S6 Owners-your opinion?

[scrondar]

NOTE: Accidentally (doh!) posted this on the S5 forum, so with apologies offered:

Quoted from this site:

"With the design change Samsung also decided to drop the seemingly-popular SDcard slot and removable battery (which is a smaller 2550mAh unit), and instead thinned out the phone to just 6.8mm thick and included both Qi and Powermat wireless charging capabilities."

"Seemingly popular"? I chose my S5 when I could have, for not much more, gotten the S6 precisely because I could upgrade my storage (just went from 32 to 64GB for a whopping $17.50) and replace a dying battery myself. I wonder if any of you miss these options, or have just relegated yourselves to what I consider a definite shortcoming of the device, and others like it. If Samsung (and other makers) follow this trend, my S5 will likely be my last smartphone. The ability to get to the phone's insides was the main reason I initially chose Android over Apple (back in the FroYo days); now it seems that makers are going the locked-down route to squeeze more $$ out of buyers at sign-up/upgrade time.

The conventional wisdom seems to be that in exchange for losing access to your phone's innards, you gain a slimmer, more elegant design. I appreciate a well-designed form factor as much as the next user, but what happens to this "elegance" when you (and please tell me you have) put your phone in a case? Your thoughts?

 

[AlphaTango414]

You will be surprised how many people doesn't use cases for their phones. Some goes with minimal cases while other goes with good protectional cases. I for one came from a s4 with a otterbox. I ordered a otterbox the day I got my S6. It wasn't but 2 weeks later I ordered a minimal crystal clear case that shows the beauty of my white S6. From 2 feet away you would never guess there was a case on it.

Sealed battery gives them the ability to make the phone slimmer. With it not having to be cased in plastic and now just lined with foil you cut down on thickness. I will say they should have upped the battery to a 2800-3000mah but it is what it is. (Also replacement battery is only $25 for the S6)

No SD Card support. This one has a lot to do with the new memory that the S6 has. I don't know a whole lot about this aspect but if you dig a few months back, there is a thread discussion about the very subject of why there isn't SD card support.



All that said, unlike Apple and the iPhone, you have hundreds of different phones to choose from on Android with there always being half a dozen or more flagship phones to choose from.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[Rukbat]

Those are the two reasons I'm NOT an S6 (or Note 5) owner - they're two of the 3 deal breakers for me in a phone. Unfortunately, that seems to be the way the industry is going - non-replaceable batteries (only $45 to replace the one in the S6 - plus shipping and waiting a few days, at least, without a phone - when with an S5 it's $10, no shipping [if you bundle your purchases] and 30 seconds without a phone) and no external storage, even if we can't get full access to it without rooting.

Dumpedduce, regardless of the memory setup in the phone, extra storage should always be an option without having to use an OTG cable and card reader.

Imagine if computers came with no provision to add a hard drive or change the one in it to a larger one.

(The $25 battery price is only if you're willing to void the warranty and open the phone yourself - and you can get it for under $15.)

 

[anon(749368)]

When the S6 came out, I never thought I would get it (had the S5 at the time). Now, I couldn't be happier it my phone which hasn't happened in a long time. 32 gb of storage is more than enough, espe6with the cloud storage available. And fast charging means I can always top off the battery in minutes if I know I'll stay out longer than usual.
And the design and build quality is much better (use a slim transparent case and have a dbrand skin on the back for the days I want to go naked.

The panda has spoken

 

[rpboronat]

I think as dadathepanda. I had too the S5 and never thought to change to see S6. Now I think it is the best thing I ever made. It is a great change and about the battery I always have in my bag an external battery. I have no problems with the battery.

Enviado desde mi SM-G925F mediante Tapatalk

 

[iseededppl]

I also upgraded from the S5. While my S5 did have a memory card slot, I couldn't download apps to my SD card so it was of little worth to me,I needed internal storage anyway (Yeah there was a 32 GB version to me but the 16 was more common) For some reason I couldn't move apps to SD even after root. As for the battery, I've never bothered whether my previous phones had it built in or not. I cant think of anyone I know either who really cares about that. There are very few power users out there who demand that their phone have a removable battery. I also personally hated the S5. Nothing ever worked properly, the s6 on the other hand does everything it promises while doing it fluidly.

 

[anon(9681881)]

I don't keep a phone longer than a year so a replaceable battery is meaningless to me. 32 gig is about twice as much storage as I need so neither one is important to me.

 

[ABOSWORTH007]

I just got an S6. When it first came out I got an M9 for one reason. SD card slot. This was the real bummer for me. Ditching the expandable storage that is. I'd have gotten the S6 on release date if it had the SD slot. I still have my M9 but overall, I do like this S6 more. I get a new phone ever 6 to 10 months so battery wearing out isn't a concern of mine. As much as I do like the thin, sleek design, the battery life on this phone is pretty crappy. I'm not impressed with it at all. Other than that, this phone is the cat's you know what.

One thing I don't get.. How did they not come out with a 128gb variant for the Note5? I mean, if you're gonna ditch the expandable storage, at least offer an option with a lot of memory. I couldn't even end up getting a 128 S6 without ordering it online. I wasn't patient enough to wait so I just got a 64gb S6.

 

[Saros]

I wonder if any of you miss these options, or have just relegated yourselves to what I consider a definite shortcoming of the device, and others like it.

Like some other posters expressed above, expandable storage just isn't a concern for my usage due to the increase in stock capacity we've seen across the market over the last few years. I'm on the 64GB model, and with my various cloud storage available (~135GB or so) I just don't have a need to increase that; for my use it's more than adequate. The S6's battery is surely a disappointment to heavier users but perfectly suitable for my moderate consumption, and for heavier days or while traveling I just bring my Anker along for it and other devices.