Samsung's introduced two new phones to the world. One is the Note 5, a slight revision of last year’s Note 4, itself a slight revision of the previous year’s Note 3. The other is totally nuts. It’s also the one that might save the smartphone industry from its suffocating sameness.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ is itself a revision, a supersized Galaxy S6 Edge. More important, it’s Samsung’s latest play to beat back Apple’s blockbuster iPhone 6 Plus, or more realistically this fall’s presumed iPhone 6S Plus.
That Samsung has expanded its jumbo phone lineup beyond the Galaxy Note is no surprise; not everyone wants or needs a stylus, or the expense that comes with it. What’s surprising, though, and encouraging for an industry that’s spent the last several years marching steadily toward commoditization, is that the enormous phone Samsung decided to make wasn’t the perfectly serviceable but largely unremarkable Galaxy S6.
It was the S6's weirdo cousin.
On its face, this seems like an odd move. The critical reaction to the Galaxy S6 Edge was largely bafflement; the sides melting away had plenty of aesthetic appeal, but little utility. It also cost more. Samsung essentially was asking customers to pay a hefty premium for a new and unproven look.
Apparently not even Samsung had much faith that the S6 Edge would amount to much beyond a niche product; according to IDC research manager Ramon Llamos, the company manufactured five times as many standard S6 units as it did Edge iterations. So why, then, a few months later, push the Edge as its go-to super-sized smartphone?
Partly to differentiate from the Note 5, which despite its stylus and size maintains a more traditional look. But mostly because the Edge far exceeded anyone’s expectations. Turns out, people loved it. “The reception toward the Edge was much more than anticipated,” says Llamos, “and ever since then Samsung has been trying to trying to play catch-up.”
That Samsung took a gamble on an oddball phone with a premium price is remarkable. Even more remarkable, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ tells us the gamble paid off. And that tells us differentiation is possible, that smartphone sameness doesn't have to be the norm, and variety doesn’t have to come from lame software gimmicks or unsettling brand tie-ins. It’s a reassurance that, yes, there’s more than one way to make a smartphone.
The thing about those early S6 Edge reviews? They were right. The edges are basically useless, aside from a few cheap tricks. The most damning sign that they’re functionally opaque? You've haven't seen anyone ape them.
“Nobody else is really doing this edge technology,” says Llamos. “It’s not like when the first Note came out and within months you saw a lot of other me-too type devices. We’re not seeing that effect take place over here. I think the jury’s out among manufacturers saying, 'What’s the value in this, or is it just some sort of tech gimmick?'"
What those manufacturers are missing also is what’s most encouraging the Edge’s success. People aren’t buying the Edge because you can use it as a mildly clever nighttime clock. They’re buying it because they like how it looks. Just look at how Samsung pitched the Edge+.
“If you want a design that will stop friends in their tracks, we have the smartphone for you,” said JK Shin, Samsung president and CEO.
“This phone is elegant, understated, and finely crafted. Each detail was examined and reexamined,” marketing VP Alanna Cotton said when introducing the device on Thursday. “The metal bezel is even more subtle and refined.”
Any software or internal hardware features were buried under a mountain of messaging: This phone’s a looker. And Samsung’s right. It is a looker. And novel design doesn’t need to find justification in dead-end software tricks. “I think this is one of those devices that’s going to catch a lot of people’s eyes,” says Llamos.
As it turns out, that can be more powerful than any killer app.
It seems a little silly to get so excited over a successful smartphone that looks oh-so-slightly different than all the rest. But then you remember just how rare an occasion it is, and you get doubly excited.
Barring some dramatic upheaval in Apple’s long-established product schedule, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will debut next month. And they’ll look almost exactly like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which look like a beefier iPhone 5S, which was basically identical to the iPhone 5. They’ll join popular phones like the Samsung S6, Moto X, and LG G4, all of which are so similar in appearance—and enough like the iPhones—that you’d be hard-pressed to discern any difference from halfway across a subway car.
We had, it seemed, decided on what a smartphone looked like, and resorted to software tricks and ticks to try to stand out. Previous attempts at building something unique, like the banana-curved LG Flex, were poorly conceived or badly executed or both. More recent breakout stylistic efforts, like the Marshall-branded audiophile phone, seem more like attempts to service a niche that likely doesn’t exist.
The first Edge devices didn’t conform. They were weird in an environment where weird equals risk, and risk too often equals ruin. Just ask HTC. Had the Edge flopped, it may well have been the last significant attempt at trying something new; who other than Samsung has the budget and persistence to try so (relatively) ambitious a departure?
Instead, we have yet another Edge device. Not only that, but an Edge device Samsung favored above its more pedestrian equivalent. For the first time in recent memory, thinking different worked. And with any luck, Edge’s clear success will encourage others to think outside the anodized rectangle too.
All of which is to say that whether you like the S6 Edge+ or think it’s dumb, you should be glad it exists. It’s a reminder that there’s smartphone hardware evolution to be found beyond “thinner,” risk can be rewarded, and it's still OK to be different, no matter how much pressure there is to be the same.
