Daddy's new toy

Photo credit: PhoneArena

I've had my Samsung Galaxy S[martphone] 3 for almost 16 months now, and I got it when it was a year old, so it was time for something new.  As aluded to a month ago, I was impressed by the Apple iPhone 6 (see my post "prediction of the inevitable smartphone design").  The hardware impressed that is.  I've never been impressed by iOS, at least not since version 4 when I realized I disliked so many of their intentional design choices that Android proved they'd made.  So while I drooled over the hardware of iPhone 6 for a couple late nights in mid September, I eventually gave up on it.

I wondered to myself if I should get the Samsung Galaxy S5 (released five months ago) from my carrier, Boost Mobile, or hope that they get the LG G3 in November.  But I finally resigned myself that what I had was fine and not worth getting the S5, perhaps I could wait until the S6 next year.  More importantly, I decided that God knows what I want and if it's not available for me today, then perhaps He's got something even better in mind for me for tomorrow.  That was mid September.  In mid October, I found out what that would be.  I began to hear stories of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. I'd been somewhat envious of the Note for a couple years now when a coworker had it at a conference I was at a couple Christmases ago.  I've had a saying for as long as I can remember (a few years): I like my screen big and my phone small.  The Note 4 (PhoneArenea) is a powerhouse, and that's what I want.  My phone represents power to me.  The power to manage information, which is my obsession.  And lets count the ways it kicks the iPhone6 Plus's (PhoneArenea) rear.  (Following list has iPhone comparison in parenthesis.)

• 5.7 inch diagnal screen (5.5)
• 515 pixels per inch (325)
• 8.5mm thick (7.1mm)
• S pen (nada)
• IR blaster (nada)
• Heartrate sensor (nada)
• microSD card (nada)
• Android 4.4 (iOS 8) and I hear rumor that Android 5 is coming out tomorrow (coincidentally)
• MultiWindow (nada)

The Note 4 is a monster.  It's huge.  But it still fits in my pocket.  I love the hard edges which are only vaguely reminiscent of the iPhone4, but are noticeably different with their shiny chamfered angles (like the iPad air, but on both front and back rather than just on the front).

Once I made the decision I wanted this device, which was about a day or two before it was officially released in the USA, I had to gamble.  Will my carrier of four years get it or will I have to change to AT&T or Verizon.  Boost Mobile was showing no evidence of getting it and I found that AT&T had a plan only a couple bucks a month more expensive than Boost, so I made the switch.  However the AT&T store was out of stock of the black phone, and I'm never buying a white phone again (if I have a choice).  So I waited five more days, calling the store each day to see if they'd gotten any more in stock.  Finally the store across the river did, so I drove over during lunch to get it.  I've been loving it since the moment I got my hands on it.

I noticed after I'd brought it home that it's only the third top of the line device I've owned since graduating college almost 15 years ago.  This was a surprising revelation given that while growing up I was known for obsessing over computers and technology and I have always been blessed by God with a good job.  I graduated in 2000 and the first top of the line device I got was the Dell Axim PDA in 2004 (three years before the original iPhone came out and smartphones became popular).  It had an astonishing 640x480 screen resolution, double that of any other consumer device on the market.  Then in 2008 I got the Blackberry Bold right after it came out.  When I showed a techie friend the demo movie that it came with he said "that's sad, a phone shouldn't have a screen that good."  I loved that phone.  Now in 2014, I've got the Note 4.  May it never get wet ;)

I've been a loyal user of Boost Mobile for about four years and only switched away to get this phone from AT&T.  Boost was great, and I got good reception (they use the Spring network) all over town and everywhere except in my office building.  We have a microcell for AT&T at work, so now I get great reception.  I can also send and receive international texts, a bonus that I'll rarely use but is nice to have (I have twice in the last four years missed out on coordinating with coworkers who were in town and they could text met but I couldn't text them back).  And I'll actually be able to use this phone if I travel overseas with it.  All good perks.  Also, I've never used swipe on any of my previous devices, even though it's been available, but the keyboard is so big on this phone that it was kind of a no brainer to try out.  And what a surprise, I like it.  Swiftkey is a great keyboard.