Samsung phones feature Exynos 7, wireless charging

Samsung has recently announced a couple of smartphones with bigger displays in a smaller form factor. The Samsung S6 Edge+ and Note 5 will be available in the U.S. and Canada on Aug. 21.

"There is a paradox of size, consumers want a big, brilliant display but not a bulky phone," said Justin Denison, VP of product strategy and marketing for Samsung Electronics. "Consumers were forced to choose between screen size and portability; we didn't think that was a choice you should have to make."

Samsung president and CEO JK Shin said the Note 'didn't just succeed, it created a category.'

Despite a rumour that Qualcomm would get a design win for its Snapdragon SoCs in at least one of these two phones, the Samsung Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ are both using Samsung application processors and Samsung LTE modems.

Both new models pack the same hardware as the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. They use a 64bit 14nm Exynos 7 octacore processor with four cores running at 1.5GHz and four at 2.1GHz in systems featuring fast charging capability.

The Note 5, lighter in weight, comes with a larger, curved 5.7in Quad HD Super AMOLED screen. Both phones have 4GB of LPPDR4 RAM, support LTE Cat 9, and can shoot in 4K with improved image stabilisation as well as a new feature called Live Broadcast that allows users to do live streaming directly to YouTube.

The phones also have fast wireless charging capability, though Samsung did not detail which wireless charging standard it supports. Samsung has made a 30 per cent improvement in charging time, with a 3,000mAh hour battery able to reach full charge in two hours.

The announcement, delivered to a packed crowd at Lincoln Centre in New York City, comes several weeks after Samsung delivered muted financial results that showed a 38 per cent YoY drop in the company's mobile division operating profit. Smartphone shipment growth is beginning to plateau in 2015, according to Avril Wu, TrendForce's smartphone analyst. Developed markets, which would ostensibly support leading-edge devices such as the Edge+, are already experiencing smartphone saturation.

To further differentiate its smartphones, Samsung announced the release of Samsung Pay and support for magnetic secure transmission and NFC technologies. Samsung officials touted Pay's ability to work with existing payment infrastructure as well as store brand cards. The mobile payment technology will launch in the U.S. in September.

The company also announced the next generation of its Gear 2 smartwatch and will unveil more details in September.

- Jessica Lipsky
??EE Times