Dallas — Samsung’s Galaxy Note Edge smartphone, whose screen wraps around the device’s right edge to display quick-access app icons, will be available starting Nov. 14.
Sprint priced its version of the phone, with triband Sprint Spark LTE technology, at $0 down (plus tax) with 24 monthly payments of $35 for a total of $840, excluding taxes. Sprint’s version launches only through its direct channels on Nov. 14.
For its part, AT&T said the Edge will be on display in select AT&T stores starting Nov. 7 and priced it at $399 with a two-year contract, $945 unsubsidized without contract, $39.42/month under the Next 18 installment-payment/trade-up plan, and $47.30/month with the Next 12 plan. AT&T didn’t specify an availability date.
T-Mobile will launch the device on Nov. 14 at $0 down with $36.25/month payments for 24 months through its web site and participating stores.
Pricing and availability from Verizon and U.S. Cellular were unavailable. The phone will also appear in the Samsung Experience Shops in Best Buy stores, but Best Buy pricing was also unavailable.
The Android 4.4 phone, unveiled in September at Berlin’s IFA show, features a 5.6-inch quad-HD Super AMOLED 2,560 by 1,440 front display with additional pixels that wraps around the screen’s right edge to display icons that access email, the web, and apps and also display notifications, news and the like without getting in the way of main-display content. The side display also has dedicated music controls. The side display’s night-clock mode dimly displays time, alarm and weather when placed bedside.
Consumers can customize the scrollable menu panel on the side to display favorite app icons.
The LTE-equipped phablet comes with all the features of the recently launched Galaxy Note 4, including UltraHD playback and recording and high-resolution 192kHz/24-bit FLAC audio playback.
The big-screen phablet is equipped with 2.7GHz quad-core processor, 3GB RAM, fingerprint scanner, and Multi Window feature that lets users view multiple apps simultaneously, resize app windows, and drag and drop content between apps.
A fast-charging feature delivers a 50 percent charge in 30 minutes, and an ultra-power-saving mode increases standby time up to 24 hours on only a 10 percent charge.
It comes with S Pen, which has been improved to offer a more natural brush effect said to emulate writing with a fountain or calligraphy pen. A new Smart Select feature lets users piece together content from different sources and share it.
The main camera offers 16-megapixel capture with 8x digital zoom and optical image stabilization to counter-balance camera shake and automatically extend exposure time in dark settings. The front 3.7-megapixel camera offers f/1.9 lens with up to 120-degree-wide shooting angle.
Other key features include Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac with MIMO, GPS and GLONASS navigation, NFC, Bluetooth 4.1 with Low Energy and ANT+ capability, IR remote, USB 2.0/MHL 3, 32GB Internal memory and a 128GB MicroSD slot.
Edge also features Samsung Knox security for enterprise use.
