Around this time each year, tech giant Samsung rolls out the carpet at Mobile World Congress to announce the arrival of its latest flagship phone—the Galaxy series—to the mobile device community with the aim of continuing its decade long battle for mobile supremacy with Apple. 2015 is no different.
This year sees Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge introduced as Samsung’s champions in its battle against Apples’ iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as well as the upcoming iPhone 7 or whatever Apple ends up calling it. I invite you to walk with me as we bask in the glory of six things you should know about Samsung’s Galaxy S6.
So what’s New about the Galaxy S6?
In the first quarter of 2014, critics of Samsung watched the unveiling of the S5 with amusement. Their predictions about the S5-being no more than a repackaged S4 with slightly faster processors and a sharper camera-came to pass, with many concluding that Samsung had finally hit an innovation rut. And barely a year later, the unveiling of its new flagship phone is set to show that Samsung took these criticisms to heart and has used them as the inspiration for designing the premium Galaxy S6 device and its features outlined below.
1. A Shockingly Slimmer Device
Who remembers the memes that mocked earlier Samsung Galaxies about being too big for human comfort? Surprisingly, Samsung has flipped the script by reducing the thickness of the S6 and S6 Edge to 6.8mm, a tenth of a millimeter thinner than the iPhone 6. The apparent thinness of the S6/S6 Edge also serves a practical purpose, which is making the devices easier to handle and less prone to slipping from a user’s fingers.
2. Metal and Glass
I for one have been put off by the cheap feel and look the plastic casing of all Galaxies mobile devices project to the naked eye. Complaints from Galaxy users about the flimsy feel, led to what I think is the biggest change in the aesthetic design of a Samsung device in recent times. For the S6, it is out with the old chromed plastic and in with the new all metal and glass build which encases it. The aesthetic design of this premium phone now consist of curved metal band surrounding the phones’ edges while it is held together by a Gorilla glass 4 material at its front and back.
3. Running on Exynos Processor
While previous versions of the Galaxy smartphone ran on the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, Samsung has taken processing speed a step further. The Galaxy S6 devices use an octacore 64-bit Exynos processor which just happens to be the world’s first 14nm mobile processor with a 64-bit platform. This processor should dramatically increase the processing speed of Samsung’s devices and set the pace for the competition.
4. Wireless Charging Goes Mainstream
Here comes another first. In its bid to stay ahead of the competition Samsung has pledged to make wireless charging of mobile devices the acceptable norm by infusing the S6 with a built in wireless charging port—powered by WPC and PMA certifications—which will work with most wireless charging pads you come across. And with the news of Apple and Samsung chargers blowing up in users’ faces, this is definitely a welcome proposition.
5. Augmented Reality Compliant
The S6 and S6 Edge follow in the steps of the Galaxy Note4 by being able to infuse the Gear VR virtual reality headset with its user interface. But in the case of the S6, the Gear VR will be custom built as a smaller version that works exclusively with the device.
6. Curved Screens to Increase Usability
The S6 Edge uses a curved super AMOLED screen that wraps over the edges of the device to increase the overall functionality. The extra display real estate is used for extra features, such as news alert widgets, a time piece or clock and a pictorial list of your favorite contacts that make performing the functions associated with each of these features simpler and more fun. Now users can quickly navigate their speed-dial list and news feed directly from the home screen.
There you have it. Samsung has raised the bar for flagship smartphones. Now we wait for Apple and other competitors to respond with new devices of their own. We implore you to stay tuned to TechSpective as the rivalry unravels in the near future.
What do you think of the new Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphones? Do you think you might get one when they become available? Share your thoughts about the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge in the comments below.
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View Comments (6)
I've never really understood the whole "cheap feel" argument about the use of plastic in phone construction. For some applications, plastic is the way to go, especially when you get to a certain level of thinness (see "bendgate"). And don't most people put their phone in a protective case anyway? Made of (wait for it) plastic! I'll take something with a bit of forgiving resilience, thanks.
Fair point. To me it just feels like a toy. I understand what you're saying and plastic is in some cases a better material when thin and light is the goal. But, for the money I spend on a smartphone I want it to feel like its solid--a quality device built from quality parts.
"Bendgate" was mostly hype, IMO. If you're an idiot you can bend any of the smartphones.
I see no mention of 2 other things we "need to know": no flash drive slot or removable battery. That can be a deal-breaker for some of us (especially no flash drive in my case - I generally can take apart gadgets like these to replace a failing battery, if it is not soldered to the mobo connectors).
Plus there is the oddity that despite all this iPhone-like sealing of the casing, the water resistance of the prior S5 has actually been done away with, which seems counter-intuitive for a "sealed" device.
Good point. I've never really understood the value of either of those things. I'm not going to carry around microSD cards or a spare battery on the off chance I might need them. I'd rather have more internal storage in the first place and a battery that can survive the day without being swapped. But, those features are important to some people and it is notable that they're both missing in the latest Galaxy models.
I don't "carry around" either component (normally). The point, for me at least, is the modularity - I can move the card from one phone to another with music/docs/ebooks/app backups and update/backup with local PC more quickly and easily. The battery issue for me is replacement when it finally loses its ability to hold a charge, and, as with my last phone, a Moto Droid Razr HD, before the typical "death swelling" of a Li Ion battery that actually forced off the "sealed" back kevlar cover.
To revive that phone, I had to go to eBay for the same model with a broken sceen to mix and match parts to get an intact phone again, which was a lot more hassle and expense than just replacing the battery (although if I had paid more attention to the initial bulging, I could have replaced the battery before that self-destruct using well-documented phone disassembly/re-assembly procedure to install a replacement). This all would have been much simpler and less expensive with designed-in user replaceability.
I'm due for a new phone and this certainly sounds appealing.