Samsung Galaxy Note 5 vs LG G4 - Quick Look

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and the LG G4 are two of the most anticipated smartphones to hit the market this year, with each device offering its own unique set of features and improvements over its predecessor.

Both devices feature high-performance processors, with the Note 5 sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8x processor and the G4 featuring an LG 8-core processor. In both cases, we have found that performance is usually really great if the S6 is any indication, the Note 5 will fly through everything even with the additions of the S Pen, and the same goes for the Snapdragon 8way in the LG G4 as we've had few problems getting it done through the daily in our G4 review the 8way proved to be heavily optimized for the G4 and it's going to be interesting to see how it compares to the Note 5 in our full comparison.

However, the biggest difference between the two devices is obviously Samsung's decision to remove the memory card slot and the removable battery from the Note 5, just like it did with the Galaxy S6. This decision has been met with criticism from some users who rely on expandable storage or need to replace their batteries frequently. On the other hand, the new note does come with a big 3000 milliamp hour battery unit, just like the G4.

The camera department is another area where LG rapidly improved from the G3 to the G4, with the handset sporting an all-new 16 megapixel camera with laser autofocus, Optical image stabilization, a color spectrum sensor, and an even faster aperture setting than found in the Galaxy S6. The Galaxy S6 had one of the best smartphone cameras on the market, so Samsung aims to follow suit with the Note 5, which has the same rear shooter.

However, the Galaxy S6 also had a front-facing camera, but the new note does come with a 5 megapix front-facing camera for even better self-portraits. The LG G4 has an 8 megapix shooter that takes some pretty good selfies on its own as well. We are going to put these two cameras through their paces with a camera shootout to see which Samsung or LG have done the right things with their camera setups.

In terms of software, one of the biggest changes for either of these devices is the fact that their software has been optimized for the processing packages, so speed should really be no problem. However, the biggest change came in the Galaxy S range as Samsung decided to strip back its TouchWiz interface and as a result we had one of the best experiences with Samsung software that we think we've ever had.

Samsung opted for a similar philosophy in the Note 5, toning back even the S Pen, which is where its additions are mainly found. Mostly with the S Pen you'll have the ability to write a memo even when the phone is locked, you'll be able to pull the pen out and use a screen-off memo to quickly make a note, and a couple of enhancements to the Air Command menu have allowed for uh a few different applications that you frequently use there along with some capabilities that are added into already available features.

We found in the Note 4 and now LG made some changes to its interface this year but the G still is a little bloated with array of features that don't necessarily need to be on the handset. LG's uh operating system tends to really get in your face about all of the different features that it has, and with a slightly bloated operating system and interface it can seem a little bit overwhelming even on a larger and Quad HD display.

But both smartphones will run the latest version of LOL pop and the key difference will be in the interfaces. Luckily optimization and performance are not going to be that different between these two so with the note5 you do get the s pin and all that it provides but otherwise its version of Android is still pretty similar to what we have seen in the past especially in the Galaxy S6.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and the LG G4 are set to launch in the coming weeks, while the G4 is already widely available. Really it comes down to what you want to find in your particular smartphone. If you really do want to use the S Pen then obviously the Note 5 is the obvious choice, if a little bit of extra durability due to the curve of the LG G4 is something that you want along with its leather backings then the G4 is probably the one that you would want.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: entwo Korean Giants go head-to-head in this the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 versus the LG G4 this year really marks the Renaissance and Samsung's design prowess because the Galaxy S6 started a trend that the Note 5 is only following now in comparison LG's design has remained pretty much similar and the G4 has the same design features as its predecessor the LG G3 minus a subtle curve the two handsets couldn't be more Stark on the design front as a result as Samsung has opted for a metal and glass finish with a large display and a fingerprint reader built into the home button underneath the screen in comparison the front of the G4 is mostly dominated by the screen with the handset using onscreen controls and the button layout coming up on the back of the device now when talking about specific design featur certain things do stand out like the Galaxy S flagships earlier this year the Note 5 doesn't have a removable back cover or expandable storage and LG helps to capture users who need those features by offering them in the G4 and like I already mentioned the LG G4 has its volume and power keys on the back beneath the camera and in comparison Samsung has opted for their General traditional approach by putting the power button on the right with the volume keys on the left and at the bottom both handsets include a microphone micro USB port and speaker grills but of course on the Note 5 you have the addition of the S Pen which has been made a little bit lighter and even easier to use than before including a clicky top on on the very top of the pen which snaps into place when you put the pen away in the bottom right now the battle for display prowess has always been one that LG and Samsung have done and LG has opted to offer a display measuring 5.5 in in its G Flagship while Samsung has offered two different devices the Galaxy S6 has the smaller 5.1 in screen while this the Note 5 has the larger 5.7 in display both handsets offer Quad HD displays but this is where the comparisons end the G4 uses an IPS panel with what is called quantum display technology offering 98% of the DCI color gamut which is the standard used by Hollywood at 98% LG claims that the the G4 offers the full spectrum of visible color and theoretically the accurate type compared to the higher saturation Super AMOLED screens of the Samsung devices and of course in comparison the Note 5 has a Super AMOLED panel that comes in with the same sharpness Vibrance and saturation that was found on the Galaxy S6 so images should tend to appear very vibrant because of the Super AMOLED construction underneath the surface the Note 5 continues the new trend by Samsung where their Flagship devices will be powered by in-house exos processors which tend to be very powerful and in comparison LG has worked closely with Qualcomm to optimize the Snapdragon 808 for the GeForce use in both cases we have found that performance is usually really great if the S6 is any indication the Note 5 will fly through everything even with the additions of the S Pen and the same goes for the Snapdragon 8way in the LG G4 as we've had few problems getting it done through the daily in our G4 review the 8way proved to be heavily optimized for the G4 and it's going to be interesting to see how it compares to the Note 5 in our full comparison but in comparison the G for does have only 3 GB of RAM while Samsung made sure to put four in both of their new Galaxy devices now the biggest difference between the two devices is obviously Samsung's decision to remove the memory card slot and the removable battery from the Note 5 just like it did with the Galaxy S6 and that being said the new note does come with a big 3,000 milliamp hour battery unit just like the G4 and it'll be interesting to see which one delivers better battery life but the key difference is that in the G4 you will be able to add not only expandable storage but be able to use spares for the battery if you happen to run out of juice which does bring us to the cameras which is one area where LG rapidly approved from the G3 to the G4 with the handset sporing an all new 16 megapixel camera with laser autofocus Optical image stabilization a color spectrum sensor and an even faster aperture setting than is found in the Galaxy S6 but the Galaxy S6 had one of the best smartphone cameras on the market Samsung aims to follow suit with the Note 5 which has the same rear shooter and now a 5 megapix front-facing camera for even better self-portraits now on that front LG the LG G4 has a 8 megapix shooter that takes some pretty good selfies on its own as well we are going to put these two cameras through their Paces with a camera shootout to see which Samsung or LG have done the right things with their camera setups and finally in software one of the biggest changes for either of these devices is the fact that their software has been optimized for the processing packages so speed should really be no problem but the biggest change came in the Galaxy S range as Samsung decided to strip back its TouchWiz interface and as a result we had one of the best experiences with Samsung software that we think we've ever had we're really happy that Samsung opted for a similar philosophy in the Note 5 toning back even the S Pen which is where its additions are mainly found mostly with the S Pen you'll have the ability to write a memo even when the phone is locked you'll be able to pull the pen out and use a screen off memo to quickly make a note and then a couple of enhancements to the Air Command menu have allowed for uh a few different applications that you frequently use there along with some capabilities that are added into already available features we found in the Note 4 and now LG made some changes to its interface this year but the G still is a little bloated with array of features that don't necessarily need to be on the handset LG's uh operating system tends to really get in your face about all of the different features that it has and with a slightly bloated operating system and interface it can seem a little bit overwhelming even on a larger and Quad HD display but both smartphones will run the latest version of LOL pop and the key difference will be in the interfaces but luckily optimization and performance are not going to be that different between these two so with the note5 you do get the s pin and all that it provides but otherwise its version of Android is still pretty similar to what we have seen in the past especially in the Galaxy S6 and so there you have it a quick comparison between the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and one of its biggest challengers in the form of the LG G4 the Note 5 is set to launch in the coming weeks while the G4 is already widely available so really it comes down to what you want to find in your particular smartphone if you really do want to use the Spen then obviously the Note 5 is the obvious choice if a little bit of extra durability due to the curve of the LG G4 is something that you want along with its leather backings then the G4 is probably the one that you would want but it comes down to your personal taste and you can wait here at Android authority and stay tuned for all of the best coverage of the Note 5 that you can find and keep in tuned for all of our quick looks more coverage and even more because we are your source for all things Androidtwo Korean Giants go head-to-head in this the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 versus the LG G4 this year really marks the Renaissance and Samsung's design prowess because the Galaxy S6 started a trend that the Note 5 is only following now in comparison LG's design has remained pretty much similar and the G4 has the same design features as its predecessor the LG G3 minus a subtle curve the two handsets couldn't be more Stark on the design front as a result as Samsung has opted for a metal and glass finish with a large display and a fingerprint reader built into the home button underneath the screen in comparison the front of the G4 is mostly dominated by the screen with the handset using onscreen controls and the button layout coming up on the back of the device now when talking about specific design featur certain things do stand out like the Galaxy S flagships earlier this year the Note 5 doesn't have a removable back cover or expandable storage and LG helps to capture users who need those features by offering them in the G4 and like I already mentioned the LG G4 has its volume and power keys on the back beneath the camera and in comparison Samsung has opted for their General traditional approach by putting the power button on the right with the volume keys on the left and at the bottom both handsets include a microphone micro USB port and speaker grills but of course on the Note 5 you have the addition of the S Pen which has been made a little bit lighter and even easier to use than before including a clicky top on on the very top of the pen which snaps into place when you put the pen away in the bottom right now the battle for display prowess has always been one that LG and Samsung have done and LG has opted to offer a display measuring 5.5 in in its G Flagship while Samsung has offered two different devices the Galaxy S6 has the smaller 5.1 in screen while this the Note 5 has the larger 5.7 in display both handsets offer Quad HD displays but this is where the comparisons end the G4 uses an IPS panel with what is called quantum display technology offering 98% of the DCI color gamut which is the standard used by Hollywood at 98% LG claims that the the G4 offers the full spectrum of visible color and theoretically the accurate type compared to the higher saturation Super AMOLED screens of the Samsung devices and of course in comparison the Note 5 has a Super AMOLED panel that comes in with the same sharpness Vibrance and saturation that was found on the Galaxy S6 so images should tend to appear very vibrant because of the Super AMOLED construction underneath the surface the Note 5 continues the new trend by Samsung where their Flagship devices will be powered by in-house exos processors which tend to be very powerful and in comparison LG has worked closely with Qualcomm to optimize the Snapdragon 808 for the GeForce use in both cases we have found that performance is usually really great if the S6 is any indication the Note 5 will fly through everything even with the additions of the S Pen and the same goes for the Snapdragon 8way in the LG G4 as we've had few problems getting it done through the daily in our G4 review the 8way proved to be heavily optimized for the G4 and it's going to be interesting to see how it compares to the Note 5 in our full comparison but in comparison the G for does have only 3 GB of RAM while Samsung made sure to put four in both of their new Galaxy devices now the biggest difference between the two devices is obviously Samsung's decision to remove the memory card slot and the removable battery from the Note 5 just like it did with the Galaxy S6 and that being said the new note does come with a big 3,000 milliamp hour battery unit just like the G4 and it'll be interesting to see which one delivers better battery life but the key difference is that in the G4 you will be able to add not only expandable storage but be able to use spares for the battery if you happen to run out of juice which does bring us to the cameras which is one area where LG rapidly approved from the G3 to the G4 with the handset sporing an all new 16 megapixel camera with laser autofocus Optical image stabilization a color spectrum sensor and an even faster aperture setting than is found in the Galaxy S6 but the Galaxy S6 had one of the best smartphone cameras on the market Samsung aims to follow suit with the Note 5 which has the same rear shooter and now a 5 megapix front-facing camera for even better self-portraits now on that front LG the LG G4 has a 8 megapix shooter that takes some pretty good selfies on its own as well we are going to put these two cameras through their Paces with a camera shootout to see which Samsung or LG have done the right things with their camera setups and finally in software one of the biggest changes for either of these devices is the fact that their software has been optimized for the processing packages so speed should really be no problem but the biggest change came in the Galaxy S range as Samsung decided to strip back its TouchWiz interface and as a result we had one of the best experiences with Samsung software that we think we've ever had we're really happy that Samsung opted for a similar philosophy in the Note 5 toning back even the S Pen which is where its additions are mainly found mostly with the S Pen you'll have the ability to write a memo even when the phone is locked you'll be able to pull the pen out and use a screen off memo to quickly make a note and then a couple of enhancements to the Air Command menu have allowed for uh a few different applications that you frequently use there along with some capabilities that are added into already available features we found in the Note 4 and now LG made some changes to its interface this year but the G still is a little bloated with array of features that don't necessarily need to be on the handset LG's uh operating system tends to really get in your face about all of the different features that it has and with a slightly bloated operating system and interface it can seem a little bit overwhelming even on a larger and Quad HD display but both smartphones will run the latest version of LOL pop and the key difference will be in the interfaces but luckily optimization and performance are not going to be that different between these two so with the note5 you do get the s pin and all that it provides but otherwise its version of Android is still pretty similar to what we have seen in the past especially in the Galaxy S6 and so there you have it a quick comparison between the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and one of its biggest challengers in the form of the LG G4 the Note 5 is set to launch in the coming weeks while the G4 is already widely available so really it comes down to what you want to find in your particular smartphone if you really do want to use the Spen then obviously the Note 5 is the obvious choice if a little bit of extra durability due to the curve of the LG G4 is something that you want along with its leather backings then the G4 is probably the one that you would want but it comes down to your personal taste and you can wait here at Android authority and stay tuned for all of the best coverage of the Note 5 that you can find and keep in tuned for all of our quick looks more coverage and even more because we are your source for all things Android\n"