Gadgetory

it's such a small and subtle variation on the standard galaxy s6 that Samsung didn't even bother to capitalize the brand name but don't be fooled by the understatement as with other bold devices from our recent history it's surprising what a little curve can do it's michael fisher with pocket now here with the video review of the Samsung Galaxy s6 edge if you can't immediately tell the difference between the s6 and s6 edge that's understandable we've even used video of the two interchangeably in our Samsung coverage thus far but just as you don't fully understand the standard s6 until you pick it up it also takes holding the edge to really get it unlike the asymmetric Galaxy Note edge which preceded it I didn't find the s6 edge awkward to hold there's enough purchase on the side rails and the buttons are placed intelligently enough that you don't always feel like you're going to drop it still the gorilla glass back cover has been imported from the standard s6 so if you're worried about fingerprints or scratching but don't want to ruin the aesthetics with a case consider a skin like the D brand carbon fiber on our review device it took eight hundred degree temperatures in a process called 3d thermal forming to give the s6 edge the curved cover glass that gives it its name and the effect is gorgeous even as a pretty straightforward cosmetic play the design is delightful giving the display an infinity pool effect and making the phone quite striking from almost any angle the AMOLED panel beneath the cover glass curves only slightly reaching not even halfway as far as the cover glass does so there's less danger of accidental taps when you pick it up from a table and the screen itself is just as brilliant saturated and pixel packed as its counterpart on the standard s6 with custom display modes and saturation settings and a brightness spectrum capable of adapting to almost any lighting condition you're likely to find yourself in in use the screens curve does have minor drawbacks light behaves differently at the bend so both reflected light from outside and pixel light from inside produce distortion and color deviance at the sides the edges of words sometimes bleed off the side when you're reading and so does the board in games like words with friends which can be a little distracting but on the other hand scrolling webpages or social streams is a little handier with the Edit purchase of the side screen your thumb doesn't get in the way of the text as you surf which is nice Samsung should make a bigger deal out of this of course this being Samsung there's custom software built in to take more advantage of the side screen by now you've heard of the people edge function that lets you assign commonly called contacts to a persistent dock it's cool but I'm not convinced it's faster than finding them the old-fashioned way then there's the color-coded color ID that flashes custom colors on the side rails when one of those important people is trying to reach you but in order to work it requires you to put your expensive new phone face down on the table which just feels all different kinds of wrong more useful are the information stream and night clock functions which display things like the time news headlines trending Twitter searches stock prices and notifications when the screen is off unfortunately it's not very well thought out rather than showing full headlines and continuously scrolling the news ticker pauses every few seconds to show you a partial headline you need to tap on it and then unlock the phone to see what it's actually about and if you're in a bright room the glare on the curved glass usually falls right across the very words you're trying to read I appreciate Samsung trying to make intelligent use of the edge screen but I think these features fit better on the larger Note edge with bigger display better lends itself to this kind of information overload here on the s6 the edge screen is more effective as an aesthetic adornment than anything else in standard use the edge screen also makes hitting corner buttons a little tougher you need to focus a little more on hitting the touch target just right but otherwise this software feels just like the standard s6 on the downside that means to frequent app crashes and intermittent responsiveness problems if you're running one of Samsung's new custom themes all of which seem to carry varying degrees of lag along with them on the brighter side it means blazing fast performance if you stick to the default theme as well as new and useful touches like simplified quick toggles a streamlined settings menu and the excellent fingerprint scanner built into the HOME key double click that home key and you'll find the same minimal camera viewfinder as on the s6 and it's driving the same optically stabilized Hardware two colors are saturated but not too overdone contrast and sharpness lend a little more punch to most photos and HDR jumps in when it needs to to rescue highlights from the shadows the wide F 1.9 aperture helps get focus and preserve detail in low-light and the front-facing cameras wide-angle lens makes for a group friendly shooter if you don't want to use the rear camera selfie mode there are no special camera controls along the sides as there were on the note edge but that's not too big a disappointment as I didn't find those very useful anyway just as on its conventional cousin the s6 edges camera is one of the best you can buy on a smartphone also like the s6 the s6 edge probably won't last you a full day if you take a lot of pictures or really do anything that keeps the screen on for an extended period at this point folks I've been through three t-mobile units gotten feedback from a colleague on Verizon and seen enough other reviews to say that the s6 and s6 edge have fair - poor battery life keeping your services updated helps disabling Wi-Fi calling may help and keeping an eye on what apps are running in the background is always a good idea but I've never been able to get much more than three hours screen on time between charges yes it charges incredibly quickly with the adaptive charger in the box and the wireless charging built-in is very convenient and fun if you or your favorite coffee shop use chi or PM a chargers but this is the company that came up with the name wall huggers to make fun of people who couldn't last the whole day on their phone batteries and if you're like me you probably won't last the whole day on the s6 edge not without intermittent top ups if you're a desk jockey with a wireless charging pad next to your computer you'll be fine if you need a long-lasting smartphone for the road a hiking trail the boat or really anywhere not right next to a power outlet this isn't it fortunately for Samsung the s6 edge measures up beautifully in other performance aspects voice calls are comfortable and clear gaming is no problem web surfing is slick and smooth on the stock internet browser s health is as capable as ever for monitoring your fitness efforts and the phone packs all the hardware you need for wireless transactions anywhere magnetic card readers exist when Samsung pay goes live anyway and while you can use the inbox earbuds for gaming or rocking out the loud bottom mounted speaker does a good job of that too as long as you don't accidentally block it with a finger you so the very first day I used this device in public a railroad employee stopped the official business she was doing locked eyes on my review device and cooed oh is that the edge that's why you buy this phone it catches the eye better than almost any other handheld out there without being too ostentatious about it and it uses the same feeling of quality construction as its non edgy brother you probably won't get much mileage out of its fancy screen features and it's got room for improvement in software and certainly battery life but it's easily one of the most beautiful smartphones of the year thus far with one of the best Android cameras ever it's not cheap but the Galaxy s6 edge is a solid Buy if you want a flagship phone with the looks to match and you don't mind being a wall hugger for a much more detailed look at samsung's latest super phone see our full galaxy s6 review at pocket now linked in the description just below this review was made possible by a sample device from D brand whom we thank for their support visit them at D brand.com visit us at pocketnow.com and follow me on twitter at captain 2 phones till next time this has been michael fisher reminding you of the immortal words of Hunter S Thompson the only people who truly understand the edge are those who've gone over it see you next time folks and thanks for watching you