Early
September, Samsung announced two new flagship smartphones, both members of the
Galaxy Note family. We are talking about the highly anticipated Galaxy Note 4
and the new Galaxy Note Edge with its bent display. Since they are
two of the most powerful smartphones on the market we are going to put
them head to head in the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 4
specs battle.
There will be
ten rounds where we will be judging the performance of the two devices in terms
of Display, Dimensions, Connectivity, Memory, Camera, Design, Battery Life,
Operating System, and Price. Each round is worth one point and, of course, the
smartphone that manages to score most points wins the battle.
Display
Without a
doubt, the screen is the main selling point of the two devices. Both
phablets come with Quad HD screens.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 features a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with Quad HD (1440
x 2560) resolution and a pixel density of 515 ppi. The screen is protected by a
Gorilla Glass 4 layer.
On the other
hand, Galaxy Edge has a curved edge screen measuring 5.6 inches
diagonally and having a total resolution of 1600 x 2560. It has a
protective Gorilla Glass 3 layer and a pixel density of 524 ppi.
Even though
they are both similar when it comes to resolution and size, Galaxy Note 4’s
screen is more appropriate for basic tasks such as web browsing or
watching videos. Furthermore, it’s less prone to scratching courtesy of the
Gorilla Glass 4 layer. Note 4 win the display round.
Dimensions
We are
dealing with two phablets here, so don’t expect anything decent when it comes
to dimensions. Both come with 5.5+ inch displays, therefore the body needs to
be large enough to accommodate them.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 is 153.5 mm tall, 78.6 mm wide, and only 8.3 mm thin, while
weighing in at 176 grams. Galaxy Note Edge is 151.3 mm tall, 82.4 mm wide, 8.3
mm thin and weighs in at 174 grams.
As you can
see the Galaxy Note Edge is more compact than its cousin. The curved device
wins this round.
Connectivity
The
connectivity features are fairly similar for the modern smartphones. Let’s see
what hides under the hood of Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge.
Connectivity-wise
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 arrives with LTE Cat 6 or Cat 4, HSPA, Wi-Fi
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1 Low
Energy, NFC, IR blaster, and microUSB 2.0. On the other hand, Galaxy Edge comes
with LTE Cat 6 or Cat 4, HSPA, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi
Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy, NFC, IR blaster, and microUSB 2.0.
Can you spot
the difference? No? Well, it’s probably because there’s no difference between
the two in terms of connectivity. This round ends as tie.
Memory
Games, apps,
your music collection, your favorite TV shows, and lots of photos. All these
require a lot of storage, so let’s see how Note Edge and Note 4 perform.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 integrates 32 GB of internal storage and has support for 128 GB
microSD cards. Believe it or not, Note Edge also comes with 32 GB storage
and a microSD cards that accepts up to 128 GB of external storage.
Android is
famous for its multitasking and Samsung took it to another level with Multi
Window. Both devices arrive with 3 GB of RAM, so the multitasking experience
will be flawless.
As you can
see for yourself Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy Note 4 are
identical when it comes to Memory. The round ends as tie.
Processor
The high-end
smartphone market is currently dominated by Qualcomm’s chipsets. Even though
Samsung has their proprietary Exynos SoC, the South Koreans are using
Qualcomm’s solutions for many of their phones.
Both Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge are underpinned by the exact same chipset.
We are talking about a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor that is based on four
Krait 450 cores clocked at 2.5 GHz and an Adreno 420 GPU.
There’s no
way to differentiate the two devices when it comes to Processor. Another round
ends as tie.
Camera
Samsung’s
flagship smartphones have always boasted about great cameras. Galaxy Note 4 and
Galaxy Edge make no exception.
Just like
Note 4 and Note Edge have the same processor, they also arrive with the same
cameras. They pack 16 MP primary shooters with optical image
stabilization, autofocus, and LED flash. They also integrate Dual Shot,
Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile
detection, panorama, HDR, and support for 4K video recording. The fort-facing
units of the two smartphones have 3.7 MP sensors with Wide Selfie feature.
Yes, you are
right. The Camera round also ends as tie.
Design
In the past,
Samsung received a lot of criticism for the design of their phones, many
customers and journalists complaining that their devices aren’t
premium-enough. We are glad to see that Samsung is taking huge steps forward
towards a premium design.
Starting with
Galaxy Alpha, Samsung’s smartphones started using premium materials. Both
Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge are building using premium materials and
they are fairly similar in design. They both have a metal flame around the
body, a faux leather back that feels soft and high-quality, and they both have
a slot for the S Pen stylus in the lower left corner. The main camera is placed
in the higher end of the phone, centered, and right below it there’s a
heart rate monitor. Both have a fingerprint sensor embedded in the Home button.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 continues the design philosophy introduced by its predecessor,
the Note 3. It has sharp edges and less rounded corners. Note Edge follows the
same design guidelines, but its display is bent over one of the edges. It’s a
bit wider than Note 4, but in the same time it’s shorter and slimmer.
Both devices
look and feel premium and there’s no way to tell which one looks better. This
round is a tie.
Battery Life
Besides
sporting big displays, the phablets are also known for having above-average
battery life. Let’s see how Note Edge and Note 4 perform when it comes to
autonomy.
Samsung
Galaxy Note Edge is powered by a Li-Ion 3,000 mAh battery. In our tests the
device managed to get through about two days of normal usage on a single
charge.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 is kept alive by a 3,220 mAh battery using the same Li-Ion
technology. We’ve tested the Note 4 and we can say that it’s battery is large
enough to keep it awake through about two days of normal usage.
Even though
Note 4 has a slightly bigger battery, the two smartphones are similar when it
comes to battery life. It’s a tie!
Operating System
Samsung is
the largest Android OEM in the world and both Note 4 and Note Edge are
underpinned by Google’s mobile OS. They both come pre-loaded with Android 4.4
KitKat.
Both phones
have Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz UI installed on top of Android 4.4.4
KitKat, bringing some neat software features. Just to name a few Smart Select (allows
the user to easily select content using the S Pen and share it right away),
Photo Note (you can take photos and convert analog text to digital), enhanced
Multi Window (you can now resize the windows), Fast Charging (go from 0% to 50%
in about 30 minutes), and Ultra Power Saving Mode (shuts down unnecessary
processes to dramatically increase battery life).
Besides all
the aforementioned features, Galaxy Note Edge has a couple of aces up its
sleeve. You can move all the notifications to the Edge screen (side screen) and
you can enable it to be always on while sleeping and transform your phone in
some sort of alarm clock. You can also customize the information shown on the
side screen, place shortcuts there, or have a different background.
The
Edge-specific software features are quite intuitive and quite useful and the
phone definitely outmatches its cousin when it comes to OS. Galaxy Note Edge
wins the operating system round.
Price
We will try
to keep it simple in the Price round. The cheaper smartphone wins. And because
high-end phones are usually sold on-contract, we will be comparing the
on-contract prices of the two devices.
In the US,
AT&T and Sprint are the biggest carriers to have the Galaxy Note Edge in
their portfolio. AT&T is selling the 32 GB Galaxy Note Edge at a price of
$399.99 with a two year-contract, while Sprint is asking $429.99 for the 32 GB
model after you sign a two-year agreement with them.
The price of
the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is the same whether you purchase it from AT&T or
Sprint. The 32 GB variant costs $299.99 with a two-year contract.
Without a
doubt, Galaxy Note 4 is the cheaper device. That’s why it wins the Price round.
Conclusions
Here we are
at the end of the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 4 specs
battle. It’s about time to start counting points and to see which smartphone is
the winner.
I will start
by saying that not less than six rounds ended as tie. The two devices where
equally matched in terms of Memory, Camera, Processor, Connectivity and Design.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 has won the Display and Price rounds. It’s because its screen is
more appropriate for basic tasks such as web browsing or watching videos and
because it’s cheaper than Galaxy Note Edge.
Samsung
Galaxy Note Edge outmatched Galaxy Note 4 in two rounds. It scored two points
for winning in Dimensions and Operating System rounds, because it’s more
compact and because of the Edge screen-specific software features.
In
our opinion, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge are equally
matched, so you can choose any of them without failing. In fact, it’s
all about finding the smartphone that fits your needs. Of course, you are
entitled to have a different opinion, that’s why we are inviting you to comment
in the section below.
