This week’s introduction of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge brought back memories of when the first Samsung Galaxy Note came out in 2011. While many were pooh-poohing the smartphone for being too large and bulky, I was really excited and among the first owners.
Four years down and I have not regretted that decision to cut over from what was the last Symbian-based Nokia phone to the massive Android smartphone. In fact, my family of four now carries the entire Samsung Galaxy Note range (OK, we’ve retired the original Note).
Last December, I upgraded from my trusty but slowing Note 2 to the Note Edge. It’s been nearly three months and I’m really loving it — the same feeling I had with the first Note.
Here are five reasons why I like the Note Edge.
- The curved edge makes a difference — Bragging rights aside, the curved edge does serve a purpose. Useful buttons can be customised at the side. I’d go easy with the news feed though because when enabled, my battery life dropped substantially. Otherwise, the curve gives a good feel and is really useful for swiping from the right.
- See more with bigger screen real estate — With the bottom row of icons moved to the right edge, nearly the entire 5.6-inch screen can be used. The bigger real estate frees space for other uses, such as a simplified call, page indicator and application page buttons at the bottom.
- Smooth handling — The Note Edge is surprisingly easy to handle despite the seeming lack of grip on the right. I like the smooth, glassy feel of the edge.
- Location of camera button — Located at the top right hand corner when held in landscape mode, it’s just like using a conventional camera.
- 4G+ is really fast! — It is really fast at up to 300 Mbit/s. The high-speed data connectivity makes downloading files and streaming videos a breeze.
There are a couple of downside though. It nearly impossible to place a screen protector. I bought what was described as a very flexible screen protector designed to wrap around the curves but it did not work as promised. The portion of the protector over the edge just keeps popping up. In the end, I had to rely on a few droplets of nano screen protection solution to keep my Note Edge free from scratches.
The other challenge I faced — or, at least when I first bought the smartphone — was getting a suitable case. There weren’t many options then, unlike other popular models. Thankfully, I found one on www.qoo10.sg that met my needs.
At S$1,248 (without a plan), the phone costs quite a bit but as an early adopter, I like what I have experienced over the past three months.
Entelechy Asia 