The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Underwhelms: Will Buyers Go For iPhone 6s Plus Instead?

Samsung thought they were pulling a fast one on Apple by unveiling the Galaxy Note 5 before the major iPhone announcement in early September. CNET didn’t seem too thrilled.

“So long, faux-leather backing. Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 5 is all slim, shiny, large-screened luster, with a redesigned stylus to match. It’s eye-catching all right, but there isn’t terribly much that’s new.”

CNET adds that the new Note 5, which will be available everywhere on August 21, is just like last year’s Note 4 in some ways. In other ways, it’s worse since the Note 5 doesn’t have expandable storage and also has a smaller 3,000mAh battery (the Note 4 has a 3,200mAh battery).

Android Authority talks about the design of the Note 5.

“If you think the Samsung Galaxy S6 is a beauty, you will also love the Galaxy Note 5’s aesthetics. This is because the new handset adopts the design language that was introduced with the S6 series.”

There are many Samsung fans who didn’t like the design of the Galaxy S6 because it didn’t allow for a microSD card slot and a removable battery — two features that always allowed Samsung to differentiate themselves from Apple’s iPhone. There are a lot of negative comments after the article on Android Authority.

“Samsung you just lost yourself a sale — several in fact, most readers on this site also tell our friends and family what to get. There’s nothing premium about form over function — a small battery that cannot be replaced and a back that will shatter if dropped,” claimed commenter NoldorElf.

“The thing is…they WANT to be Apple sooo baddddd, and the reason they’ve become so popular is because they weren’t like them…removable battery isn’t a deal breaker for me but no sd card slot simply is no bueno for me and especially for the $800 they probably want for a 64GB mod,” JGaLaXY angrily responds.

The overall response on Twitter was less than enthusiastic. It seems that most of the commenters didn’t seem to mind that the screen didn’t change; like everybody else, they were more disappointed in the lack of the microSD card slot and lack of removable battery.

The negative early response to the Galaxy Note 5 is good news for Apple; their competing phablet, the iPhone 6s Plus, will be released in September. The new iPhone will likely add Force Touch technology and an upgraded camera. The Galaxy Note 5 may prove that Samsung needs to go back to the drawing board once again.

[Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Stringer for Getty Images]