Conclusion Get the lowdown
Features How they compare
Performance Real world benchmarks
Differences Technical showdown
Reviews Word on the street
Competition Others to consider
Discussion Answers and opinions

Compare with...

LG Nexus 4
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy Note II
Nokia Lumia 820
Apple iPhone 4S

Samsung Galaxy Note

« Change

Apple iPhone 4

Change »

Ranked #3 and #5 in Longest talk time AT&T phones with 802.11n wifi

from $338

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
4G
5.3"
Dual core 1.4 GHz

older Released April, 2011

And we're not saying that a big screen and a stylus is exactly what makes a near perfect smartphone better.

by GSM Arena (Oct, 2012)

from $262

iOS 6
3.5G
3.5"
0.8 GHz

older Released June, 2010

But there’s much more: a 1GHz chip, two cameras, HD video and of course the Retina display – the highest-res screen we’ve seen so far on a GSM phone.

by GSM Arena (Jul, 2010)

Conclusion Which is better for you?

Samsung Galaxy Note

Apple iPhone 4

98%

88%

FeaturesView Details

32%

54%

Popularity

100%

86%

PerformanceView Details

87%

82%

ReviewsView Details

Winner

SamsungGalaxy Note

Overall Score

Features Key features of the Samsung Galaxy Note compared to the Apple iPhone 4

GHz1.4

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich 4G

One thing we really appreciate is that the tap to compose box is much bigger - as big as can fit on the screen, we counted 13 rows.

by GSM Arena (Oct, 2012)

0.8 GHz

iOS 6 3.5G

Color rendering is quite nice though oversaturated and in broad daylight there’s plenty of resolved detail.

by GSM Arena (Jul, 2010)

screen size

Galaxy Note5.3"

iPhone 43.5"

I am not much of a gamer but Riptide GP is pretty cool on the big screen.

Galaxy Note by Richard-Culleton (Dec, 2011)

I love the iPhone's screen size.

iPhone 4 by Austin (Nov, 2012)

screen resolution

Samsung Galaxy Note

1280 x 800 resolution screen

Galaxy Note 1280 x 800 resolution screen

Apple iPhone 4

960 x 640 resolution screen

iPhone 4 960 x 640 resolution screen

I was so excited to receive my note, and I am simply amazed by the screen resolution and speed!! The build quality is excellent, the device is light (and thin if that's your thing), and a fully charged battery lasts from morning 'til night!

Galaxy Note by Juwan-I.-Hayward (Nov, 2011)

BTW, the display is the equivalent of a 960x640 on your desktop so what you see is essentially a high res yield and page loads are superfast.

iPhone 4 by Ghenghis

memory

0 GB

Galaxy Note1 GB

iPhone 40.5 GB

1 GB

processor

Samsung Galaxy Note

Dual core

Galaxy Note Dual core

Apple iPhone 4

Single core

iPhone 4 Single core

It only has two CPU cores and non-expandable storage, but beats the Galaxy Note 10.1 for build quality and choice of (tablet-optimized) apps.

Galaxy Note by GSM Arena (Aug, 2012)

On paper, it may not stand up to the latest and greatest Android phone with 4G radios, a massive screen, and a screaming 1.5GHz dual-core CPU — but in use, it’s easily one of the most capable handsets on the market.

iPhone 4 by The Verge (Oct, 2011)

camera resolution

0 MP

Galaxy Note8 MP

iPhone 45 MP

8 MP

One of the best features of most phones in the Samsung Galaxy S II line is the 8-megapixel camera.

Galaxy Note by c|net (Feb, 2012)

The camera has an excellent 5 megapixel resolution.

iPhone 4 by Jose-Carlos-Aguirre (Aug, 2011)

Performance Real world tests of Samsung Galaxy Note vs Apple iPhone 4

cpu speed

Galaxy Note1.4 GHz

iPhone 40.8 GHz

Fast processor.5) I get 3G+ speeds for data and it is fast, fast, fast!

Galaxy Note by Daisy-S--Daisy-S

I will not repeat the most common positive review points about this phone (i.e. great display, good looks, good camera, speedy processor, good library of apps).

iPhone 4 by D.-Gong (Jun, 2011)

talk time

0 min900 min

Galaxy Note 810 min

iPhone 4 840 min

I suspect that I'm way below average on talk time but I'm also in extremely poor signal areas (both at home and at work).

Galaxy Note by bleach (Jul, 2012)

In fact, Apple claims that the new phone is capable of an extra hour of talk time while on 3G.

iPhone 4 by The Verge (Oct, 2011)

Differences What are the advantages of each

Full specs comparison

Samsung Galaxy Note

Read review

Advantages compared to the Apple iPhone 4

Supports Adobe Flash	Yes	vs	No (iOS)
Somewhat common; Many games and videos on the Internet require Adobe Flash

Has expandable storage	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC	vs	None
Use storage cards to increase your phone's capacity for apps and data

Has a removable battery	Yes	vs	No
Somewhat common; Old batteries can be replaced inexpensively

Much bigger screen	5.3"	vs	3.5"
More than 50% bigger screen

Much more battery capacity	2,500 mA·h	vs	1,420 mA·h
Around 80% more battery capacity

Screen uses OLED technology	Yes	vs	No
About half of phones are OLED; OLED screens are typically higher contrast and use less power

Is 4G	Yes	vs	No
Somewhat common; Supports the fastest, most reliable networks

Uses standard video out connectors	Yes (USB)	vs	No (Proprietary)
Somewhat common; Standardized connectors are cheap, compatible and easy to find

Supports NFC	Yes	vs	No
Somewhat common; Enables payment by phone and other wireless communications

Supports FM radio	Yes	vs	No
Somewhat common; Listen to music and news from local radio stations

Significantly faster processor	1.4 GHz	vs	0.8 GHz
More than 70% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster

Significantly longer standby time	49,200 min	vs	18,000 min
More than 2.5x longer standby time

Store significantly more stuff	32 GB	vs	16 GB
2x more storage capacity; free yourself from memory cards

More cores	Dual core	vs	Single core
Twice as many cores; each additional core lets your phone do more without visible UI slowdowns and jerkiness

Significantly higher resolution screen	1280 x 800	vs	960 x 640
Around 70% higher resolution screen

Much better theoretical download speed	84 Mb/s (HSPA+)	vs	7.2 Mb/s (HSUPA)
More than 11.5x better theoretical download speed; enjoy lightning fast downloads on modern networks

Records higher definition video	1920 x 1080 @ 30 fps	vs	1280 x 720 @ 30 fps
Around 2.5x higher definition video

Higher resolution front camera	8 MP	vs	5 MP
60% higher resolution front camera; Video chat with other people

More highly reviewed by consumers	87.07%	vs	81.57%
Around 10% more highly reviewed by consumers

Supports multitasking	Yes	vs	No (iOS)
Somewhat common; Run multiple apps at once

Marginally newer	Apr, 2011	vs	Jun, 2010
Release date 10 months later

Apple iPhone 4

Read review

Advantages compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note

Much smaller	59 x 114 x 9 mm	vs	83 x 147 x 10 mm
Around 50% smaller

Significantly lighter	137 g	vs	178 g
More than 20% lighter

Sharper screen	329 ppi	vs	284 ppi
Around 20% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images

Reviews Word on the street

	Samsung Galaxy Note		Apple iPhone 4
	Rated 79% Read the review (Feb, 2012) The Note also automatically connects to AT&T Wi-Fi networks (they're in Starbucks, and the like), a fact I quite liked — it works seamlessly, and anytime you can get decent speeds without the battery drain of LTE is a good thing.		Rated 86% Read the review (Oct, 2011) Safari has been updated to include tabs in the iPad version, and is generally way faster on the iPhone 4S than pretty much any other mobile browser I’ve used.

	Rated 87% Read the review (Oct, 2012) Read the review (Sep, 2012) Rated 83% Read the review (Jul, 2012) Rated 83% Read the review (Feb, 2012) The Galaxy Note's crowning glory is its 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED screen with its 1,280x800-pixel resolution (that's WXGA, by the way).		Rated 83% Read the review (Feb, 2011) Rated 83% Read the review (Jun, 2010) You still get all the expected essentials, like the 3.5-inch Retina Display, access to the App Store, FaceTime calling, the 5-megapixel camera, and iOS 5.1.

	Rated 96% by 62 users at amazon.com pros: excellent product, nice design, fast processor, easy to usecons: battery seemed to be not durable, the screen should be smaller. Rated 80% by by Pham-Tran-Duc-Anh (Feb, 2013) It seems to be very big but once you get used to it you realize is the perfect size, great native apps the S pen y the best. Rated 100% by by Richo (Nov, 2012) Ideal phone for those who mostly text/chat/email/web but need to have phone capabilities handy (I use the). Rated 100% by by Lionel-B. (Nov, 2011)		Rated 75% by 949 users at amazon.com The screen is very clear and has a crisp image. Rated 100% by by Milton-Coronado (Sep, 2012) Higher megapixels do not correlate with higher quality images; although there are many other phones out there in the 8+ megapixel range, none match the overall image quality of the iPhone. Rated 100% by by G.-Lee (Mar, 2011) The phone is a nice one, and looks very sleek and modern. Rated 100% by by Eddie--Edward (Nov, 2012)

screen

To illustrate how the different arrangement improves sharpness we used our microscope to snap a picture of very small font - the line width here is 1px, the font is white.

Samsung Galaxy Note 16 GB | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2012)

To illustrate how the different arrangement improves sharpness we used our microscope to snap a picture of very small font - the line width here is 1px, the letters are white.

Samsung Galaxy Note 16 GB | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2012)

I recently noticed that my Note had white blotches and dead pixels on the screen,the blotches were most noticeable when there was a grey background.

Samsung Galaxy Note 16 GB | Rated 100% by by Bob-Whitley--Bob (Mar, 2012)

carrier

The old Galaxy Note, however, can't use a single pixel to make white, as it only has two of the three needed colors.

Samsung Galaxy Note 16 GB | by GSM Arena (Oct, 2012)

looks great and everything is working and functioning smoothly, I like the (Apple iPhone 4 Black Smartphone 16GB (AT&T)).

Apple iPhone 4 AT&T, Black, 16 GB | Rated 100% by by adalla-osman

Virgin Mobile uses Sprint's network, and tests carried out in our San Francisco offices showed that for the iPhone its 3G speeds were slower than AT&T's and Verizon.

Apple iPhone 4 AT&T, Black, 16 GB | Rated 83% by by c|net (Jun, 2010)