feedback so far..
 
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Yeah I'm gonna wait a bit to see if something else comes out. Droid Turbo camera isn't all that great and really I don't think I can buy another phone with as much stuff crammed in it by Samsung. Want something simpler and more refined/polished.

Going to wait for the first round of 64-Bit devices. I reckon Microsoft will likely have a flagship releasing around that time, as well.
 
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I've moved from the N3 to N4 and its a stunning upgrade. The entire design is a huge improvement (although I go naked and worried about how well the edges stand up to constant slipping in and out of my pockets - already seeing a little wear).

The feel is fantastic, topped by a quicker processor resulting in a slicker feel, excellent battery which once set up lasts a full day under use, superb screen.

I've had no issues with reception, or lag that a quick reboot doesn't fix (worth doing every few days anyway on android devices).

The s pen gets better with each interation of the note series. Having had the OnePlus for a month, damn this thing is superior. The screen sensitivity is quality in comparison.

I don't really see that users that have the note 3 are going to gain by moving to a sony for example. You'll obviously lose the s pen for starters!

For a move from the note 3 to note 4 is it worth it? I'd say if you can afford it or are ready to upgrade then definately yes. If not, don't break your bank. The note 3 is a fine device and still one of the best available (except for the note 4!).
 
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Agree on Note 4 having great camera. Pushing up higher ISO never is an issue as long it not over pushing up and it capable to doing it.

I rate Note 4 is the greatest camera ever appear in mobile phone. It done brilliantly in day and night shoot. :)

Performance wise they is far ahead than Note 3. It is by far the greatest phone release by Samsung.
 
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