Samsung Galaxy Note Edge review – Innovation on the edge

The Galaxy Note series is an innovation in itself and now Samsung has taken this innovation to the Edge, with the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. It is a limited edition premium device that comes loaded with everything that the Note 4 has; with some minor specs changes and with a unique curved display on the right edge.

Box Pack
All of the galaxy premium handset box packing look the same. The box is made of recyclable material. Inside you will find the Note Edge, 9V fast travel charger, data cable, very good quality earphone with extra earphone plug caps, S-Pen tip removal clip, some extra S-Pen tips, battery of 3000 mAh capacity, quick start guide and warranty card. There is a SAR certificate inside that says Head SAR = 0.123W/kg.

Design, Display and OS
Though the handset is loaded with the same hardware as seen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, there are minor design changes and some changes in the specifications. The Note Edge comes with 3000 mAh battery as compared to 3220 mAh on Note 4 and the screen on Edge is 5.6 inches as compared to 5.7 on the Note 4. The Note Edge is also wider than the Note 4.

There is no doubt, the Note Edge looks much better than the Note 4. It has got a unique style and the curved screen on the Edge makes it stand out from the rest. Build quality is very good. There is a silver border on the side that  follows the curve screen on the right. There is a small gap between the right curved screen and the silver border.

Power button is on the top along with a mic, IR port and 3.5mm audio jack. Volume rocker is placed on the left side. At the bottom you will find dual Mics, micro USB port and S-Pen slot. Body has got a metal frame and rear side has got a leather type finishing, but made of plastic. If you look closely even the button have got a nice silver border.

Though the handset is comfortable to hold at first it might feel odd holding it because of the edge screen. In most cases the fingers would be touching the silver border but no harm if it touches the curved screen.

Note Edge weight is 175 grams with battery and dimensions are 82.53 x 151.01 x 8.32 (mm).

The super AMOLED scratch resistant screen is 5.6 inches supporting Quad HD resolution 2560 x [1440 + 160]. Colour reproduction, touch response and viewing angles are excellent.

There is LED notification and good number of sensors – accelerometer, barometer, magnetic, light, proximity, step counter and gyro.

Galaxy Edge is running Android 4.4.4 with TouchWiz UI.

Memory and Storage
Note Edge comes loaded with 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Users will get about 21GB free space for apps / personal internal storage and of the 3GB RAM you will get around 1.3GB on the first boot.

Apps got installed on internal storage by default, but there is option to move to SD card, however not all of the data will be moved. OTG works you can access contents on a OTG pen drive.

Performance
The Edge is powered by 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 Krait 450 quad core processor coupled with Adreno 420 GPU. Performance is smooth and lags free. There is a single SIM slot with 4G support.

Benchmark

Gaming
I played the Modern Combat 5 that got installed on the internal storage. The game played really well over the Quad HD screen. No issues found, check the video review at the end.

Camera
The Note Edge is equipped with excellent dual cameras. A 16MP on the rear with LED flash plus it can record UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) videos. The front of 3.7MP can shoot wide selfies. Overall the camera in sunlight and at night performance really well. Check the sample images at the end.

S-Pen and Edge screen
There is the S-Pen with the same features and functionality as seen on the Note 4. S-Pen feel like a real pen, you can select and share almost everything on the screen. Photo notes is another interesting features that allows you to click photos and add a personal note to it.

The Edge screen is unique and an attention seeker. There are panels running on the Edge screen, you can choose to show the panels you want. For example there is contact panel, selected app launcher, fitness panel, weather, Yahoo news etc. You can even download new panels, that are specially made to work with the Edge screen. I downloaded a data panel that keeps track of my 3G data usage. There are tools that can be quickly launched from the edge panel – ruler, stop watch, timer, torch and voice recorded.

There is express me option to show stylish side panel when the screen is locked. You can create your own panel and S-Pen works on the panels too. You can set up the edge screen to show an always on clock (Night Clock) with weather info for max 12 hours.

When you get notifications for example an SMS message, it will show the text on the edge screen for few seconds.

Righty – Lefty Note Edge
The curved screen is on the right side. It works well for righty (right handed person). They would hold the handset in left hand and use right hand for operation. For lefty the right edge screen could be an issue. To counter this problem there is an option on the Edge screen settings to ‘enable show Edge screen on left’. With enabled, if you invert the handset the screen orientation changes accordingly. In inverted position you will have the edge screen on the left. This however is with some limitations – you are holding the handset upside down and navigation buttons are on the top. If you get a phone call do note that the in-call speaker is at the bottom and mic on the top.

Others
No other issues found, the performance is buttery smooth and handset doesn’t heat up much. I don’t have 4G, and 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC and Bluetooth worked well. There is IR port and you can use the phone like a remote.

Like Note 4 the edge also comes with finger print scanner, heart rate sensor, S-health, UV sensor etc.

Battery
There is a 3000 mAh removable battery with fast charging capabilities.

You can expect about 4 to 5 hours of battery backup with continuous heavy usage.

Verdict
The Edge is a limited edition premium handset price at approx Rs. 65,000. If you can afford go ahead. It does have an edge over the other handsets in the Galaxy Note series.

[rating 4.7 out of 5 – decimals not allowed in the rating box below]

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is available for Rs. 64,499.

Image Gallery

Sample images shot using rear camera

Front camera samples