There's a special kind of beauty to the Note Edge that comes as a result of its brand-new form factor. Aside from a very brief encounter with the Youm prototype phone at CES 2013, we've never actually seen a device with a bent display. Despite the fact that it's not as comfortable as the Note 4, Samsung did a great job of blending its counterpart's design language with the form factor. It's a very sleek-looking device, and I found it hard to stop staring at it -- even when trying to play with some of Samsung's other products. The phone maker will definitely be charging a premium for the Edge, but it will at least come with some serious bragging rights and a whole lot of people suddenly paying attention to you (or your phone, at least).
The UI of the bar is straightforward and basic, since there isn't much you can do with a narrow strip of display space. Often, what's shown here will depend on the app: If you're in the camera or watching videos, this strip becomes a sidebar containing all of your shortcuts and settings so they don't take up other valuable screen space or get in the way. However, you can still access a plethora of different types of bars, whether in or out of the app; notifications, weather info, stock tickers, clocks, news feeds, quick shortcuts and even games are available from nearly every screen. There's only one game -- a Simon-like memory game -- available right now, but I'll be interested to see what else developers can come up with. Swipe up on the bar to reveal a settings button that lets you manage which types of bars are displayed and in which order. If you swipe down on the bar instead, a toolbar pops up. Here you'll find options like a timer, stopwatch, flashlight and a ruler (the latter is actually a really clever use case).
One of the handiest use cases for me is the night clock, which does exactly what it sounds like -- a black-and-white digital clock will appear while the screen is dark. So whether you're sleeping in bed and your phone is on the nightstand, or if you're just at your desk and want to see the time, the bent display makes this a rather ideal option. It's probably not enough to justify spending the extra money for a new phone, but it's just one example of the flourishes Samsung has added to give the edge screen enough functional value, instead of being just another way for the company to show off its manufacturing talents.
source: engadget.com by Brad Molen