Cell phone Samsung Galaxy S6 Age. Quick review of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone

The South Korean manufacturer has announced an improved version of the curved flagship smartphone GalaxyS6edge –GalaxyS6edge+. It got a much larger screen. This can be seen from the comparison photo. But what other surprises did she give him? Samsung? Let's find out right now.

1 – size

The first thing that catches your eye when comparing two phones lying next to each other is the changed dimensions. New option GalaxyS6edge+ gained height and width, but at the same time was able to become a little narrower than the original version.

The full dimensions look like this: 154; 76; 6.9 mm GalaxyS6edge+ against142; 70.7 mm GalaxyS6edge.

2 – weight

Of course, this also affected the weight of the new device. The extended version now weighs 153 grams versus 132 for its predecessor.

3 – structure of the body and cover

Nothing has changed in the material of the body and lid. Still aluminum, still with Gorilla Glass 4 on the non-removable lid. It doesn’t happen that they suddenly start making a version marked + from something else. So the designers here relax quietly, enjoying a well-done previous job.

4 – color palette

The classic black and white body colors remain. Also, both options have gold. And in order to be at least somehow different, the new phone with a curved display received a silver color, and the old one distinguishes it from the entire line Galaxy green.

5 – display

It is clearly visible that the new display has become much larger. More precisely, by 20 percent. 5.7 inches received GalaxyS6edge+. It's the size of a great phablet and a good replacement for a mini tablet. GalaxyS6edge has 5.1 inches, which is also good, but not so catchy.

But nothing has changed in screen resolution and display type. The QHD screen has 2560 by 1440 pixels. The display type is oleophobic, or AMOLED, as the buyer is more accustomed to seeing it on the product box. Only the pixel density per inch has changed. From 577 units to 518. That is, the picture has become less sharp, but this is hardly noticeable to the eye at this resolution.

Of course, there are also curved displays, which are commonly called “triple” displays. Samsung It also did not add support for the S Pen stylus, so that the model would not compete with the company’s other product, the Note 5 phablet.

6 – processor

The processor remains the same. For almost six months Samsung did not have time to release a more advanced chip than what we have Exynos 7420. This eight-core and 64-bit chip operates at 2.1 and 1.5 GHz and allows the battery to last much longer than its opponents.

7 – RAM

The update is that the new version has received the maximum currently possible for smartphones, 4 GB of RAM. The original version “only” has 3 GB. Multitasking support has become even better.

8 – internal memory

In order not to increase the cost of the extended version of the smartphone with a curved display, Samsung I had to abandon the 128 GB version for sale. Then it would cost almost the same as pointless branded phones. And the South Korean manufacturer prefers the phrase “advanced and affordable.” Micro SD memory card support was also not added. It will slow down the device as Samsung has switched to a new type of flash memory, which offers increased performance of the device.

9 – cameras

The cameras remain the same. 16 megapixels for the main camera, 5 megapixels for the front camera. Support for automatic digital stabilization is included.

10 – battery

The new height and width (even despite the thinner body) allowed Samsung to solve the main problem of the flagship - to install a more capacious battery. The new smartphone received 3000 mAh, while the previous version had only 2600 mAh. A few extra hours of operation will not hurt the device.

The batteries are still non-removable, have fast charging capabilities and support wireless charging.

11 – other

Both devices support instant mobile payments from the company – Samsung Mobile Pay. Both also still have a heart rate sensor. But the new phablet also received support for an additional qwerty keyboard from Blackberry. The device clings to the body, and you can type quickly with both fingers if you miss the physical buttons on your phone.

12 – software

Latest version Android 5.1.1 installed on both smartphones running a proprietary shell from Samsung.

13 – release, price and withdrawal

The first version of the smartphone with a curved display on both sides entered the market in April 2015 and is offered at a price of $750. The extended version will appear at the end of August 2015 at a price of $800. For those for whom the difference of $50 does not matter (and for everyone else), we, of course, recommend the extended version. It has no drawbacks, except for the lack of an option with 128 GB of internal memory. And the huge display of this device can easily replace any tablet. And even the tablets that will come out next year cannot compare with GalaxyS6edge+ in terms of performance.

Surely you have already learned characteristics and know about all the possibilities Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Today I will talk about the experience of actually using one of the hottest new products of this year. We will talk about the nuances of operation, useful or useless features, and also see what the built-in camera of a smartphone is capable of. Go!

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge package includes a charger (5 V, 2 A), a wired headset, a Micro-USB cable and a metal SIM card ejector. It's good that the Koreans stopped using yellow boxes made of thin and super cheap cardboard. Now, of course, the packaging still doesn’t make much of an impression, especially considering the price of more than fifty thousand rubles per phone, but it’s still better than before.

Specifications Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge SM-G925F

I think it will be interesting not just to look at the technical characteristics of the smartphone in its pure form, but to compare them with the capabilities of its predecessor - the Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F). The specifications of the regular S6 and its curved version are no different from each other. Compared to last year’s version, a lot has changed: green marks what has changed towards improvement, red – towards worsening.

	Samsung Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F)	Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (SM-G925F)
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, 2.5 GHz (4 cores)	Exynos 7 Octa 7420, 2.1 and 1.5 GHz, 64-bit (8 cores: 4 Cortex-A57 and 4 Cortex-A53)
Video accelerator	Adreno 330	Mali-T760 MP8
RAM	2 GB LPDDR3	3 GB LPDDR4-3104
Built-in memory	16 GB	32 / 64 / 128 GB
Memory card support	Yes (micro SD up to 128 GB)	No
Display	Super AMOLED 5.1’’, 1920×1080 pixels (432 ppi)	Super AMOLED 5.1'', 2560×1440 pixels (577 ppi)
Main camera	16 MP	16 MP
Front-camera	2 MP	5 MP
Battery	2800 mAh	2550 mAh
OS	Android 4.4.2 (5.0 Lollipop available)	Android 5.0.2
cellular	2G, 3G, 4G	2G, 3G, 4G LTE-A Cat 6 (FDD LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26,
Wireless interfaces	Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, USB 3.0 (OTG), infrared port	Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, USB 2.0 (OTG), infrared port
Connectors	GPS/GLONASS/Beidou	GPS/GLONASS/Beidou
Sensors		Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, barometer, light sensor, fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor
SIM card form factor	Micro	Nano
Water and dust protection	Yes (IP67 standard)	No

Later we will definitely talk in more detail about the hardware components and, of course, touch on performance.

Design

Let's talk a little about the design of the device. I want to say right away that in real life the device looks much better than in photographs and, especially, in press images. Judging only by the photo, it may seem that Samsung continues to stubbornly push its line of monotonous devices with a lack of design, but now it is also trying to deceive the user by saying that we are talking about a device with a first-class appearance.

When you take a smartphone in your hand, you understand that there is no deception here and this is a truly interesting, beautiful device.

The most surprising thing for me was that Samsung managed to combine the continuity of its design, which was correct in their opinion, and make an objectively very interesting device in terms of appearance. Of course, you may not like the design, but in any case, it’s worth admitting that it turned out to be interesting and, due to the curved display at the edges, there is simply nothing like it on the market.

Owners of the S6 Edge should be heartened by the fact that nothing like this will appear on the market in the near future. Yes, perhaps at the beginning of 2016 we will see something curved in a similar way from some eminent manufacturer, but not a single Chinese company rushing to Olympus will be able to do something similar in the next year or two. The latter will look for ways to stand out in other ways (lack of side frames, etc.) and this is certainly a plus for you and me, consumers.

Sorry, but I can’t resist comparing the device with the iPhone 6. In the Edge, like the regular S6, the rear camera protrudes very noticeably above the surface of the body. It is clear that this nuance is due to an engineering solution - placing an excellent photomodule in a thin body is a task that no one can yet do. However, the Koreans managed to beat this moment and the back side, even with a protruding camera lens, is perceived as one piece.

The same cannot be said about the Apple device. Here the camera sticks out, apparently because the engineers simply did not have time to complete the product in time. This is exactly the impression you get when you look at the iPhone 6.

Ease of use

Curved screens give +50 to the charisma of the device, but at the same time -25 to ease of use.

The thing is that during normal use, accidental presses on the screen at its curved ends are not uncommon. Sometimes this happens in the browser when you accidentally click on some link with an advertisement like “How to lose 65 kg in two weeks!” And it also happens that when shooting something with the built-in camera, you try to tap on the screen to focus on the object, but you don’t understand why the device doesn’t respond to your attempts. After 5 seconds, it becomes clear that at this moment the thumb lightly touches the curved part of the screen and the viewfinder stops responding to any touch.

Here's another scenario for everyday use of a smartphone. In the morning, while still lying in bed, the first thing many of us do is reach for the phone to check the time, check the weather, or check our email. It is clear that we do this either in a completely horizontal position or in a reclining position. So, using the “edge” in any of these cases is very difficult. The device is tilted down towards your face and, of course, the phone rests on your thumbs. And given that you can’t hold it on the edge in this position (false clicks on the curved edges of the display will be triggered), it’s impossible to use the smartphone while lying down.

It would seem that there is a simple way out - always hold the device by the metal edge. However, in this case, the area of ​​contact between the smartphone and the palm along the edge becomes smaller and the risk of dropping the smartphone from your hands increases many times over. Any S6 Edge owner will have to go through this stage and get the hang of holding the device correctly or end up dropping it and breaking it.

There's one more thing to consider if you can't decide between the regular S6 and its curved sibling. In about a week, the euphoria from a new, interesting and unique device will pass and, so to speak, harsh everyday life will begin, during which you will constantly make compromises when using your smartphone. Either it is difficult to pick it up when it is lying on the table, or you accidentally and constantly press the screen with your palm and something goes wrong - all these troubles will haunt you constantly.

Think carefully about whether you need such an attraction and whether you are willing to sacrifice the ease of use of your device for the sake of the wow effect that the Galaxy S6 Edge produces.

By the way, due to the use of tempered glass on the front and back (the latest generation of Corning Gorilla Glass 4), the device itself does not try to slip out of your hands. In this regard, for example, the iPhone 6 is much more difficult to manage.

During use, of course, small scratches will begin to appear on the glass, but on the white model they are very difficult to notice. My copy had these available, but it was very difficult to photograph them.

The movement of all physical buttons is moderately soft and clear. It’s pleasant to press them, even despite the barely noticeable, but still present, play.

In general, the assembly of the smartphone is excellent, but a couple of nuances were still discovered.

In the corners, in places of smooth transitions on the body, a gap is visible between the glass and the metal bumper.

In the photo below, I even managed to insert a piece of paper into this slot. In other places, the front panel fits as tightly as possible and there are not even tiny gaps.

The paint on the sloping end of the protruding camera lens peels off quite quickly.

Somehow this is not very healthy for an image product costing over 50,000 rubles. Perhaps the manufacturer will solve this problem in future batches.

	Length	Width	Thickness	Weight
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge		71,7
Samsung Galaxy S5		72,5
Apple iPhone 6	138,1
HTC One M9	144,6	69,7	9,61
Sony Xperia Z3	146,5

Fans of compact smartphones will be happy to get their hands on the Galaxy S6 Edge, as despite its 5.1-inch display it is very compact, light and very thin. The smartphone seemed a little small to me and it would be great if Samsung released something larger. I think we should wait until fall and try the Galaxy Note Edge 2. By the way, there is no one-handed operation mode here. You can use the device comfortably this way.

Display

Despite the seemingly large 5.1-inch screen, you shouldn't expect the screen to be large. Such is the paradox. Due to the rounded sides, the useful area of ​​the screen is reduced and this is reflected in the information that fits on the screen, or rather, which remains readable. For example, in the browser we are used to the system automatically aligning the text along the edges of the screen with a double tap, but here the text extends onto the curved sides and it becomes difficult to perceive the text in this position. Each time you have to adjust the text to fit the usable display area by additionally scaling the text manually with two fingers. Comfortable? Unlikely.

The above applies only to full versions of sites. For clarity, in the left photo below you can see what one of the popular resources on the topic of mobile devices looks like on the S6 Edge screen. In the photo on the right, our website is open in the browser, which is specially optimized for mobile devices - nothing needs to be scaled, everything remains readable from the start.

In general, a curved screen makes you take a fresh look at the already boring interface of many applications. Thus, Instagram began to play differently due to its rounded edges. The same applies to other utilities on Android. And this is certainly very cool! A completely useless, but very cool feature of the Galaxy S6 Edge.

I liked the time display on the side strip of the display in night mode. You woke up so suddenly at night, turned your head, looked at the glowing clock on the side of your smartphone and continued to sleep until the alarm clock. Comfortable? Yes. Need to? Um... I guess.

When it comes to viewing angles, there is a lot to talk about. In the test photos below, I compared the S6 Edge's screen (left/top in photos, display mode: Adaptive) with one of the best displays I've seen on a mobile device in the last year - (right/bottom).

As you can see, the display of the Korean smartphone performs, in general, quite well, but it still lacks the brightness reserve in comparison with the Chinese one.

I would not say that color reproduction is ideal in both devices. In the S6 Edge, the image is slightly green, while in the MX4 Pro the colors go a little pink. Here, everyone likes what they like, but I’m not close to the traditional green displays in solutions from the Korean corporation.

However, the “edge” screen is unrivaled in terms of black transmission.

Samsung displays the deepest possible blacks, which the Meizu device cannot boast of. By the way, the latter, so you know, conveys a dark tint quite well if you compare its display with that of Huawei Honor 6 Plus. Here you can look at the comparison of these two Chinese and see the veracity of this statement.

The same applies to the behavior of the screen in the sun. The display remains readable in any conditions. The backlight adjustment sensor, of course, does not react the fastest to sudden changes in lighting, but it always does it correctly.

Processor, graphics and memory

The most advanced mobile processor currently available from Samsung Exynos 7420 Octa is used as the “brains” of the smartphone. It is based on 4 powerful Cortex-A57 cores with a frequency of 2.1 GHz and 4 additional Cortex-A53 with a lower frequency of 1.5 GHz (big.LITTLE). The processor is created using 14-nanometer technology. The closest competitors are the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, which has some overheating issues, and the Nvidia Tegra K1.

The graphics are handled by the ARM Mali-T760 MP8. The frequency of each shader cluster reaches 772 MHz. Support for OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCL 1.1 and DirectX 11 is declared. According to some tests, this video chip built into the processor outperforms Adreno 430 and PowerVR GX6450 (Apple A8). The high resolution of 2560 x 1440 in games is something that the graphics cope with with a bang.

In addition, it uses the fastest memory 3 GB LPDDR4-3104 (speed up to 24.8 Gbps).

Performance

The speed of animation and interface is maximum. Any menu and graphics fly and it becomes clear that you are dealing with a well-functioning interface.

The camera starts up in less than a second and takes photos even faster. During the entire testing period, I was never able to find any bottlenecks where the device stuttered at least once.

Have you read above about the smartphone specifications? So, does it make sense to say that the performance of modern 3D games is maximum? I think this is unnecessary.

The same applies to performance in various benchmarks.

In the 64-bit AnTuTu test, the Galaxy S6 Edge managed to score a whopping 70,641 virtual parrots! It’s really: “Can your smartphone do this?”

More details in the screenshots below.

Camera

Gorgeous! Seriously! It is truly the best among all currently existing mobile devices (spring 2015). Don't believe me? Then look at the bee peacefully collecting nectar from the almond blossom below.

If you still have doubts, then here are examples with other frames taken on the device. The originals can be taken from here in one archive and studied in detail offline.

Even photos taken at night look good. Check out how the Samsung plant turned out in one of the photos below.

Optical stabilization works well in most situations, but taking two or three shots at a time never hurts. It happens that the photos turn out blurry, but this is discovered too late.

Examples of 100% crops are below, in their proper places.

The device takes photographs very quickly. The same applies to HDR images, and indeed launching the camera in general. In the settings, you can set the photo application to launch when you double-click the Home key. Thus, you will have approximately 1.5 seconds from the moment you discover an interesting plot until the image is saved to the smartphone’s memory.

Samsung has taken a path that can only be welcomed. Firstly, they improved the already excellent camera compared to the same Galaxy Note 4. And, secondly, they simplified the process of creating photos and menus. Previously, when you pressed a button with gears, a matrix with monochrome icons and inscriptions opened in front of you, which made your eyes water.

Now everything is simple. Basic settings, including choosing a resolution, activating geotagging, setting up additional shutter buttons (volume keys), and so on, are available by pressing the same gear.

Again, there are few modes, but all the most basic things are there: shooting slow or fast video, creating panoramas, choosing the focus after shooting, which is now fashionable, and so on.

Of course, there is a “Pro” mode, where you can play around with the shutter speed settings yourself, tighten up the picture using additional settings and select the appropriate ISO. By the way, below is an example of a picture put together from different frames at different ISO settings.

There are two sets of preset filters: the first is called up by pressing a separate virtual key from the viewfinder, and the second is accessible from the “Pro” mode. Korean developers apparently don't like what Instagram has to offer.

The smartphone is capable of recording video in a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels at 30 frames per second. Example below.

As before, the camera is capable of shooting slow-motion or sped-up videos. In this case, the resolution will not exceed 1280 x 720, and to correctly view such masterpieces on a computer, special players and codecs will be required. I'm more interested in the implementation of shooting such a video in . There the feature is called Timeshift Burst and is made more elegantly.

Battery life

Forget about two days of battery life on a single battery charge. The Galaxy S6 Edge will need to be charged every day, unless, of course, you bought this smartphone just to make calls.

Buy a wireless charger and train yourself to place the device on it every day before going to bed. This will make life much easier and you won’t have to worry about the lack of battery power.

Overnight, the device spends about 6-8 percent of its charge to nothing. During the day, most of the energy is consumed by the screen, data transfer and, of course, the built-in hardware. If used very intensively, the smartphone runs the risk of not surviving until the night and being discharged halfway to the outlet. In this case, you should use the energy saving mode. The usual saving mode is of little use, but extreme energy saving will allow you to stay connected for twice as long. By the way, when this feature is activated, the device is not only limited in the use of all its functions, but also behaves like some kind of budget phone: it becomes slightly thoughtful.

Models and prices

In this material, in addition to reviewing the actual use of the phone, I propose to touch upon the issue of existing models. The range of prices and modifications, of course, is not great, but the information will still be useful. This is especially true for those who decide to buy a gadget abroad during a vacation or business trip.

We have

There are currently several versions of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. First of all, they differ in the size of the built-in memory: it can be 32, 64 or 128 GB. The order of prices, respectively, is as follows: 54,990, 57,990 and 62,990 rubles. All these modifications have the same marking: SM-G925F.

A little later, another model will appear on our market, which will have support for two SIM cards on board. True, we are talking about the regular Galaxy S6 Duos (SM-G920F), which will have 64 GB allocated for data storage. Nothing is yet known about the version with a curved display and two SIM cards.

And that is not all. Most recently, the Korean company announced the start of sales of a special version of the smartphone in a color with the brand name “noble emerald”. The coloring itself does not carry any special bonus, the point here is different. For only 89,990 rubles, the lucky owner of the device will receive a wireless charger and an external battery included.

In addition, the buyer will receive a membership card to the Quintessentially Lifestyle Club, a service that books you hotels, restaurant reservations and much more around the world. A good opportunity to try the service for very little money. A subscription in isolation from a Samsung device costs completely different money, much more than the price of an “edge”.

They have

In the international arena (if you’re on vacation in the USA, this will come in handy) there is a whole scattering of different types of “edge”. Below is a selection of models with approximate prices for them as a guide.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge SM-G925P- this option is available from the Sprint operator and has support for the following cellular networks: UMTS: 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz. As for LTE, the modification is designed to work in networks with the following bands: FDD LTE: 700 (12), 850 (5), 850 (26), 1700 / 2100 (4), 1900 (2), 1900 (25) MHz ; TDD LTE: 2500 (41) MHz.

SM-G925A- sold from AT&T operators and supports UMTS networks (850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz), as well as LTE FDD: 700 (17), 800 (20), 850 (5), 900 (8), 1700 / 2100 (4), 1800 (3), 1900 (2), 2100 (1), 2600 (7) MHz.

SM-G925V— can be purchased at Verizon stores and points of sale. Declared to work in UMTS (850/900/1900/2100 MHz) and LTE FDD: 700 (13), 850 (5), 1700/2100 (4), 1800 (3), 1900 (2), 2600 (7) MHz .

SM-G925T from the American operator T-Mobile - will be able to connect to UMTS (850 / 1700/2100 / 1900 / 2100 MHz), as well as the 4th generation cellular network LTE FDD: 700 (12), 700 (17), 800 (20), 850 (5), 1700 / 2100 (4), 1800 (3), 1900 (2), 2100 (1), 2600 (7) MHz

And a relatively rare modification SM-G925R from U.S. Cellular is equipped with support for UMTS (800/1900 MHz), as well as LTE FDD: 700 (12), 700 (13), 700 (17), 850 (5), 1700 / 2100 (4), 1900 (2), (7 ) MHz.

The same applies to the regular version of the Samsung Galaxy S6 SM-G920F. It is enough to remove the last letter in the model name and substitute the missing one from the operator: substitute A, T, V or R instead of F at the end of the model name.

The only parting word before purchasing: check which bands are broadcast in your city by the operator whose services you are going to use. This is an important point that should be taken into account in advance, in addition to the fact that not all of the models indicated above can be purchased by non-US residents.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone is a truly unique device. At the moment, it remains the leader of the entire market both in terms of productivity and innovation.

Most likely, the situation will not change until the end of summer, until the moment when the Korean manufacturer introduces the next generation of Note 5 or Note 5 Edge to the world. Considering all this, the stated price of 54,990 rubles is completely justified. Moreover, the manufacturer could set the price higher, since the S6 Edge is still playing alone in its league.

We talked about everything that is important to know when purchasing a device. I did not touch on the points that you already know. We looked at what the manufacturer and other publications are silent about. Only two points remain unclear: why is the regular Galaxy S6 so overpriced and how will you deal with the curved edges of the hero of today’s article? I described the last point in some detail in the body of the review - it contains everything that any user will most likely encounter during real, normal use of a smartphone.

As for the price for a regular, non-curved modification, everything is different here. Yes, we have before us a very powerful, productive device with excellent body materials. However, the device does not have the same image component as the Edge or the iPhone 6. Such a comparison set the teeth on edge, but it is not we, journalists, who do this, but the company itself.

Samsung openly competes with Apple when building its pricing policy. However, why the buyer should pay for the manufacturer’s ambitions is unclear.

If Samsung had set the price at 35-40 thousand rubles (which, in fact, happened as part of the price war in the spring-summer 2015), it would have had a chance to finally do away with competitors such as HTC or Sony and push them out of the Russian market. However, the company did not want to do this, nor did they want to remember Chinese companies, which are increasingly conquering the domestic market. In unstable economic conditions, users tend to save money and choose more affordable solutions. And there’s also the holiday season ahead—after all, you also want to relax. They don’t have extra money for the very best device.

Now, after the publication of sales reports from Apple and the Korean electronics giant, it becomes clear that Samsung’s strategy is not working and it is still impossible to compete head-on with the Cupertino team. People are addicted to stereotypes that are stuck in their heads: iPhone is cool, it’s status, period! So far, the Koreans have only partially succeeded in convincing buyers of the superiority of the Galaxy S6 Edge (on all fronts).

The glory of the Galaxy Note phablets began to fade, and Samsung decided to come up with something new. The success of the Galaxy S6 edge introduced in the spring showed that the company is moving in the right direction. The unusual appearance of the smartphone attracts attention. What need to do? That's right, the same thing, but more. Meet the Galaxy S6 edge+.

Model	Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ 64GB	Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ 32GB
Price range	no data	from 46888 rub.
Built-in memory	64 GB	32 GB
Model release	August 2015	August 2015

But beautiful

People are tired of comparing processors with each other and delving into the essence of benchmarks. When a smartphone costs under a thousand dollars, you just want to get a beautiful device that you don’t want to let go of. And the Galaxy S6 edge+ gives such emotions. Finally, Samsung has found its strong point. Compared to them, curved LG screens look completely different, but no one knows how to bend screens anymore.

We would like to note that compared to the “regular S6 edge”, its larger brother has become more convenient. Why? The model has become larger, now the wide smartphone occupies most of the palm without digging into it, the edges have become a little larger.

Despite the combination of glass and aluminum, the model does not seem slippery at all. The sides rest against the palm of your hand, and unlike the iPhone 6 Plus, there is no fear that the gadget will slip out. In addition, compared to the Apple phablet, the Korean new product came out very compact, so to speak about a smartphone with a 5.7-inch screen. But the diagonal is larger, and the dimensions are smaller. Apple is on the rise again.

The other side of a glamorous life is soilability. The shiny glass case is very easy to get dirty, so in order to maintain its appearance you have to regularly wipe the case with a cloth. We can advise you to pay attention to the light version, it looks more attractive. By the way, the IR port that was on the S6 edge has disappeared from the top end.

Galaxy S6 edge+ does not differ in design from the regular S6 edge. More due to the enlarged screen, but we have already seen the cool curved design, metal and glass. However, the smartphone has not ceased to be spectacular.

As good as it gets

The image quality is very high, this is one of the best screens among mobile devices on the market. 5.7 inches, resolution 2560x1440 pixels, Super AMOLED - this combination can only be found in Samsung.

Details of the implementation of double-sided bending are in the review of the regular S6 edge. In the plus size version, everything is exactly the same: impressive, unusual, convenient: we’ll talk about notifications and special modes further.

Our expert Mikhail Kuznetsov conducted detailed testing of the screen:

The Samsung GALAXY S6 edge+ smartphone boasts a 5.7-inch OLED screen (or Super AMOLED in the company's nomenclature), representing the latest technology. Its resolution is 2560x1440 (Quad HD), and the pixel density is off the charts - 518 ppi. Naturally, there is no need to complain about image clarity.

The actual brightness of an OLED display depends on the nature of the image. In the worst case - with a white fill on the entire screen - you can get 450 cd/m2, which can already be considered a good result. But if the smartphone is in auto mode in bright sunshine, then the screen brightness can increase up to 786 cd/m2. This is an unprecedented level of brightness for a smartphone, leaving even the recent Note 5 a little behind. The anti-glare properties, viewing angles and contrast of OLED are simply excellent, which adds points to the S6 edge+ screen.

Speaking about color reproduction, you need to take into account that the Samsung GALAXY S6 edge+ has four color profiles designed for different tastes and needs. They are quite different from each other.

The screen of the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ turned out to be excellent; there are few differences from the Note 5. The outstanding performance of the OLED display is supported by several color profiles, some of which are both accurate and flashy. A very versatile and impressive screen that can easily be customized to suit your tastes.

What's the benefit

Thanks to the screen curved on both sides, you can not only get a sense of volume while viewing photos or videos. Samsung has thought about how to make the most of this concept by offering the following options.

We select five contacts with whom we communicate more often than others, each of them receives its own specific color. Then, during an incoming call, it will be easy to identify the caller using the backlight. Another option is quick access to one of five applications of the user's choice. In addition, notifications about new messages or calls, time or weather data, as well as news information flow are included here.

Where is everything else?

We will not repeat the story about the characteristics of the smartphone. We have already tested the Galaxy S6 edge and Note 5, the models are identical, the only difference is the lack of a stylus on the S6 edge+. Therefore, do not be surprised by the short review, because the point is to save your time. Look at the benchmark measurements in comparison with competitors - everything is approximately the same.

We just note that the operating time of edge+ is slightly higher than that of the “regular” edge. The results themselves coincide with the measurements we carried out for Note 5. We get about 10-11 hours of playback in video mode, about 3.5-4 hours in games and more than 7 hours in PCMark.

As for the camera, it is also exactly the same. The module and shooting algorithms have not changed compared to the Galaxy Note 5. And why change something that is already one of the best on the market? Look at the gallery of pictures, in our opinion, there is nothing to complain about:

These are sample pictures of the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Its camera is exactly the same as the S6 edge+. That is, one of the best among existing smartphones.

The phablet has support for LTE Cat.9. In theory, this gives very fast mobile Internet: 300 Mbit/s to the subscriber and 50 Mbit/s from the subscriber. But in fact, such networks are available only in a few cities in Russia, so this function will not play a special role when choosing a gadget. But it's still nice.

Bloggers will like an interesting feature - the phablet can stream videos directly to YouTube. All you have to do is launch the camera, select a mode, and log in to your account. After this, you can broadcast without any additional equipment.

We also note the presence of optical stabilization in the front camera, which is very rare now. Together with Note 5, this is the world's first smartphone with this feature. Examples of selfies below.

OPINION HI-TECH.MAIL.RU

Marketers should come up with a shorter name; “GalexiessixEdPlus” sounds like a medieval alchemist’s spell. But these are nitpicks: Samsung has turned out to be a real flagship. It differs from the “small” S6 edge by a noticeably larger screen, larger battery capacity and better operating time, and an improved front camera. Is it worth the overpayment of 12 thousand rubles? After all, the regular s6 edge costs 43 thousand rubles, and the edge+ is already 55 thousand rubles. (prices for variations with 32 GB of memory). Unlikely: the price is too high. In general, due to price wars, the S6/S6 edge pair turned out to be the best choice among flagship smartphones, and it is difficult to compete with it not only for other companies, but also for Samsung’s own new products.

Other competitors? The ubiquitous iPhone 6 Plus. It makes no sense to compare a Samsung gadget with other devices; they have a lower class. Among such devices are the HTC One M9+ and Sony Xperia Z3+ (but they have 5.2 inches - not enough), LG G4 (5.5 inches), and unofficially you can order the much more affordable Xiaomi Mi Note Pro. But the IFA exhibition and Sony's flagship are approaching, as well as the presentation of the new generation iPhone. That's when the real battle comes.

pros

• Spectacular appearance
• Great screen
• Great camera
• 4 GB RAM and LTE cat.9
• Fast charging

Minuses

• No memory card
• Average battery capacity
• No 128 GB version and 2 SIM cards in the standard version

Alexander Pobyvanets, [email protected]

Source Hi-Tech.Mail.Ru

Operational testing of one of the brightest smartphones of the new season

Every spring, at the end of February or beginning of March, the world's geeks eagerly await the Mobile World Congress exhibition. After all, it is during this time that almost all mobile device manufacturers, without exception, announce their new flagship smartphones. The greatest excitement is traditionally caused by new products from the leaders of the segment, and Samsung, of course, does not stand aside. We have already been accustomed to the fact that it is during MWC that the Korean company “rolls out” the next flagship smartphone of the Galaxy S line. Well, good traditions must be respected, and this year was no exception: on February 28, during the zero-day conference, we were shown as much two new devices - Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

I must say that after 2014 and the Samsung Galaxy S5, the wait was a little tense. It’s not that last year’s leader was a disappointment, but it didn’t cause a true “wow”. There was too much criticism: a dubious, rather inconspicuous-looking plastic case, the surface of which many compared to a sticking plaster, and practically the same characteristics without significant improvements, and a somewhat “stagnant” proprietary TouchWiz interface. In general, the S5 then became “just another cool smartphone”, and against its background, for example, the elegant glass devices of the Japanese company with four letters looked much fresher, and the Chinese brothers were actively pushing with their “ultra-fast, ultra-thin, on the Media Library and everything for 200 bucks."

The situation with the ruble rapidly going into a tailspin and global crisis gloom also added heat to the cauldron of general mistrust; the situation turned out to be tense, here it was necessary to either give up and go into the “inexpensive, cheerful and good company” segment, or go ahead. Samsung chose the latter. It feels like someone stirred up the swamp, pulled out from somewhere from the depths of bureaucratic oblivion thick Talmuds with claims to the previous devices of the line, angrily hit the table with their fist, and exclaimed: well, they fixed everything immediately! And everything started to work out - they found new components, interesting technical solutions, instead of one of the two designers fired last year (it’s not clear: the one who held it, or the one who outlined it), they hired several with good taste, and... In general, Samsung finally , after much torment, made a premium smartphone, and not a product for geeks, for whom characteristics are most important.

Instead of one flagship smartphone, there were two. One is a more traditional version of the Samsung Galaxy S6. The second is an innovative modification of Edge. The difference between them is minimal - in fact, the devices differ only in the screen (and they also have a slightly different battery capacity, by 50 mAh). The “classic” model has a flat screen, while the Edge has a curved screen on the sides. At the same time, unlike the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge smartphone, where the “bevel” was a separate matrix, in the Galaxy S line there is a single screen, and it is also absolutely the same for both flagships (in the section about the screen I will talk about the difference in detail). Therefore, everything said about the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is also true for the Samsung Galaxy S6. There are some differences in ergonomics, and, probably, the difference could be detected during instrumental testing of the screen, but the smartphone was in our hands for only one night, practically in “field” conditions, so we have not yet had the opportunity to conduct such tests.

Video review

First, we suggest watching our video review of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone:

Now let's take a look at the characteristics of the hot new product.

Key Features of Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

• SoC Exynos 7420 (64-bit), two clusters of four processor cores: ARM Cortex-A57 with a frequency of 2.1 GHz and ARM Cortex-A53 with a frequency of 1.5 GHz
• GPU Mali-T760
• Operating system Android 5.0 Lollipop
• Touch Super AMOLED display, 5.1″, 2560×1440
• Random access memory (RAM) 3 GB LPDDR4
• Internal memory 32, 64 or 128 GB
• No microSD card slot
• Communication GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• Communication 3G WCDMA 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
• Data transfer speed max 4G LTE up to 150 Mbps
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz), Wi-Fi hotspot
• Bluetooth 4.1, NFC
• Support DLNA, OTG, MTP, Miracast
• GPS/Glonass
• IR port
• 16 MP camera with optical image stabilizer (OIS)
• Front camera 5 MP
• Barometer, fingerprint sensor, Hall and heart rate sensors
• Non-removable lithium polymer battery 2600 mAh
• Dimensions 142×70×7 mm
• Weight 132 g

Appearance and ease of use

Just a couple of years ago, smartphones of this size were called “shovels.” Today it is a strong average - 5.1 inches, now you won’t surprise anyone with such dimensions. At the same time, due to the narrowed edges, the device looks a little smaller than it actually is, and gives the impression of a kind of “neatness”.

The rounding also causes another generally positive effect - I personally have no particular desire to compare a smartphone with an iPhone. However, the constant mentions of “Apple” products at the presentation do their job: I want to remake the classic joke in a new way - they say, “he’s also gay, but now he’s crooked.” But if you take the issue seriously, no, it’s not similar (specifically in the Edge modification), and let the purists compare the location and shape of the grilles. The device lies confidently in my hand; the grip, in my opinion, is much better than that of the Samsung Galaxy S6. However, here we need to make allowances for the fact that I usually carry a Huawei Ascend Mate 7 and am used to large smartphones.

In terms of materials, there's a lot to like about the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Instead of fairly boring plastic, panels made of Gorilla Glass 4 are used on both sides - a new modification of plasticized glass, which is said to be much stronger than the previous one and, in addition, less fragile. The back cover looks very good - the designers specifically sought a “deep” glossy shade. There are 4 color variations for the smartphone: black, which was in our hands (although in fact it is very, very dark blue), white, bronze and green. The latter, in my opinion, looks especially impressive.

It must be said that fingerprints are clearly visible on both surfaces of the smartphone. Almost all color options are subject to “clogging”, and only white does not look like a textbook for a forensic scientist after just a few minutes of use. However, company representatives claim that this (test) modification is devoid of oleophobic coating, and the situation will greatly improve in serial deliveries. This statement seems to be true, but in any case, if “fingers” irritate you, it is better to prefer the white version of the smartphone.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is made on an aluminum chassis, the edging of which is noticeable on the edges of the device. Again, the company claims that the alloy used is "50% stronger than alloys in other top smartphones." And the smartphone will never bend. We did not check this statement, because we did not want, if something happened, to witness the death of one of the exhibition staff from a broken heart.

On the front, curved edge of the smartphone you can see the speaker grille, front camera, the screen itself, as well as a mechanical Home button. It is worth paying attention to the fact that double-clicking on it launches the camera - this seemingly incredibly simple solution made it possible to do without an “extra” key and at the same time with virtually no loss in convenience. The button is pressed clearly, with a clearly audible click, but tightly enough to avoid accidental presses in your pocket. The remaining two buttons (“Back” and calling the application list) are touch-sensitive.

On the back there is a powerful LED flash, as well as a decently protruding camera. The latter will inevitably cling to the edges of your pocket and to anything in general, however, in my opinion, the question “whether you want a non-protruding camera or a good one” should be left to everyone to decide for themselves. I suspect Samsung engineers did everything possible to fit the optical system between the Megara of the screen and the Athens of the back cover, trying to have as little in common with the well-known hero of Greek myths as possible.

The back cover is not removable, so you should give up hopes of changing the battery.

The right and left sides of the smartphone are designed laconically - on one of them there is a power/lock button, on the second there are two volume keys. Since the sides of the smartphone are very thin, the controls turned out to be small and thin - however, there are no complaints about their convenience.

On the top edge of the smartphone there is a slot for a SIM card (opened with a paper clip), you can see the hole for one of the two microphones used, as well as an infrared port. By the way, the return of the latter is becoming a trend, and this is good - it is better to control the TV from your usual smartphone than to look for this ever-lost “lazy device” throughout the apartment.

On the bottom edge there is a Micro-USB connector, as well as a 3.5 mm jack for a headset. Here you can see the hole for the second microphone. In general, both the top and bottom edges look as similar as possible to the iPhone 6, almost copied. However, as I already said, in general the device has its own “face”; it is almost impossible to confuse it with the products of the company from Cupertino.

There are no plugs on the case; the device is not protected from water and dust getting inside.

Screen

During the extremely limited time of our acquaintance, we did not have the opportunity to test the screen, so I will simply state my personal impressions here. Well, for starters, the screen is amazingly clear, and that's not surprising. The pixel density here is 577 ppi, while the Galaxy S5 had 432 ppi, the iPhone 6 Plus had 401 ppi, and the LG G3 had 543 ppi (the screen resolution of the LG G3 is the same, but the diagonal is larger - 5.5 inches ). The screen produces rich colors, very bright and contrasty, but what else could you expect from Super AMOLED? The inflated color saturation is especially noticeable when looking at photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. At the same time, the minimum brightness is quite comfortable for reading in the dark. It is possible to adjust the color temperature, as well as an energy-saving mode.

When looking at the screen from an angle, changes in brightness and contrast are absent as a class. Curved “corners” do not look alien and do not distort the perception of the picture. This can be achieved partly because the screen itself falls only on half of the “curve”, and the remaining part is a thin frame.

I couldn't find any apps where the rounded corners would get in the way. However, this effect may appear in some games that actively use the edges of the screen.

There were no differences in screen brightness and contrast compared to the Samsung Galaxy S6. However, as mentioned above, there should be no difference between them: this is the same matrix, as company representatives told us, the difference is only in the very final stage of creation, as well as in the coating - for Edge, Gorilla Glass undergoes additional heat treatment under pressure.

Sound

The sound of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is decent. The smartphone produces a fairly loud sound, saturated with the entire spectrum of frequencies, including low frequencies. The sound is quite pleasant, at the maximum volume level it is not distorted, there is no wheezing, and there are no complaints about the earpiece speaker. With headphones, the smartphone also sounds at the level of modern flagships.

Camera

Despite the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (and the regular Galaxy S6) uses a camera similar in characteristics to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (same 16 megapixels, as well as optical stabilization), the f/1.9 lens gets the job done — The camera takes pictures very well in the dark. Useful technologies such as real-time HDR shooting (without the need to take multiple frames in succession) and a special mode for shooting in low light have been implemented. Another good thing is that the camera starts up very quickly - in just 0.7 seconds. There is no dedicated button to launch the camera, but you can double-click the center key (Home).

Below is an example of how the camera performs in low light: in almost complete darkness, in high contrast light, without processing.

Test photos can be viewed in the gallery on our photo hosting Fotkidepo: . There you can download the original for each, and in addition, the photo page displays additional information about the shooting parameters: aperture, shutter speed, etc.

Several resolutions for shooting photos and videos are available - up to 16 MP and up to Ultra HD, respectively. Examples of videos are given below (don't forget to open the video in full screen when watching!).

Full HD video at night:

4K video at night:

Full HD video during the day:

4K video during the day:

Slo-mo-video:

OS and software

The operating system is a version of the Google Android 5.0 (Lollipop) software platform, on top of which is traditionally installed its own proprietary graphical user interface - TouchWiz. However, little remains of the usual colorful and parrot-like TouchWiz in the updated interface - all the redundant whistles with animation have been cut down as much as possible, the lines have been simplified, and correspond as much as possible to the guidelines of the new Android. Unfortunately, the test sample was blocked from taking screenshots - we had to “take” them in the field, the old fashioned way, using a camera. Still, it's worth taking a look at them.

Overall, the updated user interface is more reminiscent of bare Android than earlier versions of TouchWiz. Most of the things criticized disappeared or were hidden away. Several special control gestures were added, “tailored” to the beveled edges. For example, if you slide your finger from the right edge along the top of the screen, a list of the most frequently called contacts will appear (screenshot below left), and if you slide your finger from the right edge in the middle of the screen, we will open a window with missed calls (screenshot below right). In general, the new gestures do not look vital or very convenient - rather, they are a demonstration of additional capabilities that appear due to the “convex” screen. In my opinion, it is enough that the screen is very beautiful.

The package comes pre-installed with Microsoft software.

Performance

As already mentioned, the screenshot functionality was blocked in the test sample. And since we were forbidden to modify the phone software in any way, we had to get out of it the old fashioned way.

In complex Antutu in 32-bit mode, the Samsung SoC Exynos 7420 used in the new flagship is head and shoulders above its closest (according to the benchmark) competitors. And judging by the available information, the Galaxy S6 Edge deals with other new products at MWC 2015 effortlessly:

Tested in MobileXPRT, as well as the latest versions of GeekBench 3, Mozilla Kraken and Google Octane

Javascript tests allow us to make at least some comparison of performance with the iPhone 6. In Google Octane, the Samsung smartphone lags behind the iPhone 6 (6256 points) quite a bit, but the difference with the iPhone 6 Plus (7056 points) is quite significant. In Mozilla Kraken, Apple products are already a quarter faster. In terms of performance of one core, Samsung is inferior to the iPhone, but in terms of performance of all cores it is twice as good as Apple's competitors. Which, to put it mildly, can be explained by the ratio of the number of cores in these smartphones. However, in any case, browser tests depend too much on the performance of the browser itself to draw far-reaching conclusions based on them.

A new milestone is achieved in 3DMark Unlimited - 22267 points. This is a record! Tablets with the new Tegra have even higher results, but their screen resolution is slightly lower. And in the smartphone market, the Galaxy S6 Edge, of course, has no competitors yet.

In the most trustworthy GFXBench, the Samsung smartphone trails the iPhone in the most demanding scene, and in T-Rex HD too. But here, again, you need to take into account the difference in resolution; taking this into account, the gap is quite small. Be that as it may, we have before us, undoubtedly, the most powerful smartphone with Android OS today.

Battery life

The battery installed in the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is smaller in volume than even the Samsung Galaxy S5 - its capacity is 2600 mAh. However, the battery capacity of the Samsung Galaxy S6 is even smaller, although not significantly - 2550 mAh. At the same time, do not forget about the efficiency of Super AMOLED screens - it is usually at its best. However, we have not yet been able to adequately evaluate the energy-saving functions of the new Exynos SoC. The fact is that we had the device for a period of time that was completely insufficient for any lengthy tests, so we had to limit ourselves to gaming tests that fully loaded the processor and graphics. Note that the firmware on which we “drove” the smartphone may not be final at all, so the obtained figures should be taken as preliminary.

	Battery capacity	Reading mode	3D Game Mode
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge	2600 mAh	—	3 hours 45 minutes
LG G3	3000 mAh	9:00 a.m.	2 hours 50 minutes
Sony Xperia Z2	3200 mAh	15:20	3 hours 30 minutes
Oppo Find 7a	2800 mAh	16:40	3:00 am
HTC One M8	2600 mAh	22:10	3 hours 20 minutes
Samsung Galaxy S5	2800 mAh	17:20	4 hours 30 minutes
TCL Idol X+	2500 mAh	12:30 pm	3:00 am
Lenovo Vibe Z	3050 mAh	11:45 am	3 hours 30 minutes
Acer Liquid S2	3300 mAh	16:40	6:00 am
LG G Flex	3500 mAh	23:15	6 hours 40 minutes
LG G2	3000 mAh	20:00	4 hours 45 minutes
Sony Xperia Z1	3000 mAh	11:45 am	4 hours 30 minutes

So, in 3D gaming mode, the smartphone worked for a little less than four hours, that is, its level of autonomy in this indicator is average. Under heavy loads, by the way, quite strong heating of the rear wall of the case is observed.

Bottom line

It looks like Samsung has finally managed to release an undisputed flagship. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone combines many things - design, performance, serious “lightness” of the built-in software, and, finally, noble body materials instead of boring plastic. Battery life is at an acceptable level. Among the “features” characteristic of modern top-end devices, the smartphone has almost everything, including an infrared port, a barometer, a fingerprint sensor, etc. Some may blame the lack of dust and moisture protection, however, as practice shows, the circle of fans This “trick” is so narrow that it is lost even against the background of the disappearing audience of buyers of premium gadgets.

Alas, you have to pay for everything, and in the case of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge you will have to pay with money. The company is still afraid to name the retail price of the smartphone (because it will have to be stated in rubles, and it is unclear what the dollar exchange rate will be in a couple of months - 100 or 10 rubles), but various experts talk about an amount from 58 to 63 thousand rubles for the basic modification with 32 GB memory. The cost of the “uncurved” Galaxy S6 is 4-6 thousand rubles lower. However, this price is shocking only until you convert it into dollars or until you compare it with the cost of Apple products.

In other words, the device turned out to be interesting, but precisely in the uncompromising and premium segment. If we discard iPhones from consideration, then it has practically no competitors - it’s probably worth mentioning, first of all, the recently announced HTC M9 (but we haven’t tested it yet), and among the oldies - Meizu MX4 Pro (but it is already lagging behind in performance). The rest of the top smartphones have either an inappropriate diagonal, or insufficient performance, or different body materials.

smartphone, Android 5.0, monoblock body, 5.1" screen, 2560x1440, nano-SIM SIM card, GPS/AGPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi / 3G / LTE / NFC, dimensions 70.1 x 142 x 7 mm, weight 132 g

Three arguments for the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge smartphone

The curved display smartphone not only features an impressive design, but also high performance. The performance of the device is ensured by an 8-core Samsung Exynos 7420 processor with a frequency of 2100 MHz, a Mali-T760 MP8 graphics module at 772 MHz and 3 GB of RAM. The model has 32 GB of internal memory and is equipped with the Android 5.0 (Lollipop) operating system. The weight of the device with dimensions 70.1x142x7 mm is 132 g.

Long battery life

A non-removable lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2600 mAh supports wireless and fast charging functions, and also has the ability to replenish power via a USB connector. A fully charged battery lasts for 26 hours of talk time and 168 hours of free standby.

Unusual volumetric display

The Super AMOLED touchscreen occupies 71.7% of the front panel and has an aspect ratio of 16:9, with a resolution of 2560x1440 and 5.1 inches diagonally. Thanks to the smooth lateral curves, the display acquires volume, which is visually transmitted to the viewed pictures and videos. The surface is protected from scratches by Gorilla Glass 4. There is also an anti-reflective coating, as well as light and proximity sensors.

High quality filming

The model is equipped with two digital cameras of 16 and 5 Mpix, which allows you to create images with maximum resolution: the main camera is 5312x2988 pixels, the front camera is 2981x1677. In addition to standard modes, in the settings of photo modules there is a choice of virtual shooting of a three-dimensional object, the ability to slow down or speed up video shooting, and get GIF animation.