HIGHS

  • Beautiful design rivals iPhone
  • Gorgeous AMOLED screen
  • Top-notch processing specs
  • Improved Curved screen sidebar
  • Wireless charging
  • Samsung Pay

LOWS

  • Uncomfortable to hold
  • Curved screen expensive to replace
  • No S Pen
  • Note 5 is a better choice
We won’t blame you for succumbing to its beauty, but the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus doesn’t match Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5.

I’m not a huge fan of the Galaxy S6 Edge, but a lot of you are. Earlier this year, Samsung let customers choose between the Galaxy S6 with a standard flat screen, or one with curved edges. For reasons that we understand, but don’t agree with, a lot of you flocked to the Galaxy S6 Edge. So many of you want that curved screen that Samsung has opened new production lines to make as many as five million Edges every month.

So, phone-buying world, you and me are at odds. But hey, I’m a reasonable man, because if you liked the Galaxy S6 Edge, you are going to love the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. It’s all the phone you can handle with enough curved edge to feel useful. But for our money, it can’t match the new king of big-screen phones, the Galaxy Note 5.

Metal and curvy, but at a cost

Like the two Galaxy S6 phones before it, and the Galaxy Note 5, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus has a beautiful aluminum frame and glass back with looks that are clearly inspired by the iPhone, and rival it.

You won’t find a kickass S Pen on the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, but the curved screen does have some upsides.

The first is most obvious: beauty. It’s still novel to look at a screen with curved edges, and damn fun to show off to your friends. The S6 Edge Plus is a supermodel of a phone. It’s better looking than the Note 5 and even the iPhone 6, and is one of few new phones that will actually get a reaction out of people. Thanks to the larger 5.7-inch screen on the Edge Plus, the edge is more prominent and feels like a real feature of the phone.

Related: The Galaxy S6 Edge was more popular than expected, and Samsung’s paying for the error

The second is utility. On the Galaxy S6 Edge, you could swipe over from the edge to bring up a list of your favorite contacts. Now, you can also bring up a list of your favorite apps, and adjust the height of the zone where you can edge swipe. The old night clock and edge notifications also remain. You probably won’t use any of these features much, but they do work.

It also has some downsides.

The S6 Edge Plus is a supermodel among smartphones.

For one, it’s not as comfortable. The Galaxy Note 5 puts its curved glass on the back, making it the most comfortable phablet we’ve ever held.The S6 Edge Plus, meanwhile, has a flat back and the grips on the edges are small. It’s not unusable by any stretch, but the number one thing you do with your smartphone is hold it. Why not choose the Samsung phablet that’s most comfortable?

You’ll also want to take good care of that curved screen, because replacing it will cost you $200. Replacing your phone screen is never fun, but the S6 Edge Plus will cost you. Only Samsung can replace the curved screen on the S6 Edge Plus, and if it’s anything like the regular S6 Edge, it will cost you $200. For reference, the Apple Store will replace iPhone 6 glass for $109.

A beautiful OS with top-notch specs

The specifications on the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and Note 5 are awesome, but they’re also the least exciting thing about these phones. Samsung’s user interface has improved a lot with Android 5.0, and we’re very happy to see the company embracing simplicity and ease of use in a lot of its designs.

But when it comes to numbers, these phones are as top notch as Android devices (or any devices) will get in 2015. Sure there are differences, but only the hardcore folks will notice. Samsung has all of the major boxes checked off in the horsepower section.

Galaxy S6 Edge Plus side

Jeffrey Van Camp/Digital Trends

Still, here are some numbers to whet your appetite. The S6 Edge Plus has a gorgeous 5.7-inch Quad HD screen (2,560 x 1,440 pixels) built on its Super AMOLED screen technology, which has been our favorite screen on any phone for a couple years now. The processor is a 64-bit octa-core Samsung Exynos 7420, which is actually two quad-core processors – one 2.1GHz, one 1.5GHz – working together. The RAM is also fairly high at 4GB, and you can get the Edge Plus with 32GB or 64GB of internal memory. It’s nice that Samsung isn’t ripping some of its customers off like Apple has with its 16GB version that just doesn’t have enough memory to last two years.

Related: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge review

The 3,000mAh battery has a fast-charging option via a special cable from Samsung, and can charge wirelessly using either of the two big wireless charging standards. More importantly, we’re hoping it will have a charge that lasts at least a day. Previous Note phones have, so we’re optimistic about the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, but won’t know until we fully review it.

The front camera is a 16-megapixel shooter that looks about on par with the S6, meaning it’s as good as you’ll find on any phone outside the LG G4 or iPhone 6/iPhone 6 Plus. We’ll report back once we’re able to properly test the camera. Built in live broadcasting via YouTube is also a fun new feature, allowing you to broadcast video without downloading an app.

Samsung Pay

Samsung has its eyes on your credit cards, and it has come up with a crafty way to win the battle against that plastic in your wallet. The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus — like the Note 5 and smaller S6 phones — has a special chip inside it that mimics the signal from a magnetic strip (MST) on a standard credit or debit card. By mimicking a credit card’s magnetic strip, the phone can be used as a credit card almost anywhere in the world, at any terminal. Apple Pay, meanwhile, only works with fancier terminals that have NFC functionality built into them.

When it comes to numbers, the Edge Plus is as top notch as Android devices will get in 2015.

With Apple Pay, you merely tap to pay, but Samsung Pay is more complicated. You need to swipe to open the app, use your fingerprint to verify payment, and then maneuver the phone into the right spot, but it does work. The only limitation is at ATMs, gas stations, or other locations where you have to insert your card into a slot. We can’t wait to try this in the real world.

Related: LG G4 vs. Samsung Galaxy S6: Which Android phone should you buy?

Sadly, it’s not ready yet, but it’s coming this “fall.” Samsung has already tested it in South Korea, and will bring Samsung Pay to the United States for testing in the coming months. Once Samsung Pay is live, it’ll be a killer feature on the Note 5, the S6, the S6 Edge, and the S6 Edge Plus.

Conclusion

The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus looks like a fantastic phone so far, but it’s not our favorite Samsung phone. After an hour with both phones, we highly recommend the Galaxy Note 5 over the S6 Edge Plus. It’s essentially the same exact phone, but it’s far more comfortable to hold thanks to a curved back, and has a handy S Pen stylus with some fun new features.



Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cell-phone-reviews/samsung-galaxy-s6-edge-plus-hands-on/#ixzz3ijftTnyI 
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Prince Malachi is the founder of The Oracle Network and the Streetwear brand Y.A.H. Apparel

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