Here's the Galaxy S6

[alock]

Luke. said:

Many folks argue that 1080p resolution is more than sufficient for today’s smartphone, but Samsung pushes forward by gracing the Galaxy edge with a defying 5.1-inch quad-HD 1440 x 2560 Super AMOLED display. Talk about impressive details! This one undoubtedly proves that point because it’s one of the most detailed around with its pixel density count of 576 ppi.

I don't think 1080p will be anywhere near enough over the next couple of years. I think one of the 'must have' gadgets of the next few years will be virtual reality headsets. These can in theory be fairly cheap lumps of plastic (I've seen home made ones made of card) and with the appropriate software can drive each half of the screen with a different image.
http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/gearvr/gea...

For this to work with a screen a few inches from your eyes requires a very high ppi. A rough calculation shows the quad HD screen on the S6 is only retina when viewed more than 6" away. If VR catches on then resolutions will increase to ~1000ppi.

[MuffDaddy]

Luke. said:

How come you've managed to get your mitts on one so early? Well jel.

They pay me ;-)

Real world battery. Hard to say as it never leaves my office and isn't my primary device.

[Luke.]

Any preference to Edge or normal screen?

[MuffDaddy]

Luke. said:

Any preference to Edge or normal screen?

Your wallet won't like the answer to that.

[Luke.]

MuffDaddy said:

Luke. said:

Any preference to Edge or normal screen?

Your wallet won't like the answer to that.

Yep, thinking the same thing. Got to be an Edge really. But would get it on contract anyway, so shouldn't sting too much.

[mybrainhurts]

alock said:

Luke. said:

Many folks argue that 1080p resolution is more than sufficient for today’s smartphone, but Samsung pushes forward by gracing the Galaxy edge with a defying 5.1-inch quad-HD 1440 x 2560 Super AMOLED display. Talk about impressive details! This one undoubtedly proves that point because it’s one of the most detailed around with its pixel density count of 576 ppi.

I don't think 1080p will be anywhere near enough over the next couple of years. I think one of the 'must have' gadgets of the next few years will be virtual reality headsets. These can in theory be fairly cheap lumps of plastic (I've seen home made ones made of card) and with the appropriate software can drive each half of the screen with a different image.
http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/gearvr/gea...

For this to work with a screen a few inches from your eyes requires a very high ppi. A rough calculation shows the quad HD screen on the S6 is only retina when viewed more than 6" away. If VR catches on then resolutions will increase to ~1000ppi.

Very good, but won't you keep crashing your car into stuff wearing those things?

[8Ace]

Shaoxter said:

Boro said:

For me, it's an epic fail leaving out the MicroSD card slot and replaceable battery. These were two things that made the Samsung different over iPhone.

This. I'm well and truly out.
Both of those things are a must for me: microSD slot to avoid the extortionate onboard memory upgrade costs and replaceable battery because I travel a lot and a spare battery or two is really useful. Not to mention batteries degrade over time and in a couple of years the battery life will be terrible.

100% this. My Galaxy S3 does everything I need it to do, but it will probably need replaceing in a year or so. I would have stuck with Samsung but I don't know what to get now.

One thing I love about my S3, and what I would need in any new handset, it is the fact I can buy replacement batteries and install micro SD cards.

The original battery on my S3 is Ferked after 2 years but the new one I bought cost me £10 and all is well again. Doing this to a phone with an inbuilt battery would be a total PITA. I also love having spares if I am away from a charger and using the phone a lot.

No micro SD card is a disaster - when I do buy a new phone I just want to be able to plug my old card into my new phone and have all my photos music and video available ASAP. Cloud space just isn't big enough at the moment - google drive gives you 15GB free but compare paying £10 a month or so for the amount you need when you can get a 64GB sd card for about £15.

[davek_964]

8Ace said:

Shaoxter said:

Boro said:

For me, it's an epic fail leaving out the MicroSD card slot and replaceable battery. These were two things that made the Samsung different over iPhone.

This. I'm well and truly out.
Both of those things are a must for me: microSD slot to avoid the extortionate onboard memory upgrade costs and replaceable battery because I travel a lot and a spare battery or two is really useful. Not to mention batteries degrade over time and in a couple of years the battery life will be terrible.

100% this. My Galaxy S3 does everything I need it to do, but it will probably need replaceing in a year or so. I would have stuck with Samsung but I don't know what to get now.

One thing I love about my S3, and what I would need in any new handset, it is the fact I can buy replacement batteries and install micro SD cards.

The original battery on my S3 is Ferked after 2 years but the new one I bought cost me £10 and all is well again. Doing this to a phone with an inbuilt battery would be a total PITA. I also love having spares if I am away from a charger and using the phone a lot.

No micro SD card is a disaster - when I do buy a new phone I just want to be able to plug my old card into my new phone and have all my photos music and video available ASAP. Cloud space just isn't big enough at the moment - google drive gives you 15GB free but compare paying £10 a month or so for the amount you need when you can get a 64GB sd card for about £15.

+1. Had an S4, now got an S5 - but with no SD slot there is no way I'd have an S6.

[Funk]

The lack of SD slot has been the deal-breaker for many it seems. HTC added one to the One after people whinged it didn't have one. Doesn't seem to stop Apple selling loads of iPhones though.

[andy-xr]

I think Apples mentality for it is to buy the size you need for the next few years. People still buy 16Gb though, I did on both 4 and 4S. I ran out of storage on the 4S quite a lot, and I couldnt afford a 64Gb one, otherwise I'd have stayed with it instead of going Android.

[8Ace]

andy-xr said:

I think Apples mentality for it is to buy the size you need for the next few years. People still buy 16Gb though, I did on both 4 and 4S. I ran out of storage on the 4S quite a lot, and I couldnt afford a 64Gb one, otherwise I'd have stayed with it instead of going Android.

That's the point theough - higher internal storage is gonad-shrivellingly expensive.

Compare the price difference of a 16GB iPhone / GS6 vs the 128 GB version and I reckon it's be about £200 different. A 128 GB sd card will be yours for about £60.

The difference on the 64GB ones is even higher. And you still can't take it out and put in your new phone / other device.

[andy-xr]

Sorry, I meant Apple kind of assume you're going to go with the monthly subsidised option through carriers, so it's an extra £x per month

Since I moved off iPhones I've always bought my own phone second hand unlocked then stuck whatever SIM card I want into it, which works better for me.

[paranoid airbag]

RobinBanks said:

Boro said:

For me, it's an epic fail leaving out the MicroSD card slot and replaceable battery. These were two things that made the Samsung different over iPhone.

I'm still using my S4 and wondering whether the S6 was worth the wait.

No microSD? I missed that.

I won't bother with this then.

Unfortunately that's probably the point. I replace a dodgy charger port on mine for £2.50 a couple of weeks ago. That's a few hundred samsung didn't get. Even if 90% of customers realised what a con it is to make things pointlessly difficult and never bought Samsung again (going for... who, exactly, instead?), the 10% would still make it more profitable. Kind of like why you can't get DE razors in most stores, precisely because they don't require frequent high-margin purchases to maintain.

The glass/metal is terrible too, as others have mentioned it means your £500+ "premium" phone now needs a cover in order to precisely ape the form of a "cheap" phone. Just fking mental.

I miss the days when Nokia knew what they were doing. Even Lumias with Android would have been brilliant.

[Wadeski]

After having an S3 at work for 18 months (and watching it become a slow, ancient mess) we upgraded to the S5.

Its a nice phone but still a good distance behind an Iphone, especially if you have ipads, macbooks, and family members who all have iphones. The S6 is nice but i cant help feeling its never been Samsungs hardware that has held it back, the gap is between the iOS ecosystem and Androids, which is just nowhere near as nice unless you are a techy who likes to hack or customize things.

[bodhi]

devnull said:

The S6 propaganda machine is well and truly in motion now. There were even cringey "news channel" style adverts "reporting" on the new models this morning.

2015 has shown that a lot of the manufacturers are running out of steam with regards to innovation at the moment. This years new models seem to be just incremental updates, both from HTC and Samsung. Something which Apple have done well out of, but I don't know if the android competitors can keep up.

We still haven't seen an Android phone which can trump the iPhone's camera just yet....

I'm not so sure, we recently went on a trip away with work, my boss taking snaps with his iPhone 6, and me on my Z3, and I must say, 9 times out of 10 the Sony pictures came out better, brighter with more detail - which kind of makes sense considering who makes the camera in the iPhone and the relevant specs of the two modules. Plus he was hunting for a charger at about 4 in the afternoon, I still had 60 odd percent battery left.

Really don't think there is much between the two platforms now in terms of stability or app availability, Android still just gives you that extra element of control over what your device is doing.

S6 looks nice, but lack of SD card is a deal breaker for me as I spend a lot of time on planes, where Cloud access is a bit...challenging. Shame, as my upgrade is due. Looks like it's the M9 or wait for the Z4 in that case....

[schmunk]

bodhi said:

I spend a lot of time on planes, where Cloud access is a bit...challenging.

Just open a window.

[bodhi]

schmunk said:

Just open a window.

Might be interesting trying to hear any music over the wind noise and people screaming. Worth a try though...

[Luke.]

MuffDaddy said:

Luke. said:

Any preference to Edge or normal screen?

Your wallet won't like the answer to that.

Hi Muff - just a quick question re the Edge I'd love your thoughts on. Do the edges make the edge of screen slightly distorted if you're looking at photos or whatnot? In all the shots I've seen it seems to give a slight effect. Or does it just look as if you're viewing a normal S6 screen in terms of flatness?

Cheers

[mybrainhurts]

RobinBanks said:

Boro said:

For me, it's an epic fail leaving out the MicroSD card slot and replaceable battery. These were two things that made the Samsung different over iPhone.

I'm still using my S4 and wondering whether the S6 was worth the wait.

No microSD? I missed that.

I won't bother with this then.

I, too, am oot.....

[ZesPak]

Just configured one yesterday. I must say, I'm pretty impressed with it all.
Felt a lot slicker than the S3/S4, looks very nice (a bit iPhone 6 but that's not a bad thing).

But the screen... it's out of this world. Really, really on another level altogether.
The camera seems ace as well.

As said, very impressed. Very expensive though. It's as expensive as the iPhone 6, which is older though. The iPhone 6 feels very dated next to it. I always liked the SD card capability, but the streamlining of Touchwiz and the nice design do make up for a lot!