Samsung's 'Edge' over tomorrow's smartphones

The Galaxy Note Edge's curved display increases the scope for multitasking

No one seemed convinced initially of Samsung’s big phones. We need a phone, not a projectile, cringed the doubting Thomases. Now, even the design demigod, Apple, is trying to catch up with its Korean rival. So, it is only fitting that Samsung invent a use for those huge screens. And that defines the Galaxy Edge, the Note 4 with a curved screen on its right edge that increases the scope for multitasking.

The Edge is similar to the Note 4 on most counts, including the S Pen and fingerprint scanner. One major change due to the curved screen on the Edge is that the power/sleep button goes on the top edge instead of the right as in the Note 4. It’s bit of an effort to use it from there, and not just because we’ve become used to the key’s position in most phones now. The Edge has a smaller battery (3,000mAh) than the Note 4 (3,220mAh). On the top of the display, the sensors and the earpiece are located similarly in the Edge and the Note 4; the 3.7MP front camera moves a little farther on the right while the LED notification comes closer to the earpiece from the far left in the Edge. The Edge’s infrared blaster, which works as a remote control for smart devices, has moved closer to the microphone on the top edge. The Edge has a chamfered metal frame only in the front, unlike the Note 4.

The Edge is a little shorter and wider and has little more pixels (524) on every inch of the screen than the Note 4 (515). Most items that used to be on the dock at the bottom of the screen have been moved to the edge display. As a result, you have only shortcuts to the dialler, app drawer and homescreens on the screen’s bottom.

On the edge display, you either swipe up/down or right/left. The edge can take up to 10 display panels. By default, you have an app drawer panel that includes the dialler, phonebook, messages, browser, camera, Google Play Store and Google apps folder. A pencil icon on the bottom of some panels lets you choose what you want in each of the panels; you can also change the order of the panels. The first one is the homescreen for the edge display, to which the panel switches when you press the home button at the bottom in the front. Go to the settings shortcut under the pointer at the bottom of the edge display and drag-drop apps on to the panel or, if you want apps grouped, on to bar on the top of the screen prompting you to ‘Create folder’. From the Samsung store, you can download new panels, such as a recent apps drawer, Yahoo! and CNN news panels that run like a ticker tape, a word game and a weather app.

You can put a background photo with effects as a wallpaper on the edge display from the ‘Express Me’ option. You can choose a quote or a message to be displayed as the edge display text, which by default is ‘My Galaxy Note Edge’. The night clock option lets you choose the period of the day (of not more than 12 hours) when you can use the edge display to work as a bedside watch (showing the date, time and weather) even as the phone is in sleep mode. Swiping down the ‘equal to’ sign on the top of the edge display opens the accessories tray that comprises a 10-cm/4-inch ruler, stopwatch, timer, LED flashlight and recorder. The accessories keep flickering to tell you they are ‘on’ currently. As in the status bar, while you are using the edge display, notifications appear on it to alert you. You can access the display when the phone is asleep by swiping twice.

The edge display is quicker than the recent apps shortcut and lets you go to the apps or close them from the lockscreen to boot. It means you don’t have to jump to the homescreens again and again. Because of the size of the edge display, the notifications don’t give any snippet view as is possible in the notifications shade. If you press the button on the S Pen even as you hover its tip over an app in the recent apps panel, you’ll get a snapshot of the app. Because of the edge display on the right, you can’t switch to multiwindow mode from both the top corners and relocate the side key panel on the right. The Note’s one-handed mode is retained, in which the whole screen size is reduced, and the edge display fits on to the shrunk window. The edge display disappears when you’re in another app but you just have to swipe the edge to bring it back. So, no disturbance. Besides, just your palm pressing the right edge won’t start it up. You have to touch the top of the edge display. That prevents the display from popping up unintentionally.

And being on the right edge does not put the lefties at a disadvantage. An option to rotate the screen by 180 degrees moves the edge display to the left if you turn the phone upside down. Subsequently, you get virtual home, back and apps buttons on the bottom of the screen.

I’m wowed by the edge display, though it repeats some of the features of the status bar. But remember you have to pay an extra Rs 10,000 above the Note 4’s cost. Or wait till others adopt this Samsung invention to bring down the price from Rs 64,990 now.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE EDGE

Dimensions 151.3x82.4x8.3mm; 174g (white & black)
Display 5.6” quad HD; Super AMOLED (2,560×1,600 pixels)
Processor 2.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805
RAM 3GB
Memory 32GB; expandable with microSD up to 64GB
Camera (front/rear) 3.7MP (f1.9; wide angle 120 degrees)/16MP
Operating system Android 4.4 (KitKat)
Battery 3,000mAh, fast-charging
Other features: S Pen; infrared LED (remote control); HD and ultra HD recording