Along with the Galaxy Note 4, Samsung today announced the Galaxy Note Edge, a large smartphone made distinct by its uniquely curved display.

The phone is likely to draw comparisons to the similarly bent device, the LG G FLex., but unlike its contemporary, the Galaxy Edge lays flat with the screen itself sloping downward on the right side of the handset. The curved side, or edge, will be used to access functions such as camera controls, news crawls and frequently used apps, which all allow the user to quickly view notifications and perform functions at a glance. 

Under the hood, the Edge has specs on par with the Galaxy Note 4. The screen stands at 5.6 inches with a 2,560 by 1,440 pixel display. Add in a 2.7 GHz quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 32 or 64GB of internal memory (in addition to microSD card support) and Samsung's S Pen stylus and you have all the hardware that you would expect on a next generation Samsung phone.

The camera will also be upgraded on the Note Edge. The rear of the phone will have a 16-megapixel camera with Smart OIS, paired with a 3.7-megapixel camera on the front (for selfies).  All of this will be powered by a 3,000 mAh battery.

The Edge will be recognized for its unique curved screen, but it remains to be seen how this will received in the smartphone market.

Ian Fogg, an analyst who follows the mobile industry at IHS in London, told the Huffington Post the display distinguishes Samsung's phone from others, but the company will need to persuade app developers to take advantage of the display in order for it to truly make an impact.

Samsung is notorious for adding in new features to experiment with traditional smartphone functionality beyond the standard touch screen.  Recently the company tried to introduce remote or non-touch controls into their devices, allowing users to hover their fingers over a device instead of touching the screen. The practice was poorly received by both consumers and developers who did not implement the feature into many of their apps.

Still, trends are often started in the smartphone development race through experimentation, and the genuine sense of enthusiasm was definitely there for the product. Engadget reports that, "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."