Samsung is one of the most important players on the mobile devices market, having released high-end and top-ranked devices for quite a few years now. Every mobile devices enthusiast on the planet has heard of their Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets. Whenever a new Galaxy device is released, the world's eyes turn to it. So it's no wonder that earlier this year, when Samsung launched its latest flagship Android smartphone, the Galaxy S6 edge, everybody wanted to see what the big fuss was about. We got curious and managed to get ahold of this piece of technology and we can safely say, we were quite impressed. If you want to know the whole story behind our statement, read this review and find out:
Hardware Specifications & Packaging
The Galaxy S6 edge is shipped in a compact, bright white cardboard box that bears the Samsung logo and the storage and color version of the device on top and the main features on the bottom, while on the sides, you'll find the manufacturer's safety seals.
Take out the inner sliding container, break the safety seals on the sides, open it and you will find the smartphone itself, sitting on top of everything else that is inside the package.
Under the device, you will find all the other accessories that come with this smartphone: the charging and data transfer cable, the power-charger (with adaptive fast charging capabilities), the headphones, the SIM card eject pin and the Quick Start Guide, together with the warranty.
You can get the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge in four colors, specifically Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Green Emerald and White Pearl. Samsung also has available a wide range of accessories such as front and back covers, to further personalize your device.
Now, let's see how big a punch this smartphone packs, in terms of hardware components. At the center of the device is an octa-core 64bit Exynos 7420 CPU, consisting of four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.5 GHz and four Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 2.1 GHz. This CPU is a pretty powerful piece of hardware that accounts for the performance of this smartphone, as you'll find out later in the benchmarks section of this review.
As far as graphics are concerned, they are covered by the Mali-T760MP8 GPU, which is also one of the most recent and most powerful GPUs on the market these days.
The Galaxy S6 edge runs on 3 GB of LPDDR4 RAM memory. In terms of storage capacity, you can choose between three versions of the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge: the 32 GB, the 64GB and the 128 GB version, depending on how much data you can store on it. There is no support for any additional memory cards, so depending on what version you choose, that's all the storage space you're going to have. The unit we had for testing purposes is the 32GB version.
The display Samsung chose for the Galaxy S6 edge is a Super AMOLED 5.1 inches display scaled at a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels, with a pretty high density of 577 ppi and protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 technology. The quality of the display is outstanding, the colors are some of the brightest we've seen on a smartphone and the pictures are very crisp and sharp, offering a lot of detail.
The S6 edge runs on a 2600 mAh Li-Ion non-removable battery. Knowing what kind of performance we're talking about, it might not seem much, but we managed to get a whole day of regular use out of it and still be left with some juice in it in the evening.
On the image capturing front, the Galaxy S6 edge is equipped with a 16 MP back camera, capable of producing images at a resolution of 2988 x 5312 pixels and featuring HDR mode, optical image stabilization, autofocus and an LED flash. The front camera is a much simpler one, namely a 5 MP one able to record 1440p@30fps videos.
For connectivity purposes, the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge features a dual-band Wi-Fi adapter supporting 802.11a/b/g/n/ac protocols and offering compatibility for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless networks, a Bluetooth 4.1 chip featuring A2DP technology, a GPS module, an infrared port, an NFC module and a microUSB 2.0 port capable of turning the device into a USB host. Unfortunately, you'll not find an FM radio receiver on this smartphone.
The physical dimensions of this device are 142.1mm (or 5.59 inch) in Length, 70.1mm (or 2.76 inch) in Width and an impressive 7mm (or 0.28 inch) in Height. It weighs at 132 grams.
If you're looking for more detailed specifications for this device, you can find them on the manufacturer's website: Samsung Galaxy S6 edge Technical Specifications.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge is undoubtedly one of the fastest mobile devices right now. The revolutionary octa-core CPU with 2 separate types of cores, the new powerful Mali GPU and the 3GB of RAM memory give it what it needs to run smooth and lightning fast, no matter how you use it and what you have installed on it.
Design & Build Quality
Samsung made a lot of bold decisions when designing the Galaxy S6 edge. Obviously, the most revolutionary aspect of this smartphone is its curved display. Specifically, the display continues down on the left and right sides of the device, getting curved for the last few millimeters. While this looks pretty amazing, it takes a while to get used to. This also applies to the fact that due to this curvature of the display, the edges of the device are not as wide as you're used to from other phones, but instead they're a bit sharper, making the device quite unusual to hold the first few times. After that, it becomes natural and it turns out it's not a problem at all.
The front of the device features the Home button below the large display, which also contains the fingerprint sensor. The design is completed by the SAMSUNG logo on top, below the earpiece, the front camera and sensors. Apart from the eye-catching curved display, the front design is pretty much the one we're used to from the previous Samsung smartphones.
The back of the device is as glossy as the display and holds the back primary camera on the top, together with the LED flash and the bio-sensors (heart-rate, SpO2 and stress level). A quick mention here, the rear camera lens is raised from the back plate of this smartphone and while it rests on its back, the only point of contact with the surface under it, besides the lowest margin of the device, is the camera bezel. This means that in time, this point will become scratched and worn.
On the top side you'll find the infrared port and the SIM card compartment and on the bottom, there's the speaker, the microphone, the microUSB charging and data transfer port and the 3.5mm audio jack.
On the negative side, we have to mention the fact that when we were using the device for more than a few minutes at a time, it got hot pretty fast and became a bit uncomfortable to hold because of this. This is the only downside that we found while testing the ergonomics of this device.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge is an impressively ergonomic device, even though it might not seem like it at first glance. The sides might seem too sharp to hold comfortably, but after a while, we got used to it and it stopped feeling unnatural. The buttons are well positioned and feel strongly built. The curved display is a sight to see, the way it continues on the sides of the device also take some time to feel comfortable with, but as time passes, it feels great and starts being actually useful.
The Smartphone Experience On The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
The calls we made and received using this smartphone went as we expected. The sound quality of the conversation is flawless, due in part to the double microphone setup and the noise cancelling technologies of the device.
Should you decide to use the included headphones for making and receiving calls, while the sound quality you'll experience will be just fine, the person on the other end might complain of hissing caused by the wind blowing into the headphones' microphone - we found it isn't that well shielded from this. Other than that, the music quality when using the headphones is great, the sound is clear and free of any distortion. Also on this subject, the loudspeaker is also of great quality, the sound it gives is pretty loud when set to maximum level, while keeping its clarity.
As far as the operating system is concerned, the Galaxy S6 edge comes with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop preinstalled. It has Samsung's already popular TouchWiz user interface installed on top of it. TouchWiz is the proprietary user interface that Samsung applies to their Android smartphones and tablets which offers additional features to their devices, on top of the standard Android operating system.
As we stated earlier, while using this device the way we normally would, we managed to get a full day of regular use out of it, including making a few calls, some Internet browsing, watching some video clips and sending a few text messages. At the end of the day, we were left with about a quarter of the battery juice, so depending on your usage pattern, you probably won't have any problems getting to the end of the day without having to charge your smartphone in between.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge fulfills its primary role as a phone admirably. While making and receiving calls on it, the sound quality is impeccable, with no distortions whatsoever, even in lower signal conditions.
The Camera Experience On The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
As far as technical specifications are concerned, the main rear sided camera of the Galaxy S6 edge is a 16 MP camera, able to deliver pictures at a maximum resolution of 2988 x 5312 pixels. It benefits from technologies such as optical image stabilization, autofocus, an LED flash, and an HDR mode. It can shoot 2160p videos at 30fps or 1080p videos at 60fps.
The camera experience on this smartphone is great, the device shoots photos incredibly fast and of good quality, even when used in lesser light conditions and without using the incorporated LED flash. It offers several HDR modes, including Automatic.
In the photo gallery below, you'll find some pictures we took with the Galaxy S6 edge.
There's also a 30 seconds video clip we shot, recording the traffic from a boulevard in Bucharest, Romania.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge offers a photo camera of superior quality, with a lot of features and options, able to shoot photos in an incredibly fast succession. Also welcomed is the fact that by default, double-pressing the home button in any screen starts the camera app, offering a great way of taking a photo in a very limited amount of time.
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge runs on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with the manufacturer's own user interface applied to it, the well-known TouchWiz. This is basically a skin applied on top of the default operating system that adds a few features of its own, integrates a home screen launcher and a few other bells and whistles. TouchWiz has come a long way from its first versions on the previous Samsung smartphones and has been developed into a fast and very efficient OEM skin for the Galaxy S6 edge.
Among the nice features TouchWiz gained when adapted to the Galaxy S6 edge is one that caught our attention: as you can see in the screenshot above, there's a light border on top of the right side of the display. If you drag that border inwards, you are presented with 5 colored round slots which you can assign to contacts from your address book. When you receive a notification from those contacts (be it a missed call, an SMS message or a Facebook notification) while the device is locked and the screen is off, the edge of the device's display blinks with the color assigned to that specific contact, letting you know which person is trying to reach you at a glance.
Another particularly interesting feature of the Galaxy S6 edge is the Edge Screen. While the screen is off and the display locked, if you run your finger up and down on the edge of the display, it will light up and show a series of details: the clock, the weather and the current battery level, together with any important notifications, such as missed calls of received SMS messages. The feature is completely configurable in the device's Settings menu.
The lock-screen of the device is pretty eye-catching as well and supports widgets. The default one shows a beautifully shadowed digital clock and date, paired with weather information shown for the current location. Drag the screen to the left while the device is locked to open the camera, while dragging it to the right opens the dialer. The screenshot below also shows the Backup Password button, shown while the fingerprint authentication option is configured for locking the device.
Arriving at the bundled apps section, Samsung chose to offer a wide range of apps that complement this smartphone's features. The device we had in for testing was branded by Telekom Romania, a Romanian mobile network provider, which also added a layer of customization to this device, so many of the apps you'll see in these screenshots are installed by the mobile network provider.
Beside the classic apps Google packs into the stock Android operating system (such as Hangouts, Maps, Google or the Play apps - Music, Newsstand, Books and Games), you'll find Samsung's own approach to music players in the form of the Music app, a Contacts manager, a Calculator app, the S Health app (useful for measuring and monitoring heart rate, SpO2 level, stress level and a few fitness indicators as well) and another useful app made by Samsung, the Smart Manager app. This app monitors the device's battery level, RAM memory usage, the storage capacity currently used and the security level and optimizes the device's settings based on this info. It is basically an operating system tweaking app for Android, made by Samsung itself.
You also find a few third party apps preinstalled on the Galaxy S6 edge, such as Accuweather, Skype, Shazam, Twitter, Vine, OneDrive and a GPS navigation app called MireoNav.
When it comes to Samsung smartphones, the TouchWiz user interface installed on top of the default Android operating system is no surprise. The version preinstalled on the Galaxy S6 edge is fast and efficient, looks great and adds a nice touch to the default Android experience. The apps chosen by the manufacturer for this device augment the features offered by default. The interface you get with this smartphone is hands down one of the most immersive ones we've seen on a mobile device so far.
Performance In Benchmarks
We've already told you about the impressive array of high-end hardware components Samsung used for the Galaxy S6 edge. The recently launched octa-core Exynos 7420 CPU, the Mali-T760MP8 GPU and the 3GB of RAM memory will surely deliver great performance to the users of this smartphone. But you've come here for numbers, so let's put the Galaxy S6 edge to the test and see the results.
Firstly, as we do with any device, we'll test the CPU of the device. To do this, we'll use the popular benchmarking app Vellamo, which offers two main CPU tests: the Vellamo Multicore test and the Vellamo Metal test.
In the Multicore test, which is a test that measures the device's ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge scored an impressive 3352 points, putting it on top of the scores list this benchmarking app offers. Undoubtedly, this means we're dealing with one of the highest performing mobile devices in the market so far.
When we tested it with the Metal test, which measures the device's performance while running single tasks, the Galaxy S6 edge did great again, getting a score of 2648 points. This result also puts it on top of the list of scores, surpassing every other device Vellamo offers for comparison.
Next, we'll move on to measuring the smartphone's gaming performance. For observing how well the Galaxy S6 edge does in games, we'll use the GFXBench GL Benchmark app. The tests that matter to us are the Manhattan and the T-Rex, both of them running at an 1080p resolution and offscreen, meaning that the actual display resolution of the device isn't taken into consideration when running these tests.
At the end of the Manhattan test, the Galaxy S6 edge finished rendering 796 frames, a great score for this type of device, over its older brother, the Galaxy S5 but not by as far as you'd probably expect.
It is undoubtedly clear by now that the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge is an extremely powerful mobile device, offering higher performance than most of the smartphones in the market these days. But still, we have another test to throw at it and a very important one as well. We're talking about the Vellamo Explore test, which tests the browsing capabilities of the device while displaying a web page consisting of HTML, CSS and JavaScript elements. The score obtained by the Galaxy S6 edge on this test is 3481, also a great result, ranking it higher than the HTC One M8 and the ASUS Zenfone 2.
Now comes the device battery's turn to be put to the test. While using it normally as a daily device, we managed to keep it running for more than a day. But for a more exact measuring, we'll use the Work battery life found in the PCMark benchmarking app. The 2600 mAh Li-Ion battery managed to keep the device running for an impressive 8 hours and 15 minutes. This is a great achievement, considering the high-performance components packed into the Galaxy S6 edge and the not-so-impressive battery capacity.
The last test we'll perform on this device is the network speed. We'll turn to Ookla's Speedtest app for measuring this. With good signal coverage and using the Telekom Romania mobile network provider, the Galaxy S6 edge achieved a download connection speed of 10.92 Mbps and an upload connection speed of 1.74 Mbps.
All evidence points to the fact that it's quite hard to find a more powerful Android mobile device than the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge these days. It packs exclusively high-end components and delivers top performance to its users, while managing to conserve battery power admirably. You probably won't find any apps or games in the Google Play Store that this smartphone would have trouble running.
Product rating5/5
Verdict - One Of The Most Powerful & Innovative Android Smartphones Available
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge is a device with a revolutionary design which may take a while to get used to, but once you're there, you'll find it hard to go back. It is on top of the Samsung line of smartphones right now. It is an extremely powerful mobile device, powered by a high-end CPU accompanied by assorted components, offering unprecedented performance. It features an innovative design characteristic - a display that curves on the way down the sides of the device and offers concentrated information while the display is locked and the screen is off. It benefits from a wide array of sensors of all kinds, including a heart-rate sensor and a fingerprint sensor. The camera performs admirably, the battery lasts for more than one day under regular use and the TouchWiz user interface is better than ever.
However, given that the price you have to pay for the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge is pretty high, we see it as a device aimed at mobile devices enthusiasts and people who actually need this kind of raw power and performance. So our verdict is "Buy for geeks!". If you have the money for it, you won't be disappointed.
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