I am surprised note 4 got it before the note 5!

(my note 4 is 2degrees and note 5 is vodafone)

richms:

Nothing for my spark branded one. Hate this telco branding crap.

Got is on Voda branded one

yep, available OTA as well

Shocking that the N910U got Marshmallow before the poor N920i, which hasn't had an update since December.

Minimal changes here - it's Samsung's tried and true method of copy/paste the old UI layer rather than bring the latest visuals + as much good stuff as possible from the current gen. But the screen-off memo from the Note 5 shows up, and finally having a permissions manager is hugely welcome since the Note 4 always suffered from rogue apps and dodgy background battery drain.

It may interest folks who are disappointed by the lack of visual changes to note that the Good Lock app which massively changes the lockscreen, recent apps, and notification tray is compatible with the Note 4 on Marshmallow.

The more I play with this - My Note 4 is my TV remote - the more I like it. Samsung may not have ported what I consider some of the best hygiene features of the S6 & above here, like the theme engine, 5x5 app grid, & dynamic icons, but Nova launcher + Good Lock  + the few extra features make the phone fresh and fun to use again.

The audio upscaler from Note 5/S6 edge+ is present in the Music app now. Snake oil IMO, nice to have all the same.

The Note 4 is still my favourite Samsung phone from a design and hardware perspective. Note 5 is nice but doesn't compare to metal frame, soft-touch back, & grippy stylus. If the battery life is finally improved on our good ol' Exynos variant I might switch back to it for a bit.

AKLWestie: Does it support adaptable storage?

Nope. I got endless SD card popups until I formatted the 32GB card I keep in it too.

richms:

 

Nothing for my spark branded one. Hate this telco branding crap.

 

It's available today from Spark and downloading now. Seeing it was only released a couple of days ago, I think in this instance Spark have been quite reactive.

I would still rather get actual unbranded handsets when I buy a handset. I may change telco 3-4 times thruout the life of a handset so the brand I see when I turn it on and stupid renaming of the internet browser is just annoying.

richms:

 

I would still rather get actual unbranded handsets when I buy a handset. I may change telco 3-4 times thruout the life of a handset so the brand I see when I turn it on and stupid renaming of the internet browser is just annoying.

 

Agree it would be nice, but our market's not big enough to support an unbranded SKU. See also: Distribution politics.

To be fair, Spark engages in the most aggressive software customisation of the three NZ telcos, 2d and Voda units usually only come with one self service app which can be disabled.

AU has historically had an unbranded SKU for most Samsung flagships that might do the trick for you.