Samsung Unpacked

Limited change in new releases

By Anca Gagiuc on Oct 2, 2014 in Technology

Berlin –  The recent Samsung Unpacked’ event showed the world the products that will drive sales through the holidays and into 2015. Was it enough to put an end to the three straight quarters of falling returns and regain some mobile technology traction?

Here is a quick look at the new Samsung Lineup.

Galaxy Note 4

The new Galaxy Note 4 is the big-screen flagship for Samsung. It didn’t grow in size (thankfully), remaining at 5.7 inches, but it retains the plastic faux-leather backing even though it shoots for a classier look by removing the fake stitching mold and by adding the metal frame to a higher-res display. If you haven’t been a fan of previous versions, this is not your next phone.

The device has a heart-rate monitor and the S5’s fingerprint scanner integrated into the home button. The back cover is removable, allowing access to the battery and microSD card slot; a downside is its lack of water resistance feature existent in the Galaxy S5.

The Galaxy Note 4 presents the Super AMOLED display with a “quad HD” resolution translated into 2,560 x 1,440 pixels; the pixel density reaches new heights through the boost from 1,080p to quad HD resolution.

The S Pen became more sensitive, seeking to mimic natural handwriting, and was given some function inspired by the computer mouse: minimizing the app windows and dragging them around for multitasking, copy/paste, and define words that appear on the screen. Interestingly, and somewhat disconcerting, is the fact that the app windows were treated like standard PC windows – the fact that they don’t always scale in size can clutter space pretty fast.  The drag-and-drop window design demands some work until you get used to it.

The Note 4 has with it the Galaxy S5’s 16-megapixel camera improved with added optical image stabilization. Even though HDR preview mode is a recent feature that improves low-light performance, outdoor shots still look better than indoor ones. New is the 3.7-megapixel wide-angle front-facing camera, transformed into a tool for selfies.

The 3.220mAh battery will have to feed the power-hungry monster screen, but the power-saving modes should take care of it. The Galaxy Note 4 runs on a 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, faster than its 801 predecessor. LTE included, 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage with microSD of up to 128GB.

Available in black, white, gold, and pink, the Note 4 is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and will be ready to purchase in October 14. Price-wise it starts at $300 on-contract and $600 full retail, but prices vary among carriers.

Galaxy Note Edge

Galaxy Note Edge is Samsung’s way of taking advantage of its bendable OLED displays. The device has the right side of the screen fold over the side of the handset, ready to take care of notifications so they don’t get in the way of whatever the user does on the screen.

This exact feature is what gives the device the premium feel, a lot more premium than the above mentioned Note 4. And even though, at the time being, the extra bit of screen might lack in uses, pretty sure developers and consumers alike will find ways to give it the much deserved importance.

The great part is that this side of the phone works independently of the main screen, thus you can add to it weather, Twitter, or news updates. Furthermore, if the main display is off, one swipe of the edge allows you to see notifications and updates. Even more so, when you watch the clip of a movie, the controls will be on the edge of the screen, thus leaving the main part completely free.

Specs-wise the Galaxy Note Edge resembles pretty much the Note 4: fingerprint sensor, Super AMOLED touchscreen just a bit smaller (5.6 inches) but with 1,600 x 2,560 pixels, microSD card slot of up to 128GB on top of the 32/64GB internal storage, 3GB RAM and 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805. The battery is a bit smaller, at 3,000mAh.

No official announcement has been made on the device’s release date in the US, or the price.

Gear S smartwatch

Samsung Gear S, the sixth smartwatch released by Samsung, makes use of the curved OLED display. Waterproof, black or white, think and heavy, the 2-inch puppy is like a larger Gear Fit. Designed to curl around the wrist and giving the feeling of a computer cuffed around it, it slims only by the swappable bands.

The 1.0GHz processor moves fast and is responsive, navigates through notifications and allows tapping out quick responses and tracking steps. It also allows entire emails to be read on its display and see your entire workout and sleep information in one place.

Specs-wise the Gear S is powered by a dual core 1.0GHz chipset running on Tizen-based wearable platform with 512MB RAM and with 4GB internal memory. Its sensors include accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, heart rate, ambient light, UV measurer, and barometer. The 300mAh Li-ion battery is said to hold two days.

As with the Note Edge, the release date and pricing has not been announced yet.

Are you a Samsung fan? How do you think the latest releases compare with Apple’s new devices?