Hands On Samsung's New Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 At Unpacked New York 77
MojoKid writes: Samsung held their Unpacked 2015 event in New York City today and the company unveiled its latest flagship, big-screen smartphones, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note5. Immediately following the on-stage presentations and reveals, Samsung opened up a demo area featuring the new devices for direct hands-on time. Both of these phones feature a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a QHD screen resolution (2560x1440), though the sides of the S6 Edge+'s display are curved. Powering the both devices is the the same octal-core Samsung Exynos 7420 processor that's at the heart of the previously-released Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. These new phones, however, are packing 4GB of RAM—not just 3GB, like the older models and also have LTE Cat9 support and high-speed wireless charging built-in. Samsung has also beefed up the cameras; these new devices pack the same 16MP sensor from the Galaxy S6 with OIS, but an additional digital image stabilization algo which complements the optical solution to further smooth out video is included as well. Built-in software on the new devices also allows for live-streaming to YouTube.
Algo (Score:4, Funny)
but an additional digital image stabilization algo
So much cooler than a boring old algorithm.
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Does the "Edge" designation mean it comes with Microsoft Edge? I'd totally buy one if it did.
Backwards Step (Score:1)
Smaller battery, no removable storage and more Apple-like - no thanks
Re:Backwards Step (Score:5, Insightful)
Who the fuck needs removable storage when External [amazon.com] Storage [amazon.com] already exists? Plus these two devices also have an external battery for any phone, iOS or Android.
Who the f*ck needs external storage, when you could have removable storage?
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Yeah and the camera, GPS, speakers could be external too. The whole point of a smartphone is to have an integrated device.
Organ or refinancing (Score:1)
Live streaming (Score:3)
Live streaming to YouTube sounds like a great feature if you ever need to interact with cops, for example. No chance of destroying the evidence because it is already in the cloud.
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Nice that my Xperia z1 compact has that feature for over one year and half...
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If someone stuck a live camera in my face while I was simply trying to do my job they get a smack in the face, live feed or not.
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Does your job give you the legal right to assult and kidnap people?
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Yes, because all cops everywhere are straight and narrow and won't hassle/overreact to you for jollies.
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You should watch the news some time.
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Oh I watch it fine thanks.
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What you said suggests otherwise.
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Fox News doesn't count.
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I don't live in the USA so its not even an option. Some of us have real news providers.
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Walking down the street isn't a crime. No, not even if you're black!
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Both devices value form over function (Score:5, Interesting)
Let's see if losing the sd slot and removable battery is as big a sales failure as it was for the S6 and S6 edge.
My impression is that only Samsung fanbois will buy these. Everybody else who prefers style over function will buy an idevice, as always.
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I'm *probably* going to buy the Note 5. I'm not 100% positive yet, but it's likely. I currently own a Note 4.
Why? Well, a few reasons.
First, between my SD card and the internal storage, I'm barely using 28 GB of space on my Note 4. Getting the 64GB model of the Note 5 still provides me plenty of room. And this is with having the Note 4 since launch day, and never deleting any pictures or videos I've taken (and I took something like 200 pictures during a vacation). Even if I kept the Note 5 for 2-3 years --
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I was considering a Note 5, but the lack of microSD and removable battery was a deal-breaker. Got a Note 4 instead, so we'll see what's available with a removable battery after that one dies.
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Sadly, this is the direction it's all going because they do not want you to own a phone for more than 6 months, they want you locked into the upgrade cycle (ios anyone?) and will continue to remove features power users want, to allow for thinner phones.
I still see no point in the edge, at all. It's a useless gimmick, and yes I've seen one and played with it, it's a nice phone but the edge screen is pointless.
I hover between rage and indifference in regards to the SD slot. Yes, I am used to having one, yes
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It's not true that the battery suffers the same kind of "charge cycle" whether you're charging it from 0% to 96%. For lithium ion batteries, there is no "memory" effect, but there is a "depth of discharge" effect. A deeper discharge will reduce the battery's maximum capacity more severely than a minor discharge.
It's not the act of plugging the battery into the charger that reduces its usable life; it's the process of actual charging. If you're doing less charging, your battery lasts longer. If you regularly
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For lithium ion batteries it's heat-age that matters. If you store them at 0C and 40% charge and you'll have a capacity loss of about 2% per year, so you can keep replacement batteries around for a long time.
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This is EXACTLY the reason why I bought the S5, replacing my S3. I went into the Verizon store to plunk down the $575 (IIRC) for the S6 -- the S6 Edge looks like a gimmick. But:
1) No SDCard
2) No Replaceable battery
3) Not waterproof!!!!!!
I see that the quiet release of the S6 Active on AT&T fixes #3, if I want to be on AT&T. But, the first two are deal breakers in my book. I replaced the battery on my S3 and my son is happily using it today. Without the SDCard, one is forced to pay an extra $150 for
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Anyone have any suggestions on where to go for something new, Android-wise, from the Galaxy S line instead of to the S6?
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Meh. I haven't seen someone carry around an extra battery in a LONG time. Also, the internal SSD is large enough for most people. Although I like to have them as options in my Note 3, they are unimportant for 99% of the buyers out there. Nobody will notice they're missing.
Galaxy.... (Score:5, Funny)
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With the way Samsung's promotional budget has been going they may buy the naming rights to the Milky Way at some point.
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Wake me up... (Score:4, Insightful)
When I can remove/replace the battery again.
When I get removable storage back.
And most especially when I can buy a 12" tablet from them again!
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Samsung's 'wallhuggers' commercial comes back to bite them.
No microSD slot, no replaceable battery? NO SALE. (Score:5, Insightful)
I have enjoyed previous Galaxy Notes, but my current will probably be my last. The upgradeable storage and removable battery were (for me and many others) key points of difference over the iPhone, but Samsung have decided that they don't want to be different.
I don't want Cloud storage. Why would I waste my phone plan's data allowance when I should just have expandable local storage? Oh, I should pay for model with the largest capacity? No, not for the price per GB that they're selling.
Sure, I may be able to charge in 90 minutes (with Samsung's charger only, of course), but what happens when my battery gets end of life? Planned obsolescence sucks.
I also liked that the previous flip covers and smart covers, that clipped on instead of the battery cover, more or less became part of the phone. That was much more useful to me than a back plate of glass that will just be a crack magnet.
Yes, this release was the standard fare of a processor/RAM bump and screen resolution bump, but for me this release is far more notable for the features that have been removed....
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I dunno about that, the internet says Android is massively more popular overall.
http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp
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You're in the minority. Apple, the most successful company on the planet, never do this, and they don't give a fuck about people like you and your moaning. The market has spoken, you and your ilk, lost. Get over it.
The market has spoke, and what it said was that lots of people wanted an option that allowed SD cards and removable batteries, otherwise there wouldn't have been the tremendously successful Samsung line of smartphones. Now Samsung has come up with the incredible idea that rather than sell to people who wanted something a little bit different, they are going to try to sell to people who already are iphone fans and who will probably never switch from apple even if Jobs rises from the dead and flings poo at t
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> Now Samsung has come up with the incredible idea that rather than sell to people who wanted something a little bit different, they are going to try to sell to people who already are iphone fans and who will probably never switch from apple even if Jobs rises from the dead and flings poo at them.
You, sir, win at internet today with that comment!!!
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I have enjoyed previous Galaxy Notes, but my current will probably be my last. The upgradeable storage and removable battery were (for me and many others) key points of difference over the iPhone, but Samsung have decided that they don't want to be different.
I don't want Cloud storage. Why would I waste my phone plan's data allowance when I should just have expandable local storage? Oh, I should pay for model with the largest capacity? No, not for the price per GB that they're selling.
Sure, I may be able to charge in 90 minutes (with Samsung's charger only, of course), but what happens when my battery gets end of life? Planned obsolescence sucks.
I also liked that the previous flip covers and smart covers, that clipped on instead of the battery cover, more or less became part of the phone. That was much more useful to me than a back plate of glass that will just be a crack magnet.
Yes, this release was the standard fare of a processor/RAM bump and screen resolution bump, but for me this release is far more notable for the features that have been removed....
The screen resolution is identical to the Note 4
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> I hover between rage and indifference in regards to the SD slot. Yes, I am used to having one, yes it's useful for storage. Is it a make or break feature? It was when I decided on the S4, it's not now as I haven't filled the phone enough to require any additional space and it's only 16 gb to begin with. That feature I could willingly lose and be fine.
It is a deal breaker for me. I have two offline GPS apps with full maps installed and a third with regional maps. It takes a significant amount of space.
A
imagine... (Score:1)
... a Beowulf cluster of those!
Sorry, couldn't resist. This is my first /. visit in about 15 years, just wanted to post a blast from the past.
For any Younlings reading this: a Beowulf cluster is this thing, you know, from the ninety nineties.
what next, hot grits? (Score:3)
Natalie portman?
Oh man the new star wars is going to be so awesome!
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a Beowulf cluster is this thing, you know, from the ninety nineties.
Please tell me that in 9090, they have better parallelization than a beowulf cluster.
S6 Edge... 1 March 2015 (Score:2)
already obsoleted. I'm hoping at least for some good price drops on the Chinese dual sim variety. But the Meizu stuff works well enough.
Samesung (Score:2)
Nice memory upgrade (Score:1)
Wow, going from 3GB to 4GB, nice. A better improvement would have been a properly designed phone. Apple, HTC know how to build something that doesn't have a plastic rim or hard plastic masquerading as faux stiched leather on the back. The last design from Samsung was this: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsun... [gsmarena.com]
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Why do you care so much about design? It's just a fucking phone.
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It's not that I want awesome design, but, surprisingly to me, I find that if the phone design is crap (fake stitches, plasticky parts), then I feel repulsion when I look at it or hold it in the store, and if its design is OK, or perhaps good, then it's a positive feeling. It doesn't have to be flashy, it just shouldn't feel cheap. Most of Samsung plastic feels cheap, and the lack of design is cheap (no good designer was hired). Plastic itself isn't even the problem, the little plastic in the HTC One M7, or
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At least you admit it's all about the feeling and design, and not the build quality itself.
Some so-called "cheap plastic" phones can be as durable if not more. Plastic absorbs shocks better than metal and is lighter, therefore chances to survive a drop are higher.
I understand that some phones are made to appeal people who like design and fashion. However the problem these days is that all phones seems to be made for those people and there is nothing left for those of us who prefer function over form.
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On the other hand, my S3 with its "cheap plastic back" has survived admirably without such a case, despite suffering many falls. Just last week I accidentally dropped it on an escalator of all things, and while the back popped off, it was no worse for the wear o
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I welcome cognitive reasoning. Once a car salesman wanted to sell me a white car when I didn't want one, saying, I can't see the color of the car when I'm sitting in it. I checked and it was true but I didn't buy it.
But let's face it, a smartphone isn't an essential thing like slightly dirty yet potable water in the middle of a desert. They're a choice, especially if one ventures into flagship price territory. I don't want to pay 10% (or less) less and put up with a design that's 10% (or less) of the altern
how much are these things? (Score:1)
Why so many pixels? (Score:3)
My PC monitors and TV aren't even QHD so why should my phone be? My phone is 330 ppi and the pixels are already indistinguishable but QHD @ 5.7" is 515 ppi. More pixels causes more battery drain so can we stop with the resolution wars please?
They going to bother to maintain them? (Score:2)
I spoke to 2 support reps just Wed. One from the US and one from Canada. Neither could give me an assurance that another Samsung device won't end up as abandonware. All I got were vague answers that Samsung will update Android as long as the hardware is compatible; but they couldn't say when or how often. My Note 10.1 tablet hasn't had an Android update in 2 years and they couldn't promise me one was coming either.
Now that we have a Mac in the house, despite the fact that I hate my iPhone, I'm considering t
Edge: Build By Marketing, For Marketing (Score:2)
People make the silliest things sometimes.
The edge feature comes in handy once you put it in case?
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