The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge: Pros, Cons And A Rumored Update For The Edges

It’s gorgeous, it’s striking, and anyone who passes your desk may well drool over it.

Those are the first impressions that a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will elicit.

However, are those two curved panels really worth the hefty price tag?

First, a cursory view of the pros and cons of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. The pros:

• Very powerful: With an octa core processor with four 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 cores PLUS four 2.1GHz Cortex-A57 cores, an Exynos 7420 64-bit chipset, boosted with a Mali-T760 MP8 GPU, not to mention 3GB of RAM, this behemoth is not just for multitasking. It’s for multitasking on steroids.

• It’s very flexible, connectivity-wise: It can connect to the Internet via an LTE, HSPA+, 3G, EDGE, GPRS, or WiFi connection. Aside from that, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is also powered with NFC and Bluetooth 4.1 technology.

• “Gorgeous” does not cover it: The display not only has two side panels, it’s also a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED screen that has an output of 16 Million colors, 1440 x 2560-pixel resolution, with a ~577 ppi pixel density. All that, protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 4. Can you say “super clear”?

• Its 16 MP camera allows you to take 2988 x 5312 pixel pictures. It also has autofocus, optical image stabilization, and even comes with an LED flash. Its 5 MP front camera even has auto HDR and allows you to make dual video calls. Is it a selfie addict’s delight? Hell, yes.

On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge may not be all glitter and gleam:

• According to some S6 Edge users, the back panel of the S6 Edge is hard to hold, due to the rather sharp metal edges. While it may not actually cut into a user’s hand, still, the discomfort is a major downside.

• The impressive nature of the phone’s form factor is only up until the user—or his friends—picks it up and holds it. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge surprisingly weighs a relatively light 132 grams. However, some users report that it just doesn’t quite feel good in one’s hands. It’s not just the weight that makes it unwieldy: The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge’s 5.59 x 2.76 x 0.28 in dimensions make it a bulky, too-wide phone to use.

• Due to the features that Samsung packed into the unit, some sacrifices had to be made. Say “goodbye” microSD card support, waterproofing, stereo speakers, or a removable battery.

• The edges have very limited functionality, especially since it’s the first innovation of its kind.

But Samsung just rolled out a solution to the last downside for the phone: The company is introducing a new software section named the “Apps Edge.” While it is not yet clear whether the Apps Edge is just a group of tools similar to the built-in features for the S6’s edges or a whole store of apps, Samsung S6 Edge users are hopeful that this addition will make their Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge purchase worth their investment.