These Are Samsung’s New Phones: The Galaxy S6 and the Curved Galaxy S6 Edge
After months of rumors, Samsung has finally unveiled its new Galaxy phones. Here they are: The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.
They
look like great smartphones, the best Samsung has ever made, and
possibly the best Android phones, too. The S6 and S6 Edge are complete
redesigns. They use premium materials that make Samsung’s previous
phones look cheap.
The
company has even pared down its notoriously confusing TouchWiz user
interface, making the phones easier for first-time users to get into.
Ahead of the curveThe star of this release is the Galaxy S6 Edge’s curved display, which cascades off of both the phone’s left and right edges.
The design is similar to that of Samsung’s Galaxy Note Edge,
but that handset only had the waterfall screen off the right side. The
Note Edge’s curved screen was also a separate display. The S6 Edge, on
the other hand, uses a single panel.
What
does the fall-away screen get you? Other than looking cool, there are
some functional advantages. The curved parts of the screen let you can
check notifications by quickly swiping on the curved part of the display
without having to completely unlock the phone.
Samsung
also lets you set up to 5 contacts as favorites and assign them each a
specific color designation. If you receive a call from one of your
favorites and your Edge is face down, the curved parts of the display
will glow the color you assigned to them, so you’ll know who’s calling
without having to look at your phone.
For
now, the curved screen elements don’t do much more than show a few
notifications. The curves do make the phone a little more comfortable to
hold, though. And it sure looks cool.
Samsung goes upscaleAside from the curved display, the S6 Edge and the standard S6 are essentially the same all-new smartphone.
Rather than the same boring plastic design Samsung has become known for, the company chose to wrap the front and back
of both phones in Corning’s Gorilla Glass. Sandwiched between the back
and front panels is a new metal frame that serves to enhance the premium
look of the handsets. It almost looks like a cross between an iPhone 5
and an iPhone 6.
This is a big step forward in design for Samsung. It’s previous efforts, including the Galaxy S5, were roundly criticized for being too similar to their predecessors and constructed using plastic rather than metal like Apple’s iPhone 6 line, and the HTC One.
The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are still clearly Samsung devices. They’re front panels have a similar look to the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4, but when you actually hold the S6 and S6 Edge, you can both feel and see the difference.
Super-sharp screensBoth
the S6 and S6 Edge pack similar 5.1-inch, 2560 x 1440 Super AMOLED
(Active Matrix of Organic Light-emitting Diodes) displays. The screens
on both phones are the same size, but the S6 Edge’s curves make it look a
bit thinner.
Samsung
says the S6 and Edge have the world’s sharpest smartphone screens, and
while that’s a nice stat to pad its marketing materials, the truth is, a
most consumers won’t be able to tell the difference between a QHD
screen and a HD screen.
Unless,
that is, they’re using the Samsung’s Gear VR headset, which requires an
extremely high-resolution screen, since it uses the phone its display,
putting it right in front of your face.
CamerasThe
S6 and S6 Edge might challenge the iPhone in the camera department.
Both handsets come with 16-megapixel cameras with optical image
stabilization: they have lenses that move to compensate for your shaking
hands while taking pictures. Only the iPhone 6 Plus has optical
stabilization; the iPhone 6 does it in software.
A
new auto-tracking and auto-focus feature lets you focus on a subject
and automatically follows it, adjusting focus if it moves. If you take a
lot of pictures of pets or active kids, you’ll want this feature.
Samsung
says that the new cameras will offer better low-light image quality,
something that the company’s smartphones have struggled with in the
past.
But
the best improvement in the S6 and S6 Edge cameras is how fast their
apps open. With the Galaxy S5, opening the camera app took a good 1 to 2
seconds, which would often be the difference between catching a photo
and missing it. The S6 and S6 Edge’s cameras open in less than a second.
Wireless paymentsSamsung
is getting in on the mobile payment movement with an offering of its
own. It’s based on on LoopPay, a mobile payment system that works with
the plain old magnetic strip-style credit card terminals at your average
checkout counter. Samsung’s offering will instantly have a greater
reach than the iPhone’s Apple Pay, which is limited to a retailers with compatible payment terminals.
Before
your ask, no, you don’t actually swipe your phone through the credit
card slot, instead you put your handset close to the terminal and the S6
will simulate the magnetic field produced by swiping your credit card.
What
that means is you’ll be able to load your credit card into your Galaxy
S6 and S6 Edge and use the phones to pay for things at the corner store.
Samsung
isn’t backing itself into a corner by relying on just the old-fashioned
magnetic strip technology, though. The company will also support
NFC-based wireless payments.
Unfortunately,
Samsung hasn’t quite worked out the look of its mobile payment app, so
we weren’t able to take it for a test drive. We are eager to report on
how well it works.
Wireless chargingSamsung
isn’t just offering wireless payment options, it’s also giving the S6
and S6 Edge wireless charging capabilities right out of the box.
Previously, you had to buy a replacement back panel for your S5 in order to give it the ability to charge wirelessly.
The
wireless charger itself will be an accessory, though. But we do hope
that wireless charging pads become ubiquitous at places like Starbucks.
PerformanceThe
Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge both come with Samsung’s latest eight-core
processor and 3GB of RAM, which is serious horsepower. Storage options
include 32GB, 64GB and 128GB of memory.
Now
for the bad news. Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy S5, the S6 and S6 Edge won’t
come with removable batteries. To offset that, Samsung says it has
worked to improve overall battery life. There also won’t be any microSD
card slot on either phone, which means you can’t increase storage space.
Samsung will, however, offer 65GB of Microsoft One Drive cloud storage for two years.
Your future phones?The
Galaxy S6 is absolutely better looking than the company’s Galaxy S5,
but it’s the Galaxy S6 Edge, with its futuristic curved display, that
has me looking forward to the day these smartphones hit the market.
So how do the S6 and S6 Edge stack up against Apple’s iPhone and iPhone 6 Plus? To find out, check out our comparison piece.
source: yahoo.com
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