Samsung Galaxy S6 hype thread

[kpkp]

Just some info about displays you might find interesting.

First measurements on the S6

Anandtech display power consumption measurements:

vs.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I have to be honest, I don't think the S6 looks good, like at all. Maybe I need to see it in person, but to me it does not look stunning. Not digging the rounded edges, I think it looks really bad on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (compared to the 5S), and it's no different here.

The Note 4 is still Samsung's best looking phone IMO.

Yeah I'm not impressed with the looks much at all, and frankly I didn't feel that their phones felt that bad that I want metal and glass all over (definitely don't want glass on the back). I like the metal frame/band around the side/edge, but I'm starting to really like Motorola's wood and leather options.

I actually feel that the iPhone 6 feels cheap in hand, same with the HTC Ones. Not super cheap, but they don't feel nearly as "premium" as they were touted, in my opinion. So that makes the complaints about Samsung feeling not similarly premium to be overstated.

Just seems like another instance of just as many steps back (losing waterproofing, sd slot, and removable battery) as forward overall. We seem to get rare instances of just steps forward (although sometimes we get mostly steps forward with some sidesteps just to change things). I'd say the Note 4 was the last phone to really be just steps forward (although they were fairly small steps forward, but that should be what they should be aiming for if they're just going to keep this iterative new version every year setup). And the instances we get something interesting now it's gimmicky curves or weirdness like HTCs dual camera on the M8.

 

[exar333]

It needs to be cheaper because it's not a complete package. It's no iPhone, that's for sure. No iPhone user buys an iPhone just for the hardware. They buy it for what it can do. Samsung has tried to ape Apple on this front for half a decade with bloat. Now they're relying purely on hardware to move units. Iow, they're doing things half-ass. You and dawheat keep talking about the average user. Truth is, the average user likes an iphone because Apple combines excellent hardware and softwarw to solve problems. Samsung, historically, gives you everything and hopes you like something. That is npt premium. And since it's not a premium product it needs a discount. All this glass won't change the fact that the gs6 is a phone on steroids that really doesn't answer anything. All of samsung bad software is gone but nothing replaces it that makes their phone unique. No one is going to be running benchmarks all day, eveey day.

I don't agree with this at all. iOS is by far, the worst (and least capable) mobile OS around. It is aged, poor at multi-tasking (if you can even call what it does really multi-tasking) and the phone is over-priced. The only real strength of iOS is the user-base and blind allegiance of Apple fans. Which is sad, IMHO.

I do agree that Samsung is trying to compete by specs alone, and to most customers, that doesn't mean much at all. It IS the overall package of software/hardware together that does that. There might not really be a good answer for Samsung. Cheaper, capable alternatives are coming up in many parts of the world and most Apple users will not budge from their platform. That just leaves less and less for Samsung. There might be nothing they can really do, but they are trying. Personally, I do see the loss of the removable battery and mSD as a misstep, as I wish those were in ALL phones.

 

[dawheat]

Some good updates from a separate thread in the CPU forum. Exynos 7420 looks to be living up the promise and the reduced throttling looks good.

But those storage scores - wow.

More benchmarks, ones that show the benefit of UFS 2.0

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Firs...n-AnTuTu-and-outrageous-memory-speeds_id66653

The AndroBench memory speed test result shows a mind-boggling improvement in read and write speeds over the Galaxy S5! We'll let the numbers speak for themselves. Where last year's flagship scored 24.2MB/s (sequential write_, the Galaxy S6 edge scored 139.08MB/s! Where the Galaxy S5 scored 176.5Mb/s (sequential read), the Galaxy S6 Edge scored 314.87MB/s! And where the Galaxy S5 scored 13.7MB/s (random read), the Galaxy S6 edge scored 77.2MB/s! All that in just a year! We're extremely impressed with what the new UFS 2.0 storage has to show so far.

A French site has quickly tested throttling on S6: the 6th consecutive run of Geekbench shows -1% for ST and -4% for MT.

http://www.tomshardware.fr/articles/galaxy-s6-tests,1-55637.html

Some new comparisons using benchmark results from MWC 2015:

- Geekbench 3 Highest Scores - Multi-Core x Single-Core
Exynos 7420 (Samsung Galaxy S6): 5663 / 1526
Snapdragon 810 (HTC One M9): 4089 / 1276
Snapdragon 810 (LG G Flex 2): 4578 / 1292
Snapdragon 810 Reference Platform: 4884 / 1302
Exynos 5433/7410 (Samsung Galaxy Note 4): 5053 / 1417
Apple A8X (iPad Air 2): 4665 / 1829

GFXBench T-Rex Offscreen:
Exynos 7420 (Samsung Galaxy S6): 59 FPS
Snapdragon 810 (HTC One M9): 48.8 FPS
Apple A8 (iPhone 6): 43.1 FPS
Apple A8 (iPhone 6+): 45.1 FPS
Apple A8X (iPad Air 2): 72.5 FPS
Tegra K1 (Shield Tablet): 64.8 FPS

GFXBench Manhattan Offscreen:
Exynos 7420 (Samsung Galaxy S6): 26 FPS
Snapdragon 810 (HTC One M9): 22.8 FPS
Apple A8 (iPhone 6): 18.2 FPS
Apple A8 (iPhone 6+): 19.3 FPS
Apple A8X (iPad Air 2): 33.4 FPS
Tegra K1 (Shield Tablet): 31.4 FPS

- Expect better results from Exynos 7420 and S810 in the coming months (there aren't lots of submissions yet). Right now S810 has yet to catch up to last year's Exynos 5433 @ Geekbench 3 and Exynos 7420 is in a league of its own.
- Exynos 7420 is roughly 20% faster than Apple A8X @ MT and 20% slower @ single-thread.
- While Galaxy S5 roughly matched Apple's A7 graphics performance Exynos 7420 is 30-42% faster than the Apple A8 @ GFXBench, a very respectable advantage.
- Exynos 7420's GPU offers 85-90% the graphics performance of Tegra K1 inside a thin and small phone profile.

 

[touchstone]

350 nits is not that impressive, but i guess its the price you pay for the infinite contrast. i have to say i really do enjoy the lcd in the m8 and i wish samsung had gone lcd with 600 nits so i could read in the middle of the bright sun.



edit: those scores, wow. samsung is really bringing it with the 7420. really impressive gpu and especially multithreaded cpu performance. this thing is totally trouncing a8 and probably comes close to core m performance.

Has this been measured for the S6 yet or are you referring to the Note 4? Honestly I feel like this is an area where pure brightness isn't the whole story. The Note 2 was unviewable in bright sunlight, the Note 3 was ok, I've found the Note 4 to be quite good and similar to the iPhone 6 in real world usage.

I'm not sure what it is, but it's probably a combination of high contrast, low reflectance, and the overbright feature when using auto brightness. I have no issues viewing the Note 4 screen mid-day outdoors.

i think it is just note 4 so you may be right and they might have gotten it over 400 nits. i just remember how the galaxy s3 and s4 both had pretty dismal brightness. it was like 300 nits or even less but the new note 4 screen and this screen are worlds better than 2012 or 2013 amoled. i still prefer lcd but thats just me.

 

[dawheat]

350 nits is not that impressive, but i guess its the price you pay for the infinite contrast. i have to say i really do enjoy the lcd in the m8 and i wish samsung had gone lcd with 600 nits so i could read in the middle of the bright sun.

Has this been measured for the S6 yet or are you referring to the Note 4? Honestly I feel like this is an area where pure brightness isn't the whole story. The Note 2 was unviewable in bright sunlight, the Note 3 was ok, I've found the Note 4 to be quite good and similar to the iPhone 6 in real world usage.

I'm not sure what it is, but it's probably a combination of high contrast, low reflectance, and the overbright feature when using auto brightness. I have no issues viewing the Note 4 screen mid-day outdoors.

 

[npaladin-2000]

That's the thing, AMOLED doesn't need to get quite as bright because it has less of a reflection issue than an LCD. Fewer layers to reflect off of. Then again, white pixels consume SOOO much juice... And way too many apps don't have a dark background option.

 

[lopri]

To me just about all phones look the same.

Aye. True that.

Probably the same or very similar NAND, but the interface is different. Much like serial ATA allowed the link speed to be increased, UFS is a serial interface which is much simpler to synchronise at higher speed than the previous parallel 8-bit interface. As far as I can read into press releases, UFS also improved the protocol, now you can read and write at the same time without waiting for a transaction to finish. No doubt there are other changes as well.

All told, UFS2.0 looks like a big upgrade to mobile storage speed, and it looks like it has headroom for a couple more big upgrades already.

Thank you for the enlightenment. It makes sense that improved interface brings about improved performance. I am looking forward to learning the details about it.

That's the thing, AMOLED doesn't need to get quite as bright because it has less of a reflection issue than an LCD. Fewer layers to reflect off of. Then again, white pixels consume SOOO much juice... And way too many apps don't have a dark background option.

Yah. The Geekbench screenshot I linked yesterday shows just that. The screen looks like a semi-gloss printed magazine.

 

[lopri]

MKBHD's first impressions:

Vanilla: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtLHiiXyERA
Edge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrxrzzTUPD8

Why is Flipboard still there?!

P.S. My favorite colors from the pictures/videos on the web are blue-black for the vanilla S6 and green for the Edge.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Thank you for the enlightenment. It makes sense that improved interface brings about improved performance. I am looking forward to learning the details about it.

Essentially, UFS is an implementation of a SATA SSD for phones, uses a SATA/300 internal connection to a central controller that manages a set of NAND storage (like the way an SSD works). At least that's what Wikipedia says, and how I've interpreted Samsung's media on the subject. What I don't know is if the UFS controller is on a separate chip or is on the Exynos silicon itself.

What will be interesting is how the rest of the storage market reacts, Apple, Motorola, LG, and HTC are going to have to partner with someone, probably an SSD manufacturer. Samsung got this out first because they can do everything in-house. It helps.

 

[sm625]

I just dont understand the point of throwing in all these costly features, such as a 1440p screen and a silly curved glass? 8 cores? 3GB of RAM? Really? I dont even use 3GB on my desktop, with a CAD program, a Word, an Excel, a Visual Studio, 3 web browsers, yadayadayada. A frickin phone dont need or use that much memory. Just... no. It uses that RAM about as much as it uses all those pixels. Which is to say not at all. And then charging way way way more than any sane person would spend.

 

[Oyeve]

I just dont understand the point of throwing in all these costly features, such as a 1440p screen and a silly curved glass? 8 cores? 3GB of RAM? Really? I dont even use 3GB on my desktop, with a CAD program, a Word, an Excel, a Visual Studio, 3 web browsers, yadayadayada. A frickin phone dont need or use that much memory. Just... no. It uses that RAM about as much as it uses all those pixels. Which is to say not at all. And then charging way way way more than any sane person would spend.

Then don't buy it. I see no point in your post.

 

[lopri]

^^ Again, "Doth protest too much."

 

[lopri]

Baseband specs are conspicuously missing, although I have little doubt they are provided by Qualcomm.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I have a 399 IEM. I still use the speakers most of the time, because it just really isn't necessary to have super high quality audio everyday for everything. Speakerphone/Alarm/YouTube all benefits from having a good set of front facing speakers



Cloud storage is good and all, but it doesn't replace local storage, especially if you hit a deadspot or are in areas without signal.



That's a personal opinion, and in my personal opinion, it looks like the iPhone.
The camera - No data to back that up, so I'll withhold my opinion.
The chassis - Personally, I still think M8/M9 is better designed with Unibody rather than glass/metal/glass. Had it on iPhone 4/4S, wasn't a fan.
The screen - Arguable, AMOLED isn't my cup of tea, disliked the inksplots.
Quick Charging - Quick Charging 2.0 is on M8 and I'll be willing to bet on M9

I'll give you the UFS 2.0 and *maybe* the SoC, again, I don't have an opinion until I actually get clear cut benchmarks, but for me, SoC hasn't mattered since Snapdragon 800 (for me).

At the end of the day, both of them are quality smartphone, and it's not as "clear cut" as you make it out to be.



Initial pricing indicates it will be more expensive than $650, and I rather avoid biometrics completely, but this is a completely personal choice, however it is behind why some people (like me) may not want the S6.



Yeah.. I'm gonna need more references than a site than a site called "phones with free gifts" with no actual technical details.

--
For some reason you guys think I'm attacking the S6, I'm simply responding to someone's message on WHY someone would want something other than S6.

And @ RussianSensation, I'm not calling you a shrill, but man, you sound like Samsung marketing.

99% of Apple buyers don't give a shit to build quality (despite how much the mainstream tech press wants to circlejerk over this), benchmarks, specs. They buy iPhone as a status symbol and for iOS and Apple is the only choice. There is absolutely nothing Samsung can do to sway this group.

 

[Crono]

99% of Apple buyers don't give a shit to build quality (despite how much the mainstream tech press wants to circlejerk over this), benchmarks, specs. They buy iPhone as a status symbol and for iOS and Apple is the only choice. There is absolutely nothing Samsung can do to sway this group.

I don't doubt that group exists, but it's not 99%. Apple rarely makes products that aren't high build quality - though the -gate issues are always widely reported with every new gen - but if they start to I'm sure plenty of people will jump ship. The 5c was the last product Apple made that was a little cheap looking, though build quality was still high. It wasn't a massive success.

If I were looking to buy a phone right now, the S6 Edge interests me more than I thought it would; I've had very little interest in the S5 or S4, and preferred the HTC and Nokia flagships before now. Samsung actually backtracking on TouchWiz and improving design materials made their S series more desirable to me, though I'd still prefer a Note 4 if the price were right because of the S-Pen. Samsung having excellent cameras in their phones with the Note 4 and now S6 is the biggest draw for me.

The lack of removable battery and microSD doesn't bother me. I only need enough juice to last me in between charges (usually a few hours at most, and I can get an external battery pack if needed) and I don't use my phone as a mobile media library, so local storage at 32GB or 64GB is enough for me. If the S6 were priced at $600 or less off-contract, the chance of me getting one would be high.

 

[Zaap]

Yuck. Return of the roundiness. Samsung's best features removed.

Terrible.

To me it's the Galaxy S3-S a few years delayed.

Ah, well it was a nice reign for Samsung while it lasted. Time for someone else to step up and attempt to unseat the Note 4 as the pinnacle.

 

[Anubis]

99% of Apple buyers don't give a shit to build quality (despite how much the mainstream tech press wants to circlejerk over this), benchmarks, specs. They buy iPhone as a status symbol and for iOS and Apple is the only choice. There is absolutely nothing Samsung can do to sway this group.

this group does exist but its no where near 99% of owners

there is also the % who but it because they believe android is "too complicated"
when in reality they are identical on the basic level

 

[dawheat]

Yuck. Return of the roundiness. Samsung's best features removed.

Terrible.

To me it's the Galaxy S3-S a few years delayed.

Ah, well it was a nice reign for Samsung while it lasted. Time for someone else to step up and attempt to unseat the Note 4 as the pinnacle.

I look at my extended family - my parents, my sisters, most of my friends. They want a phone that looks and feels good, has a great camera, gets battery life that can get them through the entire day, and let's them do everything they want. To them and the vast majority, the S6 will be perfect. It looks great (even cool), has a camera even better than the great Note 4, will have blazing performance that won't really be noticed beyond them liking how "snappy" it is, has a great screen, and has a super easy to use biometric scanner. 32GB will be more than enough and they'll be happy they don't need to pay for more storage. The idea of carrying an extra battery has never entered their mind - but now being able to plop their phone down at Starbucks or anywhere that has a wireless charger without carying about standards is also a cool plus.

When people say it's the Android iPhone, that's not a bad thing and it's something no Android phone has been ever been able to truly say in every aspect (e.g the camera on the HTC One has always been inferior to the iPhone). It may be able to make the argument that it can do everything as well as an iPhone (camera especially) while still having the flexibility of Android. Of course this will only be known in a full review.

The greater separation between the S-series and Note was actually long overdue. The Note has always been about functionality and productivity. Let the S-series be the mainstream consumer focused device and the Note remain all about function. Hell I'd love to see a 5.3" and 5.9" version of the Note for the hardcore fans. And yes, I'll have a cow if the Note 5 loses the mSD slot.

 

[elitejp]

What I would really like to see is microsoft up its game. I really think that they could surpass android in a very short time. There really isnt a need for a billion apps but rather good quality essential apps, and then have a great interface between pc and phone and all of a sudden you have your pc in your pocket.
As for the s6 it seems to be a killer phone. I think people complain just to complain. I mean ther amount of hostility between apple fans and android fans is actually quite disgusting. The s6 looks like a powerhouse and will be a pleasure to use.

 

[WelshBloke]

As for the s6 it seems to be a killer phone. I think people complain just to complain. I mean ther amount of hostility between apple fans and android fans is actually quite disgusting. The s6 looks like a powerhouse and will be a pleasure to use.

TBH a lot of the complaints are coming from people who were fans of former galaxy phones not Apple users. There's always going to be a bit of trolling from Apple fans when there's a big Samsung release (and vise versa), you just need to filter that out, but there is bound to be a bunch of people who are going to be unsatisfied with this release due to the change in direction taken.

Which makes sense really as a lot of the reasons that people bought earlier SG phones don't exist with this one.

I'm not saying that it's a bad phone its just targeting a different bunch of features.

The reason (or one of the biggest reasons) why I have stuck with them is the ability to swap out the small stock battery for a larger one. I can't do that with this so I'll wait till a different phone turns up where I can.

Its not hostility, it's just that this new product doesn't suit my needs at all whereas all the previous galaxy phones have (the S5 meeting them the best).

 

[lucia]

Samsung Galaxy S6 sacrificed what it does best in its war with Apple

 

[LtMikePowelll]

Samsung Galaxy S6 sacrificed what it does best in its war with Apple

Beside us tech geeks here, how many people actually know that their phone is battery replaceable and can have extra storage with mSD. And how many people actually buy a good mSD from Sandisk, Samsung, etc with the right class speed?

 

[WelshBloke]

Beside us tech geeks here, how many people actually know that their phone is battery replaceable and can have extra storage with mSD.

Does it matter? Will I find it less useful the less people know about it?

 

[rcpratt]

And how many people actually buy a good mSD from Sandisk, Samsung, etc with the right class speed?

Hell, I'm here and I don't even know if the Sandisk I have in my Note is the "right" one. Now you're really reaching for things the average Joe cares about.

I do think people appreciate being able to purchase storage with more flexibility and a cost lower than $100/tier like Apple. I'm not buying the battery argument either.