Samsung Galaxy S6 Review: Hardware
This definitely does not feel like a Samsung device
“I understand the appeal of Samsung devices, I do. They’re an easy conversion for iPhone users. They’re colorful and have a metric ton of features. But it mutilates the Stock Android experience, they feel like toys with no regard for design, and why are there so many dumb gimmicks?”
This is a paraphrase of my words after every Samsung flagship event. With the S3, S4 and S5, I was constantly in awe at how tone deaf Samsung continued to be with their flagships. Samsung had meteorically risen to be the most popular Android manufacturer. But they were not the premiere in design or software. They were continually focusing on throwing needless features without improving design. This strategy ended up hurting their sales figures when Motorola, HTC, and LG gained steam with well built and thoughtful devices.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is looking to change all of the pre-conceived notions about the Galaxy S line. Gone is the cheap plastic, the removable backs, and the toy like appearance. Will the Samsung Galaxy S6 be enough to turn the tide for Samsung? Or is the new foundation as flimsy as Samsung plastic?
Specs
Specs don’t lie, the Samsung Galaxy S6 is indeed a flagship. While it ditches the Snapdragon 810 in favor of Samsung’s own Exynos line of SoCs, it still performs admirably in most cases. I did find there to be some minimal bugginess and stuttering in some interactions. Sometimes folders would take a bit to open up, music controls might respond slowly, the multitasking menu wasn’t always immediate, and swiping and scrolling produced stuttering. It seemed to be random and intermittent. Regardless, this is something that should not be happening on a flagship phone in 2015. In heavy use situations, the device also becomes a little warm. Nothing severe and uncomfortable. But it is noticeable.
In benchmarks it seems to blow nearly every flagship I have reviewed thus far out of the water. But benchmarks don’t represent real world use. In the real world, none of the phones I have used had the bugginess and stuttering that the Galaxy S6 seemed to be minorly prone to. I have a hunch as to what is causing this, which I will discuss in Part Two of the review(ahem, software).
Gaming performance is pretty great. In high intensity games such as Modern Combat, I did not notice any dropped frames or stuttering. Less intensive games such as Daddy Long Legs and Monument Valley played wonderfully on the Galaxy S6’s vibrant screen.
LTE is in tow with the Galaxy S6 and honestly, I was a little disappointed with the speeds. For a city that averages 8 to 16Mb/s, the Galaxy S6 LTE speeds rarely exceeded 10Mb/s. WiFi, on the other hand, was terrific. With 802.11ac(the latest standard) included, speeds were blazing. On my home network I was getting consistent download speeds of 40Mb/s. This was equal to the speeds I found on the Nexus 6, OnePlus One, and Moto X(2014).
The Galaxy S6 comes with three storage options, 32, 64, and 128GB offerings. With those storage sizes, what you see is what you get, as there is no MicroSD expansion. While some consider this a deal breaker, I do not. Living in the cloud is the future, and 32GB is more than enough as a starting option for storage. Another exclusion from last year’s Galaxy S5 to the Galaxy S6 is waterproofing. The lack of waterproofing is a little puzzling, seeing as it was one of the most beloved features. There really isn’t a clear reason why it could not be waterproof, which is frustrating. The battery is also non-removable. Another potential deal breaker for some, but Samsung chose to take form over function here. A choice I can’t really argue with, but one that raises the question: If you make the battery non-removable, why not make the battery bigger?
Look & Feel
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is incredibly well designed. Wait, what? A Samsung device. A Samsung device is premiumly crafted? Yes, it is, seriously. The S6 is made of Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and metal and it feels great.
I’m still in awe at how beautiful the Samsung Galaxy S6 is. Starting with the front, you have your characteristic Samsung logo at the top. You also have an LED for notifications, a proximity sensor or two, followed by the handset earpiece and the 5 megapixel front facing camera. Below that is the gorgeous 5.1 inch 2560x1440 Super AMOLED panel. Below the screen you have your Home button/fingerprint sensor flanked by your Recents and Back button. Now, Stock Android has software buttons. Yet Samsung continues to use hardware buttons. The Home button is actually quite useful. It has a fingerprint sensor built in(that’s remarkably accurate). It also has multiple functions. Tap it once to go home, twice to open the camera from anywhere, and hold the Home button to launch Google Now. The hardware buttons are not a drawback because of how useful Samsung has made the home button. I do take issue with their decision to have the Recents button and Back button swapped with the Stock Android layout. Now, Samsung has had this layout since the Galaxy S3. For familiarity, I understand it. But with so much improvement, this one final thing is not too much to request.
The trim of the device is made up of metal. This is an incredibly welcomed change with Samsung devices. The metal trim is slightly rounded where it meets the front and back of the device. While the front, back, and trim of the S6 does not create a seamless piece, it still feels quite nice. Along the entire trim, you will notice that the metal slopes slightly to make a very subtle seam in the center of the metal. It is something you will only catch if you are looking for it. But it is there nonetheless. The sides of the device also have a slight, subtle indentation running front top to bottom. The reasoning behind this is presumably to give more prominence to the Power and Volume buttons. The Power button resides on the right hand side while the volume buttons(not a rocker, two separate buttons) are along the left. These buttons are the nicest I have ever used on any device, ever. They are firm, clicky, and responsive. There is great travel and response when you press on the volume or power buttons. You won’t mistakenly mispress the bezel because you cannot find the buttons(ahem, Nexus 9). Other device makers need to take note. Stop with the mushy power and volume buttons and copy Samsung here.
Along the top edge of the device is the IR blaster, microphone and antenna cutouts. The inclusion of the IR blaster is a clever one. The IR blaster was easy to program and worked well. It controlled my TV and Cable box, but not much else. Along the bottom you will find the mono speaker grill, another microphone, more antenna cutouts, and the MicroUSB charging port.
Along the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 covered back, you will find the camera, flash, heart rate sensor, AT&T logo and “Galaxy S6” brandishing. The 16MP camera does not sit flush with the device. It slightly protrudes. Meaning if you lay the Galaxy S6 down and attempt to interact with it, it will rock back and forth. The flash and heart rate sensor reside to the right of the camera in a slightly recessed area. The heart rate monitor is actually quite accurate. Moreso than most wearables. Below the camera is the AT&T logo for my AT&T variant. I get it, carriers want to advertise. But I miss my carrier free phones that have no branding along the back. Towards the bottom of the device you will find the words “Galaxy S6” in metallic lettering much like the AT&T logo. There actually is FCC information on the Samsung Galaxy S6. It is found a little below the “Galaxy S6” branding. But on my black(which is really blue) model, it was nearly impossible to see without shining a light on it. While I hope FCC brandishing is abolished from our devices soon, this is a good substitute for the time being.
The device weighs in at just under five ounces(4.87 to be exact). It has an appropriate amount of heft given the materials, but still feels quite light. It was quite easy to use for extended amounts of time in one hand. One handed use is also made possible by the size of the Galaxy S6 itself. With the screen coming in at 5.1 inches, it falls in the “just right” category for screen size. Phones that hover right in the 4.7 to 5.2inch screen size have come to be the sweet spot for one handed use. Couple the just right screen size and the minimalistic side bezels, and the Galaxy S6 feels great with one or two hands.
The front and the back of the device isn’t as cold as other glass backed phones I have used. It feels more pleasant to hold than the iPhone 4 or Nexus 4(both devices with glass backs). That being said, the use of glass means fingerprints will accumulate. On the Galaxy S6, fingerprints are a constant problem on the front and back of the device. It’s a little annoying to have such a beautiful device filled with smudges. Glass on both the front and back raises the question of durability. I won’t be strapping a case on my phone(because I live life on the edge), but I will be wary as I hold it.
The S6 is thin, too. It feels svelte in your hand. Coming in at .27 inches thick, you can wrap your hand around the Galaxy S6 with ease to maintain a secure grip. Something that adds security for those of us who fear dropping this beautiful, glass device.
The Galaxy S6 looks and feels beautiful. There was a ton of constraint in every aspect of the hardware. It looks like a premium device from every angle. Samsung really nailed the design here.
Screen
One of the absolute best features of the Galaxy S6 is the screen. Not only is it one of the premiere features of this phone. But it is one of the best screens I have ever seen on a phone. The 5.1 inch, 2560x1440 Super AMOLED panel is downright gorgeous. With an insane pixel density of five hundred and seventy seven, my eyes are melting and rejoicing all at the same time. Text is vivid and razor sharp. Images have immense detail and clarity. Samsung needs to come up with a marketing term for their screen technology so they can advertise the heck out of it.
Colors are your typical Samsung saturated. But that doesn’t mean they are inaccurate by any means. Colors have great reproduction and accuracy, Samsung just makes them pop a bit.
The display has great brightness, readable even in direct sunlight. The AMOLED screen can get really bright, but also tone it down a bit when things get moodier(or dark, whichever).
Samsung may have one of the best displays ever made on the Samsung Galaxy S6, it is simply wonderful to look at.
Speakers
The Galaxy S6 has a single, bottom firing speaker. Honestly, it isn’t the greatest. But it isn’t all that bad. It gets pretty loud and has respectable highs and mids. Bass really isn’t there at all because of how tiny the single speaker is. Something a little annoying about bottom firing speakers is what happens when you hold the device. The bottom firing speaker becomes very easy to accidently block with your hand, which will interfere with all sound output. Out of the entire package so far, the speaker is the first unremarkable part of the Galaxy S6.
Battery
The Samsung Galaxy S6 ships with a 2550mAh, non-removable battery. As I stated earlier, the non-removable part is not the problem, the size is. I understand with the thinness and size of the device Samsung was working within strict confines. But the absolute biggest drawback of the hardware is the battery. The Galaxy S6 battery is not terrible, but it really isn’t great.
On a normal day, the Galaxy S6 would average anywhere from 14 to 16 hours of total usage. With 2 and a half hours to three hours of screen on time before hitting 10–15%. This is perfectly passable for most users. But for someone who wakes up early in the morning and might not return to a charger until midnight, it calls for some extra planning in regards to preserving battery life. For example, I have gotten into the habit of charging my S6 when I’m in my car or at my desk. Solely to ensure that I will have enough battery to make it until I go to bed.
Samsung and Google do have some software tricks up their sleeve to alleviate this. You have Lollipop’s Power Saving mode that you can enable at 15, 10, or 5%. Or you have Samsung’s “Ultra Power Saving Mode” that tones function down a great deal. While those will be covered in-depth in the software review. I will say that the battery saving features are useful, but I would prefer a phone that does not need these features to make it through a normal day. A larger battery would absolutely fix this issue.
When you do need to charge your Galaxy S6, you have some options. You have your run of the mill MicroUSB charging port and you have wireless charging. The MicroUSB port will charge your phone from 5% to 100% in around two hours, pretty speedy. The wireless charging will top off your phone from 5% to 100% in just over three hours. The speed of wireless charging is improving, and it’s great to see how capable it is here. One odd thing I have noticed about my Galaxy S6, is that the wireless charging contacts seems to be slightly offset to the left. Whenever my Galaxy S6 was docked on my TYLT Vu, if the device was off to the left at all, it would fail to have enough contact to charge. Not a gripe by any means, just something to note.
The usage you will get with the Galaxy S6 will be entirely dependent on your habits. The average user who isn’t glued to their phone could feasibly get through an entire day with no trouble. But the power user who is constantly replying to emails, Google+ notifications and tweets will be running on fumes by sundown. The battery is a big letdown for the power user in me. The Galaxy S6 battery has caused me to change my habits with my phone. Reverting back to my tablet for some tasks has become commonplace while I carry the Galaxy S6. Something that was not needed with previous flagships.
Call Quality
Did you know your Samsung Galaxy S6 makes phone calls? The Galaxy S6 is indeed a smartphone. Call quality is great with the Galaxy S6. I came through loud and clear on their end, and I could hear them, too. Speakerphone was pretty good, too. The speaker being able to achieve high volumes made talking a breeze while my hands were full. But really, who makes phone calls anymore?(partially kidding)
Samsung has put a ton of emphasis on the design of the Galaxy S6, rightfully so. The Galaxy S6 is easily one of the nicest phones I have ever used. It still weirds me out to use the words “Samsung” and “well designed” in the same sentence. But the Galaxy S6 is incredibly well designed. They are giving long time Samsung owners familiarity with hardware buttons. While giving lovers of design a great piece of hardware that feels great to use.
Samsung has truly turned a corner with the Samsung Galaxy S6. Great design is no longer a fun project for Samsung, exclusive to only the A series. Bringing premium design to the Galaxy S line places Samsung in a completely different echelon than they were previously. Holding the Galaxy S6 next to previous Samsung flagships is a perfect showcase of how fantastically this phone is built.
The Galaxy S6 is not perfect, though. The subpar LTE speeds, passable battery life, and some performance hiccups hold it back from being the best piece of Android hardware on the market. The LTE speeds leave much to be desired when you are away from home. The constant fear of having to recharge your device, however fast recharging may be, is always there with the Galaxy S6. Finally, the performance is great most of the time. But lingering performance hiccups cause some worry for the long term.
