MWC: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge hands on and first impressions

AndiMarch 4, 2015

Samsung’s latest addition to the Galaxy range sports a curved display bring content to the edges of the phone, it looks great in photos but what is it like in person?

I wanted to get my hands on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge for a few reasons. I wanted to see the phone first hand as a good base to compare upcoming Chinese phones against, but I also wanted to see if the curved display was anything more than just a gimmick.

Before getting to the curved display the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge does have a few hardware and design details going for it. At only 5.1-inch is size the screen is one of the smallest for a flagship Android phone of 2015, and this is a huge selling point to anyone not wanting a 5.5-inch + phone. The S6 Edge also boasts a high quality alloy chassis, Gorilla Glass 4 and of course the usual high-end specs such as 3GB RAM, octacore processor and 16 mega-pixel rear camera.

Looking at the S6 Edge is an odd experience as it is more common to see a phone with curved rear and flat front, but this is reversed on the flagship Samsung. Other oddities include design choices which we have seen on phones already on the market.

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Galaxy S6 Edge on the left Mi Note on the right

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The alloy chassis isn’t that dissimilar to the iPhone 6 and the alloy to glass curve is similar to the transition we see on the rear of the Mi Note.

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In the hand the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is very lightweight, compact and comfortable, and although the display is smaller than I am use to, the curve gives a kind of panoramic effect making it appear wider than it actually is.

Of course speed and performance of the phone is what we expected of a 2015 flagship, and the camera quality and speed both front and rear is amazing.

I did go in to the Samsung Media area at MWC fully expecting to confirm that the S6 Edge’s curved display was nothing more than a gimmick, but I left impressed and would possibly even consider one, if not for the price. With rumours of the top of the link model costing as much as 850 Euros I would find it very hard to justify buying one unlocked.

But I am excited about curved screen technology on phones, and now that Samsung has started the ball rolling I hope to see top of the range Chinese manufacturers experimenting too so we can see more affordable options.

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Andi

- March 4, 2015
  Speed is as fast as the Mi Note but focus seems a little better on the S6. I wasn’t able to place images taken on to my computer to check but on screen they looked really great.
RRRobert
March 4, 2015
The S6 Edge has a truly great design, but the suggested retail prices are ridiculous. I.e., you can buy two Meizu MX4 Pro phones against one S6 Edge. Nuff said.

Miko
March 4, 2015
Both phones are really great with great scores on antutu and other benchmarks
What I am really suprised though, is that these phones on this specific benchmark can’t win my MX4 score in RAM (although they have DDR4), storage I/O and single thread CPU…very weird
ofc the GPU,multitask and GPU they win by a lot.
Also HTC M9 benchmark shows that my scores are similar or better in all cases except GPU where I lose by a lot…
All these said justifying my point which is: Why the hell should I give 700+ euros for these phones?
- Miko
  March 4, 2015
  Ths is my MX4 scores for comparisons reasons by the way.
- seven7dust
  March 6, 2015
  don’t worry with a 2k display the benchmarks will become meaningless , 2k display only makes sense on phablets or bigger even then it’s a hard sell
  but it reduces performance and battery life , it’s a waste IMO
  MX4 is perfectly capable and will probably get more battery life , can’t believe they are using a 2600 mah battery , wow 2012 size.

10basetom
March 4, 2015
What about complaints that the left and right edges can look distorted on the S6 Edge — is this a real or overblown issue?
Aeonia
March 4, 2015
wonder what nifty features the chinese S6 EDGE knock-offs will incorporate…
balcobomber25
March 4, 2015
One of the ugliest phones I have ever seen…
Ulti
March 5, 2015
When you put the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge next to the Xiaomi Mi Note, the Mi Note looks so much more beautiful. It also makes the S6E look like a copy of the Mi Note which isn’t something I thought I’d say so soon.

Angry Mobile Nerd
March 6, 2015
The S6 Edge has gotten nothing but praise from anyone who’s had a chance to see and hold one. Almost 70k in Antutu even got my attention and I usually don’t care about benchmarks.
Now lets start the stopwatch and see how long it takes the Chinese to release something even close to this.
As for the price, give it a couple months it will come down. Chinese phone makers control their prices like Apple hence you rarely see them drop in price over the weeks and months after release. Vivo is still asking ¥3000 RMB for its now 1 year old Xplay 3s (originally launched at ¥3500). I was in HK the other day and saw dual mode dual sim Note 4’s for ¥3950 RMB in Sham Shui Po — that’s only 150 USD more than the Vivo.
- seven7dust
  March 6, 2015
  Ya but 2k display means a lot of the performance will be sacrificed , especially Graphics benchmarks , not to mention battery.
  A 1080p SD or 6795 phone will probably outperform it in graphics.
  either way the difference is very negligible , you won’t be able to tell the difference between a 810 and a 70,000 Antutu processor.
  we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns , more speed but less usefulness. I’d rather have more battery life.
  but still the Edge display looks good , but it’s a 850-900$ expensive gimmick just to show of , nothing else.
  - Angry Mobile Nerd
    March 6, 2015
    imho Samsung actually is the only OEM to have gotten QHD right. The Note 4 made the jump to QHD and has better battery life than the Note 3 and users comparing the international FHD S5 to the Korean QHD LTE-A S5 also have not found any difference in battery life. If it’s one thing Samsung has completely nailed it’s been bringing QHD to phones with no sacrifice to battery life.
    As for pricing, I’m really waiting for it to hit the streets of Hong Kong to get an idea of what it’ll go for in the open market (and grey market, for that matter). As I said in my previous post, the S6 price will come down over time on the open market where as the Mi Note Pro is ¥3299 RMB now, will be ¥3299 RMB 3 months from now, and will still be ¥3299 RMB by the end of the year where as the S6 and Note 4 will have come down considerably (not to mention it will be much easier to find a S6 or Note 4 to buy as Xiaomi loves to manufacture fake demand for its products by limiting supply).
    - balcobomber25
      March 8, 2015
      I love your optimism but Samsung doesn’t lower their prices that quickly. I was in HK not too long ago and the Note 3 was still selling for over $500US in most stores. It will take at least 2 years before the price of the S6 comes anywhere close to the Mi Note Pro, and by that time a new Xiaomi will be available with better specs for the same price.
      - Angry Mobile Nerd
        March 8, 2015
        I’m referring to grey market prices which do come down (and grey market/parallel imports are legal in HK). The Note 4 is down to $650 USD now in HK. The Mi Note Pro is $535 USD at current exchange rates — and that’s only if you can get it direct from Xiaomi.
        With only about $100 difference which would you honestly buy? (ok, I know you have a thing for Xiaomi so you will still probably say the Mi Note Pro)
        2 years for the price of the S6 to come down to anywhere near the Mi Note Pro? Again, ridiculous. Using the S5 as an example the S5 in HK (and China) can be had for less than $450 USD now and it’s only been out for (almost) a year now. The S4 which has been out for 2 years now is a $250 phone now.
- balcobomber25
  March 8, 2015
  China has already released a phone close to this, the Mi Note Pro and it costs a lot less.
- Paul
  March 24, 2015
  If you see a S6 Edge Chinese copy with the HTC Sense 6 as the OS, let me know. It would be my ideal phone.
Airyl
March 8, 2015
I really don’t know what to think about this device.
On one hand, it’s cool looking, is a great conversation starter and it’s got good specs.
On the other hand, the edge display has very few uses according to what I’ve heard, most of the features Samsung phones used to have are gone and the battery is tiny.
While I honestly do think that the S6 was just a disappointment, the S6 Edge seems promising, especially if Samsung can make those curves more useful.