Galaxy S6 vs Galaxy S6 Edge: What's The Difference?

Touchdown! The next generation of Android’s biggest selling smartphone is here and with it comes a sexy new stable mate: the Galaxy S6 Edge.

After months of leaks and endless speculation about what the differences between the two models will entail, it is time to separate fact from fiction. So if you’re in two minds about which new S6 will suit you best then read on:

Displays - Straight Or Curved?

The stand out difference and biggest talking point about the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge is visual:

• Galaxy S6 - 5.1-inch flat panel, 2560 x 1440 pixels, Super AMOLED display
• Galaxy S6 Edge - 5.1-inch curved panel, 2560 x 1440 pixels, Super AMOLED display

From a purely superficial perspective the subtle curve to the Galaxy S6 Edge gives it a clear advantage: it simply looks cooler. It also means the handset is the first to have no bezel on either side and this makes it slightly thinner than the Galaxy S6 as well. Forbes' contributor Jay McGregor gives a break down:

That said the curves do bring some additional functionality dubbed 'Information Stream', 'Night Clock', 'Edge Lighting' and ‘People Edge’. The first two were on the Note Edge and, as their names suggest, scroll information or the time along the edge. Meanwhile People Edge is triggered by a swipe from the top right side and brings up most frequent contacts while Edge lighting can tie calls from those people to a colour which lights up on the side of the phone when it is face down.

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Yes none of these are revolutionary (and I doubt many will place the S6 Edge face down just for the side light), but it will no doubt be opened up to third parties and has the potential to be really innovative as time goes on.

Read more - Samsung Galaxy S6 Vs Galaxy S5: What's The Difference?

Then again those bowled over by the S6 Edge also need to consider three practical factors: how prone will those sides be to accidental touch input in-hand, will the glass edges make the handset less durable and how much protection can cases realistically offer? We’ll know more once we get both handsets in for review.

[caption id="attachment_10730" align="" width="957"] Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge - image credit Jay McGregor[/caption]

Aside from the curves, both the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have identical main screens and, as expected, they step up to native 2k panels from the 1080p resolution seen in the Galaxy S5. Those happy to squint at their screens may just about to make out the benefits here, but the real difference will come from the enhanced brightness and contrast levels both phones bring.

Samsung arguably produced the best smartphone displays seen in any phone last year and both the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge look set to carry this on.

Design - Positive But Polarising Changes

Durability is also a wider question for both models. As part of an extensive redesign process (dubbed ‘Project Zero’) the big risk Samsung has taken is giving both phones glass backs.

For Samsung stalwarts the impact is threefold. Firstly the risk of damage to the backs (despite the use of Corning ’s Gorilla Glass 4) which rarely occurred with the removable plastic backs of previous Galaxy phones. Secondly, the backs are no longer removable which means the end of the Galaxy S line’s long history of swappable batteries and micro SD expansion slots.

Thirdly Samsung has also confirmed neither the Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge will be waterproof. Pragmatists will have their hands up in despair.

The compensation for these losses is both the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge represent a significant step up in the quality of build materials from past generations.

The headline act is the shift to unibody aluminium chassis. This is a familiar path. HTC kicked it off with the HTC One range, Samsung hinted at its plans with the Galaxy Note 4’s metal frame and Apple leapt aboard with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus after toying with the idea in the original iPhone 2G.

Visually comparisons between both the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge can certainly be made here with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus but (while Apple’s lawyers may disagree) what is far more interesting for potential Samsung owners is the company has stepped up to address one of the longest running criticisms of its devices: they feel cheap.

Read more - iPhone 6 Plus vs Galaxy Note 4 Review: 2014’s Biggest Phone Fight

What hasn’t changed is Samsung’s ongoing use of a physical home button. Onscreen controls are increasingly popular, but Samsung has good reasoning here since both the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge feature upgraded fingerprint sensors which work with a touch rather than needing a swipe. I’ll discuss the impact of this later.

• Galaxy S6 - 143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm (5.64 x 2.77 x 0.27 in) and 138g (4.86 oz)
• S6 Edge - 142.1 x 70.1 x 7 mm (5.59 x 2.76 x 0.27 in) and 132g (4.65 oz)
• Galaxy S5 - 142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm (5.59 x 2.85 x 0.32 in) and 145g (5.11 oz)

A rear surprise from the switch to premium build materials is both the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have actually reduced both their footprints and weight compared to the Galaxy S5. The LG G3 still carries the most compact size/screen size ratio (5.5-inch display in 146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9 mm and 149g) but it remains very impressive work from Samsung.

Then again there is potentially an unwanted knock-on effect in battery life…

Battery Life - Concerns With Both Models

• Galaxy S6 - 2550 mAh
• Galaxy S6 Edge - 2600 mAh

On paper loyal Samsung fans will be in for a shock: both new models have smaller capacity batteries than their predecessor, the Galaxy S5 (2800 mAh). The good news is Samsung boasts that the move to its own Exynos 7420 chipset (more below) is 35% more efficient as is its heavily optimised new version of TouchWiz.

Then again Samsung has strangely made no announcements with regards to battery life expectations. So when combined with the loss of the removable battery I hope this doesn’t mean a historical strength of Galaxy S devices is going to become a weak point.

Of some compensation is quick charging (up to 4 hours use from a 10 minute charge) and built-in wireless charging which is compliant with both Qi and PMW (the two major standards). Still this won’t appease those wedded to their replaceable batteries.

Performance - Game Changing Hardware Moves

Here things get exciting. Both the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge share the same Samsung Exynos chipset, breaking from Qualcomm as its primary supplier for the first time since the Galaxy S2:

• Exynos 7420 - CPU: quad-core 21.GHz and 1.5GHz CPUs; GPU: Mali-T760

This is also supported by a meaty 3GB RAM and 32/64/128GB internal storage options.

What are the takeaways? The big news is that Samsung has a chip which both differentiates it from the Qualcomm Snapdragon herd and which claims to be more power efficient.

Read more - iPhone 6 vs Galaxy S5 Review: Apple Gatecrashes Samsung

The gamble for Samsung is compatibility. As Nvidia found with its Tegra chipset, Android apps these days are primarily coded around Qualcomm compatibility it has led to a number of major apps failing to work without patches. Samsung assures this will not be a problem and I’m sure that it will have looked at all the major apps, but it could strike smaller app makers and cause problems to users who find those apps essential. Watch this space.

Elsewhere the logical step to 3GB of RAM is welcome while increased internal storage options may passify those saddened by the loss of the micro SD slot, but don’t count on it.

Software - TouchWiz Trimmed

Credit to Samsung: having addressed build quality concerns, it has also focused on cutting out ongoing problem 32: the bloat and inefficiency of TouchWiz.

I’ll need time with both phones to verify whether Samsung’s speed claims (40% faster) bear out, but what is great to see is TouchWiz so stripped down. Just S Voice and S Health will be installed by default alongside Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype and Microsoft One Note and OneDrive. There is still the Galaxy Apps store, but Samsung does run exclusives here which are popular.

Having dealt with what isn’t here, what also deserves attention is the system-wide integration of fingerprint security. Samsung’s new pay service, aptly titled ‘Samsung Pay’ will get the main nods, but only time will tell if it can match up to Apple Pay or Google’s own impending revamp of Wallet.

On paper things looks good. Samsung claims it will work with NFC compatible registers, plus Magnetic Secure Transmission technology (by holding the phone near a traditional card swipe reader). Furthermore Samsung boasts it will be accepted at over 30m merchant locations versus Apple Pay’s 200,000 at present.

Read more - iOS 8 vs Android 5.0 Lollipop Review: Material Difference

Time will tell if this is the breakthrough Apple rivals need, especially if Google’s revamped Wallet complicates things in the eyes of consumers. Still Samsung Pay is off with a bang and will launch in “the summer” in the US and South Korea. Dates for Europe and China have yet to be announced.

Next cameras, pricing and bottom line...

Cameras - Potential Industry Leaders

The Galaxy S5 camera was good, but quickly surpassed by the optics of the 16MP Galaxy Note 4, so Samsung has noticeably stepped up its game with both the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge sporting the same new sensor:

• Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge - Sony 16 megapixel sensor, F1.9, optical image stabilization, LED flash, 4K video. Front facing 5MP camera, 1080p video

As Apple has ably demonstrated with the iPhone range, however, image quality isn’t purely about sensor size and Samsung has taken notice promising to have reduced the oversharpening seen with the Note 4. Samsung also states that both models can open their cameras and be ready to shoot in less than one second.

With Samsung and Apple currently leading the pack when it comes to smartphone camera quality, I would expect a new benchmark to be thrown down here.

Price And Availability - Fat Wallets Only

Given that so much is even with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge I expect the overwhelming response would be that the slicker design of the S6 Edge would see it win out in users affections. Unfortunately that is unlikely to bear out in sales due to one major factor: price.

• Samsung Galaxy S6 32GB (699 euros), 64GB (799 euros), 128GB (899 euros)
• Samsung Galaxy S Edge 32GB: (849 euros), 64GB (949 euros), 128GB (1049 euros)

Starting at 699 euros ($782) sounds expensive (a 16GB iPhone 6 is $649), but EU pricing always includes 20% sales tax and US prices are normally lower in any case. Still what will take breath away is the premium on the S6 Edge.

There’s some logic in Samsung emphasising the premium nature of their models,. but ultimately they are something of a risk. In 2014 Samsung was hit by both Apple at the high end and cheaper Chinese brands (most notably Xiaomi) at the low end.

Should you opt to take the plunge there are four colour options: White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum and Green Emerald and both models go on sale April 10th in no less than 20 countries.

Read more - Galaxy Note 4 Long Term Review

Bottom Line

In many ways the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are the result of what users demanded: premium smartphones with luxury builds, improved cameras, leaner and faster cameras and - in the case of the S6 Edge - real Wow Factor.

The problem is to get there Samsung has also culled key Galaxy S selling points: the swappable battery and rear covers, expandable storage and water resistance. There will also be fears about durability with Samsung opting for glass backs and no doubt accusations of style over substance.

My initial reaction is I’m far more excited about the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge than I was about the Galaxy S4 and S5. They show Samsung is prepared to try and innovate its way out of trouble.

Then again I also have doubts. Key functionality has been dispensed for these changes and S6 Edge pricing is very high. Hand on heart I think the S6 Edge should have been the only version of the S6 and come in at the same price as the S5. That would’ve thrown the cat among the pigeons.

Still Samsung has dared to do something different for the first time in years and that’s a start.

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