Galaxy S6

[SurferMan]

Multi window I've rarely used, more so just to check it out, felt on a screen this small (S5 but basically same size) kinda gimmicky. Tablet could see the advantage. But otherwise never really had an issue with TW. Running dynamickat which is TW based, but with the blue GPE theme. That's the one thing I wish you could do stock, run the blue (or other if you like) GPE them, looks so nice and sharp.

TW though has a lot of good features, why I've always been a fan of TW based roms, even ran shostock back on my S2. Vanilla Android is just too..... Vanilla snooooooze. Tried other roms, never really been a fan of Cyan based with all the glitches and issues and battery drain that pop up.

 

[spinedoc77]

Totally understand it's a personal preference thing and as much as I know how you like TW, I'm the person who balances out the universe with my dislike of it. And yeah, my preference leans toward the stock Android aesthetic and a leaner OS. I'd probably be very hard pressed to NOT buy a GPE version of the standard S6--was really impressed by that hardware when I got to see it/use it in person.

Nothing wrong with a GPE version at all, would be nice to see how fast that would be.

 

[tbayrgs]

Nothing wrong with a GPE version at all, would be nice to see how fast that would be.

Probably my perfect Android device--terrific hardware (IMO, but I like the more industrial design, even if it offers less flexibility), an apparently outstanding camera, brilliant display. So close, yet so far from actually happening.

 

[epicrayban]

Yup, it's had many of those functions for a while now and it should feel that way but every time I use it, I still find the experience completely unpleasant. And I don't want anyone to take my next comment as anything more than my personal opinion/preferences but I find so many of the features lackluster or just not worthwhile. Split screen multi-tasking on a device with a 5" display is useless for me and only works with a small portion of apps (people found a 3.5-4" iPhone display too small but 2.5-3" multi-windows are useful? ), smart stay solves a problem I never experience, the TW Notification tray is still cartoonishly large and icons/font are oversized.

I won't begrudge anyone who likes the added functions but I still think Samsung's kitchen sink philosophy contributes to the problems commonly experienced with TW. And to preemptively responded to the expected 'Why wouldn't you want added features' question...added feature upon feature doesn't come without a cost. All those added features and functions add to the bloat that is TW and require memory. I just want Samsung to balance out the endless features--trim the fat and work to optimize the OS for smoother, more efficient performance. There have been indications that Samsung has moved in this direction with the S6 but I've also read that the strides in this direction were not as substantial as hoped. I won't pass any final judgment on it until I can spend some time with it but until now, TW just hasn't been my cup of tea, regardless of the hardware it was running on.

Sure. I get what you're saying. To be absolutely fair, I've never used TouchWiz as a daily driver, so I may end up agreeing with you.

Just a few things:

-I think split screen isn't meant to be a long-term use feature. You're not meant to keep split screen opened for a pro-long period of time to use as two 2.5" screens as you describe. I imagine it being meant to just quickly and conveniently share, look at, and/or apply information between two apps. The classic example being an address from Chrome browser, and imputing it into Maps on the split screen. Can you just copy and app-switch and paste? Sure, but this is a little bit faster and a little bit more convenient because both apps are opened at the same time allowing quicker access to each app. I know I've found many times where I wish I could do that.

-Smart stay is optional, no? You can turn it off if you don't need it? I've found in my experience more than a handful of times the screen going dim as if it's about to turn off. My main concern with Smart Stay is exactly how good it will be at acknowledging my eyes that I'm staring at the screen. Also, is Smart Stay the feature that knows when you're in portrait or landscape mode, and will keep it that way based on your eyes? I thought i read something like that before but I'm not sure if this is the same feature. Because if it is, that too, I've found could be useful. Like if my device is tilted a little, but I still want to read in portrait mode.

-I'm okay with the colors of TW. I think they play well with Material Design. But I completely understand if someone finds this too cartoony. The Theme option will be nice for those who want to change it up. iOS doesn't offer this; and how many people have cried iOS' recent design overhaul is not their cup of tea?

-As for the features in relation to bloat, the verdict for me is still out on that. I own an iPhone, and every once in a rare while, it'll hiccup and lag, too, just like any other smartphone I've ever used. If TW minimizes this occurrence as much as reviews have said, then I'll be happy. But you're right, it sounds like TW still has room to improve on that front and I'm glad Samsung is finally embarking in that direction. At the same time, I'm glad Samsung (and others) are pushing extra features and actually influence stock Android. I find stock Android to be a little bit boring.

 

[spinedoc77]

Sure. I get what you're saying. To be absolutely fair, I've never used TouchWiz as a daily driver, so I may end up agreeing with you.

Just a few things:

-I think split screen isn't meant to be a long-term use feature. You're not meant to keep split screen opened for a pro-long period of time to use as two 2.5" screens as you describe. I imagine it being meant to just quickly and conveniently share, look at, and/or apply information between two apps. The classic example being an address from Chrome browser, and imputing it into Maps on the split screen. Can you just copy and app-switch and paste? Sure, but this is a little bit faster and a little bit more convenient because both apps are opened at the same time allowing quicker access to each app. I know I've found many times where I wish I could do that.

-Smart stay is optional, no? You can turn it off if you don't need it? I've found in my experience more than a handful of times the screen going dim as if it's about to turn off. My main concern with Smart Stay is exactly how good it will be at acknowledging my eyes that I'm staring at the screen. Also, is Smart Stay the feature that knows when you're in portrait or landscape mode, and will keep it that way based on your eyes? I thought i read something like that before but I'm not sure if this is the same feature. Because if it is, that too, I've found could be useful. Like if my device is tilted a little, but I still want to read in portrait mode.

-I'm okay with the colors of TW. I think they play well with Material Design. But I completely understand if someone finds this too cartoony. The Theme option will be nice for those who want to change it up. iOS doesn't offer this; and how many people have cried iOS' recent design overhaul is not their cup of tea?

-As for the features in relation to bloat, the verdict for me is still out on that. I own an iPhone, and every once in a rare while, it'll hiccup and lag, too, just like any other smartphone I've ever used. If TW minimizes this occurrence as much as reviews have said, then I'll be happy. But you're right, it sounds like TW still has room to improve on that front and I'm glad Samsung is finally embarking in that direction. At the same time, I'm glad Samsung (and others) are pushing extra features and actually influence stock Android. I find stock Android to be a little bit boring.

People neglect that multi screen doesn't have to be 50/50. I often have multiple things open that are not 50/50, for example having navigation and audio books 80/20 which is what I do when I drive to work. You can resize the windows to your liking.

Smart stay is pretty awesome IMO, not having to deal with the screen shutting off is a nice and useful feature.

I really hope they don't nix some of these very useful features for some imperceptible speed gain.

 

[epicrayban]

I looked at Skinomi for my S5, but went with the Ringke Slim Dot case. Pry the best case I've ever used for a phone, very slim (literally) but just enough to protect the phone/screen/buttons/camera etc, nice grippy dot texture on the back. This thing has taken some nice drops, love it. Anyone looking for an awesome case, check out Ringke Slim series (mines the slim dot). Friend just bought one for his phone after seeing mine.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

----------

People neglect that multi screen doesn't have to be 50/50. I often have multiple things open that are not 50/50, for example having navigation and audio books 80/20 which is what I do when I drive to work. You can resize the windows to your liking.

Smart stay is pretty awesome IMO, not having to deal with the screen shutting off is a nice and useful feature.

I really hope they don't nix some of these very useful features for some imperceptible speed gain.

Agree.

I also think minimizing apps is a pretty radical and useful feature. To be able to literally shrink the size of an app and navigate whatever's in the background? That is computer operating level software feature. And then if one wants, to further minimize it into a small icon? That's amazing. It's like being in the Matrix and you're Neo and you can manipulate the space around you; you can now literally manipulate your apps to your uses. Again, near computer-level freedom.

 

[mel823]

Loving the Peel Smart Remote app. Love being able to control my TV and cable box with it. Need to add my blu-ray players though.

Now I get why some people say they won't buy a phone that doesn't have an IR blaster.

 

[Technarchy]

Loving the Peel Smart Remote app. Love being able to control my TV and cable box with it. Need to add my blu-ray players though.

Now I get why some people say they won't buy a phone that doesn't have an IR blaster.

It's a hell of a feature, and something I would certainly miss if I went back to the iPhone.

 

[epicrayban]

Totally understand it's a personal preference thing and as much as I know how you like TW, I'm the person who balances out the universe with my dislike of it. And yeah, my preference leans toward the stock Android aesthetic and a leaner OS. I'd probably be very hard pressed to NOT buy a GPE version of the standard S6--was really impressed by that hardware when I got to see it/use it in person.

I'm surprised then that you're a fan of HTC's Sense. I find Sense more of an offensive warping of Android than TouchWiz in a few key areas, namely, the app drawer, and the app switcher menu (I really hate the tiles set up. Can hardly make out what app is what sometimes). I also find Sense's overall menu implementations (including the pull down notification shade) a bit ugly. TW's implementation may be a bit cartoony, but it's cleaner, more organized even, I find. And, as mentioned before, I actually like the color coding of TW; it really implements well with Material Design.

I'm surprised you're not more of a Moto X or Xperia Z guy, both of which are also very clean near-stock Android builds.

----------

Loving the Peel Smart Remote app. Love being able to control my TV and cable box with it. Need to add my blu-ray players though.

Now I get why some people say they won't buy a phone that doesn't have an IR blaster.

Forgot about that feature. Looking forward to that, too.

----------

Probably my perfect Android device--terrific hardware (IMO, but I like the more industrial design, even if it offers less flexibility), an apparently outstanding camera, brilliant display. So close, yet so far from actually happening.

It really is a shame the GPE program died so quickly.

 

[gotluck]

It is sad but kind of funny gpe devices are getting 5.1 now, before the nexus 4 and 9, but the program is dead. GPE was the line for me and the s6 is a perfect candidate, bah

 

[albertfallickwa]

Does anyone here actually own one of these phones at all?

 

[tbayrgs]

It is sad but kind of funny gpe devices are getting 5.1 now, before the nexus 4 and 9, but the program is dead. GPE was the line for me and the s6 is a perfect candidate, bah

Yeah, my LG G Pad 8.3 GPE, a device that barely registered a blip on the sales radar, got 5.1 yesterday, before my wife's Nexus 7 (2013). Not sure what's happening with the Nexus lines as of late.

 

[tbayrgs]

I'm surprised then that you're a fan of HTC's Sense. I find Sense more of an offensive warping of Android than TouchWiz in a few key areas, namely, the app drawer, and the app switcher menu (I really hate the tiles set up. Can hardly make out what app is what sometimes). I also find Sense's overall menu implementations (including the pull down notification shade) a bit ugly. TW's implementation may be a bit cartoony, but it's cleaner, more organized even, I find. And, as mentioned before, I actually like the color coding of TW; it really implements well with Material Design.

I'm surprised you're not more of a Moto X or Xperia Z guy, both of which are also very clean near-stock Android builds.

I actually am quite a big fan of Motorola's very light skinning of Android, find the functionality they've added right on point. Unfortunately, I find their hardware itself less than stellar. Also, while the visual design of Sony's skin is similar to stock Android, I found Sony's still a bit intrusive with quite a bit of bloat as well.

Regarding Sense, yes it's not perfect either--agree about the app switcher, do prefer the new implementation in Lollipop but otherwise I prefer Sense's design over TW. And until now (can't and won't comment on the S6's implementation of TW until I use it more extensively) I found its performance much smoother and noticeably quicker.

But you're right, if given the choice, I'd choose stock or near stock Android. Just haven't found worthwhile hardware that uses it yet.

 

[gotluck]

But you're right, if given the choice, I'd choose stock or near stock Android. Just haven't found worthwhile hardware that uses it yet.

Completely agree with the entire post really, but the quote sums up how I feel about android devices right now pretty darn well

 

[Technarchy]

Hopefully Best Buy comes through and the S6 drops tomorrow...with the free wireless charger at the same time.

 

[mclld]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7-lhmW34CI

 

[robertkoa]

Re Exynos vs Qualcomm Differences.

I checked out the AT&T Galaxy Alpha a number of times but purchased an
Exynos Factory Unlocked 850 M due to Radio Bands better for Metro/Tmobile.
Big surprise when I received it is the
Audio through the speaker is much louder and fuller than Qualcomm
version.
I also have better Battery performance but hard to tell if it's Exynos or my Usage.

Exynos is very stable and solid, never overheats.

 

[Fernandez21]

Sweet, I just got mine and am setting it up now, though not completely as I have some work to do.

First impressions are, the screen is beautiful, I think it may be better than both my iPhone 6 plus and note 4. The build and feel is very apple like, its great. The buttons are very clicky and feel very sturdy. And the finger print sensor is finnaly useful, on par with the iPhone, though I really won't be using it that much after I sync up my moto 360 and use trusted devices. And the phone is really fast, much faster than my note, and dear I say slightly faster than my 6 plus, though I still need to load all my apps and info to it, so will see how it performs then. And no more water drip! Its now a nice click sound.

More thoughts on it later.

 

[MRU]

Re Exynos vs Qualcomm Differences.

I checked out the AT&T Galaxy Alpha a number of times but purchased an
Exynos Factory Unlocked 850 M due to Radio Bands better for Metro/Tmobile.
Big surprise when I received it is the
Audio through the speaker is much louder and fuller than Qualcomm
version.
I also have better Battery performance but hard to tell if it's Exynos or my Usage.

Exynos is very stable and solid, never overheats.

I had an exynos Alpha too and it's a blazing little beast. Routinely get 4 hour plus screen on time despite its 1800mah battery and Antutu benchmarks over 48,000 routinely.

 

[epicrayban]

Sweet, I just got mine and am setting it up now, though not completely as I have some work to do.

First impressions are, the screen is beautiful, I think it may be better than both my iPhone 6 plus and note 4. The build and feel is very apple like, its great. The buttons are very clicky and feel very sturdy. And the finger print sensor is finnaly useful, on par with the iPhone, though I really won't be using it that much after I sync up my moto 360 and use trusted devices. And the phone is really fast, much faster than my note, and dear I say slightly faster than my 6 plus, though I still need to load all my apps and info to it, so will see how it performs then. And no more water drip! Its now a nice click sound.

More thoughts on it later.

Thumbs up. Congrats! Tell us more. Picsssss.

 

[robertkoa]

Maybe that depends of the phone colour:

YouTube: video

Anyways, my point was the galaxy s6 and iphone 6 now look more similar than ever.

True- and so what- these two Companies seem to have the best Engineering Skills and now that Samsung has the Note and S6 Camera at a high level , we will see Apple evolve further on IPhone 7 etc. etc.
Also I read that Apple may license the
Exynos Chips from Samsung - looks like the Companies have less bitter rivalries than the Fans of both Devices- lol.

 

[robertkoa]

Yeah. I don't think I can accept significantly worse battery life compared to my oneplus. I never worry about battery with my oneplus. It's a real luxury. I don't want to go back to worrying about it.

Damn... Really want this phone too. I'll await more feedback...

I am right with all you guys.
I have a Galaxy Alpha which I really like and the small size - BUT I like the
Camera of S6 and can use for Business reasons and will live with
larger size of S6 -
BUT - can not live with less Battery Life than I have now 4 to 5 hours SOT.

Also frustrating- the S6 if only a half millimeter thicker or so COULD have a
3000 to 3100 Mah Battery at 7.5 millimeters thick !

When did Samsung get hung up on thinness- My Alpha is 6.7 mm and S6 is 6.8 mm .

These would be just as pretty at 7.5 mm thick right ?

Another point some of you have mentioned do we need 577 ppi on this small screen - more Battery Life would be vastly better IMO.

I am someone who uses Phone as a Laptop so perhaps the S6 is a Consumer Device with smaller Battery - Fine.

So give me an S6 Pro with a 3100 Mah Battery for heavy use - and charge me $850 or so - I will whine about the price only one time I promise lol.

 

[robertkoa]

People neglect that multi screen doesn't have to be 50/50. I often have multiple things open that are not 50/50, for example having navigation and audio books 80/20 which is what I do when I drive to work. You can resize the windows to your liking.

Smart stay is pretty awesome IMO, not having to deal with the screen shutting off is a nice and useful feature.

I really hope they don't nix some of these very useful features for some imperceptible speed gain.

True: my first Samsung Alpha has these features and its fast much faster than S5 and the split screen is useful even on 4.7" screen for adding
Gallery Pics to Desktop Email for example.

But the Exynos on the Alpha does not slow down from split screen....no lag and the 850M menus are stripped down Touchwiz -easy to deal with.

 

[skratch77]

Hopefully Best Buy comes through and the S6 drops tomorrow...with the free wireless charger at the same time.

My friend at best buy just called me and said all 3 of my gs6s came in with wireless chargers! Said if not picked up by the 11th they will sell them

I asked if I can pick them up today but it was a no go

 

[JayIsAwesome]

Spent the last hour stocking the GS6/GS6 Edge and organizing the preorders. And we also got the wireless chargers in too. Hopefully tomorrow isn't too insane. Big time phone launches always put me a little on edge (no pun intended) lol. I still get flashbacks from that disaster of an iPhone launch #