Rumors claim no Edge variant for the Galaxy Note 5

Last year, Samsung surprised the tech world with the Galaxy Note Edge – the first ever smartphone to have a dramatically arched display, wrapping around its right side and functioning as a sort of a secondary screen. Just a couple of months after that, we started hearing rumors about an edgy variant of the then upcoming Galaxy S6, too, taking things up a level by having both of its sides curved. And while the Note Edge remained a relatively niche device, due to its phablet class and unconventional shape, the Galaxy S6 edge's sleek looks certainly took the cake this year, as the curvy device is, reportedly, selling at least as well as its "normal" Galaxy S6 sibling.

So, with 2 "edge" variants of its top-shelf devices released, we've learned to expect that Samsung will keep on unveiling its future powerhorses – both the Note and the Galaxy S series – in pairs, one sporting an "ordinary" design and the other being of the curved screen variety. And certainly, along with rumors on the upcoming Galaxy Note 5, we've also heard whispers about a device with a curved screen, presumably a Galaxy Note 5 Edge. However, these may turn out to be false.

According to Chinese website sq.qq.com, which has, apparently, aggregated rumors from various Eastern media sources, the Note 5 will stand alone. Instead of a new Note Edge alongside it, we will be treated to the rumored dual-curved Galaxy S6 Plus.

“What's the difference?”, you may ask. In reality, the change isn't a huge one, if you look at this new information from the mainstream's point of view – we will still get two high-end Sammy phablets – one regular-shaped and one with curved sides. However, if we are to judge based the Galaxy S6 edge that is out right now, the upcoming curved phablet will not have the functionality that the Note Edge has been known for.

Firstly, it will lack an S-Pen – something that Samsung's most powerful phablets are known for. Secondly, the Edge panel of the Note Edge was intended as a feature that houses a lot of various functions – “favorite apps” and “running apps” panels, RAM and data usage meters, and whatever else the developers could come up with. The S6 edge, on the other hand, has its side screens' functionality dialed back by quite a bit, making them more of a feature “for show” rather than something that adds another layer of productivity to the smartphone.

This rumor does fall in line with earlier ones we've heard – one claimed that the upcoming Galaxy Note 5 Edge will not have an S-Pen, and others spoke of a dual-edged version of the phablet, while we've also heard of the development of a Galaxy S6 Plus – so, we do consider it to possible. If that is so, a certain niche of power users that have learned to use and are enjoying the Note Edge may be a bit disappointed. But we could see why Samsung would possibly decide to go this route.

The Note Edge barely picked up in popularity. Unfortunately, post release, Sammy didn't develop Edge-oriented apps, and developers didn't seem to be quite inspired by the device, as there are still very few panels available for download. So, keeping the Galaxy S6 edge's popularity in mind, it's probable that the manufacturer may try to recreate the same success with phablet users by launching an S6 Plus, while not investing time resources in another Note Edge.

As far as release date goes, there is no shortage of rumors claiming that Sammy may try to go for an earlier unveiling of the devices, presumably to get ahead of other September releases from its competitors. The report from cq.qq.com reaffirms those rumors and says that an August release is possible. It seems that a July announcement is not very probable.

Would you be disappointed if the Galaxy Note 5 doesn't have an Edge variant?