This page offers a review of the Samsung Galaxy S6 as well as up to date news/information with regard to the S6. The Galaxy S6 is the successor of Samsung Galaxy S5 and comes jam packed with many new features while at the same time losing a few good ones. Let’s have a look at what the device has to offer. Note: You can use the table of contents below to navigate to the sections that most interest you. Without further delay, we’ll begin with the Samsung Galaxy S6 review.
Introduction
The Korean company unveiled the new flagship in Barcelona as part of the Mobile World Congress and, as stated, the new device comes with many new features. The Samsung Galaxy S6 continues the legacy of the acclaimed Galaxy S Series, raising the bar not only in the technical standpoint, but also in software and design.
Samsung opted for durability with a metal chassis that also gives the S6 a more premium and elegant look. But that’s not all, inside, there are high end parts like the Exynos 7420 processor that promises very fast performance or the 16 megapixel camera with optical stabilizer. Whatsmore, the display also improves, but only in resolution while maintaining the same size of the previous model to achieve a more manageable design. Battery performance improvements as well as wireless connections and other unique features are other points analyzed below. Here is everything you need to know about the new Samsung Galaxy S6.
Galaxy S6 Specs
A brief overview of what the Galaxy S6 offers:
- Dimensions : 143.3 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm
- Weight : 138 g
- SoC : Exynos Octa 7 7420
- Processor : 4x 2.1 GHz ARM Cortex-A57, 4x 1.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A53, Octa Core
- GPU : ARM Mali-T760 MP8, Octa Core
- RAM : 3 GB
- Internal memory : 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB
- Display : 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display, 1440 x 2560 pixels
- Battery : 2550mAh
- OS is Android 5.0.2 Lollipop
- Camera : 5312 x 2988 pixels, 3840 x 2160 pixels, 30 fps
- SIM card : Nano-SIM
- Wi-Fi : a, b, g, n, n 5GHz, ac, dual band Wi-Fi hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct
- USB : 2.0, Micro USB
- Bluetooth : 4.1
- Navigation : GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
Display
With the advent of larger displays with each new cell phone, Samsung realized that everything has a limit. Manufacturers, including Samsung, begin to keep more logical screen sizes and above all, manageable device (smartphone) sizes. The battle is now set on the resolution and the Samsung Galaxy S6 plays rough with the big boys. The device integrates a 5.1-inch screen with QHD resolution, equivalent to 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, and concentrated to 576 dots per inch. The images are very crisp, vivid and offer bright colors. Furthermore, Samsung opted for the Super AMOLED technology, present on the screens of all smartphones and high-end tablets. The S6 also incorporates resistant glass, Gorilla Corning Glass 4, which prevents scratching and breakage.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Display Images
Design
The design change was the first rumor we heard about the Samsung Galaxy S6 and predictions have come true. The device maintains the general appearance, maintaining the aesthetic design of the Samsung S line, but with the use of much more stylish and higher quality materials. The smartphone sports a metal frame with rounded corners that provides strength and, above all, elegance. It is thin and light, weighing only 138 grams, which is not bad for a phone of its size.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Design View
Camera
The camera is a key player in any smartphone, especially a high-end device such as the Samsung Galaxy S6. Samsung has opted for a pair of very “useful” cameras, so we can take vivid and beautiful pictures in any situation. Its sensor is a BSI Sensor, a type of sensor that provides quality pictures even in low lighting, and it carries 16 megapixel resolution. The lens also plays an important role, with an aperture of f / 1.9 to take advantage of every last ray of light in the surroundings.
The optical stabilizer completes this trident of functions to get crisp, clear images even in dim light. The design reduces movement when recording videos, allowing for stable images and recordings. Speaking of video, the Samsung Galaxy S6 can record up to a resolution of 4K 2160p, the same resolution of many modern televisions.
It also allows you to reduce the resolution to FullHD 1080p or 720p HD and increase the frequency of recording, getting videos with slow motion effect. This model has a good set of tools to take pictures such as the Pro mode, with which you can control the parameters of the shot, the automatic white balance sensor or the Quick Launch system, which allows you to take pictures quickly. The front camera has a resolution of five megapixels and wide angle lens.
Galaxy S6 Camera Review
Multimedia
The Samsung Galaxy S6 has multimedia capabilities that are required of a smartphone in its class. It supports a huge variety of formats and codecs, so you do not have any problem to play a video or an audio track. It also integrates sharing features such as DLNA system, which reproduces content in compatible devices, and Samsung also includes sound enhancement Sound Alive + for higher quality audio.
Power and memory
It was an open secret, but we can officially confirm. Samsung has stopped working with Qualcomm, a company that until now provided the production of chips for its high-end phones. The Samsung Galaxy S6 has an Exynos 7420 processor that is manufactured with 14 nm process, the main reason that it outperforms the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810, which is manufactured using the 20 nm process. The processor consists of eight cores split into two groups, one of which has four Cortex A53 architecture cores running at 1.5 Ghz.The second group has four Cortex A57 cores working at 1.9 GHz clock speed. It also has 3GB of RAM.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is on sale in three versions with different storage capacity. Samsung eliminates the basic model and starts at 16GB and 32GB version. Users who want more power can opt for the 64Gb or 128Gb. The Samsung Galaxy S6 does not have a slot MicroSD memory card slot, the first model of the Galaxy S series without this feature.
Video: Samsung Galaxy S6 Performance Features
Operating system and applications
The Samsung Galaxy S6 comes standard with Android 5.0 Lollipop, the last major update of Google’s mobile platform. The system becomes more intuitive and everything is better organized. It also introduces important new features such as notifications on the lock screen, or the guest mode and security tools such as Smart Lock. Samsung also launched a new version of TouchWiz visual layer, which adapts to the design proposed by Google, but retains some key elements. You can also find your lost device using Google easily.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 comes with a new customization tool that allows us to modify the appearance of the system with new icons, wallpapers and even sounds. Samsung has paid special attention to safety, including a new version of the security suite, KNOX. The new Samsung Pay payment system, much like what Apple offers with apple pay, also debuted on the device. We also noticed some already known functions such as Download Booster, Ultra Power Saving Mode, S Health and S Finder.
With regard to web surfing, the device incorporates really good internet surfing functionality via both the default Samsung Browser, renovated and optimized both graphically and internally, or via Chrome, which is always great and lightweight.
Then, there is the really interesting part, the themes. Although at the time few are present, the new Samsung framework provides the ability to change many aspects of your phone: icons, colors of the UI, the phone, settings, notifications, background, lock screen, sound system and more. The hope is that many developers can publish themes and can change things around touchwiz in a click.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Themes
Here is a preview of the new theme feature for the S6: You can learn more about them here.
Galaxy S6 Cases
As for exterior style and design, the Galaxy S6 can be clothed with various types of cases as seen in the images below: You can also check out more cases here.
Summing up on the software, The S6 always behaves very well with excellent responsiveness, excellent fluidity and pleasantness of use. Some slight reloading sometimes is present but it is only in really extreme situations and sporadic events.
Connectivity and Battery
As expected, the Samsung Galaxy S6 is well endowed with connections. It connects to the Internet via 4G mobile networks, through which you can navigate at a speed of 150Mbps. It is also compatible with 3G networks and carries a dual-band WiFi wireless port. The rest of wireless connections include Bluetooth 4.1, a GPS antenna compatible with Glonass, DLNA, NFC chip, WiFi Direct and ANT+ accessories for sports. Wired connections include the classic MicroUSB and headphone minijack, but Samsung also includes several sensors. The fingerprint sensor that came with the Samsung Galaxy S5 is still present, as well as the heart rate monitor located at the back, next to the camera.
Samsung has equipped its new flagship with a battery capacity of 2,550 milliamps. Official data on autonomy have not yet been disclosed, but we know other interesting details. Samsung claims that the battery of its new flagship is the fastest charging device on the mobile market, up to twice as fast as the iPhone 6. Furthermore, it offers wireless charging, so no need to connect cables.
Video: Samsung Galaxy S6 Battery Life Test
Review
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a product that definitely impresses. Powerful processor, excellent screen and much improved software are the main qualities of this device. A battery with a larger capacity, expandable memory and a price slightly lower than normal. The company offers the best Galaxy so far. The company finally called switched to premium materials, in this case glass and metal, and show that they know do just as well as its competitors. The smartphone has very good finishes and feels comfortable in the hand. Technically there are no surprises and the Galaxy does not disappoint with a better processor, sharper screen, higher resolution camera and enhanced battery inductive load;. Certainly strong points in its favor. You can also check out the Samsung Galaxy S7.
Specs
Also known as Samsung Galaxy S6 SM-G920 – Samsung Galaxy S6 Specifications review:
Available versions: SM-G9200 (Hong Kong), SM-G9208 (China), SM-G9208/SS (China), SM-G9209 (China), SM-G920A (AT&T), SM-G920F (Global), SM-G920FD (Pakistan, Philippines), SM-G920I (LATAM, Singapore, India, Australia), SM-G920S (Korea), SM-G920T (T-Mobile)
| NETWORK | Technology | GSM / HSPA / LTE |
|---|---|---|
| 2G bands | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 | |
| 3G bands | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 | |
| HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 – G920T | ||
| – G920A | ||
| 4G bands | LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 26(850) – G920F | |
| LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17(700) – G920T | ||
| LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 17(700), 20(800) – G920A | ||
| Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE Cat6 300/50 Mbps | |
| GPRS | Yes | |
| EDGE | Yes |
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2015, March |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Available. Released 2015, April |
| BODY | Dimensions | 143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm (5.65 x 2.78 x 0.27 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 138 g (4.87 oz) | |
| Build | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 back panel | |
| SIM | Nano-SIM | |
| – Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified) |
| DISPLAY | Type | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 5.1 inches (~70.7% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2560 pixels (~577 ppi pixel density) | |
| Multitouch | Yes | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 4 | |
| – TouchWiz UI |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android OS, v5.0.2 (Lollipop), upgradable to v5.1.1 (Lollipop) |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Exynos 7420 | |
| CPU | Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 | |
| GPU | Mali-T760MP8 |
| MEMORY | Card slot | No |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 32/64/128 GB, 3 GB RAM |
| CAMERA | Primary | 16 MP, 2988 x 5312 pixels, optical image stabilization, autofocus, LED flash,check quality |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, Auto HDR, panorama | |
| Video | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@120fps, HDR, dual-video rec., check quality | |
| Secondary | 5 MP, 1440p@30fps, dual video call, Auto HDR |
| SOUND | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | v4.1, A2DP, LE, apt-X | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou | |
| NFC | Yes | |
| Infrared port | Yes | |
| Radio | No | |
| USB | microUSB v2.0, USB Host |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2 |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM | |
| Browser | HTML5 | |
| Java | No | |
| – Wireless charging (Qi/PMA) – market dependent – ANT+ support – S-Voice natural language commands and dictation – OneDrive (115 GB cloud storage) – Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic – MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264 player – MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+/FLAC player – Photo/video editor – Document editor |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Ion 2550 mAh battery | |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | ||
| Talk time | Up to 17 h (3G) | |
| Music play | Up to 49 h |
| MISC | Colors | White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Blue Topaz |
|---|---|---|
| SAR US | 1.15 W/kg (head) 1.16 W/kg (body) | |
| SAR EU | 0.38 W/kg (head) 0.50 W/kg (body) | |
| Price group | 8/10 |
| TESTS | Performance | Basemark OS II: 1663 / Basemark OS II 2.0: 1641 Basemark X: 22752 |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Contrast ratio: Infinite (nominal), 4.124 (sunlight) | |
| Camera | Photo / Video | |
| Loudspeaker | Voice 68dB / Noise 66dB / Ring 73dB | |
| Audio quality | Noise -95.6dB / Crosstalk -94.5dB | |
| Battery life |
Samsung Galaxy S6 News and Updates
This section provides the latest news and information (updates) on all things Galaxy S6. Thank you for reading our review. Hopefully you can find more information right here on this page that may interest you.
Sprint Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge OH1 Update
The Sprint Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge are set to receive the new Samsung Pay feature via an OTA update. The new updates are coded on the build numbers G920PVPU2BOH1 and G925PVPU2BOH1 respectively. Added to the installation of Samsung Pay, the OH1 update also promises to integrate Yahoo’s Live Broadcasting as well as HIgh Quality Audio support for Samsung headsets.
Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge OH1 Update Changelog:
- Samsung Pay
- Live broadcasting via Yahoo!
- High Quality Audio (with Samsung headsets)
- UI updates
- Bug fixes
Install Samsung Galaxy S6 & Galaxy S6 Edge OH1 Update
The files for the OH1 update aren’t available yet but, once they do become available, this post will be updated to help you manually isntall the update. For now, you can try to download the new update through your Galaxy S6 device. In order to do this:
Go to Settings > About device, and then tap on the ‘check for update’ button under System update. Images/Sourced Via: 1, Samsung Galaxy S6 GSM ARENA