When Samsung pulled the lid off the Galaxy Note Edge, we have to admit, we giggled.
A curved screen, a pen... what more could you possibly need on a smartphone? Then they opened the doors to a hands-on session and we spotted it had a ruler function built in.
Our gimmick alarm was sounding on full song. It has also taken a long time to come to market compared to the Note 4, leaving us convinced that it was more an attempt to steal the limelight of the iPhone 6 than anything else.
It's been sat on our desk for a while now and we're surprised by what it can manage.
The Good
The Bad
Review Index
What to Read Next
Why do smartphones look the way they do? Nokia certainly made some experiments in the early noughties but ultimately, the big slab n' screen approach has always won out.
So then, designers are fairly restricted by the ergonomics presented to them by traditional smartphone design. Flexible displays, however, mean a whole new world of opportunity has been opened up.
Samsung loves experimenting with technology and more often than not, it just doesn't pay off. The Note Edge is a sort of half and half. In many respects the curved display is a total boon, opening up easily tweakable settings menus without interrupting the main display.
In other ways though, the curvature doesn't quite lend itself to ergonomics. It's not easy to bend a thumb or finger around it to get proper contact and easily swipe through menus. Fortunately, using the S Pen rectifies this.
Ultimately though, the Note Edge is just a Note 4 with a wobbly screen on the side. Dimensions consist of 151.3 x 82.4 x 8.3 mm and 174 g. Amazingly, in the hand the Note Edge feels more compact than both the Nexus 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.
In fact, it falls right in the sweet spot for 'big phone' size to us. Comfortable to hold, yet not so big that its size takes up too much space in your pocket.
Specifications in terms of internal hardware are identical to that of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. That means the best Android has to offer right now.
You have a Qualcomm 805 chipset with a 2.7Ghz processor, 3GB of RAM, a 3000 mAh battery and more connectivity options than you could possibly shake a stick at.
Have a look at our full Note 4 review to see the complete list
But what really matters is that alongside the 5.6-inch 1600 x 2560 pixel Super AMOLED display is a curved screen. You get the same incredible clarity and picture quality of the original Note 4, but with that additional curve.
Irritatingly that curve appears to have impeded battery life a fair bit. The 3000 mAh unit just isn't as long-lasting as the one found in the Note 4, likely due to the extra strain put on the battery by that display.
Other than that though, it's snappy as always. Android really doesn't have any issues anymore with performance and we found the Note Edge to be no exception to this rule.
We aren't going to go into the merits of TouchWiz and its issues here, they have been completely covered off in the Note 4 review.
Instead what we are interested in is what difference that curved display makes to the standard TouchWiz experience.
The answer is, quite a lot. In terms of stock applications, the curved part of the Note Edge is used to rather great effect. It basically frees up screen space and uses the curve for icons and settings.
Case in point the camera app. It has the shutter button as well as any other settings sat on the curved part of the display. The same goes for S Note, which lets you adjust pen settings from menus that pop out of the curved screen.
Where it is a little less useful is when you have the home screen setup. Basically, the menu on the curved display can be scrolled up and down to reveal different widgets, as well as quickly pop out app folders.
These widgets consist of things like timers, the weather, news updates and the ruler seen in an image above. For the most part, it's just a gimmick. Here is where the Note Edge is less obviously useful.
Does the added functionality justify the cost over the Note 4? Probably not, but there isn't a phone out there which will turn heads more. So are you a form or function kind of person.
We really like the camera on the Note 4 and Note Edge. QHD screens deliver such a sense of perceived image quality that to be honest, the camera can often seem better than it is.
Blow up an image captured with the Note Edge's snapper and the processing and sharpening becomes more apparent. Leave it on your screen, however, and view it there (which is where most people will) and the snapper is right up there with the iPhone 6 Plus.
Low light photography is also pretty good as is the bundled flash. Ultimately, you're getting the same high-end experience found on the Note 4.
Would I bother with the Note Edge? That's the question everyone has been asking me.
Part of me wants to say no, because the Note 4 and Nexus 6 are so damn good. But then there is the other half who loves the proof of concept feel to it and the fact that it can actually be genuinely useful.
In the end, you get the same great phone as the Note 4, with a worse battery, but with the ultimate cool factor. So if you can afford the price premium, I'd go for it.
![Chris Hemsworth Bad Times at the El Royale dance [gif]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/digitalspyuk.cdnds.net/18/41/1539256413-chris-hemsworth-bad-times-el-royale-dance.gif?crop=0.4074074074074074xw:1xh;center,top&resize=360:* "Chris Hemsworth Bad Times at the El Royale dance [gif]")
