As expected, Samsung released not one flagship smartphone, but two at its MWC launch event in Barcelona, but of the pair, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge attracted the most attention.
It's essentially the same handset as the standard Samsung Galaxy S6 (see below for a comparison of the two handsets), but running down each of the sides of the quad-HD, 5.1in screen are two curves, where the glass gently falls away to meet the rear of the phone.
While we weren't too sure about the look of the lop-sided edge Samsung Galaxy Note Edge when we reviewed it, this smartphone is an absolute stunner. The twin curves give it a unique look, and it goes together with a Gorilla Glass 4 coated and coloured metal rear panel to produce a handset that truly stands out from the crowd.
We've tried to give you an idea of how good it looks in the photos, but it’s impossible to precisely replicate in a photograph just how the metal catches the light and shimmers as you move it around.
The S6 Edge is available in four colours: white and black – as usual – plus blue and green, and all of them look great. And despite all that metal and glass, it still manages to post smaller overall dimensions than the Samsung Galaxy S5, measuring 7mm thin, 142mm tall and 70mm wide. It weighs a mere 132g.
While the Note Edge pushed the boundaries a little bit too much for us in terms of its size, we think that here, the S6 Edge delivers the perfect compromise between screen size and one-handed comfort. We were surprised at how much we liked the new design.
Samsung's design team has even managed to avoid the pitfall of having to move buttons around as it did with the Note Edge. Here, on the S6 Edge, the volume and power buttons are found in their usual positions on the left and right hand side, embedded in a very thin silver metal frame.
The only downside of the design is that the plastic removable rear panel, replaceable battery and microSD slot for storage expansion (features loved by generations of Samsung fans), have been consigned to the dustbin. There was also no mention at the launch of any kind of IP rating; it looks as if the S6 Edge and S6 are not water and dust resistant as the S5 was.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge: display
Just like the standard Samsung Galaxy S6, the S6 Edge has a 5.1in quad-HD Super AMOLED display (1,440 x 2,560), but while we're still not convinced this sort of resolution is necessary on a screen this small, it does deliver an incredibly sharp image.
And since the resolution is squeezed into a slightly smaller screen than its rivals, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge's pixel density is also higher, reaching a phenomenal 576ppi.
Colour accuracy, brightness and contrast, however, are more important than sheer pixel count, and on this front we have confidence that the S6 Edge’s screen will hit the mark. The S6 Edge's screen certainly looks great subjectively, with bright, vibrant colours and perfect contrast (as you’d expect from any AMOLED display), but we’ll only know for sure how good it is once we’ve had the opportunity to measure it with a colorimeter.
Even here, though, Samsung hasn't entirely rested on its laurels, claiming the phone's display will reach a maximum brightness of 600cd/m2on a bright day with auto-brightness enabled – right up there with the best IPS screens. When we tested the Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge with our X-Rite i1 Display Pro colorimeter, we found they reached just below 500cd/m2.
There's also super-tough Gorilla Glass on the front, so the S6 Edge ought to be able to resist breakage better than before. And Samsung will be releasing a new version of the Samsung Gear VR to take advantage of the new, super-high resolution display - so it's not entirely pointless.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge specs
Inside, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge shares all its core specs with the standard Samsung Galaxy S6. With this year's flagship phones, Samsung is deploying its very latest in-house octa-core Exynos processors (one quad-core 2.1GHz and one 1.5GHz), the most interesting aspect of which is that they've been produced using a 14nm manufacturing process. (The RAM complement is 3GB, and storage runs to 32GB, 64Gb or 128GB.)
This marks the first time we've seen any manufacturer other than Intel produce a 14nm chip and it's certainly the debut for a 14nm processor in a smartphone. It should contribute to more efficient running and better battery life. With Samsung reducing the size of the battery by 200mAh to 2,600mAh, however, we may see no improvement in stamina.
The S6 Edge also has a "new type of flash" - a fusion between eMMC and the SSDs in laptops according to Samsung's marketing materials.
Other specifications are a touch more humdrum, with 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Cat6 4G, NFC and Bluetooth 4. The phone retains all the features of the Galaxy S5, with a barometer, fingerprint reader and heart rate monitor on the rear of the device, and adds wireless charging for the first time in a Samsung flagship, compatible with both the WPC and PMA standards.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge camera
Unlike last year, there isn't much to say about the S6 Edge's camera. It has the same 16-megapixel resolution as the S5 did and that, coupled with phase detect autofocus should go together to produce top quality photographs and video.
There are some improvements, though: the aperture is larger at f/1.9 (the S5’s was an f/2.2 snapper), and the S6 Edge now has optical image stabilisation, which should improve the sharpness of images shot in low light. It also boasts a new quick launch feature: double-click the home button and the camera app will launch in a claimed 0.7 seconds.
On the front, meanwhile, there's a 5-megapixel f/1.9 camera, which more than doubles the 2-megapixel snapper from last year. And impressively, video now benefits from object-tracking autofocus, a feature normally associated with dedicated camcorders.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge: Android Lollipop and Touchwiz features
As with any high-end smartphone worth its salt, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will launch withAndroid 5 Lollipop on board, and as usual it will be heavily modified courtesy of Samsung’s Touchwiz launcher software.
This year, however, we see a significant change in direction by Samsung, with the company aiming to cut the clutter and slim down what has become a hugely bloated and complex mobile UI. Indeed, Samsung claims to have reduced the number of preinstalled apps by 40%, which frees up precious storage space, especially important now that Samsung has removed the option to expand it via microSD.
Elsewhere, there’s a host of modifications targeted at the edge screen, which are a subtle evolution to those we saw on the Note Edge. Our favourite is the ability to pull out a series of contacts from the edge, each of which is associated with a specific colour - when a call comes in, you can instantly see who’s calling, even when the phone is facing downwards because the edge lights up in that colour.
Just like the Note Edge, the S6 Edge will also display a clock on its edge in standby if you give it a little tickle, a feature that potentially could save battery life, and is a boon if you need to check the time in the middle of the night without blinding yourself.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge vs Samsung Galaxy S6
Of course the S6 Edge is not Samsung’s only flagship phone of 2015. There’s also a standard, flat-screened version: the Samsung Galaxy S6. What’s the difference? The answer is very little.
It’s finished in the same luxurious colour metal at the rear, with matte-silver edges framing the phone all-around.
We prefer the look of the S6 Edge, but the sculpted sides of the S6 look pretty good too, and there are only miniscule differences in dimensions and weight. The S6 is slightly thinner than the S6 Edge at 6.8mm (not that we noticed any difference when we held the two side by side). It’s also fractionally taller and wider, but again we’re talking tiny differences here. In fact the biggest difference is that the S6 is 6g heavier.
In terms of the rest of the specifications the only major change is that the S6 has a slightly smaller battery than the S6 Edge, at 2,550mAh. Everything else - the size and resolution of the screen, the cameras, processor, RAM and storage options - remain the same.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Samsung Galaxy S6 initial verdict
Both new Samsung handsets look highly impressive on first viewing, but it’s the S6 Edge that steals the show. Its unique look, coupled with a great attention to detail outstrips that of the HTC One M9, which itself is a stunner. Those curved glass edges will have smartphone aficionados everywhere itching to get their hands on one.
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