LatestNews: Inside the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

Summary:Samsung’s long-awaited Galaxy S6 Edge has fallen into the hands of the repair (and disassembly) experts over at iFixit who have done with it what they do best — taken it apart!

Samsung’s long-awaited Galaxy S6 Edge has fallen into the hands of the repair (and disassembly) experts over at iFixit who have done with it what they do best — taken it apart!

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One thing that’s pretty clear right from the start is that the days of the Galaxy S-series handsets having user-replaceable batteries are long gone. The handset is sealed up with copious amounts of glue — requiring the use of an iOpener to get past it all — with the battery itself being hidden behind the midframe. Getting in there is doable, but you will need specialist tools, a lot of patience, and possibly a swear jar. Also, if you crack the glass and try to carry out a repair, there’s a good chance that you’ll break the display in the process, making your day worse and you sadder.

Inside the S6 Edge the team came across a diverse array of parts, including a lot of Samsung-branded components:

Samsung Exynos 7420 octa-core processor – 64-bit, 2.1 GHz quad + 1.5 GHz Quad

Samsung K3RG3G30MM-DGCH 3 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM

Samsung KLUBG4G1BD 32 GB NAND flash

Skyworks 78041 hybrid multimode multiband (MMMB) front-end module (FEM)

Avago AFEM-9020 PAM

Wolfson Microelectronics WM1840 audio codec

Maxim MAX98505 class DG audio amplifier

Samsung N5DDPS3

InvenSense MP65M 6-axis accelerometer and gyroscope

Samsung C2N89U

Samsung Shannon 928 RF transceiver

Broadcom BCM4773 GNSS location hub

Maxim MAX77843 companion PMIC

iFixit

That curved screen, while looking cool, is going to cost you if you crack it. According to iFixit, while a flat piece of glass might only cost $ 3, that curved piece of glass is $ 26 — and we’re just talking the glass here, not the actual display.

Another interesting discovery is that the USB 3.0 connector found in the Galaxy S5 has in the S6 Edge been downgraded to a USB 2.0 microUSB port.

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Tech specs

Samsung has finally unveiled its long-awaited and much-rumored flagship smartphone. Well, two smartphones to be accurate. Joining the standard Galaxy S6 is the Galaxy S6 Edge that features a dual-curve display.

First, let’s take a look at the basics:
- 5.1-inch 2,560×1,440 Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 577 ppi
- Exynos Octacore processor
- 3GB LPDDR4 RAM
- 32/64/128GB UFS (Universal Flash Storage) 2.0 internal storage
- Android 5.0 Lollipop
- 16MP f1.9 rear camera with optical image stabilization and live HDR
- 5MP f1.9 front camera with live HDR
- Fingerprint reader
- Category 6 LTE offering up to 300 Mbps down/50 Mbps up data transfer speeds
- Wi-Fi 802.11 AC with HT80 MIMO, Bluetooth LE, NFC, IR blaster
- 2,550mAh (S6) and 2,600mAh (S6 edge) batteries
But these are just the bare specs, let’s take a deeper look at some of the changes.

Availability: April 10.

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Fast charging, wireless charging

Got stuff to do, you’re in a hurry and your smartphone is almost flat? The Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge features a fast charge function that gives you 4 hours of usage from a 10-minute charge.

The Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge also feature wireless charging, supporting WPC and PMA standards, as well as offering support for Qi-enabled chargers.

One downside is that you’ll have to purchase the wireless charging pad separately, which is a bit of a rub.

Camera

As well has having a larger f1.9 aperture front and rear camera – which should dramatically help low-light performance – Samsung has worked on making the camera faster to access. Samsung claims that you can launch the camera in 0.7 seconds no matter whether you are using the smartphone or it is locked.

Crisp display

Both the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge are equipped with a 5.1-inch 2,560×1,440 (QHD resolution) Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 577 ppi.

Construction

With the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge Samsung has moved away from plastic to adopt a seamless, full metal and glass construction. The glass comes in the form of the highly durable Gorilla Glass 4, and the glass has been treated with a special reflective material on the inside to give it a highly jeweled finish.

Designs

The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will be offered in White Pearl, Black Sapphire, and Gold Platinum options, along with a special Blue Topaz for the Galaxy S6, and Green Emerald for the Galaxy S6 Edge.

The Good and the bad

The upsides:
- Beautiful construction
- Powerful hardware
- Broad support for wireless chargers
- Dramatically improved camera hardware
- Improved fingerprint reader (a touch reader as opposed to the awkward-to-use swipe system)
- Less pre-installed bloatware
The downsides:
- Expensive
- Wireless charging pad is an extra purchase
- No microSD card slot for expansion
- 3GB of RAM and not 4GB
- Battery is smaller than present in the current S5