Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge FULL Review!

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Do you want the fastest phone in the world?

Do you want a phone that can do a lot of things for you?

Do you want a phone that’s not huge like Galaxy Note?

Then you may want to get the Galaxy S6 or the S6 Edge.

First, let’s talk about the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge screen. The screen on both of these bad boys feature a 5.1” 2560×1440 pixels of resolution, that’s 577ppi or 577 pixels per inch. It looks beautiful and your eyes probably won’t be able to process all of those pixels anyways.  If you want the best screen with highest pixel density, the S6 and the S6 Edge have it.  And yes, Gorilla Glass 4 is now used, which means less scratches on your screen and also more durability.

 

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(Above photo: Black Sapphire S6 Edge in light.)

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(Above photo: Black Sapphire S6 Edge in dark.)

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Starting the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, Samsung has opted to go with glass back cover that comes in several different colors.  I found that the white color was mostly white but the black sapphire color is interesting as it can change colors from black to blue depending on the lighting conditions.  This actually really cool so I would highly recommend a colored version if you like shiny things that change color.  Also, you will find a newly-upgraded 16MP Sony camera, which is simply bad ass.  And also find your usual LED flash along with a heart-rate sensor.

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The top of the S6 and S6 Edge both feature an IR blaster in the middle and a microphone.  The S6 Edge has its nano-SIM slot also on the top while the S6 has it on its side.

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On the left side, you will notice a sleek design for the Galaxy S6 along with easy-to-press metallic volume buttons.  The S6 Edge is nearly the same except the sharper edges and curved screen.

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On the right side, there is a power button and of course, a nano-SIM slot for the S6.

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Looking at the bottom of the phones will remind you of iPhone 6 with 3.5mm headphone jack on the left, followed by micro-USB port, microphone, and speakers on the right.

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Certainly, both S6 and S6 Edge feel great in your hands.  The S6 Edge feels slightly better due to its sharper edges but both have that glassy feel, you feel like holding a piece of art more than a phone. Really, this is a piece of art and Samsung has done a good job of that this year, no more of that plasticky feel, especially if you like holding your phone naked.

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As for performance, the S6 and S6 Edge both feature the fastest 64-bit processor in the world, the Exynos 7420.  This is an octa-core processor with a 1.5Ghz and 2.1Ghz quad-cores to deliver performance and lengthen your battery life as needed by being able to switch between the two quad-cores.  The S6 and S6 Edge both kill most phones out there and games/apps run faster than ever.   The performance gains over its predecessors is around 30-40%, which is amazing gains and boy, you will not see any lag with S6 or S6 Edge period.  It’s simply the fastest smartphone on earth “right now”, at least 30% faster than both Note 4 and iPhone 6.

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As far as the size of S6 and S6 Edge, it’s not a huge phone or a phablet like Galaxy Note series.  These are phones for one-handed operations, you can easily reach all parts of the screen with one hand.  As a user of Galaxy Note 4 as daily driver most days, I can tell you that it does feel very cramped going back to a smaller-size phone. If you like big phones, you may just want to hold out for the upcoming Galaxy Note 5 instead.  If you like average-sized phones though, S6 or the S6 Edge may be one of your best options this year.

Next, let’s go ahead and check out some of the features on the S6 and S6 Edge in detail, let’s go do this baby, UGH.  (Please see the video review for full review of S6 and S6 Edge, thanks!)

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Multi-tasking on the Galaxy S6 is easy, simply hold down the Menu button or hit the split-view icon in Recents view to make any apps into split-view.

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Also, you will be able to make any apps into floating window, just like the Galaxy Note 4.  Need more windows?  Simply resize them to your liking/needs.

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Starting with Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, you are now able to re-size the TouchWiz launcher grid sizes to 4×4, 4×5, and 5×5.

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And yes, you can now change themes easily, you are not stuck with same boring TouchWiz stock theme!

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Above is the Avengers theme, which comes with the phone.

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The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge has 16MP Sony camera with OIS.  This is the best camera I have seen hands down for an Android smartphone.  For beginners, it’s easy to point and shoot.  For advanced users, you can use the “pro” mode to manually control your exposure, ISO, and more.

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The Galaxy S6 Edge comes with colored call notifications when the screen is facing down.  This feature can be pretty useful if you don’t want others looking at your screen but you want to be notified silently of important calls from your favorite contacts (that you set).

 

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Of course, the coolest feature on the S6 Edge over the S6 is definitely being able to swipe from edges easily.  This works well for apps designed so the user has to swipe from the edge, especially if you are using a thick case.

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Many apps nowadays are adding extra screens/features by swiping from left edge or right edge of the screen.  Due to the curved nature of S6 Edge screen, it is the perfect smartphone for doing that.

 

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Of course, the biggest problem with S6 Edge is that the edges pick up more glare than flat screened devices.  If you tend to use your phone often outdoors in the sun, the edge screen may be a lot harder to read as glare blocks the edges of the screen when reading websites.

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But really, S6 Edge looks and feels better than the regular S6.  After using both phones, my hands are more addicted to the S6 Edge and I love curvy gadgets.

 

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Battery life can be very good and very bad.   If you tend to play graphic-intensive games all day long or apps that use a lot of CPU power, the S6 and S6 Edge will not lastly terribly long.  But if the apps you use are not CPU/GPU hogs, I’ve seen some ridiculous battery life with on-screen times of 5+ hours easy.  So, it really boils down to your usage but in general, the Galaxy S6 has about the same battery life of its predecessor Galaxy S5.

And yes, Ultra Power Saving Mode is available where you can turn your phone into a black/white feature phone.  With only 30% of battery life, you can last another 10 hours and 40 minutes!  I probably won’t use this often but in emergencies, this comes in handy rather than having your phone completely power off.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have both wowed me in terms of performance and software upgrades over its predecessor Galaxy S5.  With the fastest performance in the world along with new camera that’s probably the best I’ve tried yet on an Android device so far, you cannot go wrong with these bad boys.  Of course, if you like phablets like the Note 4, I would definitely wait out for the Note 5 later this year as it will be definitely be another notch up from the S6.

Getting a new Galaxy S6?  See here for Galaxy S6 and here for Galaxy S6 Edge for best prices.

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Max Lee

Max Lee is the founder of HighOnAndroid.com. Max makes Android tutorials and review videos for people who want to get high on Android over at his YouTube channel and Korean YouTube channel.