Samsung Galaxy Note 7 vs. Note 5: Should you upgrade?

Should I upgrade from the Galaxy Note 5 to the Galaxy Note 7?

The argument for upgrading from a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to a Galaxy Note 7 is fairly straightforward: considerably more power and a larger battery in a smaller body, an improved camera, and an S Pen with twice the pressure sensitivity, and twice the features. The upgrade speaks for itself.

But here I am holding both a Galaxy Note 5 and a Galaxy Note 7 in each hand, and the justification for upgrading becomes much less convincing. The Note 5 has been out less than 12 months at the time of writing, and feels just as modern — and new — as it did back in 2015. With Samsung maintaining the Note 5 on shelves as its cheaper S Pen-enhanced variant, should you be thinking about upgrading to the Note 7 from the Note 5? Let’s dig into it a bit.

Unlike the Note 4, the Note 5 looks and feels remarkably similar to this year’s model. The two are only millimeters apart in absolute dimensions, and are made of the same metal-and-glass construction. Even the backs have the same curved glass that meet the sturdy aluminum frame. But the Note 7 takes that design and adds a touch of S7 edge to it, adding a curve to the front glass as well.

The Note 7 is 2.2mm narrower than the Note 5, which, along with the curved display, makes it much more comfortable to hold and use in one hand.

What emerges is the best of both worlds: a Note with the form-fitting DNA of an S7 edge in the slightly boxier body of a Note. As Andrew mentioned in his hands-on preview, the Note 7’s edges are much tighter and more subtle than on the Galaxy S7 edge, and don’t inspire as many frustrating false touches and misfires. And there’s something visual satisfying about the symmetrical curves on both front and back converging on the now much-smaller metal bezels (that, on the black, silver, and gold models, happen to be color-matched).

Galaxy Note 7 vs. Galaxy Note 5 specs comparison

The Note 7 is also 2.2mm narrower than the Note 5, which, along with the curved display, makes it much more comfortable to hold and use in one hand. It may be ever-so-slightly taller and thicker, but, comparing these two phones side by side, all you notice is the less your hand has to stretch to grip the phone comfortably.

The placement of the ports and buttons are practically unchanged from the Note 5 to the Note 7, but Samsung wisely lowered the volume buttons on the left side to be easier to reach with a curled-around finger. And while the phone’s bottom similar cutouts for the mono speaker and microphones, the Note 5’s Micro-USB port has been upgraded to the reversible, more versatile USB Type-C port.

Because Samsung made a number of strategic changes between the Note 4 and 5, including sealing up the battery and moving away from the fake leather back replaceable back cover that debuted on the Note 3 in 2013, we’re not talking about major visual alterations between the Note 7 and its predecessor. Instead, as it did with the Galaxy S7, Samsung kept what was working while addressing a number of complaints levelled against it from the enthusiast community. Jerry did a good job going over these “power user” features, but we’ll go over them again here.

The Note 7 marks three major improvements over the Note 5 that will be as close to justifying the upgrade over last year’s model as you can get: the return of microSD expansion; the addition of IP68 water resistance; and a bump in battery capacity by 17% to 3500mAh.

The first is important for a number of reasons, since Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which the Note 7 ships with, makes using and administering microSD cards both easy and more reliable than in Lollipop. And while few are going to quickly fill up the Note 7’s standard 64GB internal storage, Samsung can easily check that box with no repercussions. Lollipop, which the Note 5 shipped with, reverted many of the positive changes to microSD card support that debuted with KitKat, which may have been another reason Samsung decided to lop off that feature in its 2015 models.

The Note 7 has three improvements over the Note 5 that will likely justify your upgrade

The second, water resistance, is a key benefit for a phone like the Note 7, since very few smartphones have ingress protection, and even fewer do so as seamlessly and elegantly as Samsung. That the company was able to completely seal both the phone and the S Pen, which is still removed with a satisfying click from the phone’s bottom right, is even more impressive. And this isn’t some coating applied at the factory that will wear off after a few months; the Galaxy Note 7 can be immersed in up to five feet of water for 30 minutes.

The third, a larger battery, explains the slightly thicker chassis, and should be very good news to power users. Let’s just get this out of the way now: yes, the Note 7’s battery is around 3% smaller than the S7 edge’s, but as we talked about in episode 300 of the AC Podcast, that was likely to make room for the S Pen. And there’s still Quick Charge 2.0 support and wireless charging to top up your phone in just over 90 minutes.

Unlike in previous years, this isn’t a “spec sequel” to the Galaxy S lineup: this is a complementary product that lives on the same “platform”. It’s the reason Samsung skipped the Note 6 to jump straight to 7. It’s about continuity and consistency.

If those three things aren’t enough to convince you to upgrade, perhaps the fact that the Note 7 is built on stronger internals — a Snapdragon 820 in the U.S. and an Exynos 8890 in Canada and around the world — and has at least 12 months of extra updates in its future, will do the trick. While the Note 5 has already been updated to Android 6.0.1 (my Canadian model is running Marshmallow with a June 1, 2016 security patch), it likely won’t get many of the new software features as the Note 7.

Some of those features are hardware-specific — the Note 7 has an edge screen, which confers all the edge-related features we loved (and loved to hate) from the Galaxy S7 edge. But others are merely evolutions of existing ones, like an all-new camera app design and a number of S Pen-related improvements.

If you’re buying a Galaxy Note, you’re probably at least partially considering it based on the inclusion of a stylus — especially since this year there are no overt spec improvements of the Galaxy S7 to push sales. The Note 7’s S Pen not only looks better and is water-sealed, it interacts with the Super AMOLED screen at double the points of pressure — 4096, to be specific — as the Note 5. After using the Note 7 to jot down some words and sketch a few figures, it’s immediately clear that improved interaction between screen and stylus leads to great control over the nib (which has been thinned for extra precision), while a more powerful processor leads to less input lag.

Writing on the Note 7 is as close to writing on a piece of paper as I’ve come on a smartphone, and while tests need to be made to prove this assertion, it could be a better experience than the Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro.

Not only is using the S Pen a great experience, but this year the Note 7 can do more with it, from creating GIFs to magnifying the screen to a new feature called Glance that seamlessly switches between apps without touching the display at all. All that and a new consolidates note-taking experience called S Notes means that if you rely on the Note 5 to jot notes in class or during meetings, the Note 7 is going to take your experience that much further. Of course, the improvements may not warrant spending upwards of $850 for the convenience, but that’s your call to make.

Not only is using the S Pen a better experience, but this year the Note 7 can do more with it.

We’ve yet to talk about the Note 7’s iris scanner because, well, it’s still a relative unknown, and is certainly not a reason alone to think about upgrading from the Note 5. Whereas many Android apps have been updated to take advantage of the convenience of fingerprint scanners, iris scanners are still the domain of proprietary APIs and unproven developer interest. As a result, unlocking your phone and securing the Note 7’s “private vault” are two of a half dozen ways the iris scanner can be considered useful, but if anyone is going to make a platform out of a feature in the Android space, it’s Samsung.

The iris scanner is located on the front of the phone, a combination of an infrared sensor and a low-resolution camera. That is separate from the 5MP selfie camera, which comes equipped with a slightly sharper f/1.7 lens than the Note 7. But it’s around back that the Note 5 and Note 7 separate themselves, as did the S6 and S7 previously. The Note 7’s main camera drops its resolution to 12MP from the Note 5’s 16MP sensor, and improves to an f/1.7 lens from an f/1.9. All of this technical jargon means one thing: though photos taken with the Note 7 won’t have as much detail as the Note 5, they will be both sharper, thanks to the lens, and better in low light, because of the combination of larger sensor pixels and an improved optical image stabilization mechanism that accounts for hand shake.

I probably don’t need to reassert this because we’ve been saying it all year, but since the Note 7 has the same camera chops — plus a better camera app — as the Galaxy S7, it is automatically one of the best camera phones on the market. Period. Amazing in daylight; excellent in low light; incredible macro abilities; subtle but effective HDR; smooth 4K video; excellent sound capture; and a bevy of options that are totally optional but still useful.

Since the Note 7 has the same camera chops — plus a better camera app — as the Galaxy S7, it is automatically one of the best camera phones on the market

So what, if any, are the downsides to the Note 7 over the Note 5? Perhaps you prefer the sapphire blue color over this year’s black-on-black or coral blue options? Or you think that the iris scanner hardware gums up the otherwise-clean look of the phone’s face?

To be honest, there are few, if any, reasons to prefer the Note 5 over its successor, and only one major consideration: price. At around $850 outright, or around $37 per month, the Note 7 is not cheap. It stacks up with the iPhone 6s Plus (and likely the forthcoming iPhone 7 Plus) as one of the most expensive phones on the market. But it’s also one of the best phones on the market, too.

The Note 5 is a great phone; the Note 7 is a greater one. That’s what you need to know when deciding whether to upgrade from last year’s model, or if you’re still rocking a Note 4 and are thinking of making the same jump.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 hands-on preview
• The latest Galaxy Note 7 news!
• Here are all four Note 7 colors
• Complete Galaxy Note 7 specs
• The Galaxy Note 7 uses USB-C
• Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!

Verizon
AT&T
T-Mobile
Sprint

Honor 5C review: Balanced and affordable, not exciting

Honor’s new entry-level model is better value than the 5X — but this £150 phone still comes with a few compromises.

When you’re selling a phone around the £150 mark, it’s less about of what you put in it and more about what’s left out. In the past, Motorola’s Moto G devices have represented the near-perfect balance of quality and affordability, with emphasis on display and performance — and a clean, slick software experience — above all else.

Honor, the online-centric brand from Huawei, isn’t new to selling cheap phones. But unlike Moto, its budget phones have yet to nail it in same way as its Lenovo-owned rival. The Honor 5X was a mess of performance glitches and nagging software issues. And the less said about last year’s Honor Holly the better.

The Honor 5C aims to remedy this, with a £150 unlocked price tag, Huawei’s latest software and most efficient mid-range chip, metal construction and a 1080p display. So is it up to the task? Let’s find out.

With a polycarbonate-framed metal shell, the Honor 5C brings a touch of class to what might otherwise have been a another dull plastic gadget. Unlike the Honor 7 and 5X, that equation is weighted heavily in favor of the plastic — the buttons, for instance, are very much plastic — but the use of any “premium” materials at all sets it apart from rivals at this price point.

The back and sides have pleasing, organic curves to them, which combined with its 5.2-inch screen size make for a comfortable in-hand feel. And aside from Honor branding and regulatory info, the rear panel is broken up only by a slight camera hump, a single antenna line, and the LED flash.

The aluminum back panel uses the same brushed effect as the Honor 5C and Huawei P9 Plus, giving it a unique sheen and a somewhat glossy texture and helping a little with grip. The same goes for the outer plastic trim, which has a subtle grooved texture.

A metal back panel adds a touch of class.

It’s not shouty or spectacular, but it is a genuinely nice looking handset, especially for the price.

Around the front there’s very little going on — just an earpiece up top, along with the standard front-facing camera and charging LED. The star of the show is a surprisingly decent 1080p display — a panel which isn’t exactly jaw-dropping, but sits a tier above the ho-hum 720p panels usually found in entry-level Android phones in terms of clarity and vibrance. I’ve generally found it bright enough to use in daylight, although fingerprints and smudges conspire to make it less visible than some rivals.

That’s because, like the Honor 5X, there’s no oleophobic (smudge-resistant) layer on the screen. So fingerprints quickly accumulate, and after just a few minutes of use the phone is left looking greasy and smeary. (The 5C does come with a pre-fitted screen protector, but that too lacks any smudge-resistant properties.)

If you’re using an Honor 5C for any length of time, I’d strongly recommend investing in a tempered glass screen protector. A decent screen protector will improve the feel of the phone immeasurably.

Audio quality follows a similar pattern — decent, but not outstanding. The Honor 5C’s bottom-facing speakers output audio that’s loud enough to hear even outdoors in relatively noisy places, but is prone to distortion at high volume levels, and lacks the strong bass of more expensive competitors.

On the inside is where Honor is able to really differentiate, using a Kirin 650 chip from the Huawei-owned Hisilicon. This processor is basically a lower-powered, far more efficient version of the Kirin 930 chip from the Honor 7, backed up by an upgraded GPU. You’ve got eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores in a big.LITTLE configuration — a cluster of four higher-clocked cores for demanding tasks, and another four lower-clocked A53s for lighter background tasks. Because the chip is manufactured using the same 16nm process as the Kirin 950 and 955, the Honor 5C is able to boast excellent battery life while performing reasonably well in day-to-day smartphone tasks.

Plenty of performance — with only one caveat.

Even with relatively heavy use, the Honor 5C always lasted us to the end of the day, and with EMUI’s wide array of (sometimes over-aggressive) power-saving features, a second day is within the realm of possibility.

What’s more, the Mali T830 GPU stood provided decent performance in light gaming duties, with only more demanding titles like the AR-equipped Pokémon Go making things chug a little.

The only real bottleneck I’ve come across is the RAM — the 5C isn’t slow with 2GB, but it’s clear apps are bumped out of memory more aggressively compared to EMUI phones with a more ample 3GB.

Elsewhere, the Honor 5C continues the brand’s strategy of offering dual-SIM capabilities — SIM slot 1 takes a regular nano-SIM, while slot 2 can accommodate a micro-SD card or a micro-SIM. (With 16GB of internal flash, I suspect most 5C buyers in the West will opt for expandable storage over a second SIM.)

When it comes to software, the Honor 5C is a welcome change from the mess of old, weird, broken stuff I’ve witnessed on some earlier Honor phones at launch. The handset runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow and the latest EMUI 4.1 out of the box, and as I’ve seen from other Huawei and Honor phones with this software, everything pretty much works as intended. (It might seem weird to have to say that, but check out our Huawei MediaPad review for an example of how bad older EMUI versions can be.)

EMUI takes design cues from both Android and iOS, with a launcher that lacks a traditional Android app drawer, and icons that favor rounded rectangles and bright colors. And notifications are handled differently to most Android phones — only new notifications are shown on the lock screen — otherwise you’ll have to navigate EMUI’s notification shade to find incoming messages and other alerts. And notifications remain one of Huawei (and Honor’s) weaknesses. Although rarer than before, I’ve still run into instances where black text will be displayed on a black background, making some notifications almost impossible to read. And even when notifications display properly, there are often alignment issues with buttons and graphics — particularly in streaming apps like Google Play Music.

EMUI is no longer all up in your icons.

But at least EMUI is no longer sticking its nose in your app icons. Like the latest updates to the Huawei P9 series, the build on our review device features no customization at all for bundled Google apps, and only minor tweaks for a handful of third-party icons. So it’s still not perfect, but it’s a big improvement on where things were just a few months ago.

Honor 5C owners will benefit from EMUI’s expansive feature set, including tight power management settings that’ll help you make the most of the 3,000mAh fixed battery. Elsewhere, you can easily tweak things like color temperature, notification panel behaviour and even performance in order to improve gaming frame rates or battery life. There’s a lot to discover in the settings app, and a useful search tool to help you find what you’re looking for.

MORE: The first six things you need to change on a new Honor phone

Another major strength for the Honor 5C, relatively speaking, is its rear camera. It’s a relatively run-of-the-mill 13-megapixel sensor, but it benefits from Huawei’s latest camera app and software processing. In particular I’ve been impressed with HDR and flash HDR modes, which uses a combination of multiple exposures (both with and without flash) to conjure up an evenly exposed image.

It also benefits from dedicated panorama, food and light-painting modes, having inherited these from Huawei’s high-end handsets, along with features like motion tracking autofocus and quick capture — accessed by double-tapping the volume key when the screen is off. (The 5C usually went from screen-off to capture in a little over one second.)

A £169 Nexus 5X makes any phone at this price point a tough ask.

The camera is no afterthought, but at the same time don’t expect miracles in low light — at least if you’re not able to stabilize the phone in a tripod and use one of the longer exposure modes.

Should you buy it?

So where does the Honor 5C sit in the (very broad) landscape of budget Android phones? Well, it’s a more balanced phone than the Honor 5X, which offers fingerprint security and a larger display, but at the expense of performance. But it’s still unfortunate to see Honor shipping a premium metal back on a phone that lacks something as basic as a smudge-resistant oleophobic screen. And although it’s been improved considerably in the past year, EMUI remains something of an acquired taste.

The bigger problem for the 5C and everything priced around it might be last year’s LG Nexus 5X. It’s not possible to get hold of the Google-branded phone for just £169, with faster performance, a better camera and an imminent update to Android 7.0 Nougat. (And for enthusiasts, that’s a more exciting proposition than a fundamentally budget offering like the 5C.)

Nevertheless, the Honor 5C is a decent entry-level phone with a few standout features — solid, multi-day battery life, a touch of class with that metal back panel, expandable storage and easy dual-SIM connectivity. And if you’re looking for an affordable Android phone which covers all the major bases, it’s definitely worth a look.

Ofcom is happy with how much live football is shown on TV

Almost two years after it waded into the debate about an apparent lack of live football on TV, UK communications regulator Ofcom has decided it’s time to tap out. The watchdog announced today that it will close its probe, which was carried out under the Competition Act 1998 and assessed whether the Premier League was restricting competition by limiting available matches, after the League decided to increase the number of live games from 168 to 190 from the 2019-20 season onwards.

With 22 more matches up for grabs during the next TV rights auction, Ofcom says its “resources could be used more effectively on other priorities to benefit consumers and competition.” Virgin Media called for the Premier League to abolish the broadcasting blackout between 2:45pm and 5:15pm, similar to how broadcasters do in Germany, Spain and Italy, to counter a possible rise in cost of football subscriptions, even if it led to a reduction in attendances.

In its research, Ofcom found that a fifth of fans said they wanted to see more matches live. However, when the regulator polled match-going fans, it found that over two-thirds of respondents preferred the Saturday 3pm kick-off over any other Premier League match time. With a diverse set of opinions to consider, Ofcom believed it would take “significant further work” to reach a conclusion, so it decided to close its investigation altogether.

Source: Ofcom

Mars’ veins were created by vanishing ancient lakes

Scientists just produced stronger evidence that Mars once had water lakes that might have nurtured life. After combing over Curiosity rover data, the researchers determined that veins in places like the planet’s Gale Crater were likely created by evaporating lakes whose sediments were buried, heated and corroded. The discoveries also suggest that the water in these areas would have been habitable, if not exactly pleasant to drink — it would have had about 20 times more sodium and sulphate than your bottled water back on Earth. There were likely “multiple generations” of water, NASA adds.

Mudstones with veins also share similar composition to those in North Devon’s Watchet Bay, further hinting at Earth-like water activity.

The findings support beliefs that Mars was once a relatively lush planet whose water gradually (though not completely) dried out, possibly due to its weak magnetic field. It’s not clear how long the lakes stuck around, or exactly what created them in the first place. However, there’s no question that Mars’ history is rapidly taking shape.

Via: Geology Page

Source: Wiley Online Library, University of Leicester

Bare iPhone 7 Logic Boards Surface in New Photos

Just a month before the iPhone 7’s expected unveiling, a few new images allegedly depicting the device’s bare main logic board have surfaced on Chinese microblogging site Weibo (via Steve Hemmerstoffer), showing the major part before any of the device’s chips have been added onto the circuit board. Not much context is given in the images thanks to the lack of chips, but it is widely believed that the 2016 iPhone will house a next-generation A10 processor, produced solely using TSMC’s 10-nanometer manufacturing process.

Front of iPhone 7 logic board
The logic board layout is generally consistent with previous iPhones, with a large patch on the front corresponding to the location of the A10 main chip that appears to be roughly the same size as the current A9 chip used in the iPhone 6s. The A10 does appear to sit a bit higher on the logic board than usual, however, with another significant chip placed between the A10 and the SIM card lot in the center of the board.

Rear of iPhone 7 logic board
Other internal parts of the iPhone 7 have leaked this year, like a Lightning cable assembly image in May, which opposed rumors that the new iPhone devices will ditch the 3.5 mm headphone jack in favor of a sole Lightning port for both audio and charging. Given the steady growth of rumors surrounding a Lightning-only iPhone 7 in 2016 — with multiple reports this summer focused on Lightning-enabled EarPods and Accessories — the internal cable assembly leak from May appears false.

In June, Weibo was the source of another internal iPhone 7 leak that showed dual SIM trays as a possibility for this year’s iPhone. Today’s logic board leak, however, shows a space for the SIM slot that appears nearly identical to current iPhones and smaller than the leaked dual-SIM tray, suggesting that the dual-SIM leak was also false.

Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Discuss this article in our forums

Nigerian email scammer stung by his own malware

With more and more internet users now wise to email scams, scammers are utilizing increasingly advanced techniques to stay one step ahead of their targets. A pair of researchers recently stumbled on a new a “wire-wire” technique that earned a 30-strong group of Nigerian scammers as much as $3 million a year, at least until one prominent member accidentally infected himself with his own malware.

IEEE Spectrum reports that SecureWorks security experts Joe Stewart and James Bettke were alerted to this new kind of attack in February after they stumbled upon a keylogger that was sending unsecured data to an open web server. They watched for months as the ring collected keystrokes and screenshots of important documents from unsuspecting users. But because the malware was running on the scammers’ computers too, it also gave them an important insight into who was behind the thefts, the tools that were used, the names of the affected businesses and the sums of money being transferred to third-party accounts.

Unlike traditional email scams, which rely on spoofing a business email to trick respondents into sending money to a fraudulent account, wire-wire scammers grab a collection of email addresses from publicly available sources and then target them with malware. Once that target is infected, they are able to access to their email account(s) and begin identifying clients or suppliers that they have a relationship with.

The ring is then able to intercept any emails containing invoices, substitute the target’s details with their own and force the supplier to unwittingly credit the scammers’ account. The technique is a lot harder to trace because it happens behind closed doors, but there’s been enough of a rise in business email scams that the FBI has been forced to issue a warning.

Since February, the Secureworks team watched the scammers reroute transactions averaging between $30,000 and $60,000, mostly from small and medium-sized businesses that mainly conduct international deals. IEEE notes that in one case, thieves successfully rerouted a $400,000 payment from a US chemical company to its Indian supplier.

Often, neither company knows something is amiss until a delivery or payment is marked overdue. Stewart and Bettke even tried to tell some of the targets that they were being scammed but were mistaken for scammers themselves. That said, they were able to successfully notify Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which is now conducting at least one active investigation.

Source: IEEE Spectrum