14 DAY TRIAL // With the launch of Galaxy Note 5, Samsung hopes to have a few more weeks of sales before Apple announces the iPhone 6s, which is supposed to happen next month.
But what about those who already own last year's Galaxy Note? Is it worth upgrading to the newly announced Galaxy Note 5?
That question only applies to customers in the United States and Asia, though, since Samsung decided not to launch the phablet in Europe this year.
First of all, both high-end smartphones come with 5.7-inch Super AMOLED displays that support Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution and are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 coating.
They feature fingerprint sensor and S Pen, but Samsung claims the Galaxy Note 5's S Pen offers more advanced features over the previous model.
However, the Galaxy Note 5 is slimmer at 7.6mm than the Galaxy Note 4, which measures 8.5mm. The former is also lighter than the latter, as it weighs 171g, compared to 176g.
The big differences are under the hood, as the new Galaxy Note 5 is equipped with Samsung's powerful Exynos 7420 chipset that packs a 2.1GHz octa-core processor, a Mali-T760MP8 graphics processing unit, and 4GB RAM.
Better processor and RAM, but no microSD slot for Galaxy Note 5
On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 comes with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 chipset or the Eyxnos 5433, depending on the market. It also packs only 3GB of RAM and a Mali-T760 graphics processing unit (or Adreno 420).
Both feature 32GB of internal memory, but only the Galaxy Note 4 comes with microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 128GB). The new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 lacks microSD card slot, as previous rumors pointed out.
Both phablets come with 16-megapixel rear cameras, but Galaxy Note 5 has a 5-megapixel photo snapper in the front, while the Galaxy Note 4 features a 3.7-megapixel secondary camera.
It's also worth mentioning that Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is powered by a non-removable 3,000 mAh battery, whereas the Galaxy Note 4 comes with a removable 3,220 mAh battery. Also, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 features wireless charging.
Judging by these differences between the two high-end phablets, it's likely that not many Galaxy Note 4 owners will be tempted to upgrade to the new model.