Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 edge and S6 edge+: What’s the difference?
Samsung's flagship Android phone range is expanding. This is what has changed with the new models.
Samsung's flagship Android phone range is expanding. This is what has changed with the new models.At its Unpacked event in New York today, Samsung unveiled two new phones: the much-expected Galaxy Note5, and the not-quite-as-expected Galaxy S6 edge+.
There had been a few rumours of the S6 edge+, and it marks an interesting shift in Samsung's strategy. In recent years it has generally announced the latest Galaxy S models at Mobile World Congress in February, and followed up with a Note "phablet" release in the back half of the year. The release of the S6 edge+ is the first time it has beefed up the main Galaxy S range with a new phone in the second half. (While you can argue that the S6 edge+ is a successor of sorts to the previous Note edge phablet model, the fact it doesn't have a stylus and doesn't carry on the Note name means that it's more sensible to think of it as an enhanced addition to the main S6 range).
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That means there are now three current models in Samsung's Galaxy S6 range:
- the "standard" S6, launched earlier this year;
- the S6 edge, which adds an additional area of curved screen that can be used for notifications and for other tasks such as accessing recent contacts
- the S6 edge+, which maintains the added curved screen area but enlarges the screen size from 5.1 inches to 5.7 inches.
Here's the breakdown of the key specs across the models:
| Samsung | Galaxy S6 | Galaxy S6 edge | Galaxy S6 edge+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display size | 5.1 inch | 5.1 inch | 5.7 inch |
| Pixels per inch (ppi) | 576ppi | 576ppi | 518ppi |
| Processor | Octa-core 2.1GHz+1.5GHz Quad | Octa-core 2.1GHz+1.5GHz Quad | Octa-core 2.1GHz+1.5GHz Quad |
| Camera | 16MP back, 5MP front | 16MP back, 5MP front | 16MP back, 5MP front |
One point worth noting: the new S6 edge+ and Note 5 are the first phones which can fully take advantage of Telstra's 4GX mobile network, which combines spectrum across its 700MHz, 1800MHz and 2600MHz spectrum bands. 4GX reception is currently limited to capital cities, but if you're in a location where it's available, there's a potential maximum speed of 450Mbps (though as with all networks, you're very unlikely to hit the top speed).
Release dates for Australia for the new phones haven't been specified (beyond "soon"); we'll update when we know more, including details of all the plans for buying the S6 range.