Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge Plus may be a mouthful to say out loud, but the device itself is all about subtlety. The Plus makes some small but welcome changes to Samsung's already excellent flagship, with a larger 5.7-inch display that lets you do more with its curved edges. On top of that, you can enjoy richer audio and livestream video right to YouTube. Here are the coolest features of Samsung's latest plus-sized smartphone.
Bigger Display, Richer Audio
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The S6 Edge Plus retains the S6 Edge's striking and slim design -- there's simply more of it now. The phone's stunning 2560 x 1440 display has been bumped from 5.1 to 5.7 inches, giving you an even bigger canvas on which to enjoy your movies and games. Despite the jump in screen real estate, the S6 Edge Plus isn’t overwhelming in your hand, measuring 6 x 3 x .27 inches and weighing 5.4 ounces.
You can also expect the S6 Edge Plus to sound better. Touting what Samsung calls Ultra High Quality Audio, the smartphone can upscale music from sources such as YouTube and Pandora to a rich 24-bit, 192-kHz output quality.
Better Edge Features
The Edge Plus' dual curved-edge display isn't just bigger than before -- it also does more. Returning from the original Edge is the People Edge tab, which lets you quickly swipe in your main contacts from either side of the screen, but it's now complemented by new shortcuts for instantly launching into apps such as Instagram or using your music player. You can set five shortcuts at any given time. Look forward to spending less time wading through home screens.
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Cameras Live Stream to YouTube
The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus doesn't herald any changes to the S6's Edge's brilliant 16-megapixel camera, and it didn't need to. The S6's superfast rear sensor takes some of the best photos of any smartphone, and is complemented by neat features such as tracking autofocus for getting clear shots of moving objects. Its 5-megapixel front camera isn't too shabby either, with a 120-degree wide-angle lens for getting all of your pals in the same epic selfie.
The coolest new feature is the Live Broadcast mode in the camera app, which lets you start streaming whatever the cameras see to YouTube. Plus, you can invite your social friends and followers once the stream starts. (Take that, Periscope.)
Fast Performance and Samsung Pay
Like the original S6 Edge, the Plus touts a zippy octa-core Exynos 7420 processor for hopping between apps with ease. But this handset ups the RAM from 3GB to 4GB. The phone's battery is built to charge up to 50 percent in 30 minutes, and it can be juiced up cord-free at any location with wireless charging pads, including select McDonald's and Starbucks stores.
The S6 Edge supports Samsung Pay, the phone maker's upcoming mobile payment system that will allow users to store credit card information and make quick NFC payments at select point-of-sale systems. Unlike Apple Pay, which only works with specific types of registers, Samsung Pay will work with just about any standard magnetic strip system. The service is expected to arrive in September.
Optional Keyboard Cover
If you yearn for physical controls but don't want to dig out your old BlackBerry, the S6 Edge Plus supports an optional add-on keyboard. This accessory touts a full set of QWERTY keys, as well as the typical trio of Android buttons for Home, Back and Recent apps. The Edge Plus' larger display leaves plenty of screen space even with the keyboard attached, and you can simply slide it off when you want to restore the smartphone to its elegant original form.
