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While other Samsung Galaxy Note 4’s around the globe received their new Lollipop 5.1.1 upgrade in July and August, we are happy to report that our Canadian brethren on Bell’s network will finally be receiving their update next month. A recent tweet by Bell Support said that they are “planning on releasing this update sometime in October. Please feel free to check Ball.ca for future updates.” Of course, “planning” and doing are two separate things, but we hope that Bell Support would have a pretty good idea on the timing of the update. Generally, we do not see companies admitting to anything unless they are sure of it happening.
Visually, you will not notice many changes when you get your new Android 5.1.1 because of Samsung’s TouchWiz running over top of the stock Android. However, under the hood there will be plenty of changes that should allow your Galaxy Note 4 to run faster and smoother – much more important that a visual change, wouldn’t you say? Even the Galaxy Note Edge received its Lollipop 5.1.1 update in August on the Canadian carriers and it is surprising that it took this long for the Galaxy Note 4 to receive its own update.
The Galaxy Note 4 was released last October alongside the Galaxy Note Edge, where it received its PayPal certified fingerprint sensor. The display stayed at 5.7-inches, as it has for the Galaxy Note 5 as well. It has a Quad HD (QHD) display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and 515 pixels-per-inch (PPI) – this is up from the 386 PPI on its predecessor, the Galaxy Note 3. It was released with Android 4.4.4 KitKat so the upgrade to Lollipop 5.1.1 is substantial, but real changes will occur with Android 6.0 or ‘M’ or ‘Marshmallow,’ and we hope that Samsung will include the Galaxy Note 4 in that upgrade as well since it should be coming out before the end of this year.
Samsung has always been criticized for taking so long to upgrade their devices, however, some of the responsibility lies with the carrier approving the upgrade after they do their own testing. Samsung is looking for ways to increase their sales, and providing fast and quality upgrades is one way to attract new buyers and keep existing owners. Other companies could take a lesson from Motorola – keep your UI almost stock Android with just a few tweaks and then push out fast upgrades.
