When the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 came out earlier this year, not many were expecting to see a second iteration of the device revealed shortly after. The concept of releasing two different versions of essentially the same phone is becoming more common these days, but usually this occurs because of size preference. Phones are becoming bigger, and there are still some people who prefer smaller devices. That being said, the Galaxy Note does not seem like one of those phones that would ever cater to people who want a smaller phone - the whole point of the Note is that it’s big enough to be both a phone and a tablet, so when it came time to reveal that there was a second iteration of the Note 4, there were likely many puzzled faces in the crowd.
However, instead of a smaller Note 4, we were introduced to a different Note 4 - the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge.
There honestly weren’t too many differences between the Note 4 and the Edge, other than the obvious - which was the curved edge on the right side of the device. Well, and the price. And the potential of what the “edge” of the Galaxy Edge could do. But so far, that’s all the edge is - a strip of potential, but not much to write home about.
I had kind of written off the Edge as a one-time thing. I really failed to see what it can do. I still fail to really consider the concept a true blue innovative design, but perhaps it’s just because the slender secondary display has yet to really have any significant app support at the moment. You’ve got a few things going for it here and there with notifications, multi-tasking, and even some games, but nothing that people are saying “This is why the Galaxy Note Edge exists. This is what makes you want to spend that much more money over the Galaxy Note 4.” I still wonder if the Note Edge will be something that I will refer to a year or two from now as one of those interesting ideas that just never panned out, like the Sony Xperia Play, the Kyocera Echo, or even those “curved” displays that we only ever saw earlier this year with the LG G Flex or the Samsung Galaxy Round.
And perhaps it might be, but according to SamMobile rumor has it that Samsung may be incorporating an “Edge” version into the Samsung Galaxy S6 next year. If they did, then it wouldn’t be surprising for Samsung to make Edge their big selling point from now on. After all, having bigger phones can only go so far.
It could be beneficial for Edge to be introduced in more models. It’s hard to get developers on board when it’s not certain whether this feature will be any more than a gimmick, as I mentioned, a year or two down the line. The user base for Edge right now is also slim due to the fact that it is so expensive, not to mention the fact that is a really odd concept. Maybe with more exposure the price of having such a feature will go down, increase user base, and also increase interest from developers. Perhaps giving more attention to Edge is a better idea than completely writing it off.
I wonder if Samsung’s Edge will become something of importance in the future. A lot of Samsung’s features can be easily written off as gimmicks, but I want to think that Edge has the potential there to make it something worth mentioning. It just doesn’t have that yet.