Get ready to sign on the dotted line with your S-Pen, because the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and its curvy cousin, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, were officially announced today.
Unveiled at Samsung’s Unpacked 2015 event in New York and London, the twoAndroid phones confirmed all of the rumors we’ve been hearing for months about their design, display and specs.
The Galaxy Note 5 is made of metal, ditching the cheap plastic found in the previousNote 4, and the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is a bigger Galaxy S6 Edge with a glass back andaluminum frame.
True to the very-popular phablet form, they feature spacious 5.7-inch screens, the same size as last year’s Samsung Galaxy Note 4. But now they are enveloped in metal and glass, not cheap plastic.
Samsung consistently has the best and brightest displays, thanks to its Super AMOLED technology and 2560 x 1440 resolution. Both phones pack in 518 pixels per inch.
Here are the differences
What’s unique about the Galaxy Note 5 is that it retains the S-Pen stylus that many power users like about the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. It has a curved backside for easier handling.
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The Galaxy Edge+ comes with a curved twist, so it looks like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge that launched back in April alongside the flagship Galaxy S6.
BlackBerry castaways should find it easy to transition to either phone thanks to a physical keyboard attachment. It makes typing easier if you just haven’t gotten used to those pesky on-screen keyboards.
Both phones are obvious bigger. Note 5 measures 153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6mm with a heft of 171g, while the S6 Edge+ is slightly slimmer at 154.4 x 75.8 x 6.9mm and 153g. Keep both hands on these phablets at all times.
Notably, this year’s upgrade is missing some tried-and-true features that we see every year from the Note line. Neither has a microSD card slot or removable battery. That’ll be a deal breaker for a lot of people who intended to upgrade.
That awesome camera and leading specs
Samsung is still positioning both phablets as a big improvement from last year’s Note phone thanks to its superior camera and specs.
The 16MP rear-facing snapper is the company’s “most advanced camera for high quality photos and videos,” according to Samsung. That’s usually marketing hype, but it’s really true here.
It speedy Exynos 7420 octa-core processor is the same as the one found in the chart-topping Galaxy S6, and now it has 4GB of RAM, instead of 3GB, and runs Android 5.1 out of the box.
You won’t get any more than 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, however. Both phones come with just two options, without hitting the usual 128GB. That’s surprising since there’s no microSD card slot.
The non-swappable battery also takes a hit from last year, with a smaller 3,000mAh capacity, down from 3,220mAh found in the Note 4.
Both phones do retain wireless charging with PMA and WPC compatibility, so it’ll likely work with your wire-free charger, and Fast Charging capabilities.
Samsung Pay to rival Apple Pay and beat Android Pay to the market. With NFC and MST payment methods, the company says it’ll work with more mobile payment terminals than Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Price and availability
Samsung’s much-hyped launch events always leave a few questions unanswered, and today’s Unpacked unveiling was no different. We’re still waiting to find out the official Note 5 and S6 Edge+ price.
The good news is that we have the release date for the US Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+. It’ll start arriving on August 21, with pre-orders beginning today at 3 p.m. EDT.
US carriers should give us the first indication of how much more the two phones cost for their souped-up specs and larger displays compared to the S6 and S6 Edge.
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