InfoWorld Review of the Samsung Galaxy S6
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InfoWorld takes a first peek at the new Samsung Galaxy S6 Android phone.
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If you're all "I can't be stuffed clicking" (like me when on my phone), here's a condensed version (excerpts)
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you won't find any breakthrough technologies in the Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge. Beyond the new processor and screen, most of the S6s' hardware enhancements debuted in the Galaxy Note 4 or Galaxy Note Edge.
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The new Galaxy S6 models will ship in the United States in April on all the major carriers, Samsung says, though the specific launch dates, colors, and prices are up to the carriers to decide.
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Samsung has also upgraded the heart of the Galaxy, by using a 64-bit Exynos processor of its own making as well as beefing up the internal memory's speed and the amount of internal storage (now starting at 32GB, with 64GB and 128GB options to be available). I didn't have enough use of the S6 or S6 Edge to do speed tests, but both devices certainly felt snappy even with all the extra pixels to push around.
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The back of the S6 supports both competing induction charging standards (PMA Powermat and WPC Qi) -- used in the so-called wireless charging mats -- which is a breakthrough move users will very much appreciate. -
Here's the spec. list: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s6-6849.php
Of note:- there is no MicroSD card slot
- Battery is no longer removable
From: http://gizmodo.com/galaxy-s6-hands-on-samsungs-got-a-whole-new-look-1688066043
Removable batteries and expandable storage are MIAAnd when that battery runs down for good, you won't be replacing it easily. That glass panel on the back of the phone means you can't pop out the battery or add a microSD card. Hear that? That's the sound of devout Samsung fans cursing out loud.
Samsung says it will be offering free a OneDrive subscription for two years as a bit of a cloud-based mea culpa, but the company's also trying to downplay the expandable storage issue: a rep told me Samsung found most smartphone owners only use around 20GB of their storage, often don't know how to effectively use expandable memory, and that onboard memory is much quicker. Hence why they're offering bumped up storage options with 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB variants available.
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In online Apple versus Android spats I've endured on the internet on the past most Android fans quote
- Replaceable battery
- External storage
- Flash
as reasons why iPhones suck. I'm not sure what the difference is now?
I hate the fact that they pre-install OneDrive as well - it's just bloatware. -
@Carnival-Boy said:
In online Apple versus Android spats I've endured on the internet on the past most Android fans quote
- Replaceable battery
- External storage
- Flash
as reasons why iPhones suck. I'm not sure what the difference is now?
I hate the fact that they pre-install OneDrive as well - it's just bloatware.LOL bloatware.. nice - I disagree, but nice..
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After MS and Samsung dropped their suits on each other in Dec or Jan it was assumed that Samsung agreed to put MS services on their new devices and drop the Samsung services from them. This would help MS move into the Cloud First space better.
I think this is a great move, though I do hope/wish for an uninstall option for all non Android default apps, like Windows Phone has.
What's worse, we have no idea what the carriers are going to dump on these new devices either - talk about junkware! I don't want any of that AT&T crap on my device. It already has the Google services (and now the MS ones) that I can use to sync/backup the device, I certainly don't need/want the vendor ones too.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
In online Apple versus Android spats I've endured on the internet on the past most Android fans quote
- Replaceable battery
- External storage
- Flash
as reasons why iPhones suck. I'm not sure what the difference is now?
Agreed - Why are all the manufacturers going away from user serviceable batteries? It's definitely much lighter and easier for me to carry around a second battery when I need more juice than an external battery pack and be forced to tether a cable to it to charge.
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@Dashrender said:
Agreed - Why are all the manufacturers going away from user serviceable batteries? It's definitely much lighter and easier for me to carry around a second battery when I need more juice than an external battery pack and be forced to tether a cable to it to charge.
I've never needed to replace a battery in any of the 7 phones that I've had in the 12+ years that I've owned a mobile phone. Perhaps, the manufacturers aren't seeing large volumes of replacement batteries either, so in their view, it's not critical to have a user replaceable battery.
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In saying that, I have had to pull out the battery to resolve OS lockups more times than there are numbers (okay, not quite that many but I haven't been counting).
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In spite of not having a battery fail on me, I still like having a replaceable battery. Makes hard resets soooooo much easier and if one ever does, then I don't have to send the entire phone away/buy a new phone (which I suspect is also another play for your money by the manufacturers
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@Dashrender said:
LOL bloatware.. nice - I disagree, but nice..
It has pre-installed third party software that includes a "free" period of X number of days before becoming a paid-for subscription. Is that not a definition of bloatware?
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@Carnival-Boy said:
It has pre-installed third party software that includes a "free" period of X number of days before becoming a paid-for subscription. Is that not a definition of bloatware?
That's definitely bloatware. A great example of that on a PC would be the pre-installed Anti-Virus "trial" or "short term subscription" (however you'd like to term it).
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@Carnival-Boy said:
@Dashrender said:
LOL bloatware.. nice - I disagree, but nice..
It has pre-installed third party software that includes a "free" period of X number of days before becoming a paid-for subscription. Is that not a definition of bloatware?
Sure your definition is correct, but OneDrive has a completely free version, just like their Outlook.com email is completely free. So I'd say that the MS services are not Bloatware if you're using the definition above.
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I was thinking about the lack of ability to change the battery last night and if it's something I'm willing to give up in light of a better designed phone, and I think it is.
Giving up the changeable battery allows the vendor to only have one back instead of two (the one covering the electronics and the one covering the battery. Giving this up allows for a redesign of the internals and possibly more space to do more things.
That said, no expandable memory is not something I think is wise.
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Summary of thread: Zero reasons to swap out my Nexus 5
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To me, bloatware is the above but not exclusively the above. If there is software installed beyond the basic OS and needed drivers, it's bloatware. Period. If I didn't order it, it's bloat. Bloat doesn't imply that it doesn't work or isnt' free. If it makes my system less lean, it is bloat.
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@scottalanmiller said:
To me, bloatware is the above but not exclusively the above. If there is software installed beyond the basic OS and needed drivers, it's bloatware. Period. If I didn't order it, it's bloat. Bloat doesn't imply that it doesn't work or isnt' free. If it makes my system less lean, it is bloat.
I'd agree with this too, but I'd have to include the built in email/web browsers, etc into that bloatware category as well since I don't NEED them to use the device, and by not including them I'm more free to go out and find the one I want for myself.
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@Dashrender said:
I'd agree with this too, but I'd have to include the built in email/web browsers, etc into that bloatware category as well since I don't NEED them to use the device, and by not including them I'm more free to go out and find the one I want for myself.
I certainly include those. But I don't know any OS that doesn't have them built in.
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Do you think interest in new phones have peaked now? Is there anything new to invent? Each new phone is usually slightly lighter, slightly thinner and slightly faster, but other than that they're all basically the same now, aren't they? When they're pushing a curved edge as the big, new thing, is that a sign there is nothing new? Will anybody be rushing out to replace their S5 with an S6? I have an iPhone 5 and I have no desire to replace it, despite it being 2 models out of date now. HTC, Sony, Samsung, Apple, Nokia - are they all basically the same now?
Do you think future generations will look back on the hysteria surrounding phones in the first half of this decade and think we were all a bit weird - "it's just a phone, why all the fuss?". People queuing overnight to get the latest model - crazy!
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I think that they will look at it the same way that we look back on the computer craze of the late 1970s and early 1980s. There was roughly a decade (1977 - 1987) when you needed a new computer every year to keep up. Now a computer is useful for nearly ten years!
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That's pretty much inevitable though, right? Look at any technology and you can pretty much apply this same logic to it. Though the time frame can fluctuate wildly.
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@Dashrender said:
That's pretty much inevitable though, right? Look at any technology and you can pretty much apply this same logic to it. Though the time frame can fluctuate wildly.
Yup, pretty much.
