Samsung Galaxy S6 Review up on GSMArena

[Jdroids]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

As I commented on gizmodo review thread, I suspect they used MWC demo unit for this review. Camera pictures and videos samples are mostly from Barcelona near MWC, it seems. I guess reviews of final unit will flow in about week or so.

 

[jcp007]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

As I commented on gizmodo review thread, I suspect they used MWC demo unit for this review. Camera pictures and videos samples are mostly from Barcelona near MWC, it seems. I guess reviews of final unit will flow in about week or so.

I agree. The device version was probably the most current in prep for MWC. The überizmo review posted in this sub-forum has higher benchmark scores which would imply improvements and changes versus the unit in the GSMArena review.

 

[I Can Be Your Hero]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

I'm also a bit sketchy about this review...definitely need more....not sure why they said the S6 speaker is not as loud as the S5...I don't agree with that

Yeah that's one thing that confused me. I had also seen that video and thought the S6 was noticeably louder than the S5.

I'm coming from a HTC One M8, so I don't expect the S6 to sound anywhere near as good as the M8, but I was hoping for something at least good as their previous device. The GSM Arena review suggests that it's not even as loud as the previous S5, which does concern me as I use speaker phone a fair bit.

Battery life is concerning though. I really don't want my next phone to have less battery life than my current one.

Other than that, it looks like a pretty awesome device. Though I do believe GSMArena are biased towards Samsung's phones.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

I agree. The device version was probably the most current in prep for MWC. The überizmo review posted in this sub-forum has higher benchmark scores which would imply improvements and changes versus the unit in the GSMArena review.

They were both done at MWC, which would imply they're the same device. Or at least the same revision.

 

[jcp007]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

They were both done at MWC, which would imply they're the same device. Or at least the same revision.

Again, benchmark ranking pretty different between the two articles. Maybe überizmo not as thorough not testing as much as the other article?

 

[npaladin-2000]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

Again, benchmark ranking pretty different between the two articles. Maybe überizmo not as thorough not testing as much as the other article?

That's more likely, they've probably got different testing methodology. I seriously doubt there'd be much variance between devices as an event like MWC.

 

[jcp007]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

Having Subject Zero in the title should have been a clue to the number of times he talks about the battery and storage design choices. It also looks like they used a GS6 and not the Edge.

 

[clevin]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

well, looking at the numbers given (s5 # in parenthesis),

talk 17.5 (27.5)
video 10.5 (11.25)
web 8.75 (9.5)
rating 64 (83)

If I use 2.5 day of talk/video/web battery consumption for s6 (because 48<64<72) and 3.5 day of talk/video/web battery consumption for s5 (because 72<83<96), I can deduct the standby battery life as follows (relatively, roughly, as I don't have time to figure out more precisely the formula they used):

s6: 0.52%/hr
s5: 0.23%/hr

This is significant. As bad standby can be improved. Through rigid and careful care, users can improve standby battery to same level as s5. When that happens, the rating can be changed to ~75. Though still not as good as s5, it is much improved.

So my preliminary conclusion is, s6's battery performance is hampered by bad talk time and bad standby time. They can be alleviated to certain degree. Disabling sync, turning off data when not in use could greatly improves its battery performance.

btw, it would be good to check its OS's version, It is known that Lollipop 5.0 may have bad standby problem, it is possible a 5.01/5.02/5.1 update can be pushed right out of the door and improve standby to some degree.

 

[warpdrive]

Having Subject Zero in the title should have been a clue to the number of times he talks about the battery and storage design choices. It also looks like they used a GS6 and not the Edge.

I think you'll find that updated benchmarks will be had at gsm.
I think we all know that this is final hardware, but software is nowhere near final. This is normal. Same happened with the S5 and the S4 that I had. Improved battery life after the first update, my S4 by an hour screen on time.

Also, don't take anything personal that might seem negative on any review. If flaws aren't addressed how else is Sammy to know what the fans have said on the forums?
We will hear more on the lack of SD cards and replaceable battery. As well as the loss of water resistant too. But in the end, we all know that is damb good and will just get better once the next update arrives.

I'm also sure that whoever is testing here at AC with the S6, will cover the battery life in depth as well to help end any controversy... And will be talked about to death on the podcast.

Posted via Android Central App using the all new HTC One (m8)

 

[mohit9206]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

Let's see
A phone which can record 4K videos but does not have expandable memory. I don't even...
Also a small battery capacity coupled with non removable battery.. Again i don't even..
Pretty much all of these issues could have been overlooked had the phone been significantly cheaper than the iPhone 6.
Remember Apple can get away with any damned thing coz they are Apple but Samsung is not Apple... yet.
What's the most important thing to me in a smartphone? Amazing specs? Awesome camera? Best design? Nope its the battery life. I want an amazing battery life first and foremost which as of now only Sony Z3/Z3 Compact provides.
But i agree that the S6 is the best galaxy S series phone since the S2 so its still worth buying i guess.
But then there are better options out there like Droid Turbo and Z3 but S6 is still a good phone just not the best.

 

[berdinkerdickle]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

....clip....
btw, it would be good to check its OS's version, It is known that Lollipop 5.0 may have bad standby problem, it is possible a 5.01/5.02/5.1 update can be pushed right out of the door and improve standby to some degree.

.
I think that is probably the most significant observation.
Issues with battery life are posted all over the S5 forum in direct relation to 5.0.
And many posts saying 5.0.1 drastically improved it.

 

[Jdroids]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

We have just one review that looks like from MWC demo unit with somewhat inconsistent result from others. So I wouldn't jump to conclusion on S6 battery yet.

I noticed someone commented on the GSMarena review, saying this is incorrect as he is testing it right now and he's getting over 5 hours screen time easily with browsing, videos, camera.

 

[Jdroids]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

.
I think that is probably the most significant observation.
Issues with battery life are posted all over the S5 forum in direct relation to 5.0.
And many posts saying 5.0.1 drastically improved it.

This. My S5 on at&t had phenomenal standby time when I got it first with 4.4.2. But it took slight hit with recent 4.4.4 update. And I saw lots of battery complain with 5.0 update on other carriers. Glad that at&t didn't push it yet and I would rather have them skip over to 5.02 or later version.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

We have just one review that looks like from MWC demo unit with somewhat inconsistent result from others. So I wouldn't jump to conclusion on S6 battery yet.

I noticed someone commented on the GSMarena review, saying this is incorrect as he is testing it right now and he's getting over 5 hours screen time easily with browsing, videos, camera.

We can all hope, but that's still production hardware, so I don't know how much software/firmware tweaks will get us. I doubt we could get a 25% improvement from that though...maybe 10% or so. Unless one of the MWC units was defective.

 

[Jdroids]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

We can all hope, but that's still production hardware, so I don't know how much software/firmware tweaks will get us. I doubt we could get a 25% improvement from that though...maybe 10% or so. Unless one of the MWC units was defective.

If it doesn't live up to expectation (10% better than S5) with all those latest efficient hardware components after all, I must say Samsung screwed up somewhere in the software. It lost about 9% capacity from 2800mAh but got many new components (screen, processor, memory, etc) to offset it more than enough. I can hold out more with S5 and look for active version or Note 5 anyway.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

If it doesn't live up to expectation (10% better than S5) with all those latest efficient hardware components after all, I must say Samsung screwed up somewhere in the software. It lost about 9% capacity from 2800mAh but got many new components (screen, processor, memory, etc) to offset it more than enough. I can hold out more with S5 and look for active version or Note 5 anyway.

I don't need 10% better than the S5, I'd be happy with equal battery life to the S5, it's about as good as my Z3.

 

[jcp007]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

We can all hope, but that's still production hardware, so I don't know how much software/firmware tweaks will get us. I doubt we could get a 25% improvement from that though...maybe 10% or so. Unless one of the MWC units was defective.

If it doesn't live up to expectation (10% better than S5) with all those latest efficient hardware components after all, I must say Samsung screwed up somewhere in the software. It lost about 9% capacity from 2800mAh but got many new components (screen, processor, memory, etc) to offset it more than enough. I can hold out more with S5 and look for active version or Note 5 anyway.

They key is that we have to wait and see. A 10 percent improvement is an improvement and we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. All I am saying......give the GS6 a chance. This doesn't mean disaster. I feel certain that Samsung has some pretty smart folks and a lot of work to match the improved hardware and software as well as new features with an adequate battery adding dual wireless charging standards and rapid charging, two features that are not necessarily found in the GS5. The GS5 is history and we should be pumped by the GS6.

 

[BlueGoldAce]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

I'll take the review with a healthy dose of skepticism.

I'll wait for andantech, android central, PhoneArena, etc.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[npaladin-2000]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

I'll take the review with a healthy dose of skepticism.

I'll wait for andantech, android central, PhoneArena, etc.

Posted via the Android Central App

Personally I want to see what AndroidPolice have to say as well.

 

[clevin]

Re: Review up on GSMArena

I'll take the review with a healthy dose of skepticism.

I'll wait for andantech, android central, PhoneArena, etc.

Posted via the Android Central App

Android central never conduct battery test, they only do "battery feels", phonearena claimed S5 battery is twice as good as s4, and 20% better than Note 3 and iPhone 6+. anandtech claimed HTC ONE X ( I had one) can surfing web for 10 hrs (complete bs obviously).