Various leaks of Samsung's latest surfaced in the weeks leading up to the March 1 event where the Korean electronics giant was to unveil its latest smartphones. Each leak was consistent with the next, telling those who closely follow the world of technology that the design seen before hand was likely the final design of the new Galaxy S6.
Two new devices were announced, as was expected, coined the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge. The Edge, pictured above, features a curved, fall-off display, much like the Galaxy Note Edge that introduced the idea at the end of 2014.
Both the S6 and S6 edge feature new designs, after Samsung went back to the drawing board after much disappoint surfaced over the previous installment, the S5. Both are constructed of completely metal and glass, as cheap plasticky materials have been shown the door. It has already been said that Samsung, with these new phones, have created a phone that "looks and feels worthy of its price tag." The front and back panels of the devices are Gorilla Glass 4, and the metal frame of the devices are much nicer than that of the S5 (plastic). Metal designs that are appealing to the eye and feel great in the hand are important for Samsung, as competition from Apple and HTC, creators of some of the most premium-looking and feeling devices, has heated up as of late, with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as the new HTC One M9 (although it features exactly the same design of the M8). 2mm has been shaved off the S5 in the new S6, as well.
For the S6 Edge, the front panel is curved, allowing the display to run beyond edge to edge, becoming part of the sides of the device. Software features enhance the experience of the phone due to this extra screen real estate on the side.
The great metal design that comes welcome to the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge does bring with it three rather significant downfalls. Top features such as a micro SD card slot for storage expansion, a removable battery, and waterproofing are all gone from the new phones. This will surely upset Android OS fans that have turned to Samsung for their hardware, as these are features that kept people coming back to Samsung.
Moving on from the take a penny, leave a penny design of the S6 and S6 Edge, it is said that Samsung has reduced the features of the software by 40 percent - which is not as bad a thing as it sounds. What this means is that Samsung has reduced clutter within the user interface of the phone, increasing productivity and smoothness of everyday use while getting rid of included items that are unimportant to most users of their products. It has been said, though, that the software, based on Android 5.0 Lollipop, is about the same.
The camera on the S6 is improved over the S5 quite a bit. It is a faster shooter, something that was a problem. This time, no lag exists when shooting a photo. A quick double tap on the home button (more on that next) will open the camera; this, Samsung says, takes 0.7 seconds. The new rear shooter takes sharp, well-exposed photos, has automating focus tracking for when shooting objects in motion (a first for a mobile device), and does a better job in low-light situations. The infrared sensor on the back of the phone has been relocated from under the camera (S5) to next to the camera, and, besides measuring your heart rate, it will also improve white balance when taking photos.
After Apple Pay came at Apple's announcement of their new iPhones back in September, mobile payments has seen an increase in use, with people seeming to find more of a use for Google Wallet and other NFC payment providers. Also announced today from Samsung was Samsung Pay (not a real original name, but what other options did they have?). Not only does Samsung Pay, which is set to come out this summer, make use of NFC (near field communications) tap-to-pay like Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and others, it will work using magnetic technology just like credit cards - allowing it to be accepted at almost all terminals that accept cards. This could mean that Samsung has the best in the game to completely replace your wallet.
The fingerprint sensor of the Galaxy S5 required a swiping motion be completed from about an inch over the display, downward onto and over the home button to unlock your phone. For this author, during his time with the phone, it was never an issue. Even if the thumbs were entered sideways, it still unlocked the phone with a swipe of the thumb gripping the phone with only one hand (See full review of the Galaxy S5). The fingerprint sensor sticks around with the new phones by Samsung - but it gets rid of the swipe motion, allowing the user to simply set their finger on the home button to unlock the phone. This makes it function much more like Touch ID that was first seen on Apple's iPhone 5S and exists on their latest iOS devices.
The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge phones feature 5.1 inch QHD Super AMOLED displays that are as gorgeous as ever. Vibrant colors and deep sharp blacks will be much enjoyed by future owners of the new devices.
The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge will be available April 10 at Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile, the four main providers in the United States. US Cellular will also sell both phones, but the Galaxy S6 only (not the Edge) will be available at Boost Mobile, Cricket Wireless, and MetroPCS.
