Samsung surprised no one when it announced two versions of the Samsung Galaxy S6, the standard ‘plain’ version and the S6 Edge. But what is the difference between the two and which one should you buy?

Bottom line, it’s easier to talk about how they’re the same as the differences are slight, but they are there. The Galaxy S6 flagships are the most advanced and powerful phones on the market but the choice comes down to whether or not you love the innovative curved edges and can afford the premium.

Samsung Galaxy S6 vs S6 Edge: They share the same basic features

Let’s start with how they’re the same first. Both feature a 5.1-inch Quad HD display – that’s 1,440 x 2,560, up from 1,080 x 1,920 on the Galaxy S5. Next is the Samsung Exynos 7420 processor, an octo-core processor with four cores clocked at 2.1GHz and another four at 1.5GHz. They have the same cameras – 16-megapixel with optical image stabilisation on the back, 5-megapixel on the front – and every other core spec is the same.

In other words, if you’re worried that you’re making serious compromises to get the curved screen, worry not. You’re not losing out anything really serious here. But what do you gain from getting the S6 Edge?

Samsung Galaxy S6 vs S6 Edge: The S6 Edge has bigger battery

One of the key changes for the S6 is this is the first flagship Samsung phone that has a non-removable battery. This battery will last 12 hours of continuous web browsing on Wi-Fi according to Samsung, but its biggest trick is the fast charging. Ten-minutes of charging equates to about three to four hours of use and it can charge from 1% to full in about an hour and 20 minutes – faster than any other rival phone.

Samsung Galaxy S6 vs S6 Edge: Call quality

The difference in design shouldn’t have too great an impact on signal strength or performance, but we definitely had differing experiences when it came to testing these two phones. Using the standard S6, we found signal strength to be consistently strong, even underground when using EE Wireless Calling. But our experience with the S6 Edge was a little less satisfying with a few calls being dropped unexpectedly.