I have a Galaxy S6 and S6 edge, you have questions — ask me!

[Andrew Martonik]

Which one feels better in hand?

They're both kinda flat and tough to hold when compared to other phones with curved backs. I have to say the extra metal on the sides of the regular S6 makes it better in the hand.

How much bloatware comes installed, how much can be removed?

I answered a question on bloatware a few back. Check that out.

Initial camera impressions?
Cheers

Impressions are pretty good, but only taken a few shots. Camera launches very quickly, and captures quickly. It's the same sensor as the Note 4, but with the f/1.9 sensor it should do better in bad lighting conditions. The camera interface is definitely improved — simpler to manage, and there's a "Pro" shooting mode with manual metering, exposure, iso and white balance controls.

Is the Edge narrower than the the S6? Do you feel like you loose screen real estate width wise since it curves on both sides?

Yup the edge is just a bit narrower than the regular, because the screen is the same size but curved. I don't feel like you lose a ton — most of what's on the edge of the screen isn't exactly super necessary information. I'll have to see how it works for full-screen games though.

How much memory is left after the OS?

answered already above.

thank you for doing this Andrew. one question. aside from the difference indoors with the edge screen, is it even more distorted (for lack of a better word) outdoors?

Posted via the Android Central App

I'll have to use it more, but I don't feel like there's much lost in terms of visibility on the edge. It's gonna give you some funky reflections in non-direct light of all kinds, but that's to be expected. I've mostly had my hands on the regular S6 so far. I'll be swapping back and forth.

So the response with the Google keyboard (which is my keyboard of choice) is just fine? I noticed a lag on my Note 4 with it.

Posted via the Android Central App

Seems just fine.

Thanks Andrew. Does the double tap to launch the camera work any and everywhere, even if you have a lock screen or pin enabled? Like if the screen was off and pin enabled, could I double tap straight out of my pocket and it goes straight to camera?

Yup you can double press at any time to launch, even with lockscreen security. You can take pictures and view the pictures you took, but just like other phones you need to unlock to view any other photos previously taken.

 

[BioFanatic]

Would it be possible to test the following while using cases? Perhaps a somewhat thin case and a bulkier case to compare?
1)Wireless charging
2)NFC (and even MST if possible)

(PS, thanks for this "ask me" post!)

 

[Jarvis73]

Will samsung sell the phone unlocked on their own website like HTC does? I really don't AT&T mucking up the phone with their bloat. Gonna haveta make a trip to the Samsung store in NYC soon

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Pedro2NR]

Will the double tap to launch camera work on other launchers?

Can you show us some low/natural light camera samples?

Has the messaging app improved (new features - windows pop up) from the S5 or Note 4?

 

[Adranalyne]

Compared to a Moto X/Nexus 6, how's the fluidity of the interface? The occasional jank from the S5/Note 4 has apparently been remedied so I'm curious if we're close/exceeding the type of performance on stock Lollipop devices.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[SuperTongue]

Thanks for doing this, you guys rock!

Two questions:
If you're using it on T-Mobile, does the S6 / S6 Edge actually utilize their Band 12 LTE service? My Nexus 6 just got support in the 5.1 update and it's made a huge improvement indoors - would hate to lose that if I switched to the S6 Edge.

For Looppay, I'm assuming that it's just coming in an update later this year? Does the Samsung Pay app work with NFC in its current state?

 

[Alex_NJ]

Judging by this thread, everyone is in the same mindset as me, even when new reviews come out we are just going to skip to the battery life section. Everything else is very much covered

 

[jeep_man]

What about notifications? Does it have a variant of "active notifications" like on the moto x or droids?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Nick Carlson]

Say you're laying in bed watching a YouTube video on the S6 Edge, would the top edge of the video be slightly blocked out of view due to the curve?

 

[northead]

Question about the notification center. Can you disable the brightness slider or the S Finder/Quick Connect buttons? How about the toggles? I saw that you have tickboxes, so I figured that if you were to un-tick them all maybe the toggles could disappear altogether?

Thanks!

 

[Andrew Martonik]

1. Does the S6/Edge support Quick Charge 2.0? Considering waiting on the rumored S6 Active for the bigger battery, but if QC2.0 is supported, I may grab that sooner.

Supports Samsung's "Adaptive Fast Charging" which works with QC 2.0 chargers. Just like the Note 4.

2. Any plans to test Samsung Pay? I'm curious how well the Loop Pay portion of it works in real world use.

Samsung Pay isn't ready to launch until later this year.

I want to order the S-6 edge but am worried about battery life performance? is it better or worse vs past GS phones?

Performance seems good so far. As I noted earlier, I've not even had the phones for 24 hours. Not going anywhere near putting my foot down on battery life.

How is signal strength/radio especially in marginal areas? My LG G3 constantly loses service in marginal areas where my HTC One M7 and iPhone 6 have no issues. I'm hoping it's decent.

I'm not in a marginal T-Mobile area, so can't tell you that specifically. I can say strength and speeds seem right on par with my other phones, though.

Would it be possible to test the following while using cases? Perhaps a somewhat thin case and a bulkier case to compare?
1)Wireless charging
2)NFC (and even MST if possible)

(PS, thanks for this "ask me" post!)

No cases just yet (brand new phone) but yeah it'll work with wireless charging and NFC with a case on. Same as other phones. Can't say on the MST stuff with Samsung Pay, particularly since the system isn't out yet.

Will samsung sell the phone unlocked on their own website like HTC does? I really don't AT&T mucking up the phone with their bloat. Gonna haveta make a trip to the Samsung store in NYC soon

Posted via the Android Central App

No indications from Samsung on unlocked US phones. They're only giving availability on phones from carriers. Historically they haven't been great on this front.

Will the double tap to launch camera work on other launchers?

It. Works. Everywhere.

Can you show us some low/natural light camera samples?

I can show you 2 random snapshots I took yesterday:

Has the messaging app improved (new features - windows pop up) from the S5 or Note 4?

Has a fresh design. Works in windowed mode. Seems pretty nice, but I use Google Voice texting in Hangouts.

Compared to a Moto X/Nexus 6, how's the fluidity of the interface? The occasional jank from the S5/Note 4 has apparently been remedied so I'm curious if we're close/exceeding the type of performance on stock Lollipop devices.

Posted via the Android Central App

I never noticed the Note 4 being janky in the interface, but of course it was a little slow in animations. I don't see any slowness in the S6 interface, and nicely the Recents menu is actually fast to launch now.

 

[Skier1960]

Is it as good as the iPhone 6? /s

Sorry couldn't help it

Note 4

 

[chonghak]

Why didn't they go ahead and put the USB-C connector? Would this be the last flagship phone with the legacy USB port?

 

[bjsstranger]

I know you don't drive much but how easy is it to use in car mode? If you receive a text, how easy is it to respond only with voice? Definitely don't want it to be a distraction. Currently have a Moto X and this is one feature that is extremely important for me.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[mjb427]

Could you do a little scratch test on the back with keys maybe?

 

[Juliann826]

Sorry if this was already asked, but does the glass on the back get fingerprints super easily that are noticeable (I'm guessing the answer is going to be different depending on what color you have)?

 

[Tutsumi]

My S6 edge gets hot while updating apps and sometimes while switching networks. Does this happen to you guys as well?

 

[AlphaVictor87]

Thanks for answering all the questions as others have said.

But I need to know this asap for sure. How does the screen handle a sunny day? Back when I had the S4 I had to have the screen at max brightness to see ANYTHING when it was sunny out.

 

[thatguy97]

Are you finding the camera hump annoying

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[DukeofPhone]

Thanks for answering all the questions as others have said.

How does the screen handle a sunny day? Back when I had the S4 I had to have the screen at max brightness to see ANYTHING when it was sunny out.

Would like to know this also