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Samsung announced its newest flagship devices, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and Galaxy Note 5, on Thursday.
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If the popularity of Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge is anything to go by, it makes sense that it was going to offer a larger-screened device with curved edges. But instead of making a Note 5 with curved edges, Samsung decided to make a larger version of the popular Galaxy S6 Edge.
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Both phones have large, sharp 5.7-inch displays, and they both feel positively premium. Samsung has ditched any trace of plastic on the exteriors of both phones.
Samsung also showcased its answer to Apple Pay, aptly named Samsung Pay. It uses MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission), which is the same technology that reads the magnetic strip on the back of your credit cards.
You can check out photos and more features of the new phones below.
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Here they are: The Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5, Samsung's newest flagship devices.
Let's start with the new Galaxy Note 5.
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It takes a lot of cues from the Galaxy S6, like a shiny pearl sheen effect on the front and back.
It looks a lot like the Galaxy S6, but just a little less round around the corners. Samsung managed to squeeze in its large 5.7-inch screen so that it's not that much bigger than the S6.
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This is the Note 5's back. It's non-removable, which means you can't switch out the battery or add extra storage with a microSD card like you could with previous generations of Galaxy Note devices.
The Note 5's back has curved edges.
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The curved back helps make the Note 5 comfortable to hold and use.
Here's a gold-colored Note 5 with the curved back.
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The Note 5's S Pen stylus pops out when you press it like a button, and it locks back in when you put it back.
The S Pen in front of the Note 5.
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You can now write notes quickly by simply removing the S Pen stylus. Before, you had to unlock the Note 5 and open the S Memo app .
You still get Air Command when you press the button on the S Pen stylus, which gives you access to some of the Note 5's features, like Action Memo, Smart Select, Screen Write, and S Note. And you can add shortcuts to things like apps and contacts.
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Another great new feature Samsung introduced in the Note 5 is Scroll Capture, which lets you capture an entire web page in one screenshot.
And it results in something like this. You can zoom in and add notes with the S Pen stylus.
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For comparison, the Note 5 is on the left, and the Note 4 is on the right.
The Note 5's edges appear a lot thinner because of its curves.
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And the Note 5 (bottom) has straighter, more uniform edges compared to the wavy lines of the Note 4's top edge.
Now let's check out the Galaxy S6 Edge+.
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It's essentially a larger version of the original S6 Edge.
The Galaxy S6 Edge+'s.
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The curved screen is mostly for looks, but you can swipe over to see a list of your favorite contacts.
You can also store apps in the slide-over menu.
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Here's a black Galaxy S6 Edge+.
Both phones come with Samsung Pay, which uses the NFC technology that's also found in the iPhones. One of Samsung Pay's main selling points is that it also runs MST technology, which is used by almost every single payment terminal that reads a credit card's magnetic strip. In theory, you can use Samsung Pay anywhere credit cards are accepted.
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The phones have a new live broadcast feature, which is built into the camera app. It lets you stream live video to your YouTube account.
Here's a curious keyboard case that gives the S6 Edge Plus a BlackBerry-style keyboard. It cuts off the bottom of the Edge+'s screen, but it automatically raises above the keyboard. The Note 5 has a similar accessory.
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The Note 5 and S6 Edge Plus both have a new feature called UHQ Upscaler that improves the quality of sound coming from your phone.
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Now check out this video of the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+
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