The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus has been launched by Samsung today, alongside the Galaxy Note 5 phablet and Galaxy Tab S2 9.7in tablet.
You can find out all the details about the company's new flagship phone, including release date, specs, features and more, in this article and for more details on the Galaxy Note 5, please click here.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus at a glance:
- Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus launched at a special Unpacked event on 13 August
- The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus UK release date is 18 August, when it will be available to pre order
- As per rumours, the new phone will be in shops from 4 September
- The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus features a dual-curved 5.7in, 2,560x1,440 resolution, Super AMOLED screen
- The new phone comes with two cameras, a 5-megapixel selfie camera and 16-megapixel main camera
- The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus has 4GB RAM and up to 64GB storage, but no SD card slot
- The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus UK price starts at 749.00 for the 32GB version and 829.00 for the 64GB version
Read on for all the details on the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus latest news
13/8/15: The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus was launched at a special Samsung Unpacked event today, alongside the Galaxy Note 5. The new flagship smartphone will be available in the UK to preorder from 18 August and will be in shops from 4 September.
Like the Galaxy S6 Edge, the device has a 2560x1440 resolution, dual-curved screen. However, at 5.7in, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus' display is more than half an inch bigger than its predecessor's. It is available with either 32 or 64GB of storage, but has no SD card slot.
Click here for a full list of Galaxy S6 Edge Plus specifications and features.
12/8/15: The Galaxy S6 Edge+ will be available to pre-order from 21 August until the 3 September, according to a leak from Samsung France.
The French Samsung website accidentally published the details of a Galaxy S6 Plus pre-order bundle, which includes Level bluetooth headphones and a three month subscription to Google Play Music - Google's Spotify rival.
The page was first spotted by Dutch website Galaxy Club,but was pulled fairly quickly according toEngadget, and replaced with a preregistration page for the Unpacked event, which will be held tomorrow at 4pm BST.
At the time of writing, the URL now redirects to a blank CRM page almost immediately after loading, however, meaning that page, with the slogan "ready to discover innovation in its most spectacular dimension?", may also have been published too early.
10/8/15: The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will apparently come with a clip-on, physical QWERTY keyboard.
Images leaked by Evan Blass, aka @evleaks, show a picture of the phone in silver with a matching silver keyboard attached, which covers roughly the bottom fifth of the phone's screen and appears to extend beyond its lower edge by an inch or two.
It is unclear whether the accessory would come bundled with the new device, or if it would be sold separately, but the fact it exists at all is a little surprising. Of course this must be taken with a small pinch of salt, as it is a leak rather than an official announcement, however Blass is one of the most reliable leakers out there when it comes to new devices, so the chances of him being on the money are quite high.
4/8/15: Samsung has teased a little more information about what to expect next week at its unpacked event. The company is now inviting people to "note the date", and it's highly doubtful this is an accidental play on words.
As noted last week, this doesn't mean only the Note 5 will be launching, with the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus left by the wayside - the graphic would seem to indicate the contrary - but it is as close as we will ever get to Samsung flat out saying "we are launching a new Note tablet" before the curtain comes up on the Unpacked event.
1/8/15: Press renders of the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and Galaxy Note 5 have appeared online courtesy of Evan Blass (@evleaks), a reliable and notorious leaker of information on new smartphones.
The look of the devices is not revolutionary in terms of what had preceded them - the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus looks identical to last year's S6 Edge but bigger, while the Note 5 looks a lot like the Note 4, including stylus, but has some of the design features from the Galaxy S6, in particular its metal and glass finish.
For more information on the up-coming Galaxy Note 5, click here.
30/7/15: During its second-quarter earnings announcement, Samsung revealed it will be releasing a new version of the Galaxy S6 Edge "soon", the Financial Times reports. While the compny did not specify a day, given Monday's announcement of the 13 August Unpacked event, it is widely thought to be happening then.
27/7/15: Samsung has revealed it will be holding a special Unpacked event on 13 August. There is little else to say at this point in time, other than the graphic accompanying the announcement clearly shows a device with a dual curved screen. Does this mean we could only be seeing the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus appear at the event? Maybe, but that would be very unlike Samsung, which normally launches at least two devices per event. All shall be revealed in 17-days time.
20/7/15: German website AllAboutSamsing has published a set of photos of what it claims is the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.
The device is roughly the same size as the Galaxy Note 4, which it is shown alongside in one photo, in terms of height, but is noticeably narrower. This could mean the screen size is less than the Note 4's 5.7in (although that depends on if you take into account the S6 Edge Plus' curved edges).
Intriguingly, the device also shows the date 21 August. It is expected that the S6 Edge Plus, or edge+ as it is stylised on the screen, will launch on 13 August at the Samsung Unpacked event, which is to be held in New York. Traditionally, Samsung's devices go on sale about a month after launch, so this date could mean either that the company has brought forward its release cycle, or that the devices will be available to pre-order from one week after launch. There is, of course, the possibility that we are reading too much into it, as well.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus release date
Samsung revealed the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will be available to preorder in the UK from 18 August and, as had been rumoured, will be in shops from 4 September.
The Galaxy Note 5, which was revealed alongside the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, will not be launching in the UK.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus UK price
The price of the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus in the UK has been announced. The 32GB version will cost 749.00 with the 64GB version setting punters 829.
Users can also get the phone on a tariff from Three for 56 per month wiht a 99 upfront cost.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus specs and features
Read below for a quick overview of the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus' features, or click here to read our hands-on review.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus screen
The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus sports a whopping 5.7in screen - half an inch bigger than the Galaxy S6 Edge and 0.2in bigger than the iPhone 6 Plus.
As with the S6 Edge, the S6 Edge Plus has a dual-curved Super AMOLED screen to the left and right and the same 2560x1440-pixel resolution.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus memory and processor
Much like the screen specs, things are pretty similar on the inside of the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus as the Galaxy S6 Edge. It also features the same Exynos 7420 SoC processor, but has slightly more RAM than its predecessor (4GB, rather than 3GB).
In terms of storage, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is only available in 32GB or 64GB versions, whereas the original Galaxy S6 Edge went all the way up to 128GB. Once again, though, the new phone has no SD card slot, so there is no expanding the on-board memory.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus colours, weight and accessories
As you would expect from a bigger phone, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus weighs more than the S6 Edge - you get an extra 20g for the extra 0.6in of screen.
While the Galaxy S6 Edge was available in four colours - black, white, gold and green, the S6 Edge Plus has so far only been seen in gold and black, although Samsung has hinted other colours may become available in the future.
The company also revealed a busines-focused accessory for the device - a clip-on QWERTY keyboard - and it will be compatible with the company's wireless charger as well. Both are sold separately.
A leak on the company's French website indicated the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus may be available bundled with a set of Level Bluetooth headphones, however this offer has not yet appeared on the UK site.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus connectivity and operating system
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus comes pre-loaded with the latest Android operating system, Lollipop 5.1.
It is 4G enabled, as well as having 802.11ac WiFi connectivity and Bluetooth 4.2 LTE.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus battery
A bigger phone (generally) means a bigger battery, and the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus is no exception. Whereas the S6 Edge has a 2600mAh lithium-ion battery, the new Galaxy S6 Edge Plus has a 3000mAh battery.
Whether this will translate into longer battery life is unclear - it is quite possible that the increase is merely to support the energy needs of the larger screen.
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus cameras
The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus has two cameras - a front-facing, 5-megapixel "selfie" camera and 16-megapixel main camera on the rear.
The rear camera comes with image stabilisation and Samsung has also built in a tool that lets you use this camera to stream directly to YouTube.
The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus also comes with "Advanced Selfie technology", although it has not specified quite what this is, and editing features including filters.
Will the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus be a success?
As reported by our sister site, Alphr, Samsung's most recent financials suggest the existing S6 range may have been a flop.
The company's profits dropped by 4 per cent year-on-year, which was primarily due to a 38 per cent slide in the operating profits of its mobile division. The two major causes of these disappointing results were a crash in demand in the Chinese market, where the company is now only the fourth largest handset maker, and significantly overestimating demand for the Galaxy S6.
This sounds like bad news for any follow-up phones, however another part of the problem was that the company underestimated demand for the Galaxy S6 Edge. This would go a long way to explaining why its second 2015 flagship phone release is an Edge variant, rather than a standard S6.
It would seem the company has learned from its mistakes and, as long as Apple doesn't upset the cart in September, with the the launch of its new iPhone, the S6 Edge Plus will likely be a success.
Will the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus work in enterprise?
The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus has two problems when it comes to the enterprise. The first is concerns around the security of the Android platform. A survey conducted by IT Pro showed IT professionals would rather give workers iPhones than Android devices simply because they see iOS as a more secure operating system. Recent high-profile security bugs in Android, such as Stagefright and One Class to Rule Them All, are not going to help with this situation.
The second problem is making the business case for the S6 Edge Plus. The device will cost at least 100 more than the Galaxy S6, but the extra functionality you get for that money - which is itself rather limited - brings no value to the smartphone as a business device. Several IT Professionals told IT Pro that if a worker asked them for an S6 Edge Plus, or even the original S6 Edge, they would refuse but may give them a standard Galaxy S6, assuming for some reason the iPhone was not an option. Therefore, it is unlikely the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will make an impact in business.
This article has been updated on 4/9/2015. IT was originally published on 13/8/2015.
