Samsung Galaxy S6 And Galaxy S6 Edge Review

Very rarely does a manufacturer take a gamble on a redesign of one of their flagship phones, and deviates from the original completely. Yet, that’s exactly what Samsung did with the latest device from its Galaxy family of smartphones. Borrowing obvious design cues from the iPhone, the Galaxy S6 pulls Samsung forward into the 21st century as far as what a high-end device truly feels like. Taking things that much further, Samsung also announced the Galaxy S6 edge. An uber premium version of the S6, using curved glass for the display giving it the most unique appearance on a smartphone yet. Does a new design mean the Galaxy S6 takes the crown for best Android phone? Read on to find out.

Let’s get this out the way early; aside from a few very subtle differences in the software, these phones are virtually identical. Identical isn’t a bad thing at all, but it does raise a very important quest that we’ll address later. When I received my review units, I was pretty excited as I’d seen them quite a bit in the wild but never really used one. Taking them out of their respective boxes, it was immediately clear that Samsung really put a lot of thought into the design of these devices. Both are made with two solid slabs of Gorilla Glass 4 on the front and rear of the device, nestled between a piece of metal for the frame. These are phones that feel simply fantastic when being held, and are a definite step in the right direction. I couldn’t help but notice how much these things look like the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 when held a certain way though. The Samsung vs Apple lawsuits may be over, but Samsung is still apparently enamored with Apple devices. The S6 Edge is, in my opinion, the better looking of the two, and the dual curved edges add to the premium feel of the device. The curved edges aren’t too exaggerated though, and actually are more useful (in terms of screen space) than the Galaxy Note Edge. On the S6 Edge, you have the entire screen at your disposal and not have to worry about activating unwanted apps like on the Note Edge. The curved glass also gives you the feeling that the phone is smaller than it actually is. The display on the S6 and S6 Edge is an insane qHD panel that packs 557 ppi, making it the sharpest display on the market. Colors are reproduced masterfully, although sometimes a bit overproduced. Along the bottom of the device lies the micro USB charging port, headphone jack, and speaker grills, and on the back is the 16MP powerhouse of a camera, which we’ll also get to later. The volume buttons are still housed on the side of the device, and I really like how clicky they are, along with being elongated for those of you with baby hands.

Both Galaxy S6’s are absolute and total beasts when it comes down to usage. The Samsung Exynos processor ate the tasks I threw at both review units for breakfast and seemingly begged for more. I’m a pretty heavy user and there seriously wasn’t much of anything that I could throw at this thing to slow it down. Movie playback was great, still photos showed up awesome, and games ran without a hitch. The ONLY complaint I’ll lodge about this device is the battery life. Samsung plugged a 2600 mAh battery in both units and I’m not sure if it’s the processor, or the battery not being up to the task of powering the ultra bright display, but it definitely doesn’t last very long. According to Samsung, you can go 10 hours on a single charge with either the S6 or S6 Edge, but with my usage, I would be lucky if I was able to snag 6. Highly unfortunate, because that means you’ll either be relying heavily on Samsung’s Adaptive Fast Charge or one of their wireless charging pods to get you through the day. Hopefully the battery drain is something Samsung can fix with a software patch, and if not, could lead to it being a deal breaker for many. Although Ultra Power saving mode is still present on both devices, it’s been made somewhat of a pain to get to, and limits your usability which means you’ll still be hunting down a charger.

Usually one of my biggest complaint about the Galaxy line of devices was Samsung’s insistence of overlaying their TouchWiz UI on top of whatever version of Android the phones shipped with. That all changed with the S6 and S6 Edge, as TouchWiz is ALMOST a non factor, and you get more Google for your buck. This is definitely a good thing, as it makes the ROM(main software on the device) lighter, and thus faster on its feet. It was a bit weird to see Samsung unabashedly take credit for some of the UI elements found within Android 5.0 (Lollipop), but they’ve also found some really neat hacks to add into the mix to make the Samsung experience that much more unique. For starters, you can now quick launch your camera app by simply double tapping the home button. It is painstakingly easy to accidentally open the camera in your pocket, or while trying to unlock your phone, but you can turn this feature off under settings. The Galaxy S6 Edge did have a few extras that I noticed that added a little more functionality to it. For example, when enabled, users can swipe from the right edge to bring up a list of quick contacts that you can easily send a text or email to, or even call them. You can designate a specific color code for these contacts, and if your phone is face down, the edge will glow whatever color you assign. It basically affords you the ability to see who’s calling without having to physically pick up your phone. Pretty neat stuff Samsung.

The camera is the total star of the show, and is without a doubt the best, if not one of the better cameras available today. I was totally shocked at the quality of pictures that the S6 models churned out. Photos taken in direct sunlight were pretty awesome, and clear. I took both phones with me to the Motor City Comic Con to test out the camera quality and walked away satisfied with the results. Normally I can get decent pictures, but due to the amount of motion and frequent changes in lighting, it’s a crapshoot as to which ones will be keepers or not. Thanks to the Real Time HDR though, almost all of my pics were excellent. Macro photos (like the one below) turned out excellent with the S6 camera as well. I didn’t record much video on either phone save for a few 10 – 15 second clips and if I had to draw a conclusion based solely off those, I’d say the video recording was just as awesome as the still photos. The front facing camera was good, and the wide-angle lens made selfies crazy good. Group shots were made easier, and Samsung may have already killed the need for selfie sticks.

I used both Sprint and Verizon versions of the S6, and the Verizon model consistently smoked Sprint’s data speeds. The VZW model also seemed to work in more places without reverting to 3G, although call quality was pretty solid on both networks.

The Galaxy S6 is a high-end phone, and the S6 Edge is essentially the luxury model. Both phones are great, slim, and work awesome in just about any condition. Aside from the excess battery drain, I think the S6 could potentially be the best Android device that’s available now. That is of course, unless you’re into Nexus devices.