Samsung Galaxy S6 Age description. Quick review of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone

Devices of the GALAXY S series have been known for almost their entire existence solely due to their advanced technical characteristics coupled with a moderate price, by flagship standards. And now the time for change has finally come: it seems that this year some manufacturers themselves will want to “circle” the GALAXY S6 Edge. But this device also costs more than others.

Samsung GALAXY S6 Edge, official photo

From the point of view of hardware, everything has also changed dramatically over time with the GALAXY S5, although the policy has remained the same: the new flagship gets the best, the most advanced. The S6 and S6 Edge smartphones boast a Quad HD display, the latest Exynos platform - 7420, the most advanced LPDDR4 RAM, support for LTE Cat. 6 and 16 megapixel camera. In general, “complete stuffing”, all with the latest technology. Are the new flagships really that good? Let's try to answer this question after a detailed test.

⇡ Technical specifications

	SamsungGALAXY S5	SamsungGALAXY S6	SamsungGALAXY S6 Edge
Touch screen	5.1 inches, 1920 × 1080 pixels, AMOLED, 432 ppi;	5.1 inches, 2560 × 1440 pixels, AMOLED 575.9 ppi; Capacitive, up to ten simultaneous touches	5.1 inches, curved on the sides, 2560 × 1440 pixels, AMOLED; 575.9 dpi; Capacitive, up to ten simultaneous touches
Protective glass	Corning Gorilla Glass 3		Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on both sides
Air gap	No	No	No
Oleophobic coating	Eat	Eat	Eat
Polarizing filter	Eat	Eat	Eat
Factory film	No	No	No
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC v3: four Qualcomm Krait-400 cores (ARMv7, 32 bit), frequency 2.46 GHz; process technology 28 nm HPm	Samsung Exynos 7420: 14 nm process technology	Samsung Exynos 7420: four cores ARM Cortex-A57 (ARMv8, 64 bit), frequency 2.1 GHz; four cores ARM Cortex-A53 (ARMv8, 64 bit), frequency 1.5 GHz; 14 nm process technology
Graphics controller	Qualcomm Adreno 330	Mali-T760 MP8	Mali-T760 MP8
RAM	2 GB LPDDR3	3 GB LPDDR4	3 GB LPDDR4
Flash memory	16 GB (~12 GB available to user) MicroSD memory card slot	32/64/128 GB	32/64/128 GB (64 GB version tested, ~53.7 GB available to user); There is no memory card slot
Connectors	1 × Micro-USB 3.0 (MHL) 1 × 3.5mm headset jack 1 × Micro-SIM 1 × MicroSD	1 × Micro-USB 2.0 (MHL)	1 × Micro-USB 2.0 (MHL) 1 × 3.5mm headset jack 1 × Nano-SIM
cellular	2G/3G/4G One SIM card in Micro-SIM format	2G/3G/4G	2G/3G/4G One Nano-SIM format SIM card
Cellular connection 2G		GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz	GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Cellular 3G	HSDPA (42.2/5.76 Mbps) 850/900/1900/2100 MHz		HSPA (42.2/5.76 Mbps) 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
Cellular 4G	LTE FDD band 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20 (2100/1900/1800/850/ 2600/900/800 MHz) LTE Cat. 3 (150/50 Mbit/s)		LTE FDD band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20 (2100/1900/1800/1700/850/ 2600/900/700/800) LTE Cat. 6 (300/50 Mbit/s)
WiFi		802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4 and 5 GHz	802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4 and 5 GHz
Bluetooth	4.0 + A2DP	4.1 + A2DP	4.1 + A2DP
NFC	Eat	Eat	Eat
IR port	Eat	Eat	Eat
Navigation	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
Sensors		Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer/Gyroscope, Magnetometer (Digital Compass), Barometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Heart Rate Sensor	Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer/Gyroscope, Magnetometer (Digital Compass), Barometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Heart Rate Sensor
Main camera	16 MP (5312x2988), CMOS matrix Samsung S5K2P2 size 1/2.6’’ with back illumination and ISOCELL technology, element size 1.12 μm; Autofocus, single LED flash	16 MP (5312 × 2988),	16 MP (5312 × 2988), BSI matrix Sony IMX240 size 1/2.6’’ with back illumination, element size 1.2 μm; Optical stabilization system; Autofocus, single LED flash
Front-camera	2 MP (1920x1080), No autofocus, no flash		5 MP (2592 × 1944), No autofocus, no flash
Nutrition	Removable battery 10.78 Wh (2800 mAh, 3.85 V)	Non-removable battery 9.69 Wh (2550 mAh, 3.8 V)	Non-removable battery 9.88 Wh (2600 mAh, 3.8 V)
Size	142 × 73 mm Case thickness: 8.3 mm	143 × 70.5 mm Case thickness: 6.8 mm	142 × 70 mm Case thickness: 7 mm
Weight	145 g	138 g	132 g
Housing protection	IP67	No	No
operating system	Google Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)	Own Samsung shell TouchWiz	Google Android 5.0.2 (Lollipop) Samsung's own TouchWiz shell
Current price	29,990 rubles	49,990 rubles	56,990 rubles

The only major difference between the Samsung GALAXY S6 and S6 Edge is in the display and design: the first device has a completely standard screen, while the second one is curved on the sides. Otherwise, the devices are very similar to each other, but are not entirely identical. There is a slight difference in dimensions: the case thickness of the regular version is 6.8 millimeters, while the Edge is 7 millimeters. But the modification with a rounded display is a little lighter - 132 versus 138 grams. Finally, different batteries are used: 9.69 Wh (2550 mAh, 3.8 V) for the regular version and 9.88 Wh (2600 mAh, 3.8 V) for the Edge. Otherwise, the S6 and S6 Edge are identical in terms of technical stuffing.

⇡ Appearance and ergonomics

All Samsung devices are similar to each other in one way or another. They have similar body proportions, approximately the same corner radius, an elongated central key at the bottom of the front panel... in general, a Samsung smartphone has always been easy to recognize. The situation has not changed much: the appearance of the GALAXY S6/S6 Edge remains very characteristic - even if you see this couple for the first time, it will not be difficult for you to guess that this is a Samsung.

Nevertheless, the GALAXY S6/S6 Edge differs radically from its predecessors. So much so that, if we draw parallels, we can say: the S6 and S6 Edge are not even a “restyling”, they are a full-fledged new “body” for Samsung flagships. The company's designers and engineers finally abandoned the use of plastic in favor of metal and glass. This is perhaps the key difference between the S6/S6 Edge and its predecessors. The front and back panels of the device are covered protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass is relatively new, fourth generation. For the first time, by the way, it was used in the Samsung GALAXY Note 4 “phablet” - the company’s first production device with curved screen. The glass quite reliably protects the panels of the gadget from scratches and other minor damage.

The GALAXY S6 Edge is available in four colors: Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, White Pearl and the exclusive Green Emerald. Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to order the device in the branded green color in Russia. A black sapphire gadget came to us for testing. In our opinion, this is a very good color. The smartphone appears black, but when light hits it, a dark blue glow appears. In general, the phrase “dark blue metallic” characterizes this color much better and more accurately than “black sapphire”. It is worth considering that the “regular” GALAXY S6 has different body colors.

The Samsung GALAXY S6 Edge is a pleasure to hold in your hands. The gadget is quite convenient to operate with one hand: you don’t have to move it and hold it with the other - it’s good that Samsung decided not to increase the screen size compared to the GALAXY S5. Yes, the display here is 5.1-inch, which by modern standards is not so much. The device does not slip in your hands, although its panels are quite smooth. During operation, the palm somehow touches the “side” of the screen, but the gadget does not react at all to these false presses. They are probably blocked at the software level.

The layout of the controls and connectors is quite standard - plus or minus the same as the previous ones Samsung devices. Getting used to a smartphone is very easy. At the top of the front panel there is a front-facing camera lens, a 5-megapixel camera, an earpiece mesh, a proximity sensor optocoupler and an LED indicator.

Samsung GALAXY S6 Edge - front-facing, five-megapixel camera

At the bottom of the front panel there is an elongated Home key with a metal edge, which has a built-in biometric sensor. Next to it there are two standard touch buttons equipped with switchable backlight - “Menu open applications" and "Back".

The thickness of the body here is by no means outstanding - seven millimeters (excluding the protruding rear camera lens). However, due to the tapering metal edge on the sides, a deceptive feeling is created that the smartphone is much thinner than stated.

The device's power key is located on the right side under the thumb, and the volume control buttons are on the left. The keys are metal, with a short and distinct stroke. The Nano-SIM SIM card tray is hidden at the top end, and next to it there is an infrared port for controlling household appliances.

The external speaker slot is located at the bottom end. Its placement is good - during operation it is not blocked by hand in any way. Next to it is a Micro-USB interface combined with a video output (MHL), as well as a universal 3.5 mm jack for connecting a wired headset.

On the back panel there is a main 16-megapixel camera lens along with an LED flash, as well as a heart rate sensor. The panel is quite easily soiled - it gets dirty quite quickly and very readily collects fingerprints. However, you can get rid of them using any cloth at hand. The body of the device is non-separable.

Samsung GALAXY S6 Edge - back panel. Peeling off a sticker with barcodes is quite a task

is the most amazing and beautiful representative of the Galaxy family, which combines all the best that Samsung had achieved by the time of its release. This is the first smartphone on the market that has a full-fledged working screen, which is curved on the side edges, which simply changes the whole impression of smartphones.

Design

The design of the Galaxy S6 Edge can be described in one word - an innovative masterpiece! The unibody body of the smartphone is made of metal, which is covered on both sides with new shock-resistant glass Gorilla Glass 4, while it bends around the curved sides of the screen and protects them from damage. When you hold your smartphone for the first time, you may experience an unusual feeling precisely because of such a screen, but you quickly get used to the smartphone, and working with it becomes even more of a pleasure. Physical dimensions are 142.1 x 70.1 x 7 mm and weight 132 grams.

The smartphone cannot be called small, but it is very thin and light, which makes it particularly easy to manage. By the way, unlike, the Galaxy S6 Edge has very thin side edges, so the SIM card slot has been moved to the top edge, and the bottom still houses a microUSB connector, audio output and speaker. The model is available in four color options: black, white, gold and new green.

Screen

The diagonal size of the screen is 5.1 inches and its main feature, as we have already emphasized, is its curvature. This is Super AMOLED matrix high resolution 2560 by 1440 pixels (Quad HD) and a density of 577ppi. The screen occupies 70.5% of the front surface and provides comfortable work with the displayed content, thanks to the high quality of detail, contrast, deep color reproduction and stunning viewing angles.

Despite the rounded shape, the display is solid, but the side edges have additional functions: quick call, viewing notifications, displaying time and date, colorful information about calls and messages.

Performance and hardware

The hardware also allows it to correspond to the high class of smartphones Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. The model, like its “brother,” was equipped with a new 8-core Exynos 7420 chipset with a total frequency of 2.1 GHz – a 64-bit “pebble” that produces record-breaking performance.

The ARM Mali-T760 video chip also demonstrates high FPS in complex graphics. This entire technical “ensemble” is complemented by 3 gigabytes of high-speed DDR4 RAM, and the physical storage capacity can be chosen between 32, 64 and 128 GB, but there are no slots for flash drives. The 2600 mAh battery is not the most capacious in the class, however, in reality it shows high autonomy - optimization of software and hardware plays into its hands.

Camera

The Galaxy S6 Edge has similar cameras as the regular version of the flagship - a 16-megapixel main sensor and a 5-megapixel front sensor. Both of them have optics with an f/1.9 aperture - this indicator means that the camera absorbs even more light, which allows you to make your selfies and pictures even more detailed and high-quality in low-light conditions.

It is also worth noting the presence of optical stabilization, which will reduce frame rattling during video shooting. The camera app has a ton of settings and a professional mode that allows you to manually set all shooting options.

Other features

Among other features, it is worth noting the presence of a built-in board for wireless charging (you only need an induction Charger). The main speaker is placed on the bottom edge, but it does not close when using the smartphone and produces clear, loud sound.

Slightly enlarged physical button“Home” also contains a fingerprint scanner that is triggered by touch. By the way, the smartphone has many sensors: gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, barometer, proximity sensor, light sensor, gesture sensor, heart rate sensor. The updated user interface TouchWiz, which got rid of an abundance of little-needed functionality.

Video: Galaxy review S6 Edge

Helpful information:

2014 was not the best year in Samsung's modern history in terms of profits. Curved Galaxy Note The Edge has become more of a showcase of capabilities than a smartphone with real benefits in the eyes of the consumer. Apple's income has grown significantly, and the success of an arrogant neighbor is always perceived more difficult than one's own defeat. Samsung not only had to think about something with the launch of a new flagship, but HAD TO THINK SOMETHING! Just improve specifications it would already be too little. Long before the official presentation and the first leaks, the company promised to start working on the product from scratch. Unlike HTC, Samsung did not change the chief designer and, again unlike HTC, they radically changed appearance your flagship. Most of all, fans and ill-wishers expected a metal case, as in the A-series, but in the end they received even more - a case of beautiful colors made of glass and metal, simplified (apparently, in the heavenly office they finally got to these prayers), as well as fast interface, a more flagship flagship in which the company finally understood the benefits of a curved display and a warm welcome even from those who are not loyal to Samsung. To be honest, until recently I didn’t want to believe that Samsung would release the S6 with two curved edges, because the implementation of even one curve in the Galaxy Note Edge seemed unjustified to me. Even rather uncomfortable. But after the announcement, it became clear that the company thought thoroughly about what benefits a curved screen could bring to the user, and implemented it. Honestly, I doubt that this year anyone will be able to catch up with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge in terms of technology. Except that new Galaxy Note.

What is this?

The most advanced smartphone on the market at the time of preparation of the review and, apparently, for at least another six months, until the release of the new Galaxy Note or iPhone updates. The smartphone has no equal in terms of display technology (resolution 1440 x 2560 pixels, curved on both sides, durable Gorilla 4 coating, improved Super AMOLED color rendition) and body (only 7 mm thick, Gorilla 4 protective coating and durable metal at the ends) among Android." ov - camera speed. And the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge also has the most energy-efficient processor on the market, which made it possible - no, not to increase autonomy - to reduce the thickness of the body without worsening last year's operating time. And of course, the smartphone has the best performance on the market at the time of release, a sleek interface with Android 5.0.2 on board and a lot of charisma. As if there had never been five generations of plastic devices before, each of which had other flaws. Everything from scratch, as promised.

What is the difference between Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge?

We do not plan to do a separate review for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. So that you understand the difference between them, I provide a comparative table of characteristics. In addition to the differences in software capabilities that relate to the side panel of the Edge, the latter also has the advantage of a larger battery capacity, less weight (less metal on the ends affects) and a version in a beautiful green color. Only the Galaxy S6 has dual SIM support. Otherwise, these are two identical devices with powerful but energy-efficient Exynos 7420 processors, luxurious design, non-removable batteries and no support for memory cards (but in 32, 64 and 128 GB versions).

Specifications
Model	Samsung Galaxy S6	Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
operating system	Android 5.0.2 Lollipop + TouchWiz
SIM card	nanoSIM, optional two	nanoSIM, one
Display	Super AMOLED, 5.1 inches, 2560x1444 pixels, 577 ppi
Frame	dimensions 143x71x7 mm, weight 138 g, material - Gorilla 4 glass and metal	dimensions 142x70x7 mm, weight 132 g, material - Gorilla 4 glass and metal
CPU	64-bit Exynos 7420 (14 nm process technology), 4 Cortex A-53 cores (1.5 GHz) and 4 Cortex-A57 cores (2.1 GHz); Mali T760 graphics
RAM	3 GB
Flash memory	32/64/128 GB
Camera	16 MP, f/1.9, optical stabilization, autofocus, video 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, front 5 MP f/1.9
Interfaces	Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz), DLNA, Bluetooth 4.1 (apt-X), NFC, MST, microUSB v3.0 (MHL 3.0 with TV output)
Battery	2550 mAh, fast charging, wireless charging	2600 mAh

Why does it need a curved display?

The curved display of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge serves two purposes - a wow effect and a purely practical one. I expected that I would be more interested in the second one. But in fact, the impression that a smartphone screen makes during live contact outshines any others. Text on such a curved screen without an air gap is perceived as a book or magazine page. Slightly sloping and generally steep iPhone screen 6 doesn't come close in terms of the degree of "paper" effect. Plus, the detail level is even higher (no joke, 577 ppi!). Flipping desktops and any horizontal scrolling also looks like a magical act. This cannot be expressed in words or photographs. You have to pick it up and see it with your own eyes. In photos or videos, the wow effect of a curved screen is lost. And the last thing that strikes the Edge is the purely physical pleasure of contact with the curved screen. Remember this ad?

The fact that it is subconsciously more pleasant for a person to contact not a flat surface, but a curved one is a fact that is difficult to argue with when there is an opportunity to compare. It is not for nothing that in new advanced kindergartens it is customary to install furniture with smooth lines, without sharp corners. The point is not about possible physical injury, but about the fact that it is natural and comfortable for any living creature. It’s the same with a smartphone screen.

In principle, everything was explained about the functions of the curved display of a smartphone at the presentation of the Galaxy S6; words and screenshots cannot cover this. Yes, it’s convenient, especially if you intensively use voice communications and live the life of a business consultant or a major executive, or a mother of many children with talkative girlfriends. But nowadays, most people's voice activity is decreasing. Therefore, by and large, not everyone will be able to truly appreciate the notification system in a smartphone using multi-colored backlighting. Although this is a good idea, it was on the surface and it’s strange that the Note Edge hasn’t gotten around to it yet (I wonder, by the way, will the backlight appear in it after the firmware update?). The information strips known from the days of the Note Edge also remain in the smartphone - but here they are not present in an intrusive form; they can be activated by specially stroking the display. What remains is the “night light” - this is a side panel with a clock. And most importantly, incoming calls no longer appear on the sidebar when the smartphone is in use. This is very inconvenient and really pissed me off in the Edge pilot.

There's another reason why I didn't like the Edge in the Note line of smartphones and really like it in the new S6 - the size of the device and the position of the power button. In the first model, everything was done to make it uncomfortable for a person with a medium or small palm to use the device. The S6 Edge has a smaller screen and the lock button is in the right place. Ergonomics did not suffer, but on the contrary, improved. Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is the third smartphone in Samsung's portfolio to feature a curved display. But this is the first model (including on the market) where this feature was implemented wisely and usefully, and really deserves the extra money.

How's the display in general?

According to our capricious colorimeter, the result of the Galaxy S6 Edge turned out to be so-so - and the maximum brightness is slightly above 300 cd/m2, the temperature and sRGB color graph is crooked in all modes. In fact, all smartphones with such a high screen resolution (2K) lack stars from the sky in terms of brightness. But there is a nuance - all measurements were made in a room where, by definition, there is no bright sun. Last year's Galaxy S5 with automatic brightness settings produced more impressive results than with the maximum backlight set manually. So, the Galaxy S6 Edge doesn’t get lost in the sun either. Now, of course, the sun is not what it will be in the summer. But so far there are no problems. And if we remember that we have a test sample on our hands, which almost certainly works worse than what will be on sale, I am sure that the smartphone will not have problems with the sun. Auto backlight works great. Both during the day and at night in the dark. There are no questions for her. Screen in "Adaptive" mode. Traditionally, there are four color rendering modes in the settings. “Main” and “Photo AMOLED” are warm, good for reading and viewing photos, “Movie AMOLED” is cold, it can be turned on in the summer under the fiercest sun.

Screen with settings out of the box.

The screen is in the “warmest” mode – Photo AMOLED.

The oleophobic coating is also a five-star, and the screen sensitivity is also excellent. But the strange thing is that the display settings do not have the usual “High Sensitivity Mode”, which is needed to recognize gloves. Through thin fabric the screen responds to touches - that is, there are no problems when jogging in light gloves, but through wool our Galaxy S6 Edge did not make contact.

Does it look expensive?

This is Samsung's first flagship that's made from head-to-toe premium materials rather than leathery plastic and plastic pretending to be metal. It seems to me that if Samsung had not finally released a flagship made of normal materials this year, plastic “remnants” for almost $1000 would still seem to be the norm. But now, if LG decides to make its LG G4 smartphone not metal or glass, but plastic, the company's fans will have the right to be very offended. Although it is interesting that for a long time both Korean giants ignored noble materials, it was Samsung that was subjected to harsh criticism. And LG either had a body with an interesting texture, or a camera with laser focus, or buttons in an unexpected place, or an amazing price. During this whole affair, no one got around to scolding her for the plastic. In general, we are waiting for summer and another new product to wash the bones of both at once. Moreover, until the next presentation of Samsung and Apple, it’s unlikely that anyone will be able to surprise anyone else.

Despite support for wireless charging and optical video stabilization and a curved screen, the smartphone is very thin - 7 millimeters. The Galaxy S6, however, has even less, but the difference of 0.2 millimeters will not be noticeable to the eye. The Galaxy S6 Edge is lighter than its counterpart, apparently because it is slightly narrower and shorter and its metal frame is thinner. I've even heard complaints that it scratches the palm, but this is clearly an exaggeration. The device fits perfectly in the hand and does not press anywhere. Looks good. And again, as with the LG G Flex, non-technical people are completely unaware that the screen is curved. What kind of magic is this!

A white copy was brought to us for review. Fingerprints are completely invisible on it. But at the presentation of the device, obvious stains were visible on the green case. Conclusion - if you don’t want to apologize for a dirty smartphone, take a white one or immediately take a case. Although I hate the idea of hiding such a beautiful device in some kind of covers.

The front panel looks typical for Samsung - there is one hardware key (Home), a camera peephole and light and proximity sensors. The camera clearly sticks out from the back; there is a risk that the peephole will get scratched over time. At the ends, the metal edging rises somewhat above the screen.

By the arrangement of elements at the ends of the case, you can also easily guess the handwriting of Samsung designers. Luckily, the screen lock button is where it should be. And not on the top end, as was the case in the Galaxy Note Edge. There is information on Western resources that the ends of the dark device get scratched quite quickly, as was the case with the iPhone.

For those who think that the design is copied from the iPhone 6, I suggest you compare. Yes, the models have a similar bottom end, but otherwise they are two completely different different devices. The iPhone is smoothed around the edges, the tactile sensations are different. By the way, the iPhone is more slippery. Although the Galaxy S6 is far from ideal in this regard. Still, plastic smartphones feel more secure in the hand than glass or metal ones.

But the Galaxy S6 Edge is next to the company’s youngest smartphone – the Galaxy J1. There are both similarities and differences in the status of the models.

How's the iron?

This year, Samsung probably came to the conclusion - “if you want it done well, do it yourself” - and abandoned the flagship version with a Qualcomm processor. There can be any number of reasons: it gets very hot, the case is tiny, you can’t fit a normal battery in, there may be problems with orders, and your processor can do everything that is required of it. But the fact remains that the Samsung Galaxy S6 is equipped with a 64-bit new flagship Samsung processor Exynos 7420.

For those who want to know more

Let me remind you that the pioneer in the creation of mobile 64-bit processors was Apple company. This was first used in the iPhone 5s. The remaining companies were able to catch up after about a year. And six months after the mass appearance of 64-bit processors, smartphone manufacturers began to release (or update) their devices on Android 5.0, where in fact the advantages of the new architecture for smartphones were able to manifest themselves. There are plenty of mid-range and near-budget smartphones on the market today with 64-bit Qualcomm and Madiatek processors, but the irony is that they will almost certainly never see an update to Android 5.0. And new flagships are released immediately on this version of the OS. The Exynos 7420 is made using a 14nm process technology, which provides it with better energy efficiency compared to its competitors, the key among which is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810. For a device of the Galaxy S6 class and the dimensions of the Galaxy S6, this is a very important advantage. Because it is physically impossible to fit a larger battery into it. For the first time, Samsung used such an energy-efficient processor (Exynos 5430, although at that time we were talking about a 20-nm process technology, as in the Snapdragon 810 now) in the Galaxy Alpha - this is the company’s first smartphone with metal inserts in a very compact body. For him, being gentle with the battery was also critical, because the thin 7mm case only accommodated a battery with a capacity of 1860 mAh.

Exynos 7420 – “octa-core”. It uses four less powerful Cortex-A53 cores (1.5 GHz) and four powerful Cortex-A57 cores (2.1 GHz). Graphics - Mali-T760. In synthetic tests it produces the most impressive results. Real opportunity We haven’t had a chance to compare it with a competitor yet: HTC One The editorial office has never seen the M9 yet, and devices based on the K1 Tegra when they appeared on the market and in our editorial office were quite buggy.

I have never had a chance to complain about performance – in any mode of use, in any game, in any program with a million applications running in the background, the smartphone “flies”. The same impression is made by any top Sony smartphone. But everything there has long been clear: a lightweight shell, 3 GB of RAM, a FullHD display. The Galaxy S6 Edge has one and a half times higher display resolution, but the effect is the same. The smartphone is a benchmark star. But this is not the main thing at all (although it will obviously amuse its owners for something). The main thing is that the shell does not lag. The smartphone has enough resources for everything. Apparently, the company's programmers received a good beating after the difficulties of last year. Yes, and Android 5.0, 64-bit processor. In general, a typical flagship of 2015.

What about the battery?

Autonomy is the only parameter that has not been improved in the new Samsung flagship. To be honest, even in the S5 it was so-so, especially with the first version of the firmware - the device lasted less than a daylight hours with GPS navigation and a clock and a day without them. The firmware update brought last year's flagship the ability to work for up to a day and a half without navigation and Bluetooth. It's much better, but weak compared to rivals HTC One (M8) and LG G2. In the new Samsung flagships, the battery capacity is also not amazing. The Galaxy S6 Edge has 2600 mAh, and the Galaxy S6 has 2550 mAh, and the screen is large and good, and the resolution is high. And the performance is flagship. In general, everything is conducive to the fact that battery resources are consumed quickly. In streaming playback mode Galaxy video The S6 Edge lasted 9 hours for me at medium display brightness, without connected Bluetooth accessories and with GPS turned off. The autonomy benchmark also showed not very impressive, but not depressing results. The screenshots below show the result with all kinds of communication modules enabled and disabled.

My Galaxy S6 Edge “with all the stuffing” worked for 12-16 hours on a single charge. Yes, that's not much for a $1,000 device, but it's not a disaster. Firstly, if you turn off GPS and turn on the simplest power saving mode, the device will last even two working days. Secondly, and the day of work with full load– this is already a lot, and a tragedy only for those who are constantly on the road. But I repeat that this is a result obtained without any additional attempts to tweak something or save money somewhere. This is what any person who is accustomed to an outlet will get without doing anything.

Samsung's new flagships support wireless charging. It doesn't look as stylish as Microsoft's. But it has another advantage - its round shape. That is, it is difficult to place a smartphone on such a charger without it charging. This happened to me all the time with the Lumia 1020. You had to aim hard to hit the right spot. Some domestic retailers offer wireless charging as a gift upon pre-order.

They also charge quickly - in an hour completely from the included charge. True, both the charger itself and the smartphone body become very hot during the process.

How has the interface changed?

One of the main emphasis during the presentation of the Galaxy S6 was that Samsung had rethought the interface of its smartphones. I considered it too complex (the market had considered it as such for a long time, it’s good that the company finally heard this) and decided to simplify and visually “lighten” it. The TouchWiz redesign turned out to be not as radical as HTC's Sense at the time. Samsung didn't give up on colors - they just chose more muted shades. They did not abandon the bright icons of their applications - but brought them to the same style and size. The capabilities of the programs have not been cut down (except that the voice recorder has again become smaller compared to the Galaxy Note 4); on the contrary, new functions have appeared in many places. The designers threw out frames and replaced pictures with words (the branded fonts, by the way, are excellent - thin, slender, easy to read). Widgets now have a lot of translucent or completely transparent background. It turned out nice. The interface has become more Android. For example, these messages on the locked screen that fall out completely. Those who are for privacy can disable the display of text in the security settings. In the settings, the “checkmarks” have changed to sliders. This is actually some kind of general trend. Everyone has these sliders now. But they're cute. What pleased me more than any sliders was the transformation of the inconvenient scrolling of time in the clock (for example, when setting an alarm) into a more practical and pleasing option. And Samsung is now a little friendly with Microsoft against Google. Therefore, the flagship smartphone now includes OneDrive, OneNote and Skype. For some reason, I subconsciously expected that in each of the applications some kind of gift would be waiting for me - either additional free space in the “cloud”, or a month of free communication. But no. The S6 also comes pre-installed with Facebook, Instagram and even a link to Whatsapp messenger There is. It’s unusual to see such things in smartphones from a company like Samsung. Dropbox - ok. A large chunk of bonus space awaits the user there, which is understandable.

When displaying the settings menu, Samsung stuck with last year's version. Basically, it's convenient. The settings menu is long. Something is being added all the time. Sometimes it’s even difficult to remember whether it happened or not. The security menu has grown greatly - here you can download KNOX, and assign a device administrator, and generally encrypt data (the procedure takes about an hour), protect a smartphone or part of the data with a fingerprint (by the way, finally, a year after its implementation, it began to work like a clock, or rather as in iPhone and Huawei Mate7).

The latest version of Touchwiz has introduced some functions that have long been found in other devices. For example, SmartManager. It monitors the state of memory and allows you to quickly remove any junk. Useful thing for Android. Although I never used it once in the S6 (in cheaper models - literally every day) - in the little over a week I spent hugging the device, I still didn’t have time to properly clog its memory. The menu for settings for autonomy and notifications has practically not grown. This is in vain, it would definitely not be unnecessary. The updated player interface is a treat for the eyes. I love Samsung smartphones for their good sound and convenient player. Its interface also received “cosmetic” changes, although no new features were added. Except that files in loseless formats now have the UHD label on the widget. I also didn’t like the fact that on the lock screen the size of the player control buttons was greatly reduced - it’s so inconvenient to switch songs on the go. And the leapfrog continues with the names of songs in Cyrillic - they catch up every once in a while.

Samsung smartphones usually come with a lot of pre-installed apps. Only Sony and Lenovo have more. But recently there has been a tendency to place applications of dubious usefulness in Galaxy Apps, from where the user can download them if desired. The truth is that only those people who are interested in what kind of Gifts and Essentials widget is hanging on their desktop can find out about the existence of this option. Let me remind you that some camera shooting modes and additional panels for Edge also need to be downloaded from Galaxy Apps. To sync data to S Health, you also need a Samsung account. And here is approximately the assortment of gifts and extensions that Samsung recommends downloading additionally.

What's new in S Health?

Following the tradition that began back in the days of the Samsung Galaxy S IV, I will dwell separately and in more detail on the S Health sports application. Firstly, the interface of this application has also become simpler and more concise, but at the same time received new functions. There is no longer an impressive panel with all the features; they are collected on “My Page” in the application.

The application has learned to count water and caffeine drunk (the number of cups must be added manually and see the average result in milligrams), as well as oxygen in the blood. The Galaxy S6 Edge, like the Galaxy Note 4, has a UV sensor. But the thermometer with a humidity sensor seems to be a thing of the past forever. But this is not the main thing in the new features of S Health. The key updates, in my opinion, are the emergence of running training programs (there are only three of them, aimed at amateurs, but it’s still cool that they exist), healthy eating and “sliders” that allow you to turn off unnecessary rubbish in the menu. The application is still only friendly with gadgets Samsung Gear, Garmin and Adidas.

Overall, I really like S Health, and I actively use some of its functions when I have Samsung flagships in my hands. But I’m not ready to completely switch to it. Because for running I have my favorite application (miCoach), although it is crooked and slanted, it is available for all platforms, is not tied to one vendor, it has many programs for different tasks and it already has a large database about me. I hope that someday a normal database from different applications in the Google Fit platform will start working again.

Has the camera gotten better?

The Samsung Galaxy S5 had fast camera. It's even faster in the Samsung Galaxy S6. Almost instant start by double tapping on the “Home” key (on the one hand, this is very convenient, on the other hand, I now have a lot of photos of my pockets), very fast shooting. Not at all slower than the iPhone 6 and, I believe, certainly not slower than competing cameras. The interface is the same parsley as with other applications. Everything began to look lighter and airier, fewer pictures, more words. It shoots HDR in real time and without prompts in the form of poking your finger at the screen. In general, the S6 Edge's camera is excellent in automatic mode. And this is important for a device that claims to be understandable to everyone.

Clubs, sunsets, cloudy weather, a trembling hand, a dark night, a beautiful building against a bright sky, lovely March snow - all this is not a problem at all for the Galaxy S6 camera. The front camera also does not get lost in poor lighting, although it produces weaker results (pictures in original resolution are available in this gallery on Torba).

For comparison, I also provide several photos taken under the same conditions on an iPhone 6.

What are your impressions? In my opinion, the S6 Edge definitely shoots better in difficult conditions. It's a pity that it hasn't been possible to compare it with the new HTC flagship yet. But in recent years, Samsung, Apple and LG have taken such a big lead in terms of the photographic capabilities of their devices that I have a feeling in advance that a head-to-head comparison will not be in favor of the Taiwanese, no matter what breakthrough they made in this year compared to last year’s flagship year.

The Galaxy S6 camera can record video in 4K, can make slow-motion and accelerated videos, and shoot FullHD video at 60fps. There is optical stabilization. The camera records excellent sound for video. Given her talents in night photography, she will be a good companion at concerts and parties.

Video review of Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

What about the competitors?

Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge appeared in our editorial office before HTC One M9, so it’s too early to compare them. But I can't imagine what HTC could offer that would come close to the capabilities of the S6 Edge. Today, the smartphone is unique in its kind and, perhaps, its only competitor in the near future can only be the LG G Flex 2. The smartphone also has a curved screen, and also successfully. Top stuffing, probably an excellent camera. For those who are looking for something extraordinary, an interesting option. But I wonder what its software capabilities are.

Among all the Android flagships that are already on the market, only Sony can compete with the new Samsung flagships. Xperia Z3 is a very beautiful phone with a glass body in unusual colors. In terms of design, this is the best on the market. It also has protection against dust and moisture. And support for memory cards, which Samsung flagships lack (those who need maximum memory, 128 GB, will have to pay one and a half thousand dollars, and a little more than a thousand for a regular Galaxy S6). The younger version of the Xperia Z3 plus a microSD card will cost much less.

Of all that is on the market today, the Galaxy S6 and its Edge version can also compete with the iPhone 6. But the choice between these models lies not in the plane of characteristics and design, but in the plane of addiction to a certain ecosystem. In all those parameters by which gadgets are usually compared by geeks, the devices are equal.

Should you choose the expensive Galaxy S6 Edge when there is a "direct" version? I think it's worth it. If the issue of finances is not an urgent issue (and it is unlikely to be an issue when choosing a top model). Or if you don't need a dual-SIM flagship.

We also have a review of the Samsung Galaxy S7, the next generation flagship.

Bottom line

The Galaxy S6 Edge is the third curved smartphone in Samsung's portfolio, but the first truly worthwhile model with such a feature. This is also the first Samsung smartphone that is completely made of premium materials and looks expensive. Compared to last year's version, it has improved in everything, including the speed and cleanliness of the interface. Perhaps this is one of those exceptional cases when all owners of last year’s flagship can be recommended, subject to the availability of funds, to switch to a new device. Yes, the smartphone’s autonomy has not been improved, it’s unclear what happened to glove support, and the memory card slot has disappeared. But from a user experience perspective today it's best device on Android.

8 reasons to buy Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge:

it is the fastest smartphone on the market;
There are no devices on the market equal to the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge in terms of interface capabilities;
the smartphone is very thin and finally made of noble and durable materials;
they really redesigned and simplified the interface, now it is neat, fast and beautiful;
new features of the S Health app can now measure everything (blood oxygen, UV, caffeine, stress levels, etc.) and create workout schedules for you;
the best and fastest camera on the market;
KNOX, a normally working fingerprint scanner and other ways to protect corporate and personal information;
A really comfortable curved display with really useful features.

3 reasons not to buy Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge:

you barely managed to get enough money for the new Galaxy S6, but you can’t get enough money for the Edge;
but autonomy hasn’t gotten any better;
The S6 Edge doesn't have a dual-SIM version.

One of the most attractive and powerful models of the new season

Along with the updated model flagship smartphone The Korean company Samsung introduced the Galaxy S6 last spring and its more unusual modification called the Galaxy S6 Edge. This model is unusual precisely because of its screen: developing the theme once started in the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, there is also a lateral bend of the display and, accordingly, the front glass itself. Only, unlike its predecessor, here there is curvature on both sides, the glass in this case is symmetrical. At the same time, the back side, also covered with a glass panel, remains absolutely flat, which introduces a slight dissonance, but at the same time some freshness into the design.

In addition to the eye-catching design, the new representatives of the flagship Galaxy S6 line can boast of Samsung's own advanced hardware platform in many respects, demonstrating the highest level of performance still unattainable by competing solutions. Overall, the new Galaxy S6 series smartphones are a great combination of beauty and power. We have already examined the main and more familiar “flat” version in detail in the corresponding review, now it’s time to carefully examine its “curved” modification. It should be noted that the two Galaxy S6 models are similar in most parameters and characteristics, so much of this review will seem familiar to our readers who have not missed the Samsung Galaxy S6 review.

Video review

To get started, we suggest watching our video review Samsung smartphone Galaxy S6 Edge:

Now let's take a look at the characteristics of the new product.

Main characteristics of Samsung Galaxy S6 (model SM-G925F)

	Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge	HTC One M9	Meizu MX4	LG G4	Nexus 6
Screen	5.1″, Super AMOLED	5″, S-LCD 3	5.36″, IPS	5.5″, IPS	5.96″, AMOLED
Permission	2560×1440, 577 ppi	1920×1080, 441 ppi	1920×1152, 418 ppi	2560×1440, 538 ppi	2560×1440, 493 ppi
SoC	Exynos 7420 (4x Cortex-A57 @2.1 GHz + 4x Cortex-A53 @1.5 GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (4x Cortex-A57 @2.0 GHz + 4x Cortex-A53 @1.5GHz)	Mediatek MT6595 Octa-core (4 Cortex-A17 @2.2 GHz and 4 Cortex-A7 @1.7 GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (2x Cortex-A57 @1.8 GHz + 4x Cortex-A53 @1.5 GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 (4 cores Krait 450 @2.7 GHz)
GPU	Mali-T760	Adreno 430	PowerVR G6200	Adreno 418	Adreno 420
RAM	3 GB	3 GB	2 GB	3 GB	3 GB
Flash memory	32/64/128 GB	32 GB	16/32/64 GB	32 GB	32/64 GB
Memory card support	—	microSD	—	microSD	—
operating system	Google Android 5.0	Google Android 5.0	Google Android 4.4	Google Android 5.1	Google Android 5.0
Battery	non-removable, 2600 mAh	non-removable, 2840 mAh	non-removable, 3100 mAh	removable, 3000 mAh	non-removable, 3220 mAh
Cameras	main (16 MP; 4K video), front (5 MP)	main (20.7 MP; 4K video), front (2 MP)	main (20.7 MP; 4K video), front (2 MP)	main (16 MP; 4K video), front (8 MP)	main (13 MP; 4K video), front (2 MP)
Dimensions and weight	142×70×7 mm, 132 g	145×70×9.6 mm, 157 g	144×75×8.9 mm, 147 g	149×76×9.8 mm, 155 g	159×83×10.1 mm, 184 g
average price	T-12259971	T-12259334	T-11036319	N/A	T-11153512
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (32GB) offers	L-12259971-10

SoC Exynos 7420 (64-bit), two clusters of four processor cores: ARM Cortex-A57 with a frequency of 2.1 GHz and ARM Cortex-A53 with a frequency of 1.5 GHz
GPU Mali-T760
Operating system Android 5.0 Lollipop
Touch Dual Edge Super AMOLED display, 5.1″, 2560×1440
Random access memory (RAM) 3 GB LPDDR4
Inner memory 32, 64 or 128 GB
Slot for microSD cards absent
Communication GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
Communication 3G WCDMA 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
Data transfer speed max 4G LTE Cat6 up to 300 Mbps
Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz) HT80 MIMO, point Wi-Fi access
Bluetooth 4.1, NFC
IR port, USB OTG
GPS/A-GPS, Glonass, BDS
Position, proximity, lighting, barometer, fingerprint sensor, Hall and heart rate sensors
Camera 16 MP (F1.9), optical stabilization, autofocus, LED flash
Camera 5 MP (F1.9), front
Battery 2600 mAh, non-removable
Wireless charging support
Dimensions 142×70×7 mm
Weight 132 g

Appearance and ease of use

You can praise or criticize the new design of the updated line of top-end smartphones of Koreans, some people liked it (and there are really many such people), others are not delighted with such drastic changes (and they can also be understood), but the fact remains: The company's designers have made a giant qualitative leap and managed to raise the image component of their products to a completely different level. As they say, you meet people by their clothes, and these same “clothes” on the new smartphones of the Korean company are now, if not chic, then certainly expensive and flashy. From glossy plastic and plastic that imitates metal, the developers have finally moved on to truly respectable premium materials, such as tempered glass and real metal, and they, I must say, have succeeded.

If we ignore the obsessive thought that the design option, implying two glass halves of the case connected by a metal rim, is not only not new, but even quite hackneyed and hackneyed (before Samsung, it seems, most manufacturers from Sony to Huawei), then such changes in the appearance of the popular line of smartphones can only be welcomed. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones have definitely begun to look more respectable, expensive, impressive, and even somewhat noble. In any case, now these devices look quite decent in any, even the most expensive, environment.

As for ergonomics, in this case it fades into the background and modestly falls silent - now it was not given the floor. Amid admiration for the beauty and quality of workmanship, users try not to think that glass is a rather fragile material that easily cracks when dropped on a hard surface, and that thin metal edges coupled with smooth glass panels in the Samsung Galaxy The S6 Edge is so slippery that it’s even scary to take the smartphone out of your pocket on the street. Perhaps the S6 Edge, with its curved glass and thin sides, can rightfully be called the slipperiest smartphone of our time.

In addition, it is also worth noting that everyone who first picked up the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (in the switched off state) just wanted to turn it over in their hand, turning the device with the flat back wall up, and take the curved front panel with sloping sides in the palm, because It would be more convenient that way.

Otherwise, there are no complaints about the external structure of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge case: the smartphone is not so large in size when compared with many modern tablet phones, it fits quite easily in an average-sized hand, the weight and thickness of the case are comfortable. The assembly does not cause any complaints, everything is well fitted, although perfectionists have already noted the fact that the developers managed to place all the elements on the case, such as buttons, microphone holes, speaker grilles and card slots, crookedly relative to the central axis. What’s also not surprising is the fact that most of the surface, not counting the thin metal side frame, turned out to be extremely scratchy - the glass on both sides instantly becomes covered with fingerprints, which irritates many. On the other hand, hiding such beauty in a case is somehow blasphemous, you have to put up with it, at least at first.

As for the mentioned hardware control elements, their location on the case is as follows: the power and lock buttons logically took their rightful place in the upper half of the right side edge, the volume keys are symmetrically placed on the opposite edge. It should be noted that for the first time, Samsung threw away the last restrictions and broke the single volume rocker into two separate buttons - now, in this regard, Korean smartphones are indistinguishable from the Apple iPhone.

The main speaker grille is made in the form of an array of round holes and is logically placed at the bottom end. This part of the case is loaded to the brim with elements: in addition to the speaker grille, there are also Micro-USB connectors and an audio output for a headphone minijack (3.5 mm). These elements, as mentioned above, unlike the iPhone, for some reason turned out to be shifted relative to the central longitudinal axis, which looks somehow sloppy and unfinished.

On the opposite, upper end, in addition to a small IR port window and an auxiliary microphone hole, there is a slot for a Nano-SIM format SIM card. The card slide, which is somehow undignifiedly made of plastic, is usually removed by pressing a secret button using a key or a paper clip. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone does not have a slot for a second SIM card, as well as for a memory card.

The front part of the smartphone is completely covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass 4. To the left of the speaker grille you can see the LED notification indicator; its large dot shines in different colors, notifying about the charging status and incoming events. The operation of the indicator can be controlled through the corresponding settings section.

At the bottom, under the screen, there is the usual oval mechanical key and two touch buttons on either side of it. Touch buttons have a bright white backlight. A fingerprint scanner is integrated into the central key, which has undergone some changes for the better. Now you don’t need to run your finger over it - a simple touch is enough, this is more convenient than the option implemented in previous models of the series.

The device supports wireless charging, compatible with WPC 1.1 standards ( output power 4.6 W) and PMA 1.0 (4.2 W). The smartphone is not protected from dust and moisture, and there is no fastening for a strap on the case either.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, like its “flat” brother, the regular S6, is available in several bright body colors, and, unlike the regular S6, only the curved version has a green color option, which received the corporate name “Noble Emerald” . Perhaps the element of novelty and surprise plays a role here, but it was this iridescent greenish hue that attracted the most attention from the public. Many of those who liked the regular version of the Galaxy S6 more even regret that the green version is not available to them. In addition to green, the Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone is available in black (dark blue), white and gold color options.

Screen

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone is equipped with touch screen Super AMOLED, protected by Gorilla Glass 4, which was specially given an unusual shape with curved edges (Dual Edge). It should be noted that despite the physical curvature of the screen, there are, however, no separate side matrices on the bevels, as was implemented in the case of the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. That is, the display here is a single whole, although with the help of software, the curved edges of the screen can actually carry additional load, acting as separate side mini-displays.

The physical dimensions of the display are 63x113 mm, diagonal - 5.1 inches. The screen resolution in pixels is 2560x1440, so the pixel density is very high and equal to 577 ppi.

The frame around the screen is quite thin: the distance from the edge of the case to the edge of the screen on the sides is about 3 mm. It should be noted that it is this frame that accounts for most of the curved surface of the glass - the screen itself bends quite a bit, only a couple of millimeters at its edges. The concerns of some users about accidental clicks on the curved edges of the display that are right under their fingers have not been confirmed. You can feel some inconvenience and achieve accidental clicks only during special experiments, but in ordinary life, almost no unintended clicks were noticed.

The display brightness has manual and automatic adjustment, the latter based on the operation of the light sensor. There is also a proximity sensor that blocks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear. Multi-touch technology allows you to process 10 simultaneous touches.

Detailed examination using measuring instruments conducted by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. We present it expert opinion about the screen of the test sample.

The front surface of the screen is made in the form of a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface that is scratch-resistant. (However, in addition to the bend towards the edges, we also note some smoothed unevenness of the outer surface.) Judging by the reflection of objects, the anti-glare properties of the screen are no worse than those of the screen of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) (hereinafter simply Nexus 7). For clarity, here is a photo in which a white surface is reflected when the screens are turned off (on the left is Nexus 7, on the right is Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, then they can be distinguished by size):

The screen of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is slightly darker (the brightness in the photographs is 93 versus 96 for the Nexus 7, the glare curved edges of the tested screen are excluded) and does not have a pronounced tint. Note that the reflection from bright objects in the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge has a pale bluish halo, more pronounced in the transverse direction. The ghosting of reflected objects on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge screen is very weak, indicating that there is no air gap between the layers of the screen. Due to the smaller number of boundaries (glass/air type) with very different refractive indices, screens without an air gap look better in conditions of strong external illumination, but their repair in the case of cracked external glass is much more expensive, since the entire screen has to be replaced. On the outer surface of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge there is a special oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating (effective, but it seems a little worse than that of the Nexus 7), so fingerprints are removed much more easily and appear at a slower rate than with regular glass .

When the white field is displayed in full screen and when manual control its maximum brightness value was 340 cd/m², minimum - 1.4 cd/m². You also need to take into account the fact that in this case, the smaller the white area on the screen, the brighter it is, that is, the actual maximum brightness of the white areas will almost always be higher than the specified value. As a result, readability during the day in the sun should be at a fairly good level (there was no opportunity to test it). The reduced brightness level allows you to use the device even in complete darkness without any problems. Automatic brightness adjustment works based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the front speaker slot). You can make adjustments to the operation of this function by moving the settings slider. Below, for three conditions, we present the screen brightness values for three values of this setting - for 0%, 50% and 100%. In complete darkness in automatic mode, the brightness is reduced to 1.4, 6.5 and 15 cd/m², respectively (the first and second are too dark, the third is normal), in an office illuminated by artificial light (approximately 400 lux) the brightness is set to 50 , 130 and 250 cd/m² (dark is just right - a little bright, which corresponds to the given correction), in a brightly lit environment (corresponds to lighting on a clear day outdoors, but without direct sunlight - 20,000 lux or a little more) - increases to 340 cd/m² regardless of slider position. This value is equal to the maximum for manual adjustment. If you increase the brightness of external illumination (in the area of the light sensor) to somewhere around hundreds of thousands of lux (corresponding to direct sunlight), then the screen brightness increases to 550 cd/m². This brightness should definitely be enough for the image on the screen to be clearly visible in any natural conditions. In general, the result of the automatic brightness adjustment function is as expected. At any brightness level there is significant modulation with a frequency of 237.5 Hz. The figure below shows brightness (vertical axis) versus time (horizontal axis) for several brightness settings:

It can be seen that at maximum and close to it brightness, the modulation amplitude is not very large, and as a result, there is no visible flicker. However, as the brightness decreases, modulation with a large relative amplitude appears. Therefore, the presence of such modulation can already be seen in a test for the presence of a stroboscopic effect or simply with rapid eye movement. Depending on individual sensitivity, this flickering may cause increased fatigue.

This screen uses a Super AMOLED matrix - an active matrix on organic light-emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors - red (R), green (G) and blue (B), but there are twice as many green subpixels, which can be referred to as RGBG. This is confirmed by a fragment of a microphotograph:

For comparison, you can see the gallery of microphotographs of screens used in mobile technology.

In the fragment above you can count 4 green subpixels, 2 red (4 halves) and 2 blue (1 whole and 4 quarters), and by repeating these fragments, you can lay out the entire screen without breaks or overlap. For such matrices, Samsung introduced the name PenTile RGBG. The manufacturer calculates the screen resolution based on the green subpixels; based on the other two, it will be two times lower. The location and shape of the subpixels in this version is close to the case of the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and some other newer Samsung devices (and not only) with AMOLED screens. This version of PenTile RGBG is better than the old one with red squares, blue rectangles and stripes of green subpixels. However, some unevenness of contrast borders and other artifacts are still present. However, due to the very high resolution, they have a minimal impact on image quality.

The screen is characterized by excellent viewing angles, although the white color, when deviated even at small angles, alternately acquires a light blue-green and pinkish tint, but the black color is simply black at any angle. So black that the contrast setting is not applicable in this case. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the white field is excellent. For comparison, here are photos in which the screens of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (profile Movie AMOLED) and the second comparison participant, identical images were displayed, while the brightness of the screens was initially set to approximately 200 cd/m², and the color balance on the camera was forced to switch to 6500 K. White field:

We note the excellent uniformity of brightness and color tone of the white field (with the exception of darkening and changes in hue towards the curved edges). And a test picture (profile Basic):

Color rendition is good, the colors are moderately saturated, the color balance of the screens varies slightly. Note that in this case, the image occupies the height (at this screen orientation) of the entire area available for image display and extends onto the curved edges of the screen, which leads to darkening and color distortion. Also, in the light, these areas almost always glare, which makes it even more difficult to view images displayed on the entire screen. And even the picture of films with an aspect ratio of 16:9 bends, which greatly interferes with watching movies. The photo above was taken after selecting a profile Basic in the screen settings, there are four of them:

Profile Adaptive display differs in some kind of automatic adjustment to the type of displayed image and environmental conditions, which is obtained by selecting the two remaining profiles shown below.

Movie AMOLED:

Saturation and color contrast are noticeably increased.

Photo AMOLED:

Saturation is still high, but color contrast is closer to normal. Now at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the plane and to the side of the screen (profile Movie AMOLED). White field:

The brightness at an angle for both screens has noticeably decreased (to avoid strong darkening, the shutter speed has been increased compared to previous photographs), but in the case of Samsung the drop in brightness is much less pronounced. As a result, with formally the same brightness, the screen of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge visually looks much brighter (compared to LCD screens), since the screen mobile device often you have to look at least from a slight angle. And a test picture:

It can be seen that the colors have not changed much on both screens and the brightness of the Samsung at an angle is noticeably higher. Switching the state of the matrix elements is performed almost instantly, but at the switching edge there may be a step with a width of approximately 17 ms (which corresponds to a screen refresh rate of 59 Hz). For example, this is what the dependence of brightness on time looks like when moving from black to white and back:

In some conditions, the presence of such a step can lead to plumes trailing behind moving objects. However, dynamic scenes in films on OLED screens are distinguished by high clarity and even some “jerky” movements.

For profiles Photo AMOLED And Basic constructed using 32 points with equal intervals based on the numerical value of the shade of gray, the gamma curve did not reveal any blockage in either highlights or shadows, and the index of the approximating power function is 2.39, which is higher than the standard value of 2.2 (therefore the image is slightly darkened) , while the real gamma curve deviates little from the power-law dependence (the captions in parentheses show the exponent of the approximating power function and the coefficient of determination):

For profile Movie AMOLED The gamma curve has a pronounced S-shaped character, which increases the visible contrast of the image, but in the shadows the distinguishability of shades remains.

Let us recall that in the case of OLED screens, the brightness of image fragments dynamically changes in accordance with the nature of the displayed image - it decreases for generally light images. As a result, the resulting dependence of brightness on hue (gamma curve) most likely does not correspond slightly to the gamma curve static image, since the measurements were carried out with sequential output of shades of gray on almost the entire screen.

Color gamut in the case of a profile Movie AMOLED very wide, it almost covers the Adobe RGB gamut:

When selecting a profile Photo AMOLED coverage is adjusted to Adobe RGB boundaries:

When selecting a profile Basic coverage is compressed almost to the sRGB boundaries:

Without correction, the spectra of the components are very well separated:

In case of profile Basic with maximum correction, the color components are already noticeably mixed with each other:

Note that on screens with a wide color gamut, without appropriate correction, the colors of regular images optimized for sRGB devices appear unnaturally saturated. Hence the recommendation - in most cases, watching movies, photographs and everything natural is better when choosing a profile Basic, and only if the photo was taken on an Adobe RGB setting, does it make sense to switch the profile to Photo AMOLED. Profile Movie AMOLED, despite the name, is the least suitable for watching movies or anything else.

The grayscale balance is good. Color temperature in profile Movie AMOLED above 6500 K, in the remaining two - close to 6500 K, while in a significant area of the gray scale this parameter does not change very much, which improves the visual perception of color balance. The deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) over most of the gray scale remains below 10 units, which is considered a good indicator for a consumer device, but the fluctuations of this parameter are already large:

(The darkest areas of the gray scale can in most cases be ignored, since color balance there is not very important, and the error in measuring color characteristics at low brightness is large.)

Let's summarize. The screen has a high maximum brightness and has good anti-glare properties, so the device can be used outdoors even on a sunny summer day without any problems. In complete darkness, the brightness can be reduced to a comfortable value. It is acceptable (and in bright light it is necessary) to use a mode with automatic brightness adjustment, which works quite adequately. The advantages of the screen include a good oleophobic coating, as well as a color gamut close to sRGB and an acceptable color balance (if you select the appropriate profiles). At the same time, let us remind you about the general advantages of OLED screens: true black color (if nothing is reflected in the screen), excellent uniformity of the white field, noticeably less than that of LCDs, and a drop in image brightness when viewed at an angle. Disadvantages include modulation of screen brightness. For users who are particularly sensitive to flicker, this may cause increased fatigue. However, overall the screen quality is very high. Separately, we note that from the point of view of image quality, curved edges are only harmful, since this design discovery introduces very noticeable distortions of the color tone and reduces the brightness at the edges of the picture, and also leads to inevitable glare in ambient light conditions along at least one long side screen.

Sound

The sound of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is more than decent; the device sounds like a true flagship of the highest level should sound. Despite the lack of stereo speakers, the sound, nevertheless, the device produces is very loud, rich in the entire spectrum of frequencies, including low ones. At the maximum volume level, almost no distortion was noticed, nor any wheezing. The smartphone sounds really nice, there are no complaints at all. The speaker grille is located at the bottom end, so the sound is not blocked when the smartphone is lying on a hard surface. In conversational dynamics, the voice of a familiar interlocutor, timbre and intonation remain recognizable, the conversation is quite comfortable.

With headphones, the smartphone also sounds at the level of modern flagships; to play melodies, a proprietary player with a maximum number of settings is used as standard. All sound effects are combined with a technology called SoundAlive - although some of them are only available with connected headphones. The same applies to the sound optimization function. For manual settings An equalizer with preset values is available, as well as separate controls for bass and treble.

Traditionally, there is no FM radio included in the standard configuration of a smartphone, but there is a voice recorder. In addition to the standard mode, the voice recorder also has specific “interviews” and “voice notes” - all this is already familiar to us from previous models in the series. Telephone conversations The smartphone cannot record from the line.

Camera

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is equipped with two modules digital cameras with a resolution of 16 and 5 megapixels. The front camera here is equipped with a 5-megapixel module with a lens with an f/1.9 aperture; it shoots video at a maximum QHD resolution (2560×1440). Shoot on front camera without touching the screen, using an open palm gesture or a voice command. You can also take your own self-portrait by touching your finger to the heart rate sensor located on the back of the smartphone.

The main 16-megapixel camera has an f/1.9 aperture lens, autofocus tracking, optical stabilization (OIS) and a single LED flash. There is an opinion that different copies of the same model can use sensors from different manufacturers - both Sony IMX240 and Samsung ISOCELL. You can quickly launch the camera by double-clicking the central hardware button under the screen.

Camera settings are combined into a long scroll, in addition to the usual automatic mode and manual settings mode, here you can also select panoramic, selective focus mode, as well as fast and slow motion video modes. An unusual so-called virtual shooting mode has been added to create a multi-angle view of objects.

The video camera of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge can shoot in resolutions up to 4K (UHD). As always, the option of shooting at 60 fps, with a resolution of 1920x1080 (Full HD), is very interesting. The camera copes perfectly with any options; there are no complaints about the quality of the resulting video image. The quality of video recording can be judged by test videos.

Video No. 1 (31 MB, 1920×1080 @60 fps)
Video No. 2 (54 MB, 3840×2160 @30 fps)

	Good sharpness across the entire frame.
	The camera works quite well with shadows.
	Sharpness practically does not decrease with the removal of the shot, but a certain soapiness of the image as a whole becomes more noticeable.
	Good detail work, although the soapiness mentioned above spoils them a little.
	The colors of the sky and buildings are quite even.
	The shadows are well done. In distant plans, the blur of small details becomes clearly visible.
	Due to the soapiness, the license plates of remote cars are difficult to distinguish.

As in many modern smartphones, the HDR mode can be set to automatic without turning it on forcibly. In this case, the duration of the photo creation does not increase, but the images often look more interesting.

Auto mode	Auto HDR

We also tested the camera on a laboratory bench using our method.

The pictures look very decent, although there are some small disappointments: many images are slightly washed out, which is why detail suffers, and noise is not always processed accurately.

It would seem that the program in the camera should be the same as in the S6, but the firmware version indicated in EXIF looks newer, and the camera shoots noticeably worse. However, “noticeably” is still too strong a word, since the difference is clearly visible only in a laboratory test. In the field photographs of the S6 Edge, there is a certain soapiness that hides the details, but in the S6 photographs it was also observed, although it was much less pronounced. I can’t help but feel that the programmers wanted to improve the processing, but it turned out “as always,” since the camera modules of these smartphones are clearly the same.

However, our S6 Edge sample looked better, at least due to the absence of the blurred area on the right, noted in the S6 sample. But objective tests do not allow us to distinguish the S6 Edge either from other smartphones or from its less shocking brother. Although the pictures look very good, they don't stand up to comparison with the LG G4, which was tested under exactly the same conditions at the same time. It is possible that such soapiness will be eliminated in production samples, but this is doubtful, and sales are already in full swing.

As a result, the camera is quite suitable for documentary and art photography; moreover, detail noticeably suffers only in distant plans.

Telephone and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, and also has support for fourth-generation LTE Cat6 networks with a maximum possible reception speed of up to 300 Mbit/s. In practice, with a SIM card from the domestic operator MTS, the smartphone confidently recognizes and works with 4G networks.

The rest of the network capabilities of the smartphone are also excellent: there is support for NFC technology, Bluetooth 4.1 supports A2DP, LE, apt-X, ANT+ profiles. Wi-Fi module 802.11n/ac, HT80 MIMO (2×2, up to 620 Mbit/s) supports operation in both frequency ranges(2.4 and 5 GHz) and technology Wi-Fi Direct, you can organize a wireless access point via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth channels. Possibility of connection external devices To USB port in OTG mode.

The navigation module works with both GPS and the domestic Glonass system, and also sees satellites of the Chinese Beidou (BDS). There are no complaints about the navigation module; a cold start occurs within a minute or less. The device is also equipped with a magnetic field sensor, on the basis of which the compass of navigation programs operates.

OS and software

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge runs on the fifth version of Android OS with the proprietary TouchWiz shell installed on top of it. A new version TouchWiz is installed in both S6 models, absolutely the same; you can read more about all its capabilities in the Samsung Galaxy S6 review.

The only difference in the interface in the modification for the S6 Edge is a special menu section dedicated to settings for working with a curved screen. The device can turn on the backlight of the side of the display, thus duplicating the alert sensor when receiving calls or notifications. This side of the screen is also used to display individual favorite contacts placed in multi-colored circles and, accordingly, work with them. When calls and messages arrive, the edge will light up in the exact color that was assigned to a specific contact - all this is configured in the menu of a feature called People Edge. In addition, the side screen can display a scrolling information feed with news received from subscribed channels, as well as a clock in night mode. The idea looks quite fresh, and perhaps even saves battery energy, but whether this function will actually be in demand by device owners, time will tell.

With the updates came another new feature that Samsung introduced after the announcement of the Galaxy S6 models: a data transfer service called Smart Switch. The Smart Switch app for PC and Mac is designed to sync data with using iTunes, as well as for devices based on operating systems Blackberry and Windows. Smart Switch allows you to transfer contacts to Samsung Galaxy smartphones, text messages, photos, music, videos, calendar data, call logs, notes, alarms, Wi-Fi settings and even wallpaper. iOS users have the opportunity to transfer music purchased from iTunes to a Samsung Galaxy device. To transfer personal data from Android smartphones(version 4.0 or higher) you need to install the application on both devices and use the Wi-Fi Direct function for wireless transmission. iOS users will also be able to use USB cable OTG (iOS version 5.0 and higher).

Performance

The hardware platform of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is based on a single-chip system (SoC) of Samsung's own Exynos 7420, produced according to the standards of the 14-nanometer technological process. The configuration of this single-chip system includes two clusters of four cores: ARM Cortex-A57 with a frequency of 2.1 GHz and ARM Cortex-A53 with a frequency of 1.5 GHz. The GPU is a Mali T760 video accelerator. The smartphone has 3 GB of RAM (LPDDR4 is used). Internal memory is implemented on drives that meet the UFS 2.0 specification. Flash memory capacity is 32, 64 or 128 GB. In the case of a model with a minimum volume, about 25 GB of the nominally designated 32 GB is initially available to the user. There is no possibility of expansion through memory cards, but it supports connecting devices, including flash drives, to the USB port in OTG mode.

Below are thermal images of the rear surface (top left in the image), obtained after 10 minutes of battery testing in the GFXBenchmark program:

The specularity of the back surface leads to the fact that surrounding objects are reflected in it (in particular, the screen of the tablet that was used to shoot, and what is reflected in this screen). However, it can be seen that the heating is highly localized towards the edge in the area of the power button, which apparently corresponds to the location of the SoC chip. According to the heat camera, the maximum heating was 44 degrees.

According to the testing results, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge hardware platform demonstrated such high results that it supplanted all previous record holders without exception, including Meizu MX4 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4, which held first place in the AnTuTu test for quite a long time.

As a result, Samsung has given the world another record holder in terms of power - a reference smartphone that people will look up to, try to catch up with, and match throughout the entire season. The device is extremely productive, the capabilities built into it will be enough for a long time to complete any assigned tasks, including the most demanding games.

Testing in latest versions comprehensive tests AnTuTu and GeekBench 3:

For convenience, we have compiled all the results we obtained when testing the smartphone in the latest versions of popular benchmarks into tables. The table usually adds several other devices from different segments, also tested on similar latest versions of benchmarks (this is done only for a visual assessment of the obtained dry figures). Unfortunately, within the framework of one comparison it is impossible to present the results from different versions benchmarks, so many worthy and relevant models remain “behind the scenes” - due to the fact that at one time they passed the “obstacle course” on previous versions test programs.

Testing the graphics subsystem in gaming tests 3DMark, GFXBenchmark and Bonsai Benchmark:

When testing in 3DMark, the most powerful smartphones now have the ability to run the application in Unlimited mode, where the rendering resolution is fixed at 720p and VSync is disabled (which can cause the speed to rise above 60 fps).

	Samsung Galaxy S6Edge (Exynos 7420)	HTC One M9 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 810)	Meizu MX4 (Mediatek MT6595)	Nexus 6 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 805)	LG G4 (Qualcomm Snapdragon 808)
3DMark Ice Storm Extreme (more is better)	Maxed out!	Maxed out!	Maxed out!	Maxed out!	Maxed out!
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited (more is better)	21773	20538	16691	23234	18372
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Onscreen)	38 fps	37 fps	21.7 fps	23 fps	25 fps
GFXBenchmark T-Rex HD (C24Z16 Offscreen)	50 fps	36 fps	23.2 fps	29 fps	35 fps
Bonsai Benchmark	4155 (59 fps)	4092 (58 fps)	4033 (58 fps)	3633 (52 fps)	3340 (48 fps)

Browser cross-platform tests:

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, you should always make allowance for the fact that their results significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly correct on the same OS and browsers, and this is possible during testing not always. For Android OS, we always try to use Google Chrome.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, you shouldn’t expect a mobile device to decode everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it. All results are summarized in a single table.

According to the testing results, the subject was not equipped with all the necessary decoders that are needed to fully play most of the most common multimedia files on the network. To successfully play them, you will have to resort to the help of a third-party player - for example, MX Player. True, it is also necessary to change the settings and manually install additional custom codecs, because now this player does not officially support the AC3 sound format.

Format	Container, video, sound	MX Video Player	Standard video player
DVDRip	AVI, XviD 720×400 2200 Kbps, MP3+AC3	plays normally	plays normally
Web-DL SD	AVI, XviD 720×400 1400 Kbps, MP3+AC3	plays normally	plays normally
Web-DL HD	MKV, H.264 1280×720 3000 Kbps, AC3		The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹
BDRip 720p	MKV, H.264 1280×720 4000 Kbps, AC3	The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹	The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹
BDRip 1080p	MKV, H.264 1920×1080 8000 Kbps, AC3	The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹	The video plays fine, but there is no sound¹

¹ sound in MX Video Player was played only after installing an alternative custom audio codec; The standard player does not have this setting

Tested video output features Alexey Kudryavtsev.

MHL interface, like Mobility DisplayPort we are in this smartphone We didn’t find it, so we had to limit ourselves to testing the output of video files on the screen of the device itself. To do this, we used a set of test files with an arrow and a rectangle moving one division per frame (see “Methodology for testing video playback and display devices. Version 1 (for mobile devices) 720/24p

Fine No

Note: If in both columns Uniformity And Passes Green ratings are given, this means that, most likely, when watching films, artifacts caused by uneven alternation and frame skipping will either not be visible at all, or their number and visibility will not affect the viewing comfort. Red marks indicate possible problems related to the playback of the corresponding files.

According to the criterion of frame output, the quality of playback of video files on the screen of the device itself is good, since frames (or groups of frames) can be output with more or less uniform alternation of intervals and without skipping frames. With the exception of 60 fps files, one frame is always skipped due to the strange screen refresh rate of 59 Hz. It seems that someone at Samsung is engaged in sabotage and deliberately lowered the refresh rate from the typical 60 Hz in recent versions of AMOLED screens. When playing video files with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 (1080p) on a smartphone screen, the image of the video file itself is displayed exactly along the border of the screen, going to the bends. The clarity of the picture is high, but not ideal, since there is no escape from interpolation to the screen resolution. However, for the sake of experimentation, you can switch to the one-to-one mode by pixel; there will be no interpolation, but the features of PenTile will appear - the vertical world through the pixel will be in a grid, and the horizontal one will be slightly greenish. This is on test worlds; the described artifacts are not present on real frames. The brightness range displayed on the screen actually corresponds to the standard range of 16-235 - in the shadows only a couple of shades merge with black, but in the highlights all gradations of shades are displayed.

Battery life

The capacity of the built-in non-removable battery installed in the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is far from a record - only 2600 mAh, although this is even slightly more than that of the “flat” version of the S6. However, despite the most powerful platform and a fairly large five-inch screen, the smartphone proved itself more than worthy in terms of durability battery life. Currently, Samsung flagships not only show best autonomy in the top segment among their peers, but they also demonstrate enviable consistency in this matter, which cannot be said about many other manufacturers. For example, LG's G2 device was simply excellent in terms of autonomy, but with the release of each subsequent model, this figure, unfortunately, becomes worse and worse. The same can be said about the NTS flagships.

It should be noted that the device settings traditionally contain two proprietary energy saving modes: normal and extreme. The maximum energy saving mode significantly reduces the level of energy consumption by turning off non-essential ones and saving vital ones. this moment functions, and also, for visual effect, converting the image on the screen to black and white.

	Battery capacity	Reading mode	Video mode	3D Game Mode
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge	2600 mAh	19:00	12:20 pm	3 hours 50 minutes
Samsung Galaxy S6	2550 mAh	20:00	12:00 pm	4:00 am
HTC One M9	2840 mAh	11:00 am	8 a.m. 20 p.m.	3 hours 50 minutes
Yotaphone 2	2500 mAh	12:00 pm	9:30 a.m.	3 hours 15 minutes
Lenovo Vibe X2	2300 mAh	13:00	6:00 am	3 hours 15 minutes
Meizu MX4	3100 mAh	12:00 pm	8 hours 40 minutes	3 hours 45 minutes
Meizu MX4 Pro	3350 mAh	16:00	8 hours 40 minutes	3 hours 30 minutes
Sony Xperia Z3	3100 mAh	20:00	10:00 am	4 hours 50 minutes
LG G4	3000 mAh	17:00	9:00 a.m.	3:00 am
Nexus 6	3220 mAh	18:00	10:30 a.m.	3 hours 40 minutes

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (brightness was set to 100 cd/m²) lasted about 19 hours until the battery was completely discharged. When continuously watching videos in high quality (720p) with the same brightness level through the home Wi-Fi network The device lasted more than 12 hours. In 3D gaming mode the device worked for almost 4 hours. The smartphone supports fast charging technology, so the full charge time is only 1.5 hours, and according to the developers, just 10 minutes “at the outlet” allows you to charge the smartphone for subsequent four-hour use.

Bottom line

Samsung did a great job on their next flagship: if the beauty of the design is a matter of taste, and here opinions may differ, then in terms of hardware Galaxy smartphones S6 can be safely given the highest score. Performance is at the maximum level, but at the same time, autonomy is also high, which is good news. Having one of the best cameras in its category is also a very significant point, although this aspect is not important for everyone. The screen quality and sound are at a very decent level, the network capabilities of the smartphone satisfy any needs. In addition, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge has most of the flagship features, from a fingerprint scanner to an IR port and support for wireless charging. True, and worth it new smartphone more expensive than all its competitors, but this issue is beyond the scope of our review and remains entirely on the conscience of the seller.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is an extraordinary smartphone, and based on the totality of its characteristics, it simply cannot fail to receive our award for original design. But I would especially like to highlight its unusual screen and express the hope that in the future we will see even more daring experiments in this area and discover new applications for “curved” screens.

Functional sidebar.
Color coding of your favorite contacts will make management even more convenient. Each of your 5 favorite contacts will have its own color for quick access from the sidebar and a color notification when calling and messaging. The side edge of the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge screen also has another function - -night clock-. Now there is no need to turn on the main display to find out the exact time or turn off the alarm. Simply swipe your finger back and forth along the side to activate the screen that displays the time and notifications.

New intuitive user interface.
The more structured and cleaner interface of the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge based on Android 5.0 Lollipop simplifies navigation and allows you to quickly and easily navigate the device. Each menu section is assigned a specific color, all applications are presented in the form of simple icons, and the number of preinstalled elements has been reduced. You can even create your own smartphone themes using the Mobile Theme Editor app.

Clarity and brightness.
The camera allows you to take high-quality pictures thanks to its high resolution and large aperture. And optical stabilization guarantees blur-free photos.

Movement in focus.
Keep moving subjects sharp with the new AF Tracking mode, which keeps your subject in focus no matter how it moves.

Correct exposure.
Photos with impeccable color and detailed details. The pictures look like they really are. Two images with different exposures are processed and combined in real time for stunning results.

Expressive selfie.
A lens with high-aperture optics and an increased number of pixels is what you need for flawless pictures with the front camera in any conditions.

Quick start.
Double-pressing the center button of the smartphone activates the camera in the blink of an eye. You will not miss a single bright moment of your life.

Fast charging mode.
Recharging for 10 minutes will ensure that the smartphone operates for up to 4 hours. If recharging is not possible, the maximum energy saving mode will ensure a more economical use of the remaining energy.

Save energy.
Extend battery life and optimize your smartphone's performance with Ultra Power Saving Mode.

Incredible power.
The super-powerful new generation processor handles the most demanding gaming and multitasking without any problems.

Visible benefits.
Our flagship smartphone's innovative display lets you enjoy accurate color reproduction and vibrant, rich images, both indoors and in daylight.

⇡ Technical specifications

⇡ Appearance and ergonomics

What is this?

What is the difference between Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge?

Why does it need a curved display?

How's the display in general?

Does it look expensive?

How's the iron?

What about the battery?

How has the interface changed?

What's new in S Health?

Has the camera gotten better?

Video review of Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

What about the competitors?

Bottom line

Video review

Main characteristics of Samsung Galaxy S6 (model SM-G925F)

Appearance and ease of use

Screen

Sound

Camera

Telephone and communications

OS and software

Performance

Playing video

Battery life

Bottom line

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