First look: Hands-on with Samsung's Note 4, Gear VR

NEW YORK — Samsung is relentless when it comes to introducing new products. At the IFA international trade show in Berlin, Samsung expanded its Galaxy Note "phablet" series with new Note 4 and Note Edge models. Samsung also teamed with Oculus on a Gear VR virtual reality headset that relies on the Note 4. Here are my takeaways following a hands-on first look at a press briefing in Manhattan.

Samsung hopes the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 4 that is coming next month will help it continue to dominate the large screen phablet category it pioneered. According to Samsung, phablet users spend more time on their devices than smartphone or tablet customers do, and are more satisfied and loyal.

To keep it that way, the Note 4 incorporates several evolutionary improvements. The camera system has been beefed up. The rear-facing 16-megapixel camera gains optical image stabilization to reduce the shakes when you're capturing video. Samsung says the camera can also extend the exposure time when you're shooting in a dim environment.

The front 3.7-megapixel camera has a wider angle designed to improve group "selfies."

Samsung adds a rapid battery-charging feature that it says will let you go from a zero charge to 50% in just 30 minutes.

The Quad-HD (2560 x 1440) Super AMOLED display on Note 4 is a looker. The latest design incorporates a new metal frame that complements the removable soft-textured back cover (so you can replace the battery).

Samsung also claims to have improved the fingerprint scanner that lets you unlock the device with a finger, but I didn't get to try it.

As with its previous phablets, the latest Note employs a souped-up stylus called the S Pen, slightly refined this time around, that you can use for notes, natural handwriting and mouse-life functions.

One of the advantages of a phablet is the extra screen real estate that lets you multitask by keeping several apps open simultaneously. With the Note 4, you have more flexibility on how to move around and resize windows of open apps

Big question: Will Apple — as has been rumored — come out with a phablet-sized phone of its own that may threaten Samsung's dominance in the market?

A CUTTING-EDGE VERSION

While the Note 4 makes some incremental advancements over predecessor models, the new premium Galaxy Note Edge is quite literally on the cutting edge. While all the internal components of the Note Edge are virtually identical to the Note 4, the difference comes in a 5.6-inch screen that devotes a separate curved display that cascades down along the right edge. It's the first potentially helpful use of flexible screen technology that I've seen in a product that's about to be commercially introduced — Samsung hasn't provided a specific date but says Note Edge is coming later this year. There's no detail on pricing yet, but Note Edge will cost more than the Note 4.

The customizable "edge" sliver can house shortcut icons for the apps you summon most often — just tap one of these icons and it takes over the main Note Edge display. Or you might display sports scores or stock quotes along the edge — Samsung has reached an agreement with Yahoo for this purpose. The edge can also be used for notifications, or to provide a contextual screen for the app you are using. You can even display the clock on the edge while laying the device, say, flat next to your bed, while the main screen is otherwise dark.

If you open certain apps, the edge provides icons and controls in context. For example, all your camera controls are on the edge when you're taking a picture. Music playback controls reside there when you're listening to tunes.

You can even display a ruler on the edge. Samsung says that the icons and notifications along the edge are not meant to distract from the main screen you are watching.

Perhaps more than any other high-profile tech company, Samsung has sometimes brought out features that have bordered on being gimmicky. But the edge display here is unquestionably cool, and potentially useful, too, especially with Samsung opening things up to developers.

During my hands-on demo, I got to see how you can easily swipe from edge screen to edge screen. But I want to try Note Edge in the "real world" to see if there are times when the placement of these edge icons causes me to inadvertently launch an app that I didn't intend to open. Samsung reps claim that will not occur, and it didn't happen during my demo time.

Ed Baig tries out Samsung's Gear VR virtual reality headset.(Photo: Eli Blumenthal)

GEARING UP FOR VIRTUAL REALITY

Ever since Facebook bought Oculus back in March, there's been fresh attention focused on virtual reality. Now Samsung is teaming with Oculus on a head-mounted contraption called Gear VR Innovator Edition. You snap in the Note 4 via USB inside a concealed compartment — alas, Gear VR doesn't work with other Samsung devices — and place the supersize goggles over your head. You're now immersed in a three-dimensional 360-degree virtual-reality world that as the cliché goes puts you in the best seat in the house. You can look up, down and all around.

I got to watch and listen to a Coldplay concert, pretend I was intruding upon Tony Stark's lab inside an Avengers video game, and take in a bird's-eye virtual tour over New York City.

Though Gear VR has its own touch pad, back button, volume key, accelerometer, compass and gyroscope, it relies on the Note 4 for power, sound (you can wear earbuds or use Bluetooth speakers) and content. The VR hardware is rendered useless without the phablet. Samsung says you'll typically have enough juice on the Note 4 to last through a full-length movie.

When you snap the Note 4 into Gear VR, a VR store where you can grab stuff to watch is launched. Samsung says you'll be able to access virtual-reality content from IMAX, DreamWorks AR, Cirque du Soleil Media, M-Go, Vevo and others.

While the demo was quite compelling and Gear VR comfortable enough to wear, I never could get the screen totally sharp (despite a focus dial), and even got a little nauseated. But this was not a final device so I'll reserve judgment, and I'm definitely eager to spend more time trying it out when it arrives in the fall. No pricing was announced.

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