5.1-inch 1440 x 2560-resolution screen; Octa-core Exynos 7420 chipset; 2,550mAh non-removable battery; 3GB RAM; Wireless charging; Samsung Pay mobile payments; Android 5.0 L with TouchWiz
Manufacturer
Samsung
Samsung Galaxy s6 edge
Attention may currently be firmly locked on the recently unveiled Galaxy S6 Edge+, but it’s important to remember there’s a smaller alternative option for smartphone buyers looking to reap the benefits of Samsung’s “Edge display tech.”
Unveiled alongside the Galaxy S6 earlier this year, the Galaxy S6 Edge is is the second ever smartphone to feature the Edge display technology Samsung debuted on the Galaxy Note Edge phablet.
Edge displays are curved screens that wrap around smartphones’ sides. They are designed to complement the phone’s main screen and offer increased display space for the users.
This combined with its super sharp 5.1-inch, 2560x1440, 577ppi, Super AMOLED main display and blazingly fast octa-core processor make the Galaxy S6 Edge a great choice for any smartphone buyer.
There’s a refreshing honesty about the S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge’s design. There’s no attempt to make smooth plastic look like metal, or textured plastic look like leather. No, this time around the edge is made of aluminium alloy that feels just as strong as it looks. The front is covered in Gorilla Glass 4 – the latest version of the popular toughened glass – and so is the back. Nothing feels cheap about the S6 Edge apart from a couple of tiny throwbacks to a bygone era – the ear speaker grille looks like metal-painted plastic and the inside of the SIM tray is plastic.
It’s not just the materials that are top notch, either; it's the way they’re put together. The diamond-cut edging brings a lustre to the metal border that’s reminiscent of the iPhone 5, but thinner and more tasteful. The SIM-card tray sits flush with the top of the phone and looks better integrated than the slightly recessed tray on the HTC One M9.
What’s most amazing is that Samsung has managed to pack a 5.1-inch screen into a body not that much bigger than the 4.7-inch iPhone 6. That means you can easily get to all areas of the screen, even with normal-size hands, which is something you can’t on the 5-inch HTC One M9.
The S6 Edge isn't much bigger than the iPhone 6
The buttons on the Galaxy S6 Edge are also brilliant – firm and with just the right amount of spring. Their location is excellent, with the power button a few inches from the top of the right edge, while the volume ones rest a little higher on the left. You’ll never mistake one for the other – a common complaint made against the One M9.
If there’s one thing we’d change, it’d be the rear camera. It juts out of the back like an unsightly pimple. It’s not quite as ugly as the one on the Galaxy S6, a marginally thinner phone, but it still spoils the otherwise perfect-ten looks of the S6 Edge.
On the plus side, the glass back is surprisingly grippy – much more so than the one on the Sony Xperia Z3. The white version we tested doesn’t have a problem with fingerprint marks, but you might want to keep a cleaning cloth handy if you go for the more colourful options. Some colours, like the gold and green, look a little tacky too.
If there’s a problem with the design, it’s how the edges make the S6 Edge less comfortable to hold than other phones. That’s because the edges taper the wrong way – away from your hand. What little edge there is slopes back into your hand to combat this, but it still has a sharper, pinching sensation compared to other phones. It’s not intolerably bad, but we prefer the iPhone 6’s curved edges and the HTC One M9’s curved rear, which follow the contour of your palm.
We can put up with some idiosyncrasies for a phone this stylish, though, and there a few other foibles you should be aware of.
One is how, at first, it’s all too easy to hit the soft keys accidentally. There’s so little space left for them that you’ll often find yourself pressing the Back or App Switch key by accident. You learn to hold the phone more tentatively over time, but it’s an issue.
Another is the home button, which houses the fingerprint scanner. It isn’t flush with the front of the phone and, like the Galaxy S5 before it, this means that it can be unwittingly pressed while in your pocket. It might sound like a small issue, and as long as you have a lock you shouldn’t be calling any people you don’t want to, but it does turn the screen on and this could have a direct impact on the S6 Edge’s battery life.
The screen on the Galaxy S6 Edge is a marvel. It’s not just the soft flowing curves that makes it special – Samsung’s Super AMOLED display technology makes it a cut above anything else on the market right now – barring the standard Galaxy S6, of course.
What makes the screen so special? First, it’s stunningly sharp – its 577ppi (pixels per inch) is a truckload more than the iPhone 6 and a fair amount higher than the Full HD (1080p) display on the HTC One M9. It's incredibly sharp, even if it’s hard for the untrained eye to really care about the extra resolution. Both of those other phones are plenty good enough in the sharpness stakes.
The S6 vs the S5 pixel density
The benefits of the AMOLED screen come from its performance during dark scenes – this is a display that can show true black. That’s because, unlike the LCD technology on most other phones, AMOLED doesn’t rely on backlighting to illuminate its pixels – each pixel is illuminated individually.
Read also: OLED VS LCD
It means when you’re watching a movie in the dark you won’t see light bleeding through the display, making dark scenes look grey. It’s just that bit more immersive. Dimly lit scenes look more authentic because the contrast ratio – the difference between the darkest black and whitest white – is effectively infinite. All this leads to a more engaging viewing experience when compared to the competition.
Colours are good, too, though you might want to tone down the initial, oversaturating settings to something less gaudy. Samsung’s Basic setting is the most true to life, but we find the AMOLED Photo setting strikes the right balance between colour vibrancy and accuracy.
In contrast to the stellar colours and deep blacks, whites don’t look as pure on the AMOLED Galaxy S6 Edge display. They have a slight bluish tinge that gets worse when viewed from an acute angle. It’s not bad – the iPhone 6 and HTC One M9 have a slight pinkish tinge – but the viewing angle on IPS LCD phones appears slightly better.
The curved edges also means that the top and bottom of whatever you’re watching is slightly off the main screen. It shouldn’t bother you too much, but it's most likely to when you're reading. The first letter on the left-hand margin goes a little over the curve. It remains legible, but in sunlight this edge gets some glare, making it harder to decipher the writing underneath.
These are very minor gripes. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge has one of the best screens, if not the best screen, you can get on a phone. We score it better than the HTC One M9's and iPhone 6's – the Galaxy S6’s flat screen is the more sensible option in terms of day-to-day use, though.
Samsung Galaxy S6 – Speaker
The single speaker on the Galaxy S6 Edge isn’t as impressive as the screen, but it is very loud – as loud at top volume as similar smartphones, and a little louder than the Galaxy S5's. It’s great for an evening’s bout of Netflix viewing – dialogue is crisp and clear – and it’s a perfect speakerphone for conference calls.
But it’s no good for music – there’s just not enough depth and the S6 Edge can sounds harsh and forced at higher volumes. If you want to listen to music then your best bet is to crack open the supplied earpod-style earphones, invest in a more serious pair of cans, or buy a Bluetooth speaker.
The speaker also suffers for being at the bottom of the phone, just like the iPhone 6's. This makes it all too easy to muffle with a finger or palm, so you have to be careful how you hold it when watching a film or playing a game.
TouchWiz on the Galaxy S6 Edge is slicker and simpler than ever before.
TouchWiz is a layer that Samsung adds to its Android phones to make them feel, well, a bit more Samsungy. It’s never been very good, though. Most people prefer stock Android, because it’s faster to use and contains fewer bundled apps (aka bloatware).
In the past TouchWiz has been annoyingly slow. The fractions of a second between pressing an icon and it doing something caused murderous frustration among those more used to the instantaneous response of other interfaces. But those dark days are well behind Samsung – the Galaxy S5 and Note 4 are quick and responsive phones too – and it has moved in the right direction again with TouchWiz on the Galaxy S6 Edge.
There are still plenty of bundled apps that you might, or might not, want to use. The initial hope that these can be uninstalled has been dashed, however – the best you can do is disable them, casting them into some sort of app limbo where they disappear from sight, but still clog up some of your storage.
Yet the impact isn’t horrific – 100MB or so. S Health, S Voice and S Planner are hardly heavy-duty storage hogs and neither is Peel Smart Remote, Microsoft Onenote, Skype, Kid Mode or any of the other 40 or so bundled apps. Still, we’d like Samsung to free up the S6 Edge’s 64 or 128GB to do with as we please – around 8GB of storage is taken up by Android, TouchWiz and bundled apps. The Nexus 6, which uses pure Android, uses just 6.7GB.
One major improvement Samsung has made is reducing the steps it takes to get things done on TouchWiz. It’s now easier than ever before. Removing or uninstalling apps is very simple and apps open quickly, powered by that monstrous octa-core Exynos processor.
The design has had a facelift, too. Text-only buttons make things clearer and less ambiguous and the whole system feels a little more contemporary. But is it better than HTC’s Sense 7 on the One M9 or iOS 8 on the iPhone 6? Not really. It still looks dated compared to stock Android 5.0’s Material design and overall it feels a little at odds with the beautiful exterior of the S6 Edge. But it's a big step in the right direction
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge – Fingerprint, Samsung Pay & Edge Apps
Now it’s time to dig a little deeper into some of the features that make the S6 Edge unique among Android phones – Samsung Pay and its fingerprint sensor.
Fingerprint Sensor
Okay a fingerprint sensor on an Android phone isn’t unique to the S6 and S6 Edge, but one as good as this is.
Where the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 required a fiddly swipe down over the home button, the S6 Edge just needs you to rest a digit on it, just like Touch ID does on an iPhone. It’s a lot easier to use, even though Samsung improved its previous fingerprint scanners with multiple software updates.
Is it as good as Touch ID? Near enough as makes no odds. Touch ID is a fraction faster and, we still find, easier to use. That’s mostly because of the round shape and recessed nature of the home button on the iPhone 6, as opposed to any magical technological feat Apple has achieved. You can store up to four of your finger or thumb prints on the Galaxy S6 Edge, one less than on an iPhone, but four is plenty.
The recessed and round fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 6 (left) is a little easier to use
Being able to unlock your phone so easily is a great feature to have and the added layer of security it provides makes Samsung’s answer to Apple Pay possible.
Samsung Pay
When Samsung bought LoopPay a month or so ago, it wasn’t hard to figure out why. Apple Pay is another arrow in the quiver of Apple’s ecosystem – a way to pay using your iPhone or Apple Watch with a simple tap.
Both Apple and Samsung Pay let you store credit and store card details securely on your device and let you pay by placing a phone or smartwatch close to the credit card terminal. Both are secure and easy to use.
So why might Samsung Pay be better? While Apple Pay uses just NFC tap-and-pay, Samsung Pay uses a combination of NFC and LoopPay’s MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission). This means you can use the Galaxy S6 Edge in stores and countries that haven’t adopted NFC payment terminals. According to Samsung its service is compatible in 90% of US stores. Apple Pay? Just 10%.
We still need to see both these services in real-world action, though.
Flipboard
Samsung’s answer to HTC’s Blinkfeed is Flipboard. It aggregates all the news you’re interested in so you can browse it without having to go to specific websites. It’s slick and easy to set up and use, but lacks Blinkfeed’s ability to bring in Facebook, Twitter and other social media elements into your reading stream.
Edge Apps
The edge screen isn’t just for show. Actually it is, but it can do a few things, some niftier than others.
People Edge lets you assign up to five contacts to the edge of the screen to give you quick access, while Notifications and Information Stream let you see, you’ve guessed it, latest notifications and information.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the fastest phone we’ve ever tested. It wasn’t very long ago that we said that of the HTC One M9, but the S6 Edge is significantly faster in benchmark tests.
Let’s have a look at the octa-core Exynos processor first.
For a long time now Samsung has used Qualcomm Snapdragon processors in its flagships, at least in the West. In Asia it's been using its own-brand Exynos processors, which it's now opted to put in the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. And it looks like the right decision.
The Exynos is a 64-bit processor, so some 64-bit compatible apps should see a modest performance boost. More importantly, and just like the 810, it uses ARM’s big.LITTLE configuration. This allows a ‘big’ quad-core CPU (2.1GHz) to be paired with a ‘little’, low-power quad-core (1.5GHz). Smaller tasks like browsing the web and listening to music use the little quad, which uses less juice. Intensive tasks, like 3D gaming, use the big quad.
Here’s how the processor performs in power saver mode and full power mode.
Even in power saving mode, the S6 Edge has a higher Geekbench 3 score than the HTC One M9 running at full speed. When it comes to 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited test – a test that focuses on gaming performance – full power results are a lot closer, but even here the S6 Edge comes out on top.
What makes the Exynos 7420 special is that it uses a 14nm manufacturing process, like the latest Intel chips, that puts it ahead of the 20nm process used by Qualcomm on the Snapdragon 810. In layman’s terms, smaller manufacturing processes provide benefits to processing speeds and help reduce the use of battery power.
Not only is the Exynos 7420 super-fast, it also seems to run a lot cooler than the Snapdragon 810 on the HTC One M9 and LG G Flex 2. Even during a prolonged gaming session the Edge remains cool to touch, although battery drain rises significantly.
Gaming performance is top-notch with intensive games like Riptide 2 running like a dream. We didn’t experience a single dropped frame or stutter. The S6 Edge is a real powerhouse thanks to that beast of a processor. Samsung made the right move dropping Qualcomm’s effort.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge – Connectivity and Storage
We’ve already mentioned it a number of times, but it’s worth reiterating – the Galaxy S6 Edge does not have a microSD card slot. Instead Samsung has packed the entry-level Edge with 32GB of internal storage, rising up to 128GB for the top model. That’s more enough for most people, so the microSD card slot won’t be missed too much if you don’t mind splashing the cash on more pricey internal storage.
It’s still a bit of a slap in the face for Samsung fans who’ve always loved second-to-none functionality of Samsung Galaxy phones, and particularly for those who have bought 64 or 128GB cards they planned to use from flagship to flagship.
Aside from the microSD card slot, the Micro USB 3.0 connector has also gone. Introduced on the Galaxy S5, it allowed much faster transfer of data, but did have an effect on design. Micro USB 3 ports are a lot bigger than Micro USB 2.0, and it was really only a power-user feature.
So what does the Galaxy S6 Edge come with then? There’s the usual list of dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 (a/b/g/n/ac), Wi-Fi Direct, 4G, NFC. Bluetooth 4.1 and MHL 3 TV-out, which as the name suggests lets you connect to a TV using a cable.
One feature Samsung has kept is an infrared blaster. It’s a small, tasteful oval located at the top of the S6 Edge and works with the bundled Peel app to let you control your home cinema system via your phone. You need a separate product sitting in your living room to do that with an iPhone.
Let’s start with the camera app first. Samsung lets you tinker with the finer points of photography far more than many manufacturers. That’s not to say that it’s hard to use. Leave it in Auto mode and the S6 Edge manages to focus and work out the right settings for the situation without much hassle at all. If you do want to tinker, though, you can. Open Pro mode and you have a host of options and dials to fiddle with such as white balance, ISO and macro.
Of course, the app also lets you add a range of filters for all the instagrammers out there, but also has a more effective Bokeh app, called Selective Focus, than the HTC One M9. Another nifty feature worth mentioning is Virtual Shot. This is like panorama in reverse. Select an object and rotate the camera round it and you get a little 360 degree video of it.
The S6 Edge comes with a 16-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS). It’s not the first phone to have OIS, but it is rare to see in such a compact phone. OIS compensates for the little movements you make with your hand when taking a photo, helping reduce blur. It’s a great addition to a phone’s camera.
The Galaxy S5 had one of the better cameras of last year and the Galaxy S6 Edge manages to best it, particularly in challenging conditions. We started our test at the Tate Modern in London and a huge installation in the main hall.
As well as the Galaxy S5 we also tested the S6 Edge against the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as HTC’s latest flagship the One M9. All phones were tested using the automatic mode.
Colours are portrayed more accurately, light is better balanced and there’s more detail in the S6 Edge’s photo
The iPhone 6 is better than the Galaxy S5 when dealing with tricky light sources, but not as good as the S6 Edge. The Galaxy S6 Edge manages to portray the colours more accurately and provide some extra detail in the folds of the fabric. It also deals with the bright sunlight coming in from the rear windows better than any other phone we tested.
When it comes to detail, the Galaxy S6 Edge’s camera also manages to trump the competition, even though it has a lower resolution than the One M9.
There’s just that bit more detail provided by the camera on the Galaxy S6 Edge
The S6 Edge does decent job with close-ups too, providing plenty of detail and some natural shallow depth of field effects (where the object is in focus but the background is out of focus).
One thing we would say is that the colours are sometimes a little warm, almost as if we’ve added a filter. Whether you like it or not depends on your taste, but it does mean that whites sometimes have a pinkish tinge to them.
The S6 Edge favours a brighter foreground but loses detail in the clouds compared to the iPhone 6 Plus. It’s a subjective difference depending on what kind of shot you prefer.
In well lit conditions the Galaxy S6 Edge can take landscape shots that are crammed with detail, like this picture of St Paul's Cathedral over the river Thames.
The camera on the S6 Edge is super-fast, too – pictures can be taken almost instantaneously even with HDR on. It really is rather brilliant.
In low light the S6 Edge again manages to show up its predecessor. It manages to take decent shots where the Galaxy S5 would flounder. The iPhone 6 is arguably still a little better in these challenging conditions, and once again the S6 Edges shot is a little too warm, the colours a little too saturated, but Samsung's low-light performance has come on leaps and bounds since last year.
In all, the camera on the Galaxy S6 Edge is a triumph. Even though the specs make it look the same as the camera on the Galaxy Note 4 it is better, with a bit more detail visible and less noisy images.
It’s not just the rear camera that has had an upgrade. Samsung has realised that the selfie generation is going nowhere fast and has packed a 5-megapixel sensor on the front that comes with impressive low-light performance. In fact, it’s almost as good as the HTC One M9 and miles better than the iPhone 6’s meagre offering.
The S6 Edge front camera smooths out some of the noise but loses detail in doing so
The S6 Edge’s front camera is great for taking some selfies with your friends in a dimly lit bar or restaurant.
Video performance is solid, too. The S6 Edge manages to capture both audio and video well and quickly adjusts focus when moving from well lit to dark areas. You don’t get some of the toys other flagships provide – the biggest omission being 120fps slow-motion shooting – but it does shoot in 4K. Well up to five minutes of it anyway
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge should have much shorter battery life than the Galaxy S5 and HTC One M9. After all, the 2,600mAh battery is a lot smaller than the 2,800mAh one on the S5, and the Edge has a higher-resolution screen. Both these factors point to less-than-inspiring battery life, but in reality the S6 Edge isn’t bad at all, if a little inconsistent.
With low to moderate daily use the S6 Edge (mostly) left us with around 40-50% battery life at the end of the day. There were occasions, though, where the battery drained far faster than we expected. On one occasion, after normal use, it ran out entirely before we got home at the end of the day. That hasn’t happened to us in a while, though, and may have been down to us exploring more of its features than you normally would.
The Galaxy S6 Edge on a hard day’s use (8am-8pm). 3D gaming hits it very hard, but it otherwise performs well
Still, with power saver on, the S6 Edge can last for two days at a stretch, and that’s impressive. It’s even more so when you consider that even on low-power settings the S6 Edge flies.
It just goes to show how good that Exynos processor is. The HTC One M9 has a bigger battery and smaller, lower-resolution screen, but only lasts about as long as the Edge, and on some tests even less. That’s bonkers.
The glass back means you can forget about replacing the battery, but the S6 Edge does benefit from fast charging, which makes it charge, you guessed it, faster than ever before. You can get up to four hours of use from just a 10-minute blast. It is also compatible with wireless chargers. You don’t get one in the box, but if you have an old one lying around it should work with the Galaxy S6 Edge.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge – Call Quality
Call quality on the S6 Edge is solid, but not outstanding. We experienced a few dropped calls using the same SIM card in the same locations as we do other phones. Digging into the phone’s signal strength didn’t provide much insight – signal strength appears to be just as strong as on the iPhone 6 or HTC One M9.
Putting that aside, actual sound quality is very good. A noise-cancelling mic manages to compensate for general hubbub so that the person on the other side can hear you clearly, and top volume on the ear speaker is more than adequate.
Should I buy the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge?
Do you want the best-looking phone possible? Is money no object? If the answer to both these questions is yes then get your order in now. If not then read on.
It’s hard to recommend the Galaxy S6 Edge over the normal Galaxy S6 for any reason other than its looks. The "classic" S6 is a fair amount cheaper – £660 for the 64GB model compared to £730 for the 64GB S6 Edge – and is essentially the same phone, barring the edge screen.
Then there’s the Galaxy Note 4 to consider, which can now be bought for £500 SIM-free. It’s a stonkingly good handset for the price and comes with the added benefits of the S Pen, microSD card slot, a bigger screen and longer battery life, even if the camera is a step down.
The iPhone 6 is another obvious contender. It’s the closest phone in terms of design and capability to the S6 Edge, but is cheaper, while the HTC One M9 is a solid all-rounder, and comes with a microSD slot, but has a relatively poor rear camera.
The Galaxy S6 Edge has a few downsides. Aside from cost, there’s the occasionally inconsistent battery life and sporadic signal quality issues. Neither of these are terminal problems by any stretch, but you need to think carefully about how important they are to you, because there are other, cheaper flagships around.
But none of these things prevent us saying this is one of the best phones, if not the best phone, you can buy right now. If you’ve got the cash to splash and want the very best, you won’t be disappointed.
Verdict
It’s easy to dismiss the Galaxy S6 Edge as a folly, but you shouldn’t. It has one of the best cameras on a phone ever, it looks incredible and its minor shortcomings are forgivable. It’s not a perfect 10 – better battery life and ergonomics would have made it that – but it’s damn close.
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