Is there any thing to prompt notifications? Led light ? Screen flash? And way to know if you have a new email of SMS others than a sound...like if it is on silent mode?
Posted via the Android Central App
Multicolor LED left of the sensors at the top of the phone.
on the t-mobile version... is VoLTE enabled? how is cellular reception?
I actually don't see any settings for turning on/off VoLTE... but I'd be shocked if it didn't have it considering the GS5 on T-Mo does. There is also Wifi calling of course.
Cellular reception and speeds seem just fine to me.
I'm wondering about battery life in s6 vs s6 edge. It's odd that they included an extra 50mah in the edge.
Does there seem to be a discernible difference is lasting power between the two devices? Do you think any edge features will conserve battery life?
The battery life is going to be nearly identical. The edge doesn't do much more than the regular S6 aside from the desk clock functionality, which uses a negligible amount of battery. 50mAh — aka 1.9% — more isn't going to be noticeable.
I've never had a Samsung Galaxy phone, but having read some of the articles like "First Thing to do when getting new Galaxy S5" type articles, they all say it will improve the responsiveness of the home button by disabling the double press to launch S Voice (I think it was that app), and it should be the first thing you do.
The double press to launch camera seems genuinely useful (as opposed to S Voice) does it still mean that the home button has this pause while it waits for the second press?
I haven't noticed the issue, actually, but theoretically it'll be the same as S Voice before — the phone has to know whether you're pressing twice for the camera or once for home. But considering that I haven't seen any unresponsiveness when pressing home they must be doing something right.
1. When you do your full review can you take some pictures of moving objects instead of all the still object shots? I don't know if you have kids but, if not, can you borrow a toddler from someone and try to take some photos of him/her doing something like going down a slide and see if it can produce clear photos unlike other phones? (I'm looking at you Nexus 5).
Not sure about "borrowing" a toddler, but I'll see what I can do
2. Have you noticed the Auto-HDR mode working or being effective?
I've only left it in Auto HDR so far, and just like the Note 4 it seems to choose properly most of the time. Need to do a lot more testing though.
3. Does the glass over the camera lense seem tough? Do you know if it's sapphire glass?
Seems tough to me — though I haven't ever had another phone with a scratched camera lens. I don't know either way on the sapphire glass question.
4. When recording video, can you touch the screen to snap a photo? Is it a quality photo? How does the audio sound in the playback of the video (my nexus 5 produces distorted audio in busy environments).
I have yet to do video testing just yet. But yes you can capture stills with a capture button during video recording. The images it captures seem to be full resolution, which is nice, but of course its just going to be an "Auto" mode picture with no extra tweaks.
5. How is Google Now incorporated? Does the Google launcher need to be installed to use Google Now? Does "OK, Google" work from anywhere in the OS as long as the screen is on?
Google Now is accessed with a long press of the home button, just like prior Samsung phones. You just need the Google app to have Google Now, which is pre-installed. Of course you can install the Google Now Laucher, too, if you want that as well.
Samsung has its own hot word detection with a customizable phrase. It'll launch S Voice at any time, even when the phone is turned off. As for Google Now hot word detection, yeah that'll work with GNL installed.
6. Since the phone has fairly flat edges, can you stand it up on it's side on a desk when in landscape mode, or will a kickstand case be necessary to do this?
Oh god please don't try to balance this on a desk in landscape mode.
Does it have a notification light?
Top left of the screen, next to the sensors on the front.