Samsung is a company that is usually a creature of habit, but sometimes it will offer the public some unique release, as was the case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge. Both phablets were launched on September 3 2014 and have since then been in a head to head competition. The question is what does one have that the other doesn’t?
Both devices measure in quite the same. The Galaxy Note 4 is at 153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5 mm (long, across, deep), while the Galaxy Note Edge is a tad bit shorter, wider and thinner at 151.3 x 82.4 x 8.3 mm. Given its left touch edge the Galaxy Note Edge was expected to be wider in order to accommodate the feature. As for the weight the difference is barely noticeable. The Galaxy Note Edge weighs in at 174 grams while the Note 4 is just 0.02 grams heavier at 176 g.
The display size on the Galaxy Note Edge is 5.6 inches, while the Note 4 is sitting at 5.7, not a biggie here. The resolution is the same for both handsets at 2560 x 1440, with a Super AMOLED screen making the colors crisp and vibrant, a delight for the eye. There is however a small difference in terms of pixelation. The Galaxy Note Edge has a slight advantage here at 525 ppi (pixels per inch), while the Note 4 stands at 515 ppi.
Both devices feature a 16 MP rear snapper, with the front one being also equally matched at 3.7 MP. The difference between the two comes in when looking at the features. While both cam recorders can take film in 4k and Full HD, the Note 4 can take pictures during the recording, a feature not made available on the Galaxy Note Edge. Both the Galaxy Note Edge and the Note 4 feature optical image stabilization, but the latter comes in with extra features opposed to the former. It gets macro-mode and night-mode for the camera, not a huge difference but still notable.
The hardware on the devices differs quite a bit, and here things get HOT. The Note 4 is equipped with an Exynos Octa-Core at 1.9 GHz while the Galaxy Note Edge features a Qualcomm Quad-Core Snapdragon 805 pacing at 2.7 GHz. The GPU on The Galaxy Note Edge is an Adreno 420, while the Note 4 packs an ARM Mali-T760. Both of the handsets feature 3 GB of RAM and a similar storage capacity, 32 GB internal, while the microSD storage capability extends to 128 GB on the Note 4 opposed to the 64 GB on the Galaxy Note Edge. You can get the Galaxy Note 4 with the same GPU and CPU as the Note Edge, too, for a slightly higher price and only in certain regions around the globe.
The battery on both machines tops at 3220 mAh, with a reported 3G talk time on the Note 4 of 907 minutes. We can assume that the run-time for the Galaxy Note Edge is similar, with slight variations given the edge-screen. The connectivity on both devices is evenly matched in terms of features: Bluetooth 4.1, hotspot, microUSB, Infrared etc.
Now if we are to decide the ultimate winner here, it is going to be a tad tricky. Both devices are much alike, with the Note 4 having a slight upper hand in terms of hardware. On the other hand the Galaxy Note Edge offers the edge-screen giving it extra capability when talking about app usage. That alone gives the Galaxy Note Edge a full retail price on Verizon of $799, opposed to the $699 on the Galaxy Note 4. Quite a difference I would say. So if the edge-display doesn’t get your eyes glowing, than probably the Note 4 is the better choice given its several advantages and lesser price.