* image These past few months have been busy for our family, especially since our oldest joined a local swim team. Between juggling our work schedules and balancing school with practices... we're all pretty wiped out. Although it's a lot of work, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. Preparing the holiday meal for our family fills my heart with joy, and I can't wait to get started. To make things easier for me, I don't deviate much from our first Thanksgiving as a family. The dishes I make are familiar ones, and the recipes for them live at my fingertips. Keeping the same menu year after year means I don't have to spend time researching recipes or planning a new one. Here are my tried-and-true Thanksgiving recipes, as well as my prep timeline for the big day!
Food + Technology: Testing the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for Verizon Wireless
I've partnered with Verizon Wireless of the Philadelphia Tri-State Region to see how certain devices that operate on Verizon's 4G LTE network stand up to the technological needs of a food blogger.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Verizon Wireless provided me with a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to test at no cost to me. I did not accept monetary compensation for this post; however, this post does contain affiliate product links. Clicking on the links may result in my being paid a commission based on product sales. Regardless of commission, all opinions expressed in this post are my own. For more information, please review our site policies.
In continuation of my partnership with Verizon Wireless of the Philadelphia Tri-State Region, I've spent some time testing another mobile device that operates on their 4G LTE network (known as the "fastest and most reliable in the U.S.") to determine how the right device could improve my blogging endeavors.
This review is a little different than my previous reviews (see here and here and here and here) since I tested the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 during the third trimester of my pregnancy, as well as my transition into motherhood. As you might expect, the majority of the photos I took with the phone weren't related to food at all. The truth is, the device helped capture some of the most memorable moments of my life and I have a sentimental attachment to it.
In today's blog post, I'm going to share my thoughts about the Galaxy Note 4, as well as some of the photos I took (and subsequently posted on Instagram). Keep reading to see what I had to say!
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
While I loved the slim body of the Galaxy Note 4 (it's only 0.33" thick), I found that, at 6.04 inches in length, the phone was too big to sit comfortably in my hand, and, at 6.21 ounces in weight, it was noticeably heavier than the previous devices I've tested.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
With that said, I was truly impressed by the phone's 5.7" Quad HD Super AMOLED® display. Images were crisp and clear and the colors just popped off the screen. The drool-worthy photos on my favorite food blogs made me want to read post after post, which all loaded quickly thanks to the 4G LTE network.
Reading all of those posts had me thinking about dishes I wanted to try, recipes I wanted to develop for Taste As You Go, and restaurants I wanted to visit some day down the road. To keep everything straight, I tried to use the Galaxy Note 4's S Pen to make lists quickly rather than relying on the on-screen keyboard, but I found the pen frustrating.
It took several tries for the device to translate my handwriting to text, despite my having some of the most legible handwriting ever, and using the S Pen wound up being the slower way to go. Too bad, too. I would have gotten so much more done on the go had the S Pen and I figured out a way to get along.
But what about the camera?
The camera app is easily accessible from the lock screen, so I was able to open it with a single swipe of my finger, thus making it easier to take photos more quickly. The phone has a 16MP rear camera with built-in Optical Image Stabilization, as well as a wide-angle, 3.7MP front-facing camera that's ideal for selfies.
I had much more fun taking photos with the Galaxy Note 4 than some of the other devices I've reviewed. But I have to wonder whether the subject matter had something to do with that more so than the phone. ;-)
