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Samsung Galaxy Note 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ Comparison

Carrier: all major carriers
Manufacturer: Samsung

Reviewed August 27, 2015 by Lisa Gade, Editor in Chief (twitter: @lisagade)

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and edge+ phones

For some of us, deciding between the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ isn't easy. You know you want Samsung's 2015 flagship phablet, but do you want the curvy screen or the pen? It would be nice if Samsung had updated the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, the device that was the best of both worlds (albeit with one curved side rather than two). But they didn't. The Note 5 and S6 edge+ have identical specs--CPU, RAM, storage, screen size and quality, cameras, Android and TouchWiz versions and even the battery are identical. So it all comes down to where you want your curves, the S Pen and price.

Though many of us might perceive the Galaxy Note 5 with its Wacom active digitizer and companion pen along with an excellent suite of pen-centric software to offer more features and more complex hardware, the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ is the more expensive phone. We assume this is because Samsung has the pen technology down after 5 generations (and they own a stake in Wacom, which should reduce licensing costs) while the dual curved Super AMOLED display is still fairly new and hard to make with lower manufacturing yields. If you're price conscious, both of these big flagships will be hard on the wallet, but the S6 edge+ is the tougher to swallow at $800 full retail vs. $700. Each carrier prices the phones differently, so those are average prices. But the price difference between the two models remains fairly static at around $100.

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ and Note 5

I'm a fan of the S Pen, even more so now that Samsung has added the ability to take a quick note without turning the phone on. Simply pull the pen out of the silo and start writing with no need to wake or unlock the phone (this works even if you use PIN, password, pattern or fingerprint security). The pen makes screen captures easier than the karate chop method used on the S6 edge+, and you can annotate screen captures. Then there's S Note and handwriting recognition.

I know some of you bought previous Galaxy Note models simply for the high end specs and bigger screen, and don't actually use the pen. That's where the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ says "pick me!": it has everything except the pen and you get that unique and stunning dual curved edge design. Is that worth the added cost? That decision is yours to make. I can tell you that the edge+ is one stunning phone, and the gold model, if you're OK with a little bling, really stands out.

Benchmark Comparison: Note 5 vs. S6 edge+

	Quadrant	3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited	AnTuTu	Geekbench 3	Sunspider JavaScript Test (lower is better)
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+	34,422	24,397	64,059	1488/4782	349 (Webkit)/692 (Chrome)
Samsung Galaxy Note 5	34,631	24,463	63,086	1403/4713	351 (Webkit)/688 (Chrome)

Deals and Shopping:

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+: Which Should You Buy?

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 price: varies by carrier, on average started at ~$700 for 32 gig and $780 for 64 gig.

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ price: varies by carrier, on average started at ~$800 for 32 gig and $900 for 64 gig.

Website: www.samsung.com

Related Reviews:

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ Review

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Review

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Specs:

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+

Display: 5.7" Super AMOLED display with curved sides and Edge UX software. Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (518 PPI). Gorilla Glass 4. Has ambient light sensor, accelerometer and proximity sensor.

Battery: 3,000 mAh Lithium Ion Polymer rechargeable. Battery is not user replaceable.

Performance: 2.1 GHz Samsung Exynos 7420 octa-core CPU with Mali T-760 graphics. 4 gigs LPDDR4 RAM. 32 or 64 gigs UFS 2.0 internal storage.

Size: 6.06 x 2.98 x 0.27 inches. Weight: 5.4 ounces.

Phone: AT&T and T-Mobile: GSM quad band world phone with EDGE 2G, 3G and 4G LTE. Sprint and Verizon: CDMA dual band digital with 3G EV-DO Rev. a and 4G LTE.

Camera: 5MP front camera with wide angle f/1.9 lens and rear 16MP camera with f/1.9 lens, LED flash OIS and 4K video recording.

Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack.

Networking: Integrated dual band WiFi 802.11b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2 LE and NFC.

Software: Android OS 5.1 Lollipop with Samsung TouchWiz software. S Note, Action Memo, Multi-Window and various other Samsung apps.

Storage Expansion: none.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 5

Display: 5.7" Super AMOLED display. Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (518 PPI). Gorilla Glass 4. Has ambient light sensor, accelerometer and proximity sensor.