Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Hands-on, Initial Impressions and Photo Gallery

Remarkable changes were done for the Galaxy S6, but Samsung chose not to stop there. The “Edge” concept, how much ever weird it might feel, will not go away. Samsung had launched the large Galaxy Note Edge last year, which came in as a variant to the Galaxy Note 4. Everything was same, except for the super neat Edge screen that curves down on the right side.

Check out the Samsung Galaxy S6 Hands-on.

It indeed was refreshing, new and something one would love to check out, but was it worthy of a purchase? we didn’t obviously suggest that against the Note 4, thanks to the hefty price tag. Samsung still managed to sell over half a million Note Edge units, which is remarkable, and telling us that people are still interested in something new and different.

The Galaxy S6 Edge is here, and it simply looks brilliant. Much better than even the Galaxy S6, which seemed quite impressive to us on the first look. The Dual edge display curving down on both the sides, and just like the Note Edge for Note 4, the Galaxy S6 Edge boasts the same specifications except for the battery that has 50 mAh higher capacity. Everything else is the same as in the Galaxy S6, but the edge screen is easily noticeable and makes the device look like one of the best ever designed smartphones, ever. No exaggeration, you actually have to hold this piece in the hand to see how good it is, and how comfortable it is.

Those curves on the sides are smooth, no where sharp or pointing and digging into the palm, and thankfully, Samsung has reduced the curve when you compare it with the one on Galaxy Note Edge, thus the unnecessary and untimely touches are all gone. The way it is made, is all similar to the S6, with Gorilla Glass 4 on the front and back merging at the centre where you see a metallic frame.

Since the Galaxy Alpha, the South Korean electronics giant started using a metallic frame, and the Galaxy Note 4 too had the same, but Samsung had not shifted away from using a plastic back yet. The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge with the glass bodies, seem perfectly done but the glass resists fingerprints and smudges, except for the one on white unit. On the other side, the glass resists almost everything, so rubbing the marks away shouldn’t worry you, as the scratching is minimal.

While the Black Sapphire, White Pearl and Gold Platinum are the common colors for both the variants, the S6 and the Edge, the Green Emerald one is limited to only the S6 Edge.

Talk of the cameras, Samsung has been the best with it on both, hardware and software side. The f/1.9 aperture on both the sensors (front and back) take more light in, and result in brighter captures. 16MP is the same sensor used in Galaxy S6 as well as in the Note 4, and you probably should already know how well does the camera fare, as the Note 4 surely had one of the best smartphone cameras, last year.

There are some software enhancements noticeable in the Galaxy S6 Edge, as the S6 was more of a standard TouchWiz with Lollipop, but here, you’d see some favorite contacts popping up from the side, letting you take advantage of the Edge screen on the side. The Note Edge had a curved screen on one side, while the S6 has two, on both the sides, but that doesn’t mean Samsung could give what all the Note Edge had, and that is understandable. The dual edge display is more about luxury than software help.

Samsung should only be fortunate to see the device stay on for the entire day on a single charge, with its 2600 mAh battery, as the 2K resolution and the extra edge screen will be a drainer for sure. To add to that, the software enhancements should take away some more power, but it is too early to take a call on that. Let’s see how well it really fares, on long-term usage.

The Exynos 7420 along with 3GB LPDDR4 seems to be doing quite well on the early use, on both the units. I’m expecting more on the Galaxy S6 Edge, than what I was on the S6.