Samsung launches Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+ with 5.7-inch displays, 4GB RAM

Finally, Samsung has unveiled the highly anticipated Galaxy Note 5 and a larger version of its curved-screen S6 Edge smartphone dubbed Galaxy S6 Edge+. Samsung has made several hardware changes for the new phablets including a faster processor for the Galaxy Note 5 and increasing the screen size of the S6. Both sport a large 5.7-inch QHD Super-AMOLED display, with a pixel density that goes up to 515 ppi. Both are powered by Samsung’s Exynos chips as Samsung dropped Qualcomm Inc chips that powered most of its previous handsets, opting to use its own processors for the S6 models. The devices come powered by a 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7420 SoC with four Cortex-A57 cores clocked at 2.1GHz, and four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.5GHz. Both include 4GB of RAM. Just like the S6 Edge, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+comes with a dual-edge display and a 3,000mAh battery. The Galaxy Note 5, on the other hand, comes with a new and improved S Pen. Both devices run Android 5.1 Lollipop. Both Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ feature 16-megapixel rear snappers with OIS and 5-megapixel front-facing cameras. The Note 5 has taken cues from S6’s design and materials such as glass front and rear and a solid metal frame. However, the removable battery and microSD card support are given a miss. The phones will go on sale on August 21 in the United States and Canada. The Galaxy S6 edge+ will be offered in what it called “Black Sapphire” and “Gold Platinum,” in the U.S. market, and the Note 5 will be offered in “Black Sapphire” and “White Pearl,” with either 32 or 64 gigabytes of storage. In the US, the Galaxy Note 5 will be available via AT&T (contract-free) at $739.99 (approx. Rs 48,000) for the 32GB variant and $839.99 (approx. Rs. 54,800) for the 64GB variant. The 32GB and 64GB variants of the Galaxy S6 Edge+ will be priced at $814.99 (approx. Rs. 53,000) and $914.99 (approx. Rs. 59,500) respectively. The Galaxy Note 5 will make it only to select markets, but one can expect wider availability of the Galaxy S6 Edge+. Samsung is the world’s top smartphone maker but its market share fell in the second quarter when its critically acclaimed S6 models launched, squeezed by Apple Inc’s upscale iPhones and cheaper offerings from Chinese rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. The manufacturer responded with S6 price cuts and bringing forward the Note unveiling from its usual early September spot, ahead of the latest iPhone launch widely expected in September. They will support mobile payment service Samsung Pay that will launch on August 20 in South Korea and Sept. 28 in the United States. The company also said it will expand the service to the United Kingdom, Spain and China, but did not specify a date. Samsung Pay lets users make payments by having phones send signals to existing magnetic stripe card readers, offering greater store coverage than Apple’s Apple Pay service which requires retailers to install compatible equipment. Samsung will offer software updates in August to make Samsung Pay available on the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. The payments service will expand to the United Kingdom, Spain and China, the company said, without giving dates. With inputs from Reuters