With glass, metal and a number of hardware improvements, Samsung Electronics is hoping to entice consumers to spend big on its latest smartphones with large screens, the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ but only the latter will be available in Ireland.
When Samsung launched the first Galaxy Note, few believed the concept would work, but the company correctly predicted the appetite for large screens. Now, though, it faces an arguably bigger challenge: convincing consumers to pay top dollar for the Note 5 and S6 edge+ as competitors have given up on charging as much for their top models as Apple does.
However, Samsung has given itself the ingredients for success with the Note 5 and S6 edge+, which the company launched at event in New York yesterday.
“The demand for larger screens is bigger than ever,” Samsung president and CEO JK Shin said at the New York event. “Bigger screens are great for moving between images and important files.”
Samsung is “betting big” on smartphone owners using the devices as multimedia consumers and multitaskers, Shin added.
Samsung has taken the designs it premiered on the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge earlier this year and enlarged them. The Note 5 and S6 edge+ also have a glass back and a metal frame, which give them a classier look than previous Galaxy Note products.
However, this new level of luxury once again comes with a few drawbacks: Neither of the models are water resistant, have a user-replaceable battery or microSD card slot.
The battery capacity is 3,000mAh, slightly smaller than the Galaxy Note 4’s 3,220mAh. Samsung partially makes up for that with quick charging and a power efficient processor. The devices also have wireless charging capabilities.
The decision to exclude expandable storage makes the new models stand out from a majority of their Android-based competition. Vendors such as Sony, LG, HTC, Motorola Mobility, Huawei Technologies and Asus have all included microSD card slots in their latest models. OnePlus and Xiaomi are siding with Samsung’s view that expandable storage is no longer needed.
Impressive specs
The rest of the Note 5 and S6 edge+ specifications are free of disappointments. They include the same Samsung-designed octa-core processor used in the existing S6, with 32Gb or 64Gb of integrated storage and, for the first time, 4Gb of RAM. Add to that a 16MP camera on the back and a 5MP camera on the front. A fingerprint sensor is also included.
The screen size on both models has remained unchanged from the Note 3 and Note 4 at about 5.7″, and the resolution has stayed at 1440×2560 pixels. The quad high-definition resolution is starting to make sense on the larger screens, and is one of main strengths of the Note 5 and S6 edge+.
For users that want Samsung’s S Pen, the Note 5 is the model to buy. With every generation, Samsung has improved the accuracy of the pen to make it more useful. The Galaxy Note 5 has an all new S Pen that feels more solid and balanced in the user’s hand, according to Samsung.
Both the Note 5 and S6 edge+ will be available in stores in the US and Canada on August 21 and globally later this month.
IDG News Service
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers