Samsung has taken the wraps off of its two latest entries into the smartphone race at the UnPacked 2015 Event in New York.
Building on the revamped look and feel of the recently launched Galaxy S6 Edge, there is now a larger version called the Galaxy S6 Edge+.
Also announced is a new-look version of Samsung’s productivity focused smartphone – Galaxy Note 5.
Both phones are now made from the same materials as the recently launched Galaxy S6, with premium aluminium 7000 alloy and the toughest Gorilla glass 4.
Also common to both phones is a 5.7 inch quad-HD displays, so technically, both could be classified as ‘phablets’ or phone-tablets, a category that Samsung defined back in 2011.
The Galaxy S6 Edge+ is positioned for “multi-media users” is essentially a competitor to Apple’s larger iPhone 6 Plus, and now gains Samsung’s signature curved screen edges, along with the same case design, only scaled up to fit the larger display.
The Galaxy Note 5, which is aimed at “multi-taskers” with productivity needs, shares the same screen, internals, camera and battery.
The key differences are that the Note 5 includes a press-to-eject stylus, for jotting down notes, as well as a number of clever pen-driven applications. You can even jot notes on it before the phone actually ‘wakes up’.
Also, the Note 5 has a different look, with metallic edges and curved glass rear-cover, however its screen does not have curved edges.
Both devices feature Samsung’s latest 16 megapixel, F1.9 camera on the rear, and a 5 megapixel ‘selfie’ camera on the front. And there’s plenty of processing power for snappy app performance and short loading times with Samsung’s 8-core processors and 4 gigabytes of on-board RAM.
Also common to both phones is an improved mobile network connectivity, along with Category 9 support. What this means is that Samsung’s Edge+ and Note 5 can connect to Telstra’s fastest 4GX network, and transfer information at speeds up to a blistering 450 megabits per second.
This is incredibly fast, if you consider that the NBN is currently only offering maximum speeds of 100Mbps, although the real-world speeds will be less considering factors like signal strength, network capacity and interference.
In terms of memory, both phones provide 32 and 64GB options, but there is no 128GB version, unlike the smaller S6 Edge. And without the ability to expand its memory, the lack of a 128GB version, especially for the productivity focused Note 5, is a strange occlusion.
Samsung’s smartphones have leading power management, including excellent Ultra-power saving modes, fast charging and wireless charging. New on the Edge+ and Note 5 is fast wireless charging, so you can now go from an empty battery to full in 2 hours.
Also absent is the dust and water resistance found in the older Galaxy S5 phones, but this is not surprising considering Samsung’s new glass and metal case designs.
Australian pricing has yet to be announced, but considering the phone’s size, memory options and features, we’re expecting both the Galaxy Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 to be around the $1100 mark. Availability in the US and Canada starts August 21st.
Product Specifications:
Galaxy S6 edge+
Galaxy Note5
OS
Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
Network
LTE Cat.9 / LTE Cat.6 * May differ by markets and mobile operators
Dimension
154.4 x 75.8 x 6.9mm, 153g
153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6mm, 171g
Processor
Octa core (2.1GHz Quad + 1.5GHz Quad), 64 bit, 14 nm process
Memory
4GB RAM (LPDDR4) , 32/64GB (UFS 2.0) ,
Display
5.7” Quad HD Super AMOLED
2560 x 1440 (518ppi)
Dual edge screen
5.7” Quad HD Super AMOLED
2560 x 1440 (518ppi)
Camera
Rear : 16MP OIS (F1.9) , Front : 5MP (F1.9)
Battery
3,000mAh, Fast Charging both on wired and wireless Wireless Charging compatible with WPC and PMA
Payment
NFC, MST
Connectivity
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, MIMO(2×2),
Bluetooth® v 4.2 LE, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC, Location
Sensors
Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Fingerprint, Barometer, Hall, HRM
Audio
MP3,M4A,3GA,AAC,OGG,OGA,WAV,WMA,AMR,
AWB,FLAC,MID,MIDI,XMF,MXMF,IMY,RTTTL,RTX,OTA
Video
MP4,M4V,3GP,3G2,WMV,ASF,AVI,FLV,MKV,WEBM
PHOTO CREDIT: Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
Valens Quinn travelled to New York as a guest of Samsung Electronics Australia
I got my Note Edge, so that I could :”Jump” to the Note 5 Edge, when it’s promoted August release date, morphed into January of next year.
I was so psyched, that I was going to get the Note 5 Edge.
BUT THEN . . .
I saw the rollout; and that, in conjunction with the sad devolved fact that one can neither remove and / or replace the battery or the memory chip????
I did NOT see any reason that an articulate and somewhat knowledgeable person should or would want to abandon his or her Note Edge, so as to upgrade (????) to the Note 5 Edge.
I purchased an induction charging assembly for my Note Edge; and, since Samsung has effectively devolved, I would love to hear from anyone reading this any INTELLIGENT justification for switching to the Note 5.
We’re not quite sure why Samsung has switched to not having a microSD slot either, though the battery does make some sense to us (maximises space, fewer people buy extra batteries when they can just buy a power bank).
Outside of processing power, we’re not sure the change will matter that much between your current phone and the new one, but we’ll let you know when we play with the phones properly this week.
Essentially, though, if you want that curved screen like on the Edge, you’ll have to go with the S6+, which lacks the stylus. If you want the stylus, you need the Note 5. That much we have confirmed about how Samsung is building these two devices.