Samsung Galaxy Note Edge Pro Reviews

The Galaxy Note Edge is a lot about showing off the amazing capabilities of Samsung’s AMOLED displays, and how they curve and bend. It’s a show-off feature, and as such, it is granted to get you a lot of looks and attention, but it does little in terms of meaningful functional improvements. Still, overall, the Note Edge is a considerable upgrade over the Note 3 - it comes with a sharper, Quad HD screen, and while your eyes might not be able to tell much of the difference in terms of sharpness, they would appreciate the improved color accuracy. The OIS camera is also a nice step up on the Note Edge, as it captures some of the best shots we’ve seen from a smartphone and does so consistently, while the Note 3 is a bit less capable. Performance wise, the Note Edge has the faster chips, but the performance boost is very slight and most of the gains are offset by the higher-res display. The Note 3, on its part, has the more alluring price - Samsung has now cut its price by nearly a third, making it a good value for the money. The Note Edge, on the other hand, is an exorbitantly expensive phone with a starting price of $950 off-contract. It’s a 'limited-edition' device, after all. Counting out the price factor, the Note Edge does offer some meaningful upgrades outside of the rim, but the cost has us hesitating giving it a heart-felt recommendation.

With its curved screen, the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is an innovative, interesting, and unnecessary Android tech demo—save your money and get the Galaxy Note 4 instead.

Now that we've explored the anatomy of the Note Edge and the device it's based on – the Note 4 – in parts, we can finally claim to have something approaching a holistic view of the matter. Unfortunately for the nevertheless appealing Note Edge, when the smoke clears, the Note 4 proves to be the better bet – it's got the more ergonomic body and a noticeably-better battery life. And yes, at $299.99 with a 2-year contract, it's also $100 cheaper than the extravagant Edge (and savings are even bigger when paying full retail). Sure, we could beat around the bush and argue that the Edge's screen might eventually become useful through functionality added by third-party developers, but that's a shaky argument at best. In the end, unless you're looking for a thrill and just want to try something different, you're better off keeping to the well-beaten path.

The Note Edge has an edge in almost everything when compared to the Galaxy S5. It might be less ergonomic in the hand, but that could be expected from a 5.6” phablet. Other than that, it is superior to the S5 in any way that counts, and we are not only talking the Edge side screen, or the extra input method brought on by the S Pen stylus, as you may or may not find these very useful on a daily basis. Its screen has a higher resolution, and produces very natural-looking colors compared to the cold, oversaturated panel images of the S5. The Note Edge chipset is much faster, too, especially in the graphics department, and has a snappier LTE radio. When it comes to the camera modules, the Note Edge climbs on top again, with more appealing video and audio recording, and finer stills, especially indoors. Given those tangible advantages, your only deterrent to get the unique Samsung phablet would be its pricing, or relatively big size. Being an early adopter is expensive, as the Note Edge will cost you almost twice more than the S5, regardless if it's on contract, or retail, and that can easily tip the scales in the other direction.

If you are looking for a top-of-the-line QHD handset with monstrous specs sheet, then you can go wrong with neither of these two devices, yet you need to ask yourself a very simple question: “Is the undoubtedly-intriguing screen of the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge worth a few hundred bucks over the LG G3?”

It’s clear that the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is a niche, limited-edition phone that is a lot about showing off the futuristic-looking curved rim, and all the little things it can do. It’s also not a device for everyone, with an astronomical price of $399.99 on a 2-year contract, or $945.99 off-contract. However, it will be available on all four major US carriers in the middle of November, so it’s not impossible to get either. Those who want to buy it over the Note 4 have just a single reason, and that is the showy, curved edge. For all else, the Note 4 is a nearly identical sibling of the Note Edge, with largely the same performance power and camera capabilities. And yes, if you want to have your phone always show off how different you are, that might be a good device. The edge screen also makes multitasking a bit quicker, and it is nice to have for quick glances at notifications. After using it for a while, though, the edge seems to serve more as a gimmick and a show-off feature rather than something that brings a substantial benefit to functionality. And it definitely does not justify the high price of this concept-to-reality phone.

At the end of the day, both phablets will present consumers with cutting-edge performance and capabilities, but consumers will have to decide if they want to go the Samsung/Android way, or the Apple way. Each has clear advantages and disadvantages on the platform level, but if allow ourselves to focus exclusively on the devices at hand, we could say that they are both winners. One last detail we have to take into account is that the Galaxy Note Edge is a bit more expensive than the iPhone 6 Plus, as it's priced at $399 on a two-year contract, while the 6 Plus is $299 on a two-year contract. It looks like that forward-looking Edge display has a premium attached to it, but oh well, hopefully it won't be long before it goes through a little price adjustment.