Samsung Galaxy Note Edge: Price Is Steeper Than Its Curved Screen

The curvy new Galaxy Note Edge by Samsung Electronics Co. will be available in the U.S. starting Nov. 14, but those interested in the device, which features a screen that curves around the right edge of the phone, will have to shell out a pretty penny. The phone is even more expensive than Samsung’s current flagship, the Galaxy Note 4.

Carriers including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular will offer the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge as a limited edition device. Though most will provide subsidized plans, the Note Edge is priced at least $100 higher than other phones in its peer group. AT&T is offering the Galaxy Note Edge for $399.99 with a two-year contract and $945.99 off-contract. The network is also offering the device through its Next program, which allows customers to pay off the Note Edge in 12 monthly installments of $47.30 or 18 monthly installments of $39.42. By comparison, AT&T’s Galaxy Note 4 is $299.99 with a two-year contract, but it also has the market’s highest off-contract price at $825.99.

Sprint has not announced its subsidized price for the Galaxy Note Edge, but the device will cost $840 off-contract, and $0 down and $35 per month for 24 months under Sprint's Easy Pay plan. T-Mobile will sell the Galaxy Note Edg for $0 down $36.25 monthly for 24 months under its Simple Choice plan, or $870 at full retail price. Other carriers have not announced their pricing, but don't expect big discounts.

The Galaxy Note Edge is Samsung’s attempt to recapture is flailing market with mobile innovation. Samsung is known for introducing the phablet to the market, and now competitors including Apple Inc. have released large-screen smartphone and tablet hybrids of their own. Market saturation in particular has caused Samsung to lose consumers who'd previously relied on the manufacturer for products like large-screen phones.

Samsung is expecting the next big thing to be flexible or curved display phones, like the Galaxy Note Edge, so it's planning more to launch more of those next year. Samsung has introduced on the Galaxy Note Edge such device-specific features as interruption-free controls that allow the user to relegate notifications and other functions to the edge screen. When turned off, the edge screen turns into an alarm clock and illuminates at night.

Hardware specifications for the Galaxy Note Edge include a 5.6-inch Quad HD (2560 x 1440) Super AMOLED display and a 2.7 GHz quad-core chip, very similar to the Galaxy Note 4. The device includes 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory with external expansion up to 128GB, a 16-megapixel main camera and a 3.7-megapixel front-facing camera with a host of camera app features. The Galaxy Note Edge is powered by a 3,000mAh battery, which supports Adaptive Fast Charging, and the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system.

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is already available in Korea.