New Delhi: Samsung has unveiled the new Galaxy Note 5 phablet and the Galaxy S6 Edge+ - a larger version of its curved-screen S6 edge smartphone - marking a fresh bid to revive momentum in its handset business. The South Korean giant has made several hardware changes for the new phones, including a faster processor for the Galaxy Note 5 and increasing the screen size of the S6 Edge+ to 5.7 inches from 5.1 inches on the S6 edge.
The new Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ smartphones will go on sale in the US and Canada from August 21, while the company has not yet announced as to when the phones will be available to buy in India.
Both the phone are powered by Samsung's Exynos chips, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Samsung dropped Qualcomm chips that powered most of its previous handsets, opting to use its own processors for the S6 models. Both the phones will come with 4GB of RAM.
The Note 5 and the S6 Edge+ feature a 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED (2560 x 1440) display, but the latter comes with a dual-edge screen. The Galaxy Note 5 comes with a set of new productivity tools such as SideSync, which offers both wireless and wired PC-smartphone integration for connections across devices, along with an improved 5th generation S Pen capabilities.
The new phones run Android 5.1, sport a 16 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera, and include a 3000 mAh battery with wireless charging capability.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 now lets users quickly jot down ideas or information even when the screen is off i.e., without even unlocking the phone.
The company has also announced a QWERTY keyboard cover for the Note 5 that can be easily snapped on the handset.
"The Air Command feature gets more intuitive and practical as well; now the icon hovers for instant access to all of S Pen tools from any screen at any time. Users can also annotate on PDF files and capture lengthy web articles or long images at once via Scroll capture," says Samsung.
The Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Note 5 also feature 4K(UHD) video filming and Live Broadcast, which lets users instantly live streams Full HD video straight from the phone to any individual, group of contacts, or even the public through YouTube Live. Anyone who receives the YouTube link from a Galaxy S6 Edge+ or Note 5 user is able to enjoy live stream video from his or her smartphone, tablet, PC or Smart TV with YouTube connectivity.
Both have 32GB or 64GB storage options available in White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum and Silver Titanium.
The new handsets will support the company's mobile payment service Samsung Pay that will launch on August 20 in South Korea and September 28 in the United States.
Samsung Pay lets users make payments by having phones send signals to existing magnetic stripe card readers, offering greater store coverage than Apple's Apple Pay service which requires retailers to install compatible equipment.
The payments service will expand to the United Kingdom, Spain and China, the company said, without giving dates.
Samsung will offer software updates in August to make Samsung Pay available on the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.
Samsung is the world's top smartphone maker but its market share fell in the second quarter when its critically acclaimed S6 models launched, squeezed by Apple's iPhones and price-competitive offerings from Chinese rivals such as Huawei Technologies.
The manufacturer responded with S6 price cuts and bringing forward the Note unveiling from its usual early September spot, ahead of the latest iPhone launch widely expected in September.
Samsung Galaxy Note 5
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
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