Galaxy S6 Edge Review: Four Weeks Later, Is Samsung's Curved Smartphone A Success?

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (image: Ewan Spence)

I’ve been carrying the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge for a month now and that has given me enough time to really get to grips with the South Korean smartphone. As it becomes widely available around the world, how practical is the S6 Edge, how does the curved screen work in practice, and could I live with this as my main handset for two years on a mobile contract? Let’s find out.
This isn’t a review that’s going to work down the main categories and forensically examine them in detail (you can look at my full review here on Forbes from April for that). Instead I want to look back at my time with the handset to pick out what works and what doesn’t in a mix of real world scenarios. As well as kicking around the office and joining me on the school run, the S6 Edge has also come with me on a business trip to London (from Edinburgh) and a weekend visit to Amsterdam to attend a music gig.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (image: Ewan Spence)

I want to start with two elements of the S6 Edge that have had the most impact. The first is wireless charging. Long-time readers of my Forbes column will know that I’m a big believer in wireless charging. In my month with the S6 Edge, I can count on one hand occasions where I have used the microUSB port to charge the handset. Unsurprisingly those were on the two trips away from home with an overnight charging from mains power happening over four nights, and a top-up charge on the London trip from a portable USB charger. Every other dedicated charging moment has come from wireless charging.
While there are multiple wireless charging standards on the market, Samsung’s hardware is designed to work with all of them. I don’t need to worry about a charger being only Qi enabled (as my chargers are at home) or using the Power Matters Alliance hardware built into the tables of Starbucks in London. Nor do I need to worry about the orientation of the coils. Just drop the S6 Edge in the correct area, watch the notification pop up to tell me that charging has started (and usefully how long it will take to be full) and that’s that.
My biggest issue is that the smooth glass back of the S6 Edge on my small ‘puck‘ charger at home is not the most grippy of surfaces, and a stream of notifications can see the vibration motor bounce the S6 Edge off the puck over time.
The use of wireless charging means that the perceived issue with the small battery (2,600 mAh) has not been a problem for me in regular use because the S6 Edge lives on the charger. Have I noticed the lower capacity? Not in practice the S6 Edge has remained ‘full’ whenever I need it.

Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge

Travelling is a different issue, and at that point the smaller battery becomes evident. Within a few hours the issue started to prey on my mind and all the worries of battery management and ABCs (Always Be Charging) returned. The Edge still made it through a full day without running out of charge, but with a lot of online work, photography, and image upload it was a close run thing on one occasion (hence the portable charger came out). As long as you can charge the S6 Edge overnight it does get through a working day if you give it a bait of care and attention – which means no 3D gaming or buckets of video streaming?


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