Galaxy S6 annoyances vs. S5

bnewall1

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Greetings,

I apologize if this has been discussed before, but I haven't found anything. About 2 months ago, I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile, and at the same time, went from a Galaxy S5 (Verizon) to the S6 (T-Mobile). After using the S6 for 2 months, I'm finding myself really missing the S5. The only thing the S6 has going for it, in my opinion, is the wireless charging feature.

I'm curious if anyone else here has had similar experiences with the S6, with regard to what I'm about to describe. I'm wondering if it's an S5-vs-S6 thing, or a Verizon-interface-vs-T-Mobile-interface thing. These are my major gripes about the S6:

1) Battery life stinks compared to the S5. I could go a full day on my S5 without recharging. I can barely make it half a day on the S6 before my battery is sucked down to 20-30%. I have 3 e-mail account that sync, along with Facebook, Words with Friends... the "usual" stuff.

2) My biggest complaint, though, isn't the battery life -- it's the phone interface. And I haven't found any way to fix these, so far (advice greatly appreciated!!).
a) If I'm on a call and someone else calls, with the S5, I would just slide the green icon over and it would automatically place the existing call on hold and answer the incoming one. With the S6, when I slide the green icon, I get a menu asking if I want to place the existing call on hold, disconnect the existing call, or merge the two together. It's an extra step, and since it doesn't happen too often, I don't have the locations memorized and have to read the prompts. It's a pain in the **** at best, and dangerous at worst if I get another call while I'm driving somewhere. But that's one thing I'm wondering if it's T-Mobile vs. Verizon, as opposed to S6 vs. S5.
b) On the S5, if I'm on a phone call and the screen goes off (or I turn it off), when I turn it back on, it stays on. On the S6, when I turn it back on, it goes off again after a few seconds. This is a real pain if I'm working with an automated attendant where I have to "press 1 for this, press 2 for that, etc." The automated attendant prompts always take just long enough that the screen turns off right when I'm ready to press the next button. On the S5, the screen would stay on, although if I had turned it off before, access to other phone functions would still be locked until I press the Home button and unlock it. And that's fine. On the S6, though, I have to unlock it and then make sure not to turn the screen off again to prevent this annoying behavior from recurring.
c) On the S5, even with the dial pad up, I still could see both rows of buttons below the dial pad, including the Bluetooth button. There are times when I have to switch off of Bluetooth. On the S6, when you have the dial pad up, you only see one row of buttons, and the Bluetooth button isn't among them. You have to hide the dial pad first, then get to Bluetooth. That becomes a pain when I'm using my in-car Bluetooth, and then I arrive at my destination and have to switch off to my headset or to the earpiece on the handset. Extra buttons to press.
d) When you're not actually on the phone but bring up the phone app, the dial pad is no longer one of the tabs on the top, like it was on the S5. Instead, it's a separate button. I preferred having it on top.

I believe there are some other things, too, but this was all I could think of at the moment. Anyone else feeling the same way, or is it just me?

Thanks!
 

anon(749368)

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

I too switched from Verizon S5 to T-mobile S6 but I can't say I agree with you. Yes, the call hold, disconnect or merge feature is new to the S6, but it works for me as on my S5 I couldn't place a call on hold to pick up another.
Battery wise, I feel the S6 is as bad as the S5 with about 10 hours usage (2.3 hours SoT)

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lucianus_luciferus

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

what os versions on both phones?
were both used on 4g or 3g?
as for your issues:
1) as i have read around here facebook app is a major battery hog. 3 email accounts is ok as long as you dont push all 3 of them. i set sync to off or check for emails manually if possible. i dont use the facebook app so have no idea about fixes for that sorry. i only enable 4g when i am streaming a game or watch a movie. battery holds for the whole day unless i really hammer it.
2)
a) when i get a call while i am on a call the screen where i can chose to answer, reject or switch calls shows so i don't know...
b) for me the screen will always stay on when i am on a call unless: phone is connected to bt device, phone app is running in the background, something is covering the proximity sensor, i turn off the screen manually
c) same here. you could try a different phone app
d) personal preference i suppose. try a different phone app
 

kgwld1

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

I went from a s5 active to s6 regular one both on AT&T and I really couldn't be happier. I thought I miss the 4 extras batteries that I used daily or the 64 USB card. Not in the least. I charge this phone much less much faster than the 5 like one charge around 1300 compaired to being on the second or 3 with the S5.

Only thing I miss really miss is delayed text and email. I always type to fast or have to think before I send and that optioned saved me many times. Other than that I love this phone and the weight of this one really is a plus.
 

ABOSWORTH007

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

I think wireless charging is sort of stupid. I got a best buy gift card when I bought my S6 and decided to buy a wireless charger. I've been using it since last Sunday and I am thinking about returning it. It is much slower charging than the awesome fast charger that comes with it. Also, if you are trying to use the phone while it is charging, it is a total pain as you have to either keep it laying flat on the table or hold the stupid thing in your hand. Another thing that has been annoying is that the past two nights, I've rested it on the wireless charger and left it. It gets up to 80% and stops charging. I've had to pick it up and put it down again to get the charge going again. It is perfectly placed on the charger so it's not that.

I think I'm going to return it and just get another quick charger. Wireless charging is kind of a gimmick . it is quite neat but that's about where it ends. It's not more convenient. How hard is it to plug a cord into the phone? Lol it is a little easier but that is negated by the fact that it takes longer to charge, is cumbersome to use when charging and is inconsistent (at least in my case). .
 

Saros

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On the S5, if I'm on a phone call and the screen goes off (or I turn it off), when I turn it back on, it stays on. On the S6, when I turn it back on, it goes off again after a few seconds.

Do you have your display settings configured for a short screen timeout (like 15 or 30 seconds)? If so, try turning it up to a minute or more as needed.

On the S5, even with the dial pad up, I still could see both rows of buttons below the dial pad, including the Bluetooth button. There are times when I have to switch off of Bluetooth. On the S6, when you have the dial pad up, you only see one row of buttons, and the Bluetooth button isn't among them. You have to hide the dial pad first, then get to Bluetooth.

Try configuring your quick settings buttons so Bluetooth appears in the first five. Then you can just swipe down to access the notification panel, disable BT, then swipe up to return to the dialpad.

NP.png

(Use the "Edit" feature ^)
 

chezm

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

I think wireless charging is sort of stupid. I got a best buy gift card when I bought my S6 and decided to buy a wireless charger. I've been using it since last Sunday and I am thinking about returning it. It is much slower charging than the awesome fast charger that comes with it. Also, if you are trying to use the phone while it is charging, it is a total pain as you have to either keep it laying flat on the table or hold the stupid thing in your hand. Another thing that has been annoying is that the past two nights, I've rested it on the wireless charger and left it. It gets up to 80% and stops charging. I've had to pick it up and put it down again to get the charge going again. It is perfectly placed on the charger so it's not that.

I think I'm going to return it and just get another quick charger. Wireless charging is kind of a gimmick . it is quite neat but that's about where it ends. It's not more convenient. How hard is it to plug a cord into the phone? Lol it is a little easier but that is negated by the fact that it takes longer to charge, is cumbersome to use when charging and is inconsistent (at least in my case). .

With ya...I got a cheap wireless charging pad and while it works, its more annoying than helpful in my opinion. I don't consider wireless charging a buying feature for me, but I think fast charging is essential now. Having to charge my G3 is absurd, it takes more than 3x longer...frustrating.

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Saros

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

I don't consider wireless charging a buying feature for me, but I think fast charging is essential now.

Yeah, I can see how some owners might find it useful and convenient, but I much prefer fast charging. My S6 purchase provided me with the Samsung standard wireless charger for free, but I put it back in the box and haven't touched it since early May.

[S6 via Tapatalk.]
 

anon(9408097)

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

Yeah, I can see how some owners might find it useful and convenient, but I much prefer fast charging. My S6 purchase provided me with the Samsung standard wireless charger for free, but I put it back in the box and haven't touched it since early May.

[S6 via Tapatalk.]

It depends on how you use it. If you're somebody like me who sits in an office all day the wireless charging feature is the best thing ever. You sit, while your phone sits on a charger. And that's that. If you're a person who's on the go all the time then no, it's not a useful feature.

Calling it useless doesn't make much sense. Wireless chargers sell. For a reason.

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ut00wj

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I miss the Power Saving mode that turns the screen into Greyscale from the S5. Settings -> Accessibility -> Greyscale is not the same. It is not a Power Saving Feature and not easy to activate. At Night or right before a movie starts, activating this mode was priceless for me. With brightness around 10%.
 

Saros

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

If you're somebody like me who sits in an office all day the wireless charging feature is the best thing ever.

That's precisely the situation I had in mind. Totally convenient and beneficial in that context when you don't need a ~1hr recharge.
 

bnewall1

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

Yes, the call hold, disconnect or merge feature is new to the S6, but it works for me as on my S5 I couldn't place a call on hold to pick up another.

Interesting... on my S5, if I was on a call and another came in, I would swipe the green icon to answer the new call, and it automatically placed the current call on hold.
 

bnewall1

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

what os versions on both phones?
were both used on 4g or 3g?

Both were on Android 5.1, and on 4G.

as for your issues:
b) for me the screen will always stay on when i am on a call unless: phone is connected to bt device, phone app is running in the background, something is covering the proximity sensor, i turn off the screen manually

My experience has been that on both the S5 and S6, if you're using the speaker or BT, the screen will turn off after the timeout defined in the Display settings. On the S5, if you turn the screen back on, it will stay on until the timeout elapses again. On the S6, though, if you turn the screen back on, it stays on for about 4 seconds, then goes off again. The only way to get it to stay on for the normal timeout would be to turn it on, hit the Home button, unlock the phone, then go back to the Phone screen. (Perhaps because I have a pattern lock on my phone...)

d) personal preference i suppose. try a different phone app

Are there other phone apps that you can recommend?
 

bnewall1

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Do you have your display settings configured for a short screen timeout (like 15 or 30 seconds)? If so, try turning it up to a minute or more as needed.

Nope, it's set for 1 minute. But once that 1 minute elapsed and the screen went off, if I turned it back on, it would stay on for about 3-4 seconds and then go off again.
 

bnewall1

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Try configuring your quick settings buttons so Bluetooth appears in the first five. Then you can just swipe down to access the notification panel, disable BT, then swipe up to return to the dialpad.

Sorry, sent off the reply too soon. I don't necessarily want to turn BT off completely; I just want to take the call off of the BT headset and, say, go onto the speakerphone or the handset earpiece.
 

bnewall1

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Re: Galay S6 annoyances vs. S5

It depends on how you use it. If you're somebody like me who sits in an office all day the wireless charging feature is the best thing ever. You sit, while your phone sits on a charger. And that's that. If you're a person who's on the go all the time then no, it's not a useful feature.

I got the Samsung wireless car charger. Yes, the wireless charging isn't nearly as fast as the plug-in charger. But one nice thing about the wireless charger for the car is that I don't have to plug and unplug the USB cable to the phone; the cable stays plugged into the charger, and I just pop the button on the back to release the phone. If I'm using GPS with the wireless charger, I find that it doesn't really charge; it just keeps it from draining (i.e. it charges and drains at the same rate).
 

ab304945

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I went from the s5 to the s6.


I don't really miss anything from the s5. I never even took the battery out. I wish it had a bigger battery. But with a fast charger I don't mind that much.

The s6 is a faster device with alot less lag, better fingerprint scanner, better camera, Samsung pay, better screen. Better build, the s5 was kind of noisy the back creaks. Love built in wireless charging, the ir blaster is even better.

The pros far out weigh the cons.

Posted via the Android Central App
 

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