Technology

Samsung just got its groove back

YOU GOT TECH - Abe Olandres - The Philippine Star

August 16, 2015 | 10:00am

Samsung has just pulled the curtain on two of its new flagship smartphone last week -- the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge+, both of which are equally gorgeous and powerful devices.

Without blinking an eye, it is very obvious that the two new handsets heavily invested in the design and hardware of their predecessors, the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge. It is the first time in Samsung’s entire history that all of its flagship devices looked so much alike as if their DNA was spliced from one genetic source.

And Samsung admits, well, at least some of its executives that we talked to earlier, that they took the best features that consumers loved about the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge an incorporated all of that into the Note 5 and S6 Edge+ then sprinkled in a few enhancements.

Before the Galaxy S6, once could not really figure out Samsung’s genetic code. Every single year since the introduction of the Galaxy S, Samsung experimented on a newer look, a new feature-set or a new differentiator. It was good at doing the performance bump, primarily because they make most of their own parts but in terms of putting that single identifiable look for the entire family, they were still struggling.

This year was different. They created unique identifiers, settled on strong build materials and focused on unifying the entire family. They were even so confident of their own Exynos chip that all four flagships carry the same exact processor.

Take note that the hardware configuration of the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge+ are exactly the same and the only difference between the two is the exterior.

So yes, it looks like Samsung has just got their groove back.

The Galaxy Note 5 is beautiful, powerful and almost flawless. So is the Galaxy S6 Edge+.

The two are by no means perfect. They have their own share of flaws and shortcomings -- no removable battery, no expandable storage -- but those were calculated compromises that prioritized other aspects of the design. It may turn off a few people, even including long-time fans of the Note series, but most will just likely gloss over them.

Samsung is really good in the hardware department but they never got to that point where they were also really, really good at designing one. Not until this year.

The last Samsung phone that I bought was the original Galaxy Note. That was a very long time ago but every single year since then I always buy around half a dozen different flagship phones. This year was the second time I bought a Samsung smartphone and I got both the Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge. The Galaxy Note 5 is the next one.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 / Galaxy S6 Edge+</specs:

5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display @ 2560x1440 pixels, 518ppi

Gorilla Glass 4 (front and back)

Samsung Exynos 7420 64-bit octa-core CPU

ARM Cortex A57 2.1GHz quad-core, ARM Cortex A53 1.5GHz quad-core

Mali T-760 GPU

4GB LPDDR4 RAM

32, 64 internal storage

Dual-SIM, 4G/LTE Cat. 6 and Cat 9.

WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz & 5.0GHz, MiMo 2x2

Bluetooth 4.2, LE, ANT+

NFC