Functional sidebar.
Color coding of your favorite contacts will make management even more convenient. Each of your 5 favorite contacts will have a different color for quick access from the sidebar and color notification for calls and messages. Side edge of the screen Samsung Galaxy S6 edge also has another function - -night clock-. Now there is no need to turn on the main display to find out the exact time or turn off the alarm. Simply swipe your finger back and forth along the side to activate the screen that displays the time and notifications.

New intuitive user interface.
The more structured and cleaner interface of the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge based on Android 5.0 Lollipop simplifies navigation and allows you to quickly and easily navigate the device. Each menu section is assigned a specific color, all applications are presented in the form of simple icons, and the number of preinstalled elements has been reduced. You can even create your own smartphone themes using the Mobile Theme Editor app.

Clarity and brightness.
The camera allows you to take high-quality pictures thanks to its high resolution and large aperture. And optical stabilization guarantees blur-free photos.

Movement in focus.
Keep moving subjects sharp with the new AF Tracking mode, which keeps your subject in focus no matter how it moves.

Correct exposure.
Photos with impeccable color and detailed details. The pictures look like they really are. Two images with different exposures are processed and combined in real time for stunning results.

Expressive selfie.
A lens with high-aperture optics and an increased number of pixels is what you need for flawless pictures with the front camera in any conditions.

Quick start.
Double-pressing the center button of the smartphone activates the camera in the blink of an eye. You will not miss a single bright moment of your life.

Fast charging mode.
Recharging for 10 minutes will ensure that the smartphone operates for up to 4 hours. If recharging is not possible, the maximum energy saving mode will ensure a more economical use of the remaining energy.

Save energy.
Extend battery life and optimize your smartphone's performance with Ultra Power Saving Mode.

Incredible power.
The super-powerful new generation processor handles the most demanding gaming and multitasking without any problems.

Visible benefits.
Our flagship smartphone's innovative display lets you enjoy accurate color reproduction and vibrant, rich images, both indoors and in daylight.

2014 was not the best year in Samsung's modern history in terms of profits. Curved Galaxy Note The Edge has become more of a showcase of capabilities than a smartphone with real benefits in the eyes of the consumer. Apple's income has grown significantly, and the success of an arrogant neighbor is always perceived more difficult than one's own defeat. Samsung not only had to think about something with the launch of a new flagship, but HAD TO THINK SOMETHING! Just improve specifications it would already be too little. Long before the official presentation and the first leaks, the company promised to start working on the product from scratch. Unlike HTC, Samsung did not change their chief designer and, again unlike HTC, they radically changed the appearance of their flagship. Most of all, fans and ill-wishers expected a metal case, like in the A-series, but in the end they got even more - a case beautiful flowers made of glass made of metal, simplified (apparently, in the heavenly office they finally got to these prayers), as well as a fast interface, more than a flagship flagship, in which the company finally understood how a curved display can be useful and a warm welcome even from those who not loyal to Samsung. To be honest, until recently I didn’t want to believe that Samsung would release the S6 with two curved edges, because the implementation of even one curve in the Galaxy Note Edge seemed unjustified to me. Even rather uncomfortable. But after the announcement, it became clear that the company thought thoroughly about what benefits a curved screen could bring to the user, and implemented it. Honestly, I doubt that this year anyone will be able to catch up with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge in terms of technology. Maybe the new Galaxy Note.

What is this?

The most advanced smartphone on the market at the time of preparation of the review and, apparently, for at least another six months, until the release of the new Galaxy Note or iPhone updates. The smartphone has no equal in terms of display technology (resolution 1440 x 2560 pixels, curved on both sides, durable Gorilla 4 coating, improved Super AMOLED color rendition) and body (only 7 mm thick, Gorilla 4 protective coating and durable metal at the ends), among Android." ov - camera speed. And the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge also has the most energy-efficient processor on the market, which made it possible - no, not to increase autonomy - to reduce the thickness of the body without worsening last year's operating time. And of course, the smartphone has the best performance on the market at the time of release, a sleek interface with Android 5.0.2 on board and a lot of charisma. As if there had never been five generations of plastic devices before, each of which had other flaws. Everything from scratch, as promised.

What is the difference between Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge?

We do not plan to do a separate review for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. So that you understand the difference between them, I provide a comparative table of characteristics. In addition to the differences in software capabilities that concern the side panel of the Edge, the latter also has the advantage of a larger battery capacity, less weight (less metal on the ends affects) and a version in a beautiful green color. Only the Galaxy S6 has dual SIM support. Otherwise, these are two identical devices with powerful but energy-efficient Exynos 7420 processors, luxurious design, non-removable batteries and no support for memory cards (but in 32, 64 and 128 GB versions).

Specifications
Model	Samsung Galaxy S6	Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
operating system	Android 5.0.2 Lollipop + TouchWiz
SIM card	nanoSIM, optional two	nanoSIM, one
Display	Super AMOLED, 5.1 inches, 2560x1444 pixels, 577 ppi
Frame	dimensions 143x71x7 mm, weight 138 g, material - Gorilla 4 glass and metal	dimensions 142x70x7 mm, weight 132 g, material - Gorilla 4 glass and metal
CPU	64-bit Exynos 7420 (14 nm process technology), 4 Cortex A-53 cores (1.5 GHz) and 4 Cortex-A57 cores (2.1 GHz); Mali T760 graphics
RAM	3 GB
Flash memory	32/64/128 GB
Camera	16 MP, f/1.9, optical stabilization, autofocus, video 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, front 5 MP f/1.9
Interfaces	Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz), DLNA, Bluetooth 4.1 (apt-X), NFC, MST, microUSB v3.0 (MHL 3.0 with TV output)
Battery	2550 mAh, fast charging, wireless charger	2600 mAh

Why does it need a curved display?

The curved display of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge serves two purposes - a wow effect and a purely practical one. I expected that I would be more interested in the second one. But in fact, the impression that a smartphone screen makes during live contact outshines any others. Text on such a curved screen without an air gap is perceived as a book or magazine page. Slightly sloping and generally steep iPhone screen 6 doesn't come close in terms of the degree of "paper" effect. Plus, the detail level is even higher (no joke, 577 ppi!). Flipping desktops and any horizontal scrolling also looks like a magical act. This cannot be expressed in words or photographs. You have to pick it up and see it with your own eyes. In photos or videos, the wow effect of a curved screen is lost. And the last thing that strikes the Edge is the purely physical pleasure of contact with the curved screen. Remember this ad?

The fact that it is subconsciously more pleasant for a person to contact not a flat surface, but a curved one is a fact that is difficult to argue with when there is an opportunity to compare. It is not for nothing that in new advanced kindergartens it is customary to install furniture with smooth lines, without sharp corners. The point is not about possible physical injury, but about the fact that it is natural and comfortable for any living creature. It’s the same with a smartphone screen.

In principle, everything was explained about the functions of the curved display of a smartphone at the presentation of the Galaxy S6; words and screenshots cannot cover this. Yes, it’s convenient, especially if you intensively use voice communications and live the life of a business consultant or a major executive, or a mother of many children with talkative girlfriends. But nowadays, most people's voice activity is decreasing. Therefore, by and large, not everyone will be able to truly appreciate the notification system in a smartphone using multi-colored backlighting. Although this is a good idea, it was on the surface and it’s strange that the Note Edge hasn’t gotten around to it yet (I wonder, by the way, will the backlight appear in it after the firmware update?). The information strips known from the days of the Note Edge also remain in the smartphone - but here they are not present in an intrusive form; they can be activated by specially stroking the display. What remains is the “night light” - this is a side panel with a clock. And most importantly, incoming calls no longer appear on the sidebar when the smartphone is in use. This is very inconvenient and really pissed me off in the Edge pilot.

There's another reason why I didn't like the Edge in the Note line of smartphones and really like it in the new S6 - the size of the device and the position of the power button. In the first model, everything was done to make it uncomfortable for a person with a medium or small palm to use the device. The S6 Edge has a smaller screen and the lock button is in the right place. Ergonomics did not suffer, but on the contrary, improved. Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the third smartphone in Samsung's portfolio to feature a curved display. But this is the first model (including on the market) where this feature was implemented wisely and usefully, and really deserves the extra money.

How's the display in general?

According to our capricious colorimeter, the result of the Galaxy S6 Edge turned out to be so-so - and the maximum brightness is slightly above 300 cd/m2, the temperature and sRGB color graph is crooked in all modes. In fact, all smartphones with such a high screen resolution (2K) lack stars from the sky in terms of brightness. But there is a nuance - all measurements were made in a room where, by definition, there is no bright sun. Last year's Galaxy S5 automatic configuration brightness produced a more impressive result than with the maximum backlight value set manually. So, the Galaxy S6 Edge doesn’t get lost in the sun either. Now, of course, the sun is not what it will be in the summer. But so far there are no problems. And if we remember that we have a test sample on our hands, which almost certainly works worse than what will be on sale, I am sure that the smartphone will not have problems with the sun. Auto backlight works great. Both during the day and at night in the dark. There are no questions for her. Screen in "Adaptive" mode. Traditionally, there are four color rendering modes in the settings. “Basic” and “Photo AMOLED” are warm, good for reading and viewing photos, “Movie AMOLED” is cold, it can be turned on in the summer under the fiercest sun.

Screen with settings out of the box.

The screen is in the “warmest” mode – Photo AMOLED.

The oleophobic coating is also a five-star, and the screen sensitivity is also excellent. But the strange thing is that the display settings do not have the usual “High Sensitivity Mode”, which is needed to recognize gloves. Through thin fabric the screen responds to touches - that is, there are no problems when jogging in light gloves, but through wool our Galaxy S6 Edge did not make contact.

Does it look expensive?

This is Samsung's first flagship that's made from head-to-toe premium materials rather than leathery plastic and plastic pretending to be metal. It seems to me that if Samsung had not finally released a flagship made of normal materials this year, plastic “remnants” for almost $1000 would still seem to be the norm. But now, if LG decides to make its LG G4 smartphone not metal or glass, but plastic, the company's fans will have the right to be very offended. Although it is interesting that for a long time both Korean giants ignored noble materials, it was Samsung that was subjected to severe criticism. But LG either had a body with an interesting texture, or a camera with laser focus, or buttons in an unexpected place, or an amazing price. During this whole affair, no one got around to scolding her for the plastic. In general, we are waiting for summer and another new product to wash the bones of both at once. Moreover, until the next presentation of Samsung and Apple, it’s unlikely that anyone will be able to surprise anyone else.

Despite support for wireless charging and optical video stabilization and a curved screen, the smartphone is very thin - 7 millimeters. The Galaxy S6, however, has even less, but the difference of 0.2 millimeters will not be noticeable to the eye. The Galaxy S6 Edge is lighter than its counterpart, apparently because it is slightly narrower and shorter and its metal frame is thinner. I've even heard complaints that it scratches the palm, but this is clearly an exaggeration. The device fits perfectly in the hand and does not press anywhere. Looks good. And again, as with the LG G Flex, non-technical people are completely unaware that the screen is curved. What kind of magic is this!

A white copy was brought to us for review. Fingerprints are completely invisible on it. But at the presentation of the device, obvious stains were visible on the green case. Conclusion - if you don’t want to apologize for a dirty smartphone, take a white one or immediately take a case. Although I hate the idea of ​​hiding such a beautiful device in some kind of covers.

The front panel looks typical for Samsung - there is one hardware key (Home), a camera peephole and light and proximity sensors. The camera clearly sticks out from the back; there is a risk that the peephole will get scratched over time. At the ends, the metal edging rises somewhat above the screen.

By the arrangement of elements at the ends of the case, you can also easily guess the handwriting of Samsung designers. Luckily, the screen lock button is where it should be. And not on the top end, as was the case in the Galaxy Note Edge. There is information on Western resources that the ends of the dark device get scratched quite quickly, as was the case with the iPhone.

For those who think that the design is copied from the iPhone 6, I suggest you compare. Yes, the models have a similar bottom end, but otherwise they are two completely different different devices. iPhone is smoothed around the edges, tactile sensations others. By the way, the iPhone is more slippery. Although the Galaxy S6 is far from ideal in this regard. Still, plastic smartphones feel more secure in the hand than glass or metal ones.

But the Galaxy S6 Edge is next to the company’s youngest smartphone – the Galaxy J1. There are both similarities and differences in the status of the models.

How's the iron?

This year, Samsung probably came to the conclusion - “if you want it done well, do it yourself” - and abandoned the flagship version with a Qualcomm processor. There can be any number of reasons: it gets very hot, the case is tiny, you can’t fit a normal battery in, there may be problems with orders, and your processor can do everything that is required of it. But the fact remains that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is equipped with the 64-bit new flagship processor Samsung Exynos 7420.

For those who want to know more

Let me remind you that the pioneer in the creation of mobile 64-bit processors was Apple company. This was first used in the iPhone 5s. The remaining companies were able to catch up after about a year. And six months after the mass appearance of 64-bit processors, smartphone manufacturers began to release (or update) their devices on Android 5.0, where in fact the advantages of the new architecture for smartphones were able to manifest themselves. There are plenty of mid-range and near-budget smartphones on the market today with 64-bit Qualcomm and Madiatek processors, but the irony is that they will almost certainly never see an update to Android 5.0. And new flagships are released immediately on this version of the OS. The Exynos 7420 is made using a 14nm process technology, which provides it with better energy efficiency compared to its competitors, the key among which is Qualcomm Snapdragon 810. For a device of the Galaxy S6 class and the dimensions of the Galaxy S6, this is a very important advantage. Because it is physically impossible to fit a larger battery into it. For the first time, Samsung used such an energy-efficient processor (Exynos 5430, although at that time we were talking about a 20-nm process technology, as in the Snapdragon 810 now) in Galaxy Alpha is the company’s first smartphone with metal inserts in a very compact body. For him, being gentle with the battery was also critical, because the thin 7mm case only accommodated a battery with a capacity of 1860 mAh.

Exynos 7420 – “octa-core”. It uses four less powerful Cortex-A53 cores (1.5 GHz) and four powerful Cortex-A57 cores (2.1 GHz). Graphics - Mali-T760. IN synthetic tests it produces the most impressive results. We haven’t yet had a real opportunity to compare it with a competitor: HTC One The editorial office has never seen the M9 yet, and devices based on the K1 Tegra when they appeared on the market and in our editorial office were quite buggy.

I have never had a chance to complain about performance – in any mode of use, in any game, in any program with a million applications running in the background, the smartphone “flies”. The same impression is made by any top Sony smartphone. But everything there has long been clear: a lightweight shell, 3 GB of RAM, a FullHD display. The Galaxy S6 Edge has one and a half times higher display resolution, but the effect is the same. The smartphone is a benchmark star. But this is not the main thing at all (although it will obviously amuse its owners for something). The main thing is that the shell does not lag. The smartphone has enough resources for everything. Apparently, the company's programmers received a good beating after the difficulties of last year. Yes, and Android 5.0, 64-bit processor. In general, a typical flagship of 2015.

What about the battery?

Autonomy is the only parameter that has not been improved in the new Samsung flagship. To be honest, even in the S5 it was so-so, especially with the first version of the firmware - the device lasted less than a daylight hours with GPS navigation and a clock and a day without them. The firmware update brought last year's flagship the ability to work for up to a day and a half without navigation and Bluetooth. It's much better, but weak compared to rivals HTC One (M8) and LG G2. In the new Samsung flagships, the battery capacity is also not amazing. The Galaxy S6 Edge has 2600 mAh, and the Galaxy S6 has 2550 mAh, and the screen is large and good, and the resolution is high. And the performance is flagship. In general, everything is conducive to the fact that battery resources are consumed quickly. In streaming playback mode Galaxy video The S6 Edge lasted 9 hours for me at medium display brightness, without connected Bluetooth accessories and with GPS turned off. The autonomy benchmark also showed not very impressive, but not depressing results. The screenshots below show the result with all kinds of communication modules enabled and disabled.

My Galaxy S6 Edge “with all the stuffing” worked for 12-16 hours on a single charge. Yes, that's not much for a $1,000 device, but it's not a disaster. Firstly, if you turn off GPS and turn on the simplest power saving mode, the device will last even two working days. Secondly, a day of working at full load is already a lot, and a tragedy only for those who are constantly on the road. But I repeat that this is a result obtained without any additional attempts to tweak something or save money somewhere. This is what any person who is accustomed to an outlet will get without doing anything.

Samsung's new flagships support wireless charging. It doesn't look as stylish as Microsoft's. But it has another advantage - its round shape. That is, it is difficult to place a smartphone on such a charger without it charging. This happened to me all the time with the Lumia 1020. You had to aim hard to hit the right spot. Some domestic retailers offer wireless charging as a gift upon pre-order.

They also charge quickly - in an hour completely from the included charge. True, both the charger itself and the smartphone body become very hot during the process.

How has the interface changed?

One of the main emphasis during the presentation of the Galaxy S6 was that Samsung had rethought the interface of its smartphones. I considered it too complex (the market had considered it as such for a long time, it’s good that the company finally heard this) and decided to simplify and visually “lighten” it. The TouchWiz redesign turned out to be not as radical as HTC's Sense at the time. Samsung didn't give up on colors - they just chose more muted shades. They did not abandon the bright icons of their applications - but brought them to the same style and size. The capabilities of the programs have not been cut down (except that the voice recorder has again become smaller compared to the Galaxy Note 4); on the contrary, new functions have appeared in many places. The designers threw out frames and replaced pictures with words (the branded fonts, by the way, are excellent - thin, slender, easy to read). Widgets now have a lot of translucent or completely transparent backgrounds. It turned out nice. The interface has become more Android. For example, these messages on the locked screen that fall out completely. Those who are for privacy can disable the display of text in the security settings. In the settings, the “checkmarks” have changed to sliders. This is actually some kind of general trend. Everyone has these sliders now. But they're cute. What pleased me more than any sliders was the transformation of the inconvenient scrolling of time in the clock (for example, when setting an alarm) into a more practical and pleasing option. And Samsung is now a little friendly with Microsoft against Google. Therefore, the flagship smartphone now includes OneDrive, OneNote and Skype. For some reason, I subconsciously expected that in each of the applications some kind of gift would be waiting for me - either additional free space in the “cloud”, or a month of free communication. But no. The S6 also comes pre-installed with Facebook, Instagram and even a link to Whatsapp messenger There is. It’s unusual to see such things in smartphones from a company like Samsung. Dropbox - ok. A large chunk of bonus space awaits the user there, which is understandable.

In menu output Samsung settings We settled on last year's version. Basically, it's convenient. The settings menu is long. Something is being added all the time. Sometimes it’s even difficult to remember whether it happened or not. The security menu has grown greatly - here you can download KNOX, assign a device administrator, and generally encrypt data (the procedure takes about an hour), protect a smartphone or part of the data with a fingerprint (by the way, finally, a year after its implementation, it began to work like a clock, or rather as in iPhone and Huawei Mate7).

In Touchwiz latest version Some functions have appeared, analogues of which have long been available in other devices. For example, SmartManager. It monitors the state of memory and allows you to quickly remove any junk. Useful thing for Android. Although I never used it once in the S6 (in cheaper models - literally every day) - in the little over a week I spent hugging the device, I still didn’t have time to properly clog its memory. The menu for settings for autonomy and notifications has practically not grown. This is in vain, it would definitely not be unnecessary. The updated player interface is a treat for the eyes. I love Samsung smartphones for their good sound and convenient player. Its interface also received “cosmetic” changes, although no new features were added. Except that files in loseless formats now have the UHD label on the widget. I also didn’t like the fact that on the lock screen the size of the player control buttons was greatly reduced - it’s so inconvenient to switch songs on the go. And the leapfrog continues with the names of songs in Cyrillic - they catch up every once in a while.

Samsung smartphones usually have a lot pre-installed applications. Only Sony and Lenovo have more. But recently there has been a tendency to introduce applications of dubious usefulness into Galaxy Apps, from where the user can download them if desired. The truth is that only those people who are interested in what kind of Gifts and Essentials widget is hanging on their desktop can find out about the existence of this option. Let me remind you that some camera shooting modes and additional panels for Edge you must also download from Galaxy Apps. To sync data to S Health, you also need a Samsung account. And here is approximately the assortment of gifts and extensions that Samsung recommends downloading additionally.

What's new in S Health?

According to a tradition started back in samsung times Galaxy S IV, I will dwell separately and in more detail on the S Health sports application. Firstly, the interface of this application has also become simpler and more concise, but at the same time received new functions. There is no longer an impressive panel with all the features; they are collected on “My Page” in the application.

The application has learned to count water and caffeine drunk (the number of cups must be added manually and see the average result in milligrams), as well as oxygen in the blood. The Galaxy S6 Edge, like the Galaxy Note 4, has a UV sensor. But the thermometer with a humidity sensor seems to be a thing of the past forever. But this is not the main thing in the new features of S Health. The key updates, in my opinion, are the appearance of running training programs (there are only three of them, aimed at amateurs, but it’s still cool that they exist), healthy eating programs and “sliders” that allow you to turn off unnecessary rubbish in the menu. The application is still only compatible with Samsung Gear, Garmin and Adidas gadgets.

Overall, I really like S Health, and I actively use some of its functions when I have Samsung flagships in my hands. But I’m not ready to completely switch to it. Because for running I have my favorite application (miCoach), although it is crooked and slanted, it is available for all platforms, is not tied to one vendor, it has many programs for different tasks and it already has a large database about me. I hope that someday a normal database from different applications in the Google Fit platform will start working again.

Has the camera gotten better?

The Samsung Galaxy S5 had a fast camera. It's even faster in the Samsung Galaxy S6. Almost instant start by double tapping on the “Home” key (on the one hand, this is very convenient, on the other hand, I now have a lot of photos of my pockets), very fast shooting. Not at all slower than the iPhone 6 and, I believe, certainly not slower than competing cameras. The interface is the same parsley as with other applications. Everything began to look lighter and airier, fewer pictures, more words. It shoots HDR in real time and without prompts in the form of poking your finger at the screen. Generally in automatic mode The S6 Edge's camera is amazing. And this is important for a device that claims to be understandable to everyone.

Clubs, sunsets, cloudy weather, trembling hand, dark night, beautiful building against the backdrop of a bright sky, lovely March snow - this is not a problem at all for the Galaxy S6 camera. Front-camera also does not get lost in poor lighting, although it produces weaker results (pictures in the original resolution are in this gallery on Torba).

For comparison, I also provide several photos taken under the same conditions on an iPhone 6.

What are your impressions? In my opinion, the S6 Edge definitely shoots better in difficult conditions. It's a pity that it hasn't been possible to compare it with the new HTC flagship yet. But in recent years, Samsung, Apple and LG have taken such a big lead in terms of the photographic capabilities of their devices that I have a feeling in advance that a head-to-head comparison will not be in favor of the Taiwanese, no matter what breakthrough they made in this year compared to last year’s flagship year.

The Galaxy S6 camera can record video in 4K, can make slow-motion and accelerated videos, and shoot FullHD video at 60fps. There is optical stabilization. The camera records excellent sound for video. Given her talents in night photography, she will be a good companion at concerts and parties.

Video review of Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

What about the competitors?

Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge appeared in our editorial office before HTC One M9, so it’s too early to compare them. But I can't imagine what HTC could offer that would come close to the capabilities of the S6 Edge. Today, the smartphone is unique in its kind and, perhaps, its only competitor in the near future can only be the LG G Flex 2. The smartphone also has a curved screen, and also successfully. Top stuffing, probably an excellent camera. For those who are looking for something extraordinary, an interesting option. But I wonder what its software capabilities are.

Among all the Android flagships that are already on the market, only Sony can compete with the new Samsung flagships. Xperia Z3 is a very beautiful phone with a glass body in unusual colors. In terms of design, this is the best on the market. It also has protection against dust and moisture. And support for memory cards, which Samsung flagships lack (those who need maximum memory, 128 GB, will have to pay one and a half thousand dollars, and a little more than a thousand for a regular Galaxy S6). The younger version of the Xperia Z3 plus a microSD card will cost much less.

Of all that is on the market today, the Galaxy S6 and its Edge version can also compete with the iPhone 6. But the choice between these models lies not in the plane of characteristics and design, but in the plane of addiction to a certain ecosystem. In all those parameters by which gadgets are usually compared by geeks, the devices are equal.

Should you choose the expensive Galaxy S6 Edge when there is a "direct" version? I think it's worth it. If the issue of finances is not an urgent issue (and it is unlikely to be an issue when choosing a top model). Or if you don't need a dual-SIM flagship.

We also have a review of the Samsung Galaxy S7, the next generation flagship.

Bottom line

The Galaxy S6 Edge is the third curved smartphone in Samsung's portfolio, but the first truly worthwhile model with such a feature. Also this is the first samsung smartphone, which is completely made of premium materials and looks expensive. Compared to last year's version, it has improved in everything, including the speed and cleanliness of the interface. Perhaps this is one of those exceptional cases when all owners of last year’s flagship can be recommended, subject to the availability of funds, to switch to a new device. Yes, the smartphone’s autonomy has not been improved, it’s unclear what happened to glove support, and the memory card slot has disappeared. But from a user experience perspective today it's best device on Android.

8 reasons to buy Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge:

• this is the most fast smartphone On the market;
• There are no devices on the market equal to the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge in terms of interface capabilities;
• the smartphone is very thin and finally made of noble and durable materials;
• they really redesigned and simplified the interface, now it is neat, fast and beautiful;
• new features of the S Health app can now measure everything (blood oxygen, UV, caffeine, stress levels, etc.) and create workout schedules for you;
• the best and fastest camera on the market;
• KNOX, a normally working fingerprint scanner and other ways to protect corporate and personal information;
• A really comfortable curved display with really useful features.

3 reasons not to buy Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge:

• you barely managed to get enough money for the new Galaxy S6, but you can’t get enough money for the Edge;
• but autonomy hasn’t gotten any better;
• The S6 Edge doesn't have a dual-SIM version.

Devices of the GALAXY S series have been known for almost their entire existence solely due to their advanced technical characteristics coupled with a moderate – by flagship standards – price. And now the time for change has finally come: it seems that this year some manufacturers themselves will want to “circle” the GALAXY S6 Edge. But this device also costs more than others.

Samsung GALAXY S6 Edge, official photo

From the point of view of hardware, everything has also changed dramatically over time with the GALAXY S5, although the policy has remained the same: the new flagship gets the best, the most advanced. The S6 and S6 Edge smartphones boast a Quad HD display, the most new platform Exynos - 7420, the most advanced RAM LPDDR4, LTE Cat. 6 and 16 megapixel camera. In general, “complete stuffing”, all with the latest technology. Are the new flagships really that good? Let's try to answer this question after a detailed test.

⇡ Technical specifications

	SamsungGALAXY S5	SamsungGALAXY S6	SamsungGALAXY S6 Edge
Touch screen	5.1 inches, 1920 × 1080 pixels, AMOLED, 432 ppi;	5.1 inches, 2560 × 1440 pixels, AMOLED 575.9 ppi; Capacitive, up to ten simultaneous touches	5.1 inches, curved on the sides, 2560 × 1440 pixels, AMOLED; 575.9 dpi; Capacitive, up to ten simultaneous touches
Protective glass	Corning Gorilla Glass 3		Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on both sides
Air gap	No	No	No
Oleophobic coating	Eat	Eat	Eat
Polarizing filter	Eat	Eat	Eat
Factory film	No	No	No
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC v3: four Qualcomm Krait-400 cores (ARMv7, 32 bit), frequency 2.46 GHz; process technology 28 nm HPm	Samsung Exynos 7420: 14 nm process technology	Samsung Exynos 7420: four cores ARM Cortex-A57 (ARMv8, 64 bit), frequency 2.1 GHz; four cores ARM Cortex-A53 (ARMv8, 64 bit), frequency 1.5 GHz; 14 nm process technology
Graphics controller	Qualcomm Adreno 330	Mali-T760 MP8	Mali-T760 MP8
RAM	2 GB LPDDR3	3 GB LPDDR4	3 GB LPDDR4
Flash memory	16 GB (~12 GB available to user) MicroSD memory card slot	32/64/128 GB	32/64/128 GB (64 GB version tested, ~53.7 GB available to user); There is no memory card slot
Connectors	1 × Micro-USB 3.0 (MHL) 1 × 3.5mm headset jack 1 × Micro-SIM 1 × MicroSD	1 × Micro-USB 2.0 (MHL)	1 × Micro-USB 2.0 (MHL) 1 × 3.5mm headset jack 1 × Nano-SIM
cellular	2G/3G/4G One SIM card in Micro-SIM format	2G/3G/4G	2G/3G/4G One SIM card Nano-SIM format
Cellular connection 2G		GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz	GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Cellular 3G	HSDPA (42.2/5.76 Mbps) 850/900/1900/2100 MHz		HSPA (42.2/5.76 Mbps) 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
Cellular 4G	LTE FDD band 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20 (2100/1900/1800/850/ 2600/900/800 MHz) LTE Cat. 3 (150/50 Mbit/s)		LTE FDD band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20 (2100/1900/1800/1700/850/ 2600/900/700/800) LTE Cat. 6 (300/50 Mbit/s)
WiFi		802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4 and 5 GHz	802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4 and 5 GHz
Bluetooth	4.0 + A2DP	4.1 + A2DP	4.1 + A2DP
NFC	Eat	Eat	Eat
IR port	Eat	Eat	Eat
Navigation	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
Sensors		Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer/Gyroscope, Magnetometer (Digital Compass), Barometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Heart Rate Sensor	Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer/Gyroscope, Magnetometer (Digital Compass), Barometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Heart Rate Sensor
Main camera	16 MP (5312x2988), CMOS matrix Samsung S5K2P2 size 1/2.6’’ with back illumination and ISOCELL technology, element size 1.12 μm; Autofocus, single LED flash	16 MP (5312 × 2988),	16 MP (5312 × 2988), BSI matrix Sony IMX240 size 1/2.6’’ with back illumination, element size 1.2 μm; Optical stabilization system; Autofocus, single LED flash
Front-camera	2 MP (1920x1080), No autofocus, no flash		5 MP (2592 × 1944), No autofocus, no flash
Nutrition	Removable battery 10.78 Wh (2800 mAh, 3.85 V)	Non-removable battery 9.69 Wh (2550 mAh, 3.8 V)	Non-removable battery 9.88 Wh (2600 mAh, 3.8 V)
Size	142 × 73 mm Case thickness: 8.3 mm	143 × 70.5 mm Case thickness: 6.8 mm	142 × 70 mm Case thickness: 7 mm
Weight	145 g	138 g	132 g
Housing protection	IP67	No	No
operating system	Google Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)	Samsung's own TouchWiz shell	Google Android 5.0.2 (Lollipop) Samsung's own TouchWiz shell
Current price	29,990 rubles	49,990 rubles	56,990 rubles

The only major difference between the Samsung GALAXY S6 and S6 Edge is in the display and design: the first device has a completely standard screen, while the second one is curved on the sides. Otherwise, the devices are very similar to each other, but are not entirely identical. There is a slight difference in dimensions: the case thickness of the regular version is 6.8 millimeters, while the Edge is 7 millimeters. But the modification with a rounded display is a little lighter - 132 versus 138 grams. Finally, different batteries are used: 9.69 Wh (2550 mAh, 3.8 V) for the regular version and 9.88 Wh (2600 mAh, 3.8 V) for the Edge. Otherwise, the S6 and S6 Edge are identical in terms of technical stuffing.

⇡ Appearance and ergonomics

All Samsung devices are similar to each other in one way or another. They have similar body proportions, approximately the same corner radius, an elongated central key at the bottom of the front panel... in general, a Samsung smartphone has always been easy to recognize. The situation has not changed much: the appearance of the GALAXY S6/S6 Edge remains very characteristic - even if you see this couple for the first time, it will not be difficult for you to guess that this is a Samsung.

Nevertheless, the GALAXY S6/S6 Edge differs radically from its predecessors. So much so that, if we draw parallels, we can say: S6 and S6 Edge are not even “restyling”, they are a full-fledged new “body” for Samsung flagships. The company's designers and engineers finally abandoned the use of plastic in favor of metal and glass. This is perhaps the key difference between the S6/S6 Edge and its predecessors. The front and back panels of the device are covered with Corning Gorilla Glass, which is relatively new, fourth generation. For the first time, by the way, it was used in the Samsung GALAXY Note 4 “phablet” - the company’s first production device with a curved screen. The glass quite reliably protects the panels of the gadget from scratches and other minor damage.

The GALAXY S6 Edge is available in four colors: Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, White Pearl and the exclusive Green Emerald. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to order the device in the branded green color in Russia. A black sapphire gadget came to us for testing. In our opinion, this is a very good color. The smartphone appears black, but when light hits it, a dark blue glow appears. In general, the phrase “dark blue metallic” characterizes this color much better and more accurately than “black sapphire”. It is worth considering that the “regular” GALAXY S6 has different body colors.

The Samsung GALAXY S6 Edge is a pleasure to hold in your hands. The gadget is quite convenient to operate with one hand: you don’t have to move it and hold it with the other - it’s good that Samsung decided not to increase the screen size compared to the GALAXY S5. Yes, the display here is 5.1-inch, which by modern standards is not so much. The device does not slip in your hands, although its panels are quite smooth. During operation, the palm somehow touches the “side” of the screen, but the gadget does not react at all to these false presses. They are probably blocked at the software level.

The layout of the controls and connectors is quite standard - plus or minus the same as the previous ones Samsung devices. Getting used to a smartphone is very easy. At the top of the front panel there is a front-facing camera lens, a 5-megapixel camera, an earpiece mesh, a proximity sensor optocoupler and an LED indicator.

Samsung GALAXY S6 Edge - front-facing, five-megapixel camera

At the bottom of the front panel there is an elongated Home key with a metal edge, which has a built-in biometric sensor. Next to it there are two standard touch buttons equipped with switchable backlight - “Menu open applications" and "Back".

The thickness of the body here is by no means outstanding - seven millimeters (excluding the protruding rear camera lens). However, due to the tapering metal edge on the sides, a deceptive feeling is created that the smartphone is much thinner than stated.

The device's power key is located on the right side under the thumb, and the volume control buttons are on the left. The keys are metal, with a short and distinct stroke. The Nano-SIM SIM card tray is hidden at the top end, and next to it there is an infrared port for controlling household appliances.

The external speaker slot is located at the bottom end. Its placement is good - during operation it is not blocked by hand in any way. Next to it is a Micro-USB interface combined with a video output (MHL), as well as a universal 3.5 mm jack for connecting a wired headset.

On the back panel there is a main 16-megapixel camera lens along with an LED flash, as well as a heart rate sensor. The panel is quite easily soiled - it gets dirty quite quickly and very readily collects fingerprints. However, you can get rid of them using any cloth at hand. The body of the device is non-separable.

Samsung GALAXY S6 Edge - back panel. Peeling off a sticker with barcodes is quite a task

A few days before the start of sales in Russia, read full review hot new items from Koreans. Meet the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge! Below are a lot of photos, rave reviews and a few comments.

About the smartphone

At the annual exhibition Mobile World Congress 2015 Samsung has two flagship Galaxy devices: Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Both devices received positive reviews from the press, and mere mortals were eagerly awaiting the announcement of prices and the start date of sales. And so, after some time, it became known that in Russia the first phones will fall into the hands of happy customers starting on April 16.

The price tag of more than sixty thousand rubles seems quite high, because the cool reviews from the owners of the previous flagship, the Galaxy S5, are still fresh in memory. And in this article we will dot all the E’s so that, after reading to the end, you can decide for yourself whether to go to the “Android” camp or remain a supporter of your native “Apple”. I am sure of one thing: there will be no indifferent people, because the devices turned out to be truly new and technologically advanced.

It was in my hands Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, color Black Sapphfire, with 32 gigabytes of memory on board (of which 25.3 GB is available to the user). I find it more interesting than just the Galaxy S6 because of the curved screen on the sides. Whether this is good or bad, we will try to determine together with you in this review.

Equipment

A box made of white, thick cardboard with a laconic design contains:

• the device itself;
• documentation in a separate box;
• micro USB cable;
• adapter for 220v;
• headset with remote control;
• one set of replacement tips for the headset;
• a paperclip for removing the SIM card tray.

There was nothing supernatural in the box: everything was needed and neatly packed. The brief user manual contains a minimum of information. It is assumed that the lucky owner of the gadget will be able to read full instructions on the Samsung website.

First look

When you first touch the device, you understand: the company has done a great job of rethinking the concept of “ flagship smartphone" No plastic, only metal and glass. The aluminum frame gracefully curves around the edges of the device, and the electronics are reliably protected by Gorilla Corning Glass 4 on both sides.

There shouldn't be any scratches or abrasions, but such a coating will collect fingerprints (a criminologist's dream!). So you definitely need to buy an additional cover, or periodically wipe the screen and back of the device with a cloth.

In general, despite jokes about the two designers, the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 Edge have no similarities. It seems that someone in the depths of the management department of the Korean company slammed his fist on the table and demanded that all past complaints and customer dissatisfaction be urgently corrected. The team was executed perfectly. The device does not creak, there is no play, all the buttons are clear and pleasant to press.

The battery is now non-removable, and there are no memory cards (just the way we like it!). Particularly malicious people can compare the location and shape of the device’s elements on the bottom edge, but these are minor things.

The color of the device is a separate topic for discussion: indoors the smartphone appears blue-black, but when you hold it up to the light, you realize that the color is actually deep dark blue. I think that this is exactly the color scheme that the palantirs had in the trilogy about the hobbits, because such a transition of colors is fascinating: several times I caught myself just twirling the phone in my hands, watching how its color changed.

The SIM card tray is located on the top edge of the device, next to the infrared port (sic!). The S6 Edge “eats” a SIM card of the smallest format, the principle of removing the tray is simple and familiar: with the included paperclip, you need to press into the special hole until it stops. You can only insert one SIM card, no multi-SIM solutions. This is a premium smartphone, remember?

Screen

The screen is gorgeous. No, really, the screen is simply gorgeous! Super AMOLED technology, 5.1″ diagonal, with a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, pixel density 577 ppi – this is no joke. For comparison, the Galaxy S5 had 432 ppi, the iPhone 6 Plus had 401 ppi, the LG G3 had 543 ppi (although the LG G3 had a larger diagonal - 5.5 inches). Black color is truly black, all other colors are bright and rich. In the sun, of course, readability is not very good, but it’s a solid four. There is no change in brightness or contrast when looking at the screen at an angle. The curved sides of the screen also do not distort the perception of the picture.

operating system

I wanted to include a description of the OS as a separate paragraph, because it is clear that the company has done a lot of work to change and optimize the software component. Used as an operating system Android 5.0.2(Lollipop), on top of which is traditionally installed its own branded GUI - TouchWiz. However, little remains of the usual clumsy TouchWiz with a bunch of unnecessary software. All unnecessary animation has disappeared, and the controls and overall appearance are as consistent as possible with the canons of the new Android.

Performance

Several days of active use and AnTuTu tests confirmed that the smartphone’s performance is excellent.

This is understandable - eight cores after all. By the way, the Galaxy S6 Edge is the first smartphone in which the company used the Exynos 7420 processor, built on the new 14-nanometer technology. It consumes significantly less energy. The operating principle is no different from Octacore chips, where the processor is divided into two clusters of four processor cores: ARM Cortex-A57 with a frequency of 2.1 GHz and an energy-saving ARM Cortex-A53 with a frequency of 1.5 GHz. The overall performance was impartially shown by a test from Geekbench:

“Heavy” games just fly, there are no lags. The Mali-T760 processor is responsible for the graphics, there are no complaints about it.

The 3D Mark test confirmed: in graphic terms, the Galaxy S6 Edge is more than fine. Based on test results, the smartphone currently has no analogues on the market.

Connection

I got the phone with a SIM card from MTS, so I didn’t experience any problems with communication. The device operates in GSM networks 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz, and the data transfer speed via 4G LTE reaches 150 Mbit/s. I tested Internet connections in different parts of Moscow and everywhere the smartphone quickly loaded website pages and was able to use streaming radio. Of course, I didn’t see the ideal 150 Mbit/s, but the Speedtest service consistently showed data transmission and reception results at the level of 20-27 Mbit/s. I never experienced any problems with the Internet, which left me very pleased.

In addition, the device has Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, Supports DLNA, OTG, MTP, Miracast and GPS/Glonass. At the top end there is an IR port for controlling various home appliances (such as a TV) through a standard application.

Also Samsung has finally used the technology wireless charging in their flagships the most common standards are Qi and PowerMat. In addition, the company will release its own wireless chargers. Models in the colors “White Pearl” and “Blue Topaz” have already been presented. Judging by the photographs on the Internet, they look stylish, and during charging they are also illuminated around the perimeter.

Camera

In the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, engineers used a camera similar in characteristics to that of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (the same 16 megapixels, with an optical stabilizer), but the f/1.9 lens decides that the camera is better in the dark than in the notorious Note. There are many settings in the application itself, for every taste.

In general, the camera is one of the strongest points of the Korean flagship: real-time HDR shooting is implemented (without the need to take several frames sequentially) and special mode for photography in low light. The camera starts up and is ready for use within 0.7 seconds. There is no dedicated button to launch the camera, but there is an option to double-click the center key (Home).

The comparison used was an iPhone 6, the difference in the photo can be seen below.

Samsung S6 Edge

Samsung S6 Edge

If you crop the photo, the advantage of the Galaxy S6 Edge camera becomes clear:

Samsung S6 Edge

Shooting at night:

Samsung S6 Edge

The device can shoot video in both Full HD and ultra-clear 4K resolution.

Full HD:

4K

Among other camera functions, an interesting 3D photo mode was discovered. You need to walk around the object of interest with the camera turned on, and the resulting three-dimensional image will be saved in the photo gallery. Subsequently, such a photo can be viewed from different angles using a gyroscope. This function is best illustrated by this animation.

The front camera with a resolution of 5 megapixels is simply created for self-examination and video communication. The quality is also excellent.

Bottom line: the camera in the new device from the Koreans is amazing in its clarity and quantity additional settings. You can manually set the ISO parameters, white balance, focus, and various color filters. Objects photographed in motion are not blurred, continuous shooting produces up to 35 frames in 10 seconds. The resulting images can be immediately shared on social networks, sent by mail or saved in cloud storage.

I would like to give the camera a five plus. Well done.

Chips

One of the main features of the new smartphone is, of course, the screen rounded on the sides. In the notebook and browser, it is very convenient to scroll through lists and pages by sliding your finger along the side of the screen. In addition, an additional menu has appeared on the desktop, which can be called up by swiping from the right edge. In this menu, the user can assign up to five important contacts from the address book. Each contact is assigned a different color (your choice of purple, green, blue, yellow and orange).

If the phone is face down and one of these five contacts is trying to call you, the edge of the phone begins to glow in the color that was assigned to the contact. Convenient for meetings or in silent mode, and it looks very stylish.

The side edge can also inform you about missed calls and notifications regarding five selected contacts. There is an “Information Flow” function, when notifications are displayed as a line on the side when the screen is off, and a “Night Clock” function, when the current time is also displayed on the side if the screen is not working.

Specifications

A dry language of numbers and facts for those who like this:

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 room Android system 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

Slot for microSD cards absent

Data transfer speed max 4G LTE up to 150 Mbps

Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz), point Wi-Fi access, 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

Conclusion

Samsung listened to the complaints and wishes of its smartphone users. The company's engineers have created unique, original devices that will no longer be compared with Apple products. I think that you can really fall in love with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, not because it is not like an iPhone, but because it is simply good. And this is great, because competition spurs progress.

(No votes)

A few days before the start of sales in Russia, read the full review of the hot new product from the Koreans. Meet the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge! Below are a lot of photos, rave reviews and a few comments. About the smartphone At the annual exhibition Mobile World Congress 2015, Samsung presented two flagship devices of the Galaxy series: Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Both devices...

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, Micro-USB cable and a metal SIM card extractor. 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 create something that was objectively very interesting from the point of view appearance device. 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 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

Lovers compact smartphones will be happy to get the Galaxy S6 Edge, since 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 full versions sites. For clarity, in the left photo below you can see what one of the popular resources on the topic looks like mobile devices 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 shade 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. Declared OpenGL support ES 3.1, OpenCL 1.1 and DirectX 11. According to some tests, this video chip built into the processor outperforms Adreno 430 and PowerVR GX6450 (Apple A8). A high resolution 2560 x 1440 in games is what the graphics handle 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 resolution selection, geotagging activation, configuration additional buttons shutter release (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 battery life from one 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: 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 wireless Charger And 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 to 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 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 ordinary Samsung versions 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 important point, which 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 reports Apple sales 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).