Samsung Galaxy Note 5, S6 Edge+: Side By Side
Samsung unveiled its Galaxy Note 5 and the S6 Edge+ mobile devices to stay ahead of the Apple curve. We give you a side-by-side comparison of the two smartphones.
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Samsung gave its new Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5 their official unveiling Aug. 13, having done so already by accident. News of the updated Samsung devices surfaced on a Samsung website in France on Tuesday morning, only to be hastily taken down.
Samsung has been letting the cat out of the bag for the past two weeks. In early August, I was invited to a media preview at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco and sworn to secrecy until the appointed time, August 13, 11 am EDT.
The shroud of mystery, though presumably necessary from a marketing perspective, is largely symbolic. If you've seen the Galaxy S6 edge, unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in March, you've seen its successor. Not much has changed in the intervening months.
There are a few differences that can be teased out with a magnifying glass and a finely calibrated scale. The S6 edge+ comes with 4GB of RAM instead of 3GB. It runs Android 5.1 instead of Android 5.0. It features a 3000mAh battery, up from 2600mAh, and a 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED 2560x1440 (518ppi) display, which provides more viewing space than the S6 edge's 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED 2560x1440 (577ppi). The Galaxy S6 edge+ weighs in at 154.4 x 75.8 x 6.9mm (153g), up from 142.1 x 70.1 x 7.0mm (132g), though you'd be hard pressed to notice the 21g difference were you to hold one model in each hand.
Both models sport the same processor, an Exynos 7420 (64-bit, 14nm), Octa core (2.1GHz Quad + 1.5GHz Quad).
"One of the fundamental approaches at Samsung is staying ahead of the curve," said Drew Blackard, director of product marketing at Samsung Telecommunications, probably not intending any reference to the curved screen that helped make the original Galaxy S6 edge a hit. "What we mean by that is trying to deliver new technologies to the market first, that consumers can really take advantage of."
[Google is reorganizing. See Alphabet Rewrites Google's Script.]
The Galaxy Note5 is, apart from its dimensions and the inclusion of the S Pen stylus, more or less identical in terms of specifications. It's not the same in terms of appeal, however. Phablets are not for everyone (the word alone would keep me from buying one). But there are people who adore them, just as there are people who adore mobile homes.
"We see these really as two difference personalities," said Blackard. "One is really more of a multimedia center phone, the Galaxy S6 edge+. On big-screen devices, people consume more multimedia content than they do on small screens. Everything we hear from our customers on Galaxy S6 edge is that it's an amazing viewing experience. ... Whereas the Note5 is really more of your productivity powerhouse."
The table below gives you the specs. Continue through the pages that follow to check out images and special features for both devices.
Galaxy S6 edge+
OS | Android 5.1 (Lollipop) | Android 5.1 (Lollipop) |
Dimensions | 154.4 x 75.8 x 6.9mm, 153g | 153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6mm, 171g |
AP | Exynos 7420 (64bit, 14nm)Octa core (2.1GHz Quad + 1.5GHz Quad) | Exynos 7420 (64bit, 14nm)Octa core (2.1GHz Quad + 1.5GHz Quad) |
Memory | 4GB RAM (LPDDR4)32/64GB (UFS 2.0) | 4GB RAM (LPDDR4)32/64GB (UFS 2.0) |
Display | 5.7” Quad HD Super AMOLED 2560x1440 (518ppi)Dual edge screen | 5.7” Quad HD Super AMOLED 2560x1440 (518ppi) |
Camera | Rear: 16 MP OIS (F1.9)Front: 5 MP (F1.9) | Rear: 16 MP OIS (F1.9)Front: 5 MP (F1.9) |
Battery | 3,000mAh | 3,000mAh |
Charging | Fast Charging, Fast Wireless Charging (wireless charging pad sold separately) | Fast Charging, Fast Wireless Charging (wireless charging pad sold separately) |
Payment | NFC, MST | NFC, MST |
Connectivity | WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), MIMO (2x2)620MbpsBluetooth® v4.2 LE, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC, Location (GPS, Glonass, Beidou) | WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), MIMO (2x2)620MbpsBluetooth® v4.2 LE, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC, Location (GPS, Glonass, Beidou) |
Sensor | Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Fingerprint, Barometer, Hall, HRM | Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Fingerprint, Barometer, Hall, HRM |
Audio | Format:MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA | Format:MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA |
Video | Format: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM | Format: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM |
Colors | Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum | Black Sapphire, White Pearl |
Samsung's new phones implement LTE Category 9, which has a maximum download speed of ~450 Mbit/s. That's an improvement from the previous generation, which supported LTE Category 6 (~300 Mbit/s). Also, syncing phone data with a Mac or PC has gotten easier. Samsung's SideSync 4.0 software supports automatic syncing, so users don't have to remember to sync.
The Samsung Galaxy Note5, like many phones, works as a mirror when off. Samsung has enhanced the Note5 so that you can take notes with the S Pen when the phone is on, but the screen is dark to save power. It also supports PDF annotation, to enable document signatures directly through the device.
Both phones, of course, have plenty of accessories. There's even a physical keyboard for those who just can't quit their BlackBerry habit. One of the more interesting features is a software enhancement called Scroll Capture. It allows you to capture a Web page as a single screenshot, even though the length of the page exceeds the display size. It's a great way to save maps for offline use.
Samsung is investing a lot of resources in Samsung Pay, which has proven popular in South Korea, according to the company. This month, Samsung is launching its mobile payment service in the US as a beta test, with general availability planned for September. The phones support wireless payments through both NFC and MST. Many merchants still rely on magnetic stripe card readers. Personally, the more I deal with mobile payments, the more I appreciate cash.
Samsung's latest Galaxy phones sound great, thanks to a technique that adds harmonics to low-quality music streams. "We have a technology called UHQA (Ultra High Quality Audio) that upscales lower bit-rate quality music to 24-bit, 192kHz," said Samsung's Drew Blackard, director of product marketing. The S6 edge+ and Note5 also support live HD streaming from the camera to personal contacts, groups, or YouTube, without any additional setup or applications.
The Galaxy S6 edge+ and Note5 support Fast Charging and Fast Wireless Charging. But you definitely want the wireless charging pad. "We're using our phones all day, every day," said Samsung's Drew Blackard. "You want to spend as little time of that day as possible tied to a wall charger."
Samsung was caught unprepared when demand for the Galaxy S6 edge outstripped supply in April. That's not the worst problem to have, but expect that Samsung will be better able to deliver phones to market this time.
The S6 edge+ and the Note5 will both be available on August 21 from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless, as well as Amazon.com, Best Buy (Samsung Experience Shops) and BestBuy.com, Costco, Sam's Club, Target, and select Walmart stores. Pre-orders will be accepted starting August 13 at 3 pm EDT.
Samsung was caught unprepared when demand for the Galaxy S6 edge outstripped supply in April. That's not the worst problem to have, but expect that Samsung will be better able to deliver phones to market this time.
The S6 edge+ and the Note5 will both be available on August 21 from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless, as well as Amazon.com, Best Buy (Samsung Experience Shops) and BestBuy.com, Costco, Sam's Club, Target, and select Walmart stores. Pre-orders will be accepted starting August 13 at 3 pm EDT.
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