Samsung Galaxy S 6 and S 6 Edge: What you need to know
Consumer Reports
Today at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Samsung unveiled the latest version of its flagship smart phone, the Galaxy S 6. We got a sneak peek at the new device, as well as its curvier sibling, the Samsung Galaxy S 6 Edge, a few weeks ago at Consumer Reports headquarters. The new Samsung Galaxy S 6 ditches the “plasticy” look and feel of earlier models for a sleeker glass/aluminum case, a higher-resolution display, and a multitude of charging options. The Edge has mostly the same specs as the S 6, but its screen curves away from the viewer on the right and left side, giving the phone a tapered look along its edges.
Screen shapes aside, the flagship Galaxy S 6 and its curvaceous twin are quite similar to each other. Their fronts and backs are made of ultra-tough Corning Gorilla Glass 4 held together by a polished aluminum edge that Samsung says aids in the phone’s rigidity. This is reminiscent of the old Apple iPhone 4, which also had a glass front and back—and earned a reputation for cracking easily. Samsung says it has conducted drop tests to ensure that its phones won't have this problem.
Samsung says the large glass surfaces allow for better antenna placement. We also suspect the phones’ glass back also were necessary for allowing these phones to support wireless charging out of the box—a cool thing no iPhone can do. Samsung also reworked its fingerprint scanner to operate with a touch rather than a swipe, similar to the way iPhone's Touch ID works. Samsung says this will provide a more sure-handed experience in authorizing purchases and unlocking the phone screen.
In another move that brings the new Galaxies closer to the iPhone, Samsung says it’s launching its own payment system that will work with NFC technology—just like Apple Pay. The new system will also work with the new LoopPay's MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission).
Perhaps the most notable thing about these new Samsungs is what they lost in their quest to become more iPhone-like. New S 6s have non-removable batteries and no memory-expansion slots. That means Galaxy S 6 owners will have to bring their phone to a service center to replace the battery, or buy a more expensive version of the phone if more on-board storage is needed (The phones will be sold in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB sizes—just like iPhones). Time didn’t permit us to test this, but we think these models may have lost some of the gesture controls we were fond of on earlier models.
Also, these new Galaxies are not water-resistant, unlike their Galaxy S 5 predecessor, so you’d better hold on to them tightly when you’re near a sink, puddle, or pool.
They’re a hair smaller than the previous model (about 5.6 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches vs. 5.6 x 2.9 x 0.3 inches) and a tad lighter (about 4.8 oz vs. 5.1)
We look forward to thoroughly testing these models in our labs after they are released this spring. In the meantime, here are more of our initial impressions.
These new Galaxy phones maintain the ample 5.1-inch screen size of their predecessor, though resolution was upped significantly, from 1080 x 1920 (432 ppi) to 2560 x 1440 (557ppi). Of course, as we’ve noted before, it’s extremely difficult for the naked eye to notice this improvement in everyday use. The curved-display edges of the sexier Galaxy S 6 Edge are less pronounced and less functional than the one on its cousin, the Galaxy Note Edge. For example, the display edge on the Note Edge can act as a control panel while you’re viewing a video or playing music. The one on the Galaxy S 6 Edge can’t.
Refined camera
Samsung phone cameras are already among the best in the business, and it looks like those distinctions will remain safe with the Galaxy S 6. The rear-facing main camera keeps its 16MP resolution and UltraHD video-recording specs, but adds an optical image stabilizer that should improve image quality under low-light conditions, or when it’s hard to hold the camera steady. Samsung engineers say the IR sensor on the back of the Galaxy S 6, which is part of the heart rate monitor, will be used to enhance image quality. The S 6s' cameras will also use the IR sensor's ability to identify the type of light in a scene (sunlight, fluorescent, etc.) in order to optimally adjust white balance for more accurate color.
Thankfully, Samsung de-cluttered and simplified the camera controls, allowing you to get at core adjustments with fewer steps from the viewfinder. And many of the most cheesy effects of previous models have been made optional downloads.
In the name of better selfies, Samsung upped the resolution of the front-facing camera from 2.1MP to 5MP, and widened the lens aperture slightly, from f/2.2 to f/1.9. A new selfie effect, called Virtual Shot, lets you take a panoramic selfie (imagine how the background would change if you took a selfie and slowly rotated in place). Later, you can get the background to pan left or right by tilting the phone. This effect requires the phone’s on-board accelerometers to work and, therefore, it only works on the phone that took the picture. But you can e-mail and otherwise share it with others as a movie (see below).
Battery
The stated battery life of these new Samsungs is slightly less than last year’s model, which may hurt performance. And, as we said, it’s non-removable, so you’ll lose the old Samsung advantage of being able to keep a fully charged spare handy in case the original poops out while you’re on the road, or when the original battery outright dies.
But you may not mind because Samsung promises rather quick charging over a standard USB 2.0 adapter. The company says a 10-minute charge of a near-dead battery will give you 4 hours of talk time. Another plus: These new Samsungs support both Qi and PMA wireless charging standards—wireless charging spots are popping up all over the place these days, and it's nice to know the S 6 is pretty much guaranteed to work on any of them. Samsung says it should take about three hours to fully charge a near dead S 6 battery when you rest the phone on a charging mat. Other refinements include more powerful speakers and fast phone performance thanks to Samsung’s own Exynos 64-bit processor. We’ll test those claims and report more on these next-gen Samsungs when we get them into our labs.
