Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+: The decisive edge

Samsung has been launching its flagship Galaxy series smartphones in the first half of the year and the successor to its flagship  Note phablet in the second half. This year, after introducing the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, the Korean giant has launched the Galaxy S6 Edge+. What's so special about this smartphone that will compete against the recently launched Apple iPhone 6S ?

Design: The Galaxy S6 Edge+ is a beautiful piece of hardware. Designed on the lines of the Galaxy S6 Edge, it has an aluminium frame and Gorilla Glass 4, both at the front and the back. It is equipped with 5.7-inch display with dual curves at the edges. The home button bundles a fingerprint scanner and there is a camera module with LED flash - heart rate sensor at the rear. My review unit in dull golden looked like a piece of jewellery. It was slightly slippery and I was worried about dropping the phone and damaging the display.

Display: The 5.7-inch display on the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is top class. The colour brightness is superb, beating most of the flagship smartphones with wide viewing angles. With the curved edges, the display blends beautifully on the sides. Samsung has added a special functionality to the edge display as you can add your most important contacts to the edge for quick dialling. It also gives access to quick notifications when the phone's screen is off. In addition, it shows a dim clock at night when the phone is kept face down.

Performance: Samsung smartphones have got TouchWiz UI-based on Android 5.1. Over the years, Samsung has improved the TouchWiz UI and the phone feels super quick and smooth. Multitasking, streaming videos, gaming, etc. everything works smoothly in this phone. Powered by Exynos 7420 octa-core processor paired with 4GB of RAM, it managed gaming and other heavy graphic apps without any lag. There wasn't any heating issue with this device either. It is available in 32 GB onboard storage but it doesn't support expandable memory.

Camera: Yet another highlight of the Galaxy S6 Edge+ is its 16-MP rear camera with optical image stabiliser. The camera does a superb job of capturing images including in low light. It offers a host of settings that one can put to use while imaging. The results appeared equally crisp and bright on a bigger display too. Unboundedly, if you are carrying this smartphone, you would not miss a proper camera. It can even capture 4k videos.

Battery: It has a 3,000 mAh battery, which is a letdown as it failed to last me a day. I had to lower the brightness and manage my use to push it through a day. However, when the battery is about to die, you should turn on the battery saving mode, which will give you a couple of hours of extra juice. It also supports wireless charging, but you will have to invest in a wireless charger separately.

Bag it or Junk it: One of the best flagship smartphones in the market that comes at a cost.

Price: Rs 57,900 for 32 GB

Rating: 4.5/5

Plus: Design, Display, Performance, Camera

Minus: Battery, no expandable memory