Product :Samsung Galaxy S6
Website :Samsung
Specifications 5.1in Quad HD 2560x1440 577ppi Super Amoled screen, octa-core Exynos 7420 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB, 64GB or 128GB storage, 16MP F-1.9 with Real Time HDR and Optical Image Stabilisation rear, 5MP F-1.9 Real Time HDR front, GSM/3G/4G, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Android 5.0 Lollipop, Samsung TouchWiz, Li-Ion 2600mAh battery, 143x71x6.8mm, 138g
Website :Samsung
Specifications 5.1in Quad HD 2560x1440 577ppi Super Amoled screen, octa-core Exynos 7420 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB, 64GB or 128GB storage, 16MP F-1.9 with Real Time HDR and Optical Image Stabilisation rear, 5MP F-1.9 Real Time HDR front, GSM/3G/4G, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, Android 5.0 Lollipop, Samsung TouchWiz, Li-Ion 2600mAh battery, 143x71x6.8mm, 138g
SAMSUNG STILL HAS A CLOSE to undisputed hold on the Western Android smartphone market, but its iron grip loosened in 2014 when sales of the Galaxy S5 failed to meet the firm's and analysts' projections.
The Galaxy S5 was criticised for its dull, sterile design, lack of innovation and infestation of bloatware.
Aware of customers' and reviewers' complaints, Samsung made a sweep of reforms in its smartphone division and "went back to the drawing board" with the 2015 Galaxy S6.
Design and build
We here at DIY - EGY have never been big fans of past Galaxy smartphone designs, feeling that the polycarbonate frames were flimsy and felt significantly less robust and premium than competing handsets from companies like HTC, Apple and Sony.
We here at DIY - EGY have never been big fans of past Galaxy smartphone designs, feeling that the polycarbonate frames were flimsy and felt significantly less robust and premium than competing handsets from companies like HTC, Apple and Sony.
Samsung has completely rethought its design practices to build the Galaxy S6 and used a mix of Gorilla Glass and a custom metal alloy, which it claims is 50 percent stronger than on other high-end handsets.
Specifically, Samsung has designed the Galaxy S6 with metal sides and Gorilla Glass back and front. Visually the design borrows heavily from Sony and Apple and makes the Galaxy S6 look like a hybrid of the iPhone 6 and Xperia Z3.
The Apple link is particularly noticeable when you look at the placement and design of the Galaxy S6's single speaker, which is situated on the phone's bottom, next to the microUSB and headphone inputs. Some users may bemoan the design, feeling that it borrows too heavily from other firms, but we found it a major improvement on past Galaxy handsets.
The Galaxy S6 felt noticeably sturdier than past Samsung smartphones and, despite having a glass back, managed to survive an accidental encounter with our office floor unscathed.
Measuring 143x71x6.8mm and weighing 138g, the Galaxy S6 is comfortable to hold and use one handed for anyone but the smallest handed. The ease of use is aided by the button placement, which puts the volume controls on the top right and power on the middle of the left side.
Samsung has also managed to load the Galaxy S6 with a reasonable number of custom features, the best of which are the fingerprint scanner and heart-rate monitor.
The fingerprint scanner is housed in the front-facing physical home button, while the heart rate monitor sits on the back next to the flash unit.
The only slight disappointment regarding the Galaxy S6 design is that, unlike its predecessor, it isn't IP certified and won't survive the odd accidental submersion in water.
Display
Display
Samsung made a lot of noise about the Galaxy S6's 5.1in Quad HD 2560x1440 577ppi Super Amoled screen, claiming that it displays 70 percent more pixels than the Galaxy S5.
Traditionally we've always been big fans of Samsung smartphone screens, feeling that they are a cut above many competing smartphones thanks to the Super Amoled technology.
Super Amoled is a custom technology that offers all the benefits of normal Amoled screens, which are able to display deeper and richer blacks by electrically charging each individual pixel to generate colours, but also reduces the screen's power consumption.
It does this by integrating the capacitive touchscreen layer directly into the display instead of overlaying it on top, thus removing the need for the phone to charge two components at once.
Our positive impressions of the technology remained true on the Galaxy S6, which features one of the best screens we've ever seen on a smartphone.
Text and icons were super sharp and the handset has astoundingly good viewing angles. Even when viewing images from the widest angles possible we noticed only negligible colour distortion.
The one problem we've had with Super Amoled screens in the past is that Samsung has a tendency to crank the display's settings to the point that they slightly oversaturate colours.
However, testing the Galaxy S6 we found the colour levels are great and Samsung has callibrated the display very well. As a result, generally, colours are incredibly rich and vibrant and don't look exaggerated.
Operating system and software
The Galaxy S6 comes with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop overlaid with the latest version of Samsung's TouchWiz.
The Galaxy S6 comes with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop overlaid with the latest version of Samsung's TouchWiz.
We've never been fans of custom skins for two reasons. First, they delay how quickly handsets can receive updates from Google, as the handset maker needs to rework the skin's code. The problem is demonstrated by the lack of word as to when UK Galaxy S6 models will be upgraded to Google's latest Android 5.1 version.
Second, many of the changes and services offered by the skins are superfluous or detrimental to the user experience.
Samsung has been a key offender regarding our second problem and has regularly made more changes to Android's user interface than can easily be counted and flooded its smartphones with a sea of useless, uninstallable applications.
With the Galaxy S6, however, Samsung claims to have learned from its mistakes and has kept the changes to a minimum and made sure every added application is useful.
Being blunt, Samsung has still made a number of UI changes that aren't necessarily an improvement to Android's Material design, including reworking the pull-down notifications window and redesigning the settings menu.
However, when it comes to services, we have to admit that Samsung has done a good job in cleaning up TouchWiz, and the majority of the installed apps are useful. Key positive features include Smart Manager, Briefing, S Voice, S Health and multi-window support.
Smart Manager improves performance by letting users monitor and control which applications are using memory or battery power at any given time. Considering how Android's native task management services are still slightly lacking, the feature is useful and a welcome addition that we can see ourselves using often as the Galaxy S6 ages and performance wanes.
Briefing is a news aggregation service accessed by swiping left from the home screen. The feature is designed to let users quickly and easily get updates on news about specific topics.
Testing the service we found that it's not as good as competing aggregators, like HTC's BlinkFeed which offers more customisation and topic checking options, but is still fairly useful.
After our first day with the Galaxy S6 we found ourselves regularly checking it when on the move to make sure we hadn't missed any important news announcements.
S Voice offers the same voice command features seen on previous Galaxy smartphones and remains as useful as ever.
The feature adds improved functionality to Google's built-in voice command services and lets you wake the Galaxy S6, mount web searches and enter items into the calendar app by talking to the phone.
S Health is a fitness tracker that aims to offer advice and help with more effective exercise regimes using information stored on the Galaxy S6, combined with biometric data collected by the phone's heart-rate monitor.
The dual-screen support is also as useful as ever and lets you have two apps open on the Galaxy S6's screen. The feature is activated simply by pressing and holding down the menu button to bring up the shortcut tab, and dragging the second app you want to display onto the screen.
We found this a great productivity aid, letting us do things like keep the reference web page we were reading open while taking notes using Google Docs or Microsoft OneNote.
For businesses embedded in Microsoft, rather than Google's ecosystem, Samsung has also preloaded applications including Office, OneNote, Skype and OneDrive.
Looking to take advantage of the reported mobile payments boom, the Galaxy S6 is also compatible with the Samsung Pay service. Samsung Pay is similar to other payment services, but is based on NFC and MST.
The payment solution is set to arrive in the UK at an unspecified point in the future and has already garnered support from companies including MasterCard and Visa.
Security
Samsung has worked hard to dominate the enterprise smartphone market for the past few years using its Knox security platform. This strategy continues on the Galaxy S6 which comes with an array of security focused features.
The Knox platform is based on the US National Security Agency's Security Enhanced Linux technology. It is designed to offer IT managers similar sandboxing powers to those on the BlackBerry Balance, creating separate encrypted work and personal areas on devices. Knox also offers certificate management, VPN+ and enterprise mobility management services.
As an added bonus Samsung has also announced a new custom Office 365 and Samsung Knox Business Pack for corporate devices that will integrate Microsoft's cloud services directly into the management service.
The review unit we received was a consumer release that didn't have this installed so we couldn't test the Office 365 integration.
For those without a company smartphone policy or Knox support, the Galaxy S6 has an optional standalone Knox active protection service. This is an anti-malware solution powered by McAfee technology that can be turned on in the Galaxy S6's Device Manager.
It works by checking the legitimacy and behaviour of data stored on the Galaxy S6 and offers advanced real-time kernel protection that blocks any suspicious activity.
The Galaxy S6's fingerprint scanner backs the software security services and adds a further layer of protection, letting users set the Galaxy S6 to unlock only after they have proved their identity.
Setting up the scanner simply required us to access the Finger Scanner section of the Galaxy S6's Settings menu and then run the finger we wanted to register over the scanner a few times. The success rate is excellent and it managed to accurately detect our thumb 99.9 percent of the time.
It will also be possible in the future to lock Samsung Pay to approve payments only after the user has proved their identity.
Considering the increasing amount of mobile malware targeting Android, coupled with the data loss that can result from a lost or stolen smartphone, the Galaxy S6's security features are among its biggest selling points.
Performance
Samsung claims that the Galaxy S6's "one of a kind" 14nm, 64-bit octa-core processor is a cut above Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810, and there may well be some truth to this claim if our benchmarks are anything to go by.
Samsung claims that the Galaxy S6's "one of a kind" 14nm, 64-bit octa-core processor is a cut above Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810, and there may well be some truth to this claim if our benchmarks are anything to go by.
Paired with 3GB of RAM and comprising quad-core 2.1GHz and quad-core 1.5GHz parts, the processor performed very well when tested on Antutu, Geekbench and 3DMark.
The Galaxy S6 scored 70,440 on Antutu, 1,474 single-core and 5,312 multi-core on Geekbench and 21,326 on 3DMark.
This puts the Galaxy S6, on paper, head and shoulders above its competitors. By comparison the HTC One M9 scored 52,954 on Antutu, 753 single-core and 2,935 multi-core on Geekbench and 21,873 on 3DMark.
We were equally impressed with the Galaxy S6's real-world performance. With everyday use, opening web pages and applications, navigating menus and streaming the odd YouTube video, the Galaxy S6 was super fast and is one of the smoothest, most reactive handsets we've ever used.
The Galaxy S6 was equally impressive when faced with demanding tasks like video editing and 3D gaming. Playing a solid three-hour session of Xcom the Galaxy S6 never once chugged or stuttered and, unlike some competing smartphones, didn't heat up to an uncomfortable level.
The performance is aided by a new type of memory storage technology called UFS 2.0 designed to offer SSD-like data speeds. It's a radical step-up compared with the eMMC 5.0 storage technology used by most competing smartphones.
Camera
Samsung's camera technology has been fairly good in the past, but never great. Looking to fix this Samsung has loaded the Galaxy S6 with an improved 16MP, 2988x5312 pixel rear camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS), an F-1.9 lens and LED flash.
Samsung's camera technology has been fairly good in the past, but never great. Looking to fix this Samsung has loaded the Galaxy S6 with an improved 16MP, 2988x5312 pixel rear camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS), an F-1.9 lens and LED flash.
Samsung claims that the F-1.9 lens lets in 60 percent more light than the Galaxy S5's sensor, meaning that the Galaxy S6 should offer above average low-light performance when paired with OIS.
OIS improves photo quality by compensating in real time for shaking and vibrating while shooting. The compensation means there are no alterations or light degradations on captured images.
Shooting in regular light the Galaxy S6 camera proved to be one of the best currently available in the Android ecosystem. In the regular automatic setting we found that the Galaxy S6 features unparalleled shutter and focus speeds and is capable of wonderfully crisp and vibrant images.
Moving into low light we were equally impressed and the Galaxy S6 proved capable of shooting usable images in conditions that would render most smartphones' rear sensors useless.
The inclusion of a custom Pro mode in the Galaxy S6 further aids the camera's powers. The Pro mode offers manual control over things like ISO and white balance as well as a series of custom filters that further alter settings to function in particular conditions.
While far from advanced enough to turn the Galaxy S6 into a dedicated camera replacement, the settings do offer enough options to let people with a modicum of talent create compelling, even artistic, images using the rear camera. The Galaxy S6 also comes with the basic HDR, Panorama and selective focus options seen on its predecessor.
For those who like to take selfies, or regularly make video calls, Samsung has loaded the Galaxy S6's 5MP front camera with the same F-1.9 lens.
Battery and storage
Unlike past Samsung Galaxy smartphones the Galaxy S6's Li-Ion 2550mAh battery is non-removable. This is a little disappointing as you won't be able use a spare battery when away from a mains connection, but we didn't find this too much of a problem.
Unlike past Samsung Galaxy smartphones the Galaxy S6's Li-Ion 2550mAh battery is non-removable. This is a little disappointing as you won't be able use a spare battery when away from a mains connection, but we didn't find this too much of a problem.
The Galaxy S6's battery life is pretty good as smartphones go. Battery burning the Galaxy S6 by constantly looping a video file stored on the device, the handset lasted eight hours 30 minutes on our first test and eight hours 45 minutes on our second, which is above average for a phone of its size.
Most other handsets generally last seven to eight hours when faced with the same test. The handset also performed well in real-world use and easily lasted a full day on one charge.
This entailed using the Galaxy S6 as our primary work and personal phone and involved taking and making a few calls, constantly checking our email and social media feeds, playing games for an hour and sporadically listening to music.
As an added bonus Samsung has made it easy to charge the Galaxy S6 by adding fast charge battery technology that it claims "charges four hours' worth of life in 10 minutes" along with WPC and PMA wireless charging support.
We didn't get a chance to test the wireless charging support but found that the quick charge technology is impressive. With the right charge cable, the Galaxy S6 nearly reached a full charge within an hour of being connected to the mains.
Samsung is offering the Galaxy S6 with 32GB, 64GB or 128GB of internal space. It's important to note that, unlike past Galaxy smartphones, the Galaxy S6 doesn't feature a microSD card slot, so there's no option to upgrade the storage space after purchase.
Making up for this, Samsung has bundled the Galaxy S6 with a complementary 100GB of space on Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage service, meaning that most users shouldn't have to worry about running out of space.
Featuring a host of top-end components and a robust set of personal and enterprise security services, the Galaxy S6 is the best Android smartphone currently available.
Key positives include Samsung's Knox security services, a top-end rear camera, super fast octa-core processor and razor sharp Super Amoled display.
However, with prices for the 32GB Galaxy S6 starting at £600, and the 64GB model costing a whopping £760, the handset does not come cheap. ยต
The good Great display, good camera, robust security, wireless charging, super fast performance
The bad Not the latest Android version, no micro-SD
The ugly Design borrows heavily from Apple and Sony.
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