Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge features - quick look

Samsung has recently announced its 2015 flagship, the Galaxy S6. But alongside the flagship, the company also unveiled its second major curved-screen smartphone, the Galaxy S6 Edge. These two devices are very similar in specifications, though the Edge has a few more features to help it stand out. So today, we’ll walk you through as many as we can. Let’s take a quick look at all of the features you’ll get with the Galaxy S6 Edge.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge hands-on and first impressions

The Galaxy S6 Edge differs quite a bit from its predecessor, the Note Edge. The main difference here is that the S6 Edge has curves on both sides of the device, not just on the right. Using a Note Edge when you’re left-handed is particularly difficult, and it looks like the company has fixed that problem this time around. Now you can choose whether you want the edge features on the left or right side, though you can’t pick both.

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The first feature Samsung has been talking a lot about is the “People Edge”, which gives you the ability to access five of your favorite contacts directly from the edge of the screen. Swiping in from the top of the edge will pull up five contacts, and from there you can message or call any of them at any time. Swiping in from an individual contact will give you additional information on each contact, which will let you know if you have a missed call or text from that person.

You can assign different colors to each of your favorite contacts, as well. If you happen to leave your phone screen-down and receive a phone call, the color corresponding with that contact will light up the edge of the display. To dismiss the call, all you need to do is place your finger on the built-in heart rate monitor next to the camera. Of course, leaving your phone face-down isn’t the smartest thing to do, but this is a cool feature, nonetheless.

The next handy feature on the S6 Edge is the ability to use the edge as an information stream. You can choose to show things like the weather, news, social network feeds, and more. If you want more information on that topic, clicking on it will automatically open up the respective application. Also, your text messages, missed calls and emails will show up on the edge.

Thanks to the S6 Edge’s AMOLED display, you can use the edge as a low-power night clock. Simply set what time you’d like the night clock to show up, and plug it in on your bedside table. If you wake up in the middle of the night and need to check the time, the edge will show you, eliminating the need to pick up your device.

If you aren’t a fan of any of these features, you can turn them all off if you’d like. Of course, that might defeat the purpose of picking up the Galaxy S6 Edge over the normal S6, but we’ll leave that decision up to you. Do you think you could benefit from the S6 Edge’s features? Or are these just gimmicks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!