Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ First Impressions: A bigger S6 Edge with higher RAM

Samsung is indeed focusing a lot on India. Shorty after the global unveiling of the Samsung's new version of the Galaxy S6 Edge, dubbed as the Galaxy S6 Edge+, the company launched this top of the range smartphone in India this Wednesday.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, like all its previous gen Galaxy ‘S' series smartphones, has been placed at a very premium price point of Rs. 57,900 for the 32GB variant. That's quite a lot, right? Well, we say that there is no doubt about it that the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ is not only a beauty but a beasty treat as well, but it is here to cater to a specific set of consumers, who don't mind spending such a massive sum of money on a phone.

PROS

• good design
• bigger display
• higher RAM

CONS

• no microSD card slot
• non-removable back

And then again, how can we forget that this phone is Samsung's take on its arch rival Apple's iPhone 6 Plus, and thus has to meet its competitor's price to show it is worthy (This doesn't mean we support the pricing for Apple products).

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ is a slightly beefed up version of Galaxy S6 Edge that was announced earlier this year. Noticeably, it is larger, and brings higher RAM. Rest remains almost the same. Though, there are some other noticeable changes hidden underneath the premium chassis. We were at the India launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ smartphone, and here are our first impressions:

Design and Display

You will not be able to notice any specific change in the Galaxy S6 Edge+ design except that Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ is a larger (5.7-inch) version of the 5.1-inch Galaxy S6 Edge. The two devices look identical, though on paper there are sight differences in measurements and weight, apart from larger screen.

The phone oozes premiumness. And there is no doubt about it. The curved edges combined with glass and metal chassis give it a classy look and sturdy feel. Despite the bigger size, the phone fits very well in hand, and we didn't find it Note-like bulky either.

The front has a selfie camera, and home key, the left and right sides get power key, volume rocker and SIM trays. Top and bottom panels have audio jack, and microUSB pin slot and speakers respectively. The rear has camera with flash and sensor to monitor heart rate, and Samsung branding.

The Galaxy S6 Edge+'s curved edge-to-edge AMOLED display is simply stunning, and an absolute treat to eyes. It is not just about the quad HD resolution of the display that makes it good, but overall factors like clarity, sharpness, colour reproduction, the perfect whites and blacks, great visibility at various angles, all and more that result in an immersive and brilliant experience.

However, the phone is a fingerprint magnet, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Like earlier, the problems remain to be the non-swappable battery, and lack of microSD card slot.

Processor and memory:

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ is powered by the same chipset that powers the Galaxy S6 Edge. It runs on Exynos octa-core chipset (2.1GHz quad + 1.5GHZ quad) with 64bit processing, which ensures fast and smooth performance. The only difference is that Samsung has bumped up RAM from 3GB to 4GB. As for its internal storage, the company launched only 32GB and 64GB variants of the smartphone in India, and is not bringing the 128GB variant. Sadly, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ too lacks a microSD card slot.

Camera:

The S6 Edge+ gets the almost an identical camera as was seen on the S6 Edge, which was brilliant at its job. You get a 16-megapixel rear snapper with OIS, and a 5-megapixel front-facing selfie camera. Both the cameras have f/1.9 aperture.

You can launch the camera app by double tapping the home button.

The key attraction of the camera is the Live Broadcasting feature that lets a user to live stream a video over YouTube, and share it with their contacts to watch it live. You can share the link through a text message and ask others watch it while you shoot it.

The image quality is great and photos are sharp, with nice colours.

Software:

The phone runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop wrapped under Samsung's TouchWiz bloatware, which brings several customizations and features.

The edge gets more effective for an improved user-experience. For instance, the hidden edge window now gets a new segment called Apps edge. It can be used to add up to 5 favourite apps for easy access. The Galaxy S6 Edge+ will notify you of any alert from these apps in the notifications panel.

The people edge tab remains intact, but gets more power. It can connect to other Edge smartphones and let a user interact with other Edge users. Both these edge tabs are on the right side.

Wireless charging:

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ runs on 3000mAH battery, which is bigger than the one on S6 Edge. It comes with wireless charging support for which Samsung has launched its wireless charger accessory which looks identical to the one that was launched with the S6 Edge, but the new accessory is different.

The company says that the Galaxy S6 Edge+ can get wireless charged in 120 minutes, which is faster than the previous model which takes 150 minutes for full battery charge wirelessly. Additionally, the phone comes with Fast Charging technology which reduces the charging time to about 90 minutes.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ is just about a bigger device with higher RAM and few other features, and the rest remains the same as Galaxy S6 Edge. While there are some added advantages, the problem areas remain to be the lack of microSD card and non-removable back.

Samsung's new Edge gets the company's Pay service, which seems more user-friendly, but that has not been launched in India. As for connectivity, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ comes with a Cat9 4G LTE which supports 4G TE bands in India.

The phone has been launched in two premium colors - Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium. For the Galaxy S6 Edge+, Samsung has also come up with several accessories including Clear View cover for Rs 299 and other variety of shells, a new Wireless charging pack (priced Rs 3,599) and a Keyboard cover which looks pretty interesting however is priced for Rs 4,499. You may get disappointed to know that none of these has been bundled with the phone.