Samsung Galaxy Note 4 “gapgate” is not a big deal

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Android By Ryan Whitwam Oct. 3, 2014 4:45 pm
The first Samsung Galaxy Note 4 units are reaching reviewers and international buyers, and the build quality of this device has been receiving high praise in general. There is, however, a nagging issue. Some handsets seem to have an abnormally large gap where the front bezel meets the side of the device. It’s apparently large enough to wedge in a slip of paper. This is already being called “gapgate,” but affixing the -gate suffix does not a scandal make.
The Galaxy Note 4 is one of the first devices Samsung has made with a metal frame. The Galaxy S5 was criticized for continuing Samsung’s tradition of entirely plastic design as most of its competitors had begun incorporating metal into their designs for added sturdiness. It also helps to make a phone feel nicer, which is important if you’re paying hundreds of dollars for it. The “gapgate” issue comes in where the front bezel runs into the metal rim.
The junction isn’t as tight as people might expect. You can see in the video below that it’s possible to slide thin paper into the gap, but the gravity of the situation might be a little overblown.
This is a common design on phones with flat glass panels on the front. For example, the LG G3 has a narrow gap where the glass comes up to the side of the phone. You can wedge a bit of paper in there, but no more than a corner. The Nexus 5 has a similar shape, and its gap is usually larger (it varies between units). You can get a thin sheet of paper to stand up in that gap just like the just like the Note 4, so this isn’t an isolated design quirk. It’s just less common on phones that cost $800.
Samsung has said that the gap is a common design feature, which is true and has been noted in Samsung’s manuals for several years. However, you don’t expect the gap to be quite so pronounced on a high-end phone, even if it is worse on some units than others (see above). Users are worried that dust or water could more easily get into the phone, but I’d wager this will end up more of an aesthetic concern than anything else. Just based on using the Nexus 5, the gap does collect dust very easily, but you can clean it out by slipping a piece of paper in there and pulling it along the edge of the phone. So maybe Galaxy Note 4 owners will be intentionally cramming business cards in the gap on occasion.

So, is this a complete non-issue? No, but it’s also not scandalously unusual. Samsung’s industrial design is simply less precise than many of its competitors. You can’t expect that to change in the space of a few months. No one could really blame you if this made the*$700 to $800 price tag seem a little more crazy.
Now read:*You’re bending it wrong: Apple shows off how they bend test iPhones



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