Samsung is pressing on with new device launches this year, after the well-received S6 edge smartphone failed to hit the sales figures the South Korean tech giant was hoping for.
Samsung’s market share dropped in Q2 2015 despite the launch of its S6 and S6 edge smartphones, the latter with a screen that draped down over one edge to offer more functionality.
Despite good reviews for the phones, the high-end price point left many consumers cold. Apple has been capitalising on this with its launch of upscaled iPhones. Samsung’s trouble are also being compounded by the arrival of many popular and cheaper smartphone options on the consumer market.
In response, Samsung recently unveiled a new version of its Note phablet series, the Galaxy Note 5, as well as the new S6 edge plus, both of which will be on sale before Apple’s planned launch of new iPhones, likely to take place in September 2015.
The new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 will have a faster processor than earlier iterations and its stylus (the S pen) has also been improved. The device has a 5.7-inch display and Samsung has trimmed the phablet’s dimensions, making it thinner and shorter. The processor is the same as the one in the S6 and comes with 4GB of RAM.
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The Note 5 can be bought with either 32GB or 64GB of storage and, like the S6, there is no micro-SD slot for expandable storage.
Samsung’s S6 edge plus, meanwhile, will also have a slightly larger 5.7-inch display compared with the earlier iteration. The phone’s hardware, including the cameras, are unchanged but Samsung has moved to improve the functionality of its screen edge, which can be used to quickly access other apps and software.
Again, the S6 edge will be sold in 32GB or 64GB storage versions, and again Samsung has left out a micro-SD slot on the phone. Samsung is also due to launch its alternative to Apple Pay. Samsung Pay facilitates mobile payments by interacting with existing magnetic stripe card readers, which technically gives it better coverage than Apple Pay, since Apple’s setup requires compatible equipment.
Thanks to weak demand for its devices, Samsung dropped the price of the S6 edge already this year. That said, the new Note 5 and the S6 edge plus are likely to be pricey devices when they launch here.
The new Samsung Note 5 phablet is faster and slimmer
