Today in Barcelona, Spain at the 2015 Mobile World Congress convention, Samsung took the wraps off of two new Galaxy smartphones, the Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. These two devices feature a metal chassis, glass on the front and back, and a 5.1 inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440. The phones are very similar to each other except for one notable difference, the S6 Edge has a dual curved display. I recently reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, Samsung’s first device with a curved display. But that device only had one curved edge which to me felt a little weird and asymmetrical. The soon to be available S6 Edge has curves on both edges. Unlike the Galaxy Note Edge, the curved edges on the S6 Edge are not separate displays and do not offer quite the same functionality. If you recall, the Note Edge used the curved edge as a launcher bar with customizable icons. Unfortunately, that functionality is not included on the S6 Edge. What you do get is the swipe to wake gesture, notification ticker, night clock and some new features like swipe in from the edge to call favorite contacts and special glowing notifications when the phone is face down.
In addition to the curved display on the S6 Edge, both devices are now offering a 16MP camera on the back, 5MP on the front, wireless charging and Android Lollipop. There are a few disappointments though. The battery is sealed and there isn’t a micro SD card expansion slot. You will be able to buy the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge with 32GB, 64GB or 128GB, which helps ease the sting of the missing micro SD card slot. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but both versions of this phone will be available from all four major U.S. carriers starting in April.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnYtWWDor2s
I have to admit that these phones look very nice, but I don’t think I could go back to a 5 inch display. I’m hoping that the Note 5 adopts the same physical design as it might become my next smartphone. For more info visit Samsung.com.
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No micro SD slot. No removable battery. No thanks.
@chriszzz I had the same thoughts but then I started thinking about it. First of all, I’ve never actually needed to buy a new battery for any of my phones. As for the micro SD card, I could live without one since I mainly use mine to save my images and ebooks. With the 128GB version of these phones, that would give me more space than my current LG G3 with an SD card. The main thing that will keep me from wanting to buy the S6 or S6 Edge is the small screen size. I like bigger screens these days and am actually looking forward to trying the Nexus 6 so I can see what it’s like to carry around a 6 inch device.
Logically, the phone’s battery and storage capacities should be adequate for the moment, but they may not be enough for the longer term.
If you change your phone regularly (and I think you do), then no problem. Next year this time, you’ll probably have a new phone with a spanking new battery and 256GB of storage. But for people who keep their phones longer, or repurpose them after a couple of years, the ability to swap the dying battery for a new fresh one, and to expand storage, are important.
I still have my old Galaxy Note 1 (N7000, the granddaddy of phablets) which I now use as my car’s MP3 player. Flashed a custom ROM, installed Tasker to automate a few things, swap in a new battery, add a SD card, and it’s better than any MP3 player.
Besides, a new 128GB sdcard is cheap, and can be reused in a new phone. You don’t keep paying the storage premium with each phone you buy. I’ve used the same 64GB card on different phones for several years before buying a new 128GB card recently. I can see myself reusing this same card until 256GB cards become available for a reasonable price.
I haven’t owned a phone with a removable battery and a SD card since my Treo/Palm days. I loved the idea of removable battery and extensible SD card back then, but with current built in battery and storage capacity, I don’t need those options anymore. I charge my phone every night and I am at 50%+ capacity by the time I go to bed, so extra battery just go to waste and add needless complexity. I did find that I ran low on photo and video storage space on my last phone. The obvious answer would be to get a phone with more space, but the better solution was to delete what I did not want. I did exactly that and ended up with half of the space unused.
Some may look at my situation and say if I had more space I wouldn’t have needed to delete those photos and videos. Yes, that is true, and it would have been my lazy way out. But the reality is that going through my photo and video collection and deleting what I didn’t want was the best thing I can do. When I look at my library now, I only have what I want to keep and not almost identical shots of what I want to keep. Less is more.
I will throw my 2 cents in here. I have never had to replace a battery in my existing phone. I normally keep mine 2 years and replace. I also make a point of charging my battery every night so I do not run out of battery power. That being said, for people who keep for phone for years and years I could see where this might be an issue eventually, but I would hope they would offer a service to replace it. There are so many cell phone repair places out there I am sure they would be able to take care of it. I am also with Julie in that if I got the 128gb option I would have no need for a removable SD card.
I however like Julie will be waiting to see what the Note 5 looks like. I am still using my Note 3 and have really come to like the stylus for quick notes plus the bigger screen.
@Lynn I have an upgrade from Verizon that I can use anytime now and am getting anxious to replace my LG G3 even though I only bought it back in August. For some weird reason the power/wake button on the back is starting to act flaky. I kind of miss my old Note 2, but I gave it to Jeanne, so I don’t think she’d be too happy if I wanted it back 😉
The battery is a huge deal breaker for me. It’s not about replacing the battery, as much as carrying an spare or two with me. I use my S4 for virtually everything including as a hotspot when I need to work remotely. I often have to swap batteries out shortly after lunchtime.
I’ll agree that a 128G memory size does make the lack of SD a little more easier. As long as I can get an SD reader to upload pics from my camera while on vacation. with big SD cards and decent apps I’ve been able to travel without lugging a computer with me. And it’s easier to upload directly from the phone vs. having to hotspot to do it from my tablet.
Oh well, maybe they’ll come to their senses for the S7….
-Jeff
This may sound strange but every device I had with a removable battery did not last more than about 18 months. But all my fixed battery devices have lasted MANY years: My Samsung N200 flip is now 13 years old and still works; Palm Tungsten T is now 12 years old and still works on the original battery (the life is about half); my 3rd gen iPod Touch is now 6 years old with original battery and still work (battery drops to about 89% a few minutes off charger so I will get it replaced soon–this is the first fixed battery I *have* to replace…only because I still use my iPodTouch as a music player; no camera means I can also take into government buildings); all my iPhones charged to 100% quickly and never noticeably decline in the 2 years I had each.
But my removables? My Treo 650, Centro, Samsung Epic 4G all had bad batteries between 12 and 18 months.
Removable batteries are convenient. However, I really believe that when they solder the battery pack onto the PCB inside the phone that it lasts longer vs a battery inside a molded enclosure with external charging contacts.
I do like the way that S6 looks though. Even though I have a 2013 Nexus 7 and like it very much, I would not buy Android for long term devices because Android-based HW gets discontinued or unsupported too often. On the other hand, unlike Apple/iOS, with Android you can load older versions of the OS or Apps almost anytime you want.