A Samsung Galaxy Note Edge Smartphone
A visitor holds a new Samsung Galaxy Note Edge smartphone after its presentation at the Unpacked 2014 Episode 2 event ahead of the IFA Electronics show in Berlin, September 3, 2014. Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is a limited edition concept and a variant of the Galaxy Note 4, the flagship smartphone of this year from Samsung. Last year's Galaxy Note 3 is still a competitive handset as it is the first Note phablet to feature full HD resolution. It also houses a Snapdragon 800 chipset along with a great camera. We have compared the two devices to see whether the Note 3 can scare the Note Edge that features a marvelous curved display.

Design And Display

The Galaxy Note Edge has a unique curved rim on its right and comes with a premium and highly durable aluminum frame. The Note 3 is decked with a plastic frame. Both the devices have the same thickness of 8.3 mm. However, the Note Edge is slightly wider because of its curved body.

PhoneArena claims that users may end up accidentally touching the curved display while handling the Note Edge. There is no such problem on the Note 3. Also the power lock button is placed on the topside of Note Edge which is an inconvenient placement whereas on the Note 3, it is placed on the right edge.

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge features a 5.6-inch S-AMOLED display with a quad HD resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 pixels. The extra bit of screen on the right edge is 160-pixel wide. It offers a pixel density of 525 ppi. On the Galaxy Note 3, there is a 5.7-inch full HD display and it supports 386 ppi. PhoneArena claims that colour calibration on the Note Edge is accurate whereas the Note 3 has an oversaturated display. Also, the display of the Note Edge is more readable outdoors compared to Note 3.

Processor And RAM

The newer Snapdragon 805 chipset present inside the Note Edge is faster than the Snapdragon 800 of the Note 3. For selected markets, the Note Edge is also available in Exynos 5433 octa-core chipset version.

The Snapdragon 805 chipset houses Krait 450 processor that produces a max processing speed of 2.7 GHz whereas the Note 3's Snapdragon 800 chipset has a Krait 400 CPU performing at 2.3 GHz. Since the chipset of Note Edge takes a toll since it has to support a very high resolution display, benchmark tests from AnTuTu, Vellamo, GFXBench and GeekBench show that the performance of Note Edge is slightly better than Note 3.

Camera And Battery

The Note Edge is enabled with 16 MP OIS (optical image stabilization) camera that is capable of capturing stunning photos. In good lighting conditions, the 13 MP camera of Note 3 shoots amazing photos but fails behind in dim lighting conditions. When flash is used on Note 3 while taking photos, the images come with slight blue tint. The Note Edge manages to snap photos with accurate colours. In dim lighting environments, the Note Edge shoots photos with accurate colours even when the LED flash is kept on. PhoneArena claims that the image sensor of Note Edge is larger than the one present on Note 3.

The 3.7 MP front-facing camera has been designed to capture remarkable selfies with support for wider angles. The 2 MP frontal camera of the Note 3 is also capable of shooting decent selfies too.

The Note Edge is packed with a 3,000 mAh battery which is smaller in capacity when compared to the 3,200 mAh battery of Note 3. Thanks to clever optimization, even though the Note Edge has a high resolution quad HD display, it manages to outperform the Note 3's battery. PhoneArena's battery life test on both the devices showed that with non-stop use and the display always turned on, the Note Edge managed to last few minutes over 7 hours whereas the Note 3 was able to last for few minutes over 6 hours.

In conclusion, the Note Edge is a worthy upgrade over the Note 3. However, the only reason why users may opt for the Note 3 is because of the low price tag it comes with. The limited edition Note Edge is available with an off-contract price of $950.