With each note model, Samsung has managed to improve on its design, add new features and upgrade its software. The same can be said of the Galaxy Note 4 and its predecessor the Note 3, which was released in 2013. Here is how these two phablets compare.

Design

Until last year, Samsung relied heavily on plastic when creating its phablets and smartphones, which is why the Note 3 comes with a plastic body, with no sign of metal on its case. Its back has a pleather covering with a visible stitch running along its edge. As for the Note 4, it has a metal frame which gives it a premium feel, however, the rest of the device is made of plastic.

The home button on the Note 4 is a swipe-based fingerprint reader, a feature which is not available on the Note 3. In addition, the S Pen stylus on the Note 4 is better at sensing pressure differences when compared to the version on the Note 3.

Display

In terms of display, both devices are of similar size but the Note 4 has a sharper version thanks to its super AMOLED screen which measures 5.7 inches with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels and a density of 515 pixels per inch. On the Note 3 is a super AMOLED screen measuring 5.7 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels and a density of 386 pixels per inch.

Specs

When it comes to hardware, the Note 4 comes out ahead as it was just released last year. Its competitor has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, along with a Krait 400 CPU with four cores clocked at 2.3 GHz and an Adreno 330 GPU. On the Note 4 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset, a Krait 450 CPU with four cores clocked at 2.7 GHz and an Adreno 420 GPU.

Memory

The memory slot on the Note 3 only allows for the addition of up to 64 GB of external storage while the version on the Note 4 can be used to add up to 128 GB. As for RAM, each has 3 GB onboard.

Price

The Galaxy Note 3 is available at the price of $99 with a two-year contract while the Note 4 is priced at $299 with a similar contract.