Gizmodo Review

[Coney718]

just to be clear, this wouldn't be my first android ever phone. i used to have the htc hero and the samsung s3. both, at the time, were massive disappointments to me.

why i'm considering the s6 (i'm not considering other android phones at all)

- CAMERA. probably the biggest one for me. the speed and 1.9 aperture is attractive. and the software behind it finally seems like it has caught up with the iphone
- build quality seems a lot better now in comparison to previous iterations.
- android software in general has come a long way since i've had an android phone
- i still have the iphone 5 and have not made the jump to the iphone 6 mainly due to my phone contract issues. i think samsung is doing a smart/tricky thing by releasing the phone around this time because most people who haven't upgraded to the iphone 6, knows that its right in between the upgrade period from the iphone 6's release, to this september when the next iphone iteration is out. that means the iphone 6 is already halfway through its lifecycle, making it a less viable upgrade, while the next iphone is still another 6 months away, making the wait seem painful. the s6 lands at a perfect time.

as for expectations, do i want it to act like an iphone? only in smoothness. nothing irks me more on a phone when it stutters and lags. so far, i have tested two s6 models and both stutter/redraw when testing the default browser (i use verge mobile site as my main test since its a relatively heavy site, even the mobile version). i've said this many times, but a phone with 8 cores and 3 gb of ram should NEVER stutter/redraw when doing something so basic like scrolling up and down a site thats already cached and downloaded onto the phone. this doesn't happen on my iphone 5 which is now 3 years old, packed with apps and all sorts of jailbreak tweaks.

is just a smooth web browsing experience really all that much to ask for from a phone with insane specs like the s6?? i just figured with how far android has come along with the crazy s6 specs, that smoothness would be a give-in. doesn't *seem* to be the case here.

as for versatility and robustness, i've had no problems jailbreaking and installing tweaks to suit my needs. do i need to open 2 side by side apps at once like the s6 and note can? well all i need to do install a jailbreak tweak for that. theres a whole world of 3rd party jailbreak tweaks that i find most android folk have absolutely no idea about because all they see are the mainstream reviews about the iphone. i have f.lux installed on my iphone. i have n64 and gba emulators. i can use a ps3 controller via bluetooth. i have widgets etc etc etc. all of this while still having access to imo the way better app ecosystem on iOS (for example, most apps obviously are launched on iOS first, while the android counterpart gets released sometimes months or even years later. and sometimes just doesn't end up on android, ever). case in point, where is Periscope for android? why did vscocam take nearly a year and half for an android version?

app availability (or potentially lackthereof) i can live with because i already have an ipad as well.

right now i'm still weighing the pros and cons of switching or just waiting 5-6 months for the next iphone. i'll have to wait till a friend or something gets one so i can try one out more in depth, as i've only been able to try it in-store at a few locations.

overall it looks like samsung did a really good job with the s6. so kudos to them.

I have the S6 and went to the Verge mobile site a few times and it did not stutter or redraw at all. Matter fact after reading this I did a side by side test with my iPhone 6 and the results were almost identical. The S6 might have been a millisecond or 2 behind the iPhone but thats all.

 

[Nice N Sticky]

Maybe you should also try Windows Phone? Windows Phones have the smoothness and issue free nature of iPhone more freedom than iPhone similar to Android.
#GiveWindowsPhoneAChance
Btw i am an ex Windows Phone 8 user and currently an Android user. So i know that both Android and Windows Phone are equally good. If Google does not fix Lollipoop then am heading to Windows Phone 10 that is if Windows 10 isn't a disaster.

Yea from a pure smoothness aspect, Windows 8.1 hauls *** even with relatively weak hardware. The App ecosystem is horrible but you learn to live with it haha. And Nokia phones are of amazing build quality and their cameras always please.

 

[Adranalyne]

I have the S6 and went to the Verge mobile site a few times and it did not stutter or redraw at all. Matter fact after reading this I did a side by side test with my iPhone 6 and the results were almost identical. The S6 might have been a millisecond or 2 behind the iPhone but thats all.

That's good news. I'll have it in hand on Tuesday so I'll get to put it through it's paces finally.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[mohit9206]

Samsung was producing phones full of bloatware, with no real actual character or philosophy behind them. Just pack as many features as possible and who cares about the user experience. This company didn't learn , had no ethics and was stealing ideas from everyone. It's one of the reasons i always stayed away from Samsung. Thankfully we had others, like HTC that produced great phones.I would have liked to see Samsung concentrating on quality and developing a unique philosophy. When that would happen, I will buy their phones or at least consider them.And now it has happened.Galaxy S6 fixes a lot of things but the most important one, battery life.I would rather they had kept the same 1080p display, that way battery life would have been better. Does anyone really prefer having QHD screen over a Full HD one on their 5 inch screen phones instead of better battery life?

 

[jcp007]

Samsung was producing phones full of bloatware, with no real actual character or philosophy behind them. Just pack as many features as possible and who cares about the user experience. This company didn't learn , had no ethics and was stealing ideas from everyone. It's one of the reasons i always stayed away from Samsung. Thankfully we had others, like HTC that produced great phones.I would have liked to see Samsung concentrating on quality and developing a unique philosophy. When that would happen, I will buy their phones or at least consider them.And now it has happened.Galaxy S6 fixes a lot of things but the most important one, battery life.I would rather they had kept the same 1080p display, that way battery life would have been better. Does anyone really prefer having QHD screen over a Full HD one on their 5 inch screen phones instead of better battery life?

I guess the proof will be in the pudding when we see sales comparisons and performance testing results with retail units. I haven't seen a reviewer that doesn't rate the GS6 higher than the M9 overall and battery tests that indicate same. Both devices are great in their own way. It is also amazing to see such fan loyalty but not to the point of throwing broad generalizations and not facts. I have Nokia, Palm, Sony, Motorola, Blackberry and Samsung devices. Did my research on all and voted with my wallet.

 

[Gray Area]

I guess the proof will be in the pudding when we see sales comparisons and performance testing results with retail units. I haven't seen a reviewer that doesn't rate the GS6 higher than the M9 overall and battery tests that indicate same. Both devices are great in their own way. It is also amazing to see such fan loyalty but not to the point of throwing broad generalizations and not facts. I have Nokia, Palm, Sony, Motorola, Blackberry and Samsung devices. Did my research on all and voted with my wallet.

Agreed x10!

Posted via the Android Central App on my Galaxy S5