Samsung Galaxy S6 hype thread

[Achtung!]

Anyway, onto the big news about the Galaxy S6/S6 edge:

Samsung estimates that it will sell 70 million+ Galaxy S6/S6 edge units.
http://www.gsmarena.com/galaxy_s6_and_s6_edge_sales_expected_to_hit_70_million_mark-news-11932.php
This may be more than the total sales of the iPhone 6/6+ considering that Apple only sold about ~37 million iPhone 6's in the last 3 months of 2014.

It is estimated that Samsung will sell 30 million Galaxy S6/S6 edge units in the 26th day after release (20 million pre-orders + 10 million in-store sales) which may outpace the initial sales of the iPhone 6/6 Plus.
http://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-demand-for-galaxy-s6-steeper-than-expected/

Furthermore, Samsung regained highest smartphone market share in Q1 2015. http://www.globalpost.com/article/6...sung-widens-lead-over-apple-smartphone-market
According to TrendForce's numbers, Samsung's smartphone market share surged to 27.8% and Apple's market share shrank to 19.9%. What's even more surprising is that Q1 2015 was the 2nd quarter since the iPhone 6 was launched so analysts expected iPhone 6 sales to remain strong but it seems they have lost a lot of steam and sales of the iPhone 6/6+ have shrunk significantly. And Q1 2015 was before Samsung launched the Galaxy S6/S6 edge. Samsung's smartphone sales are going to boom again in Q2, Q3 and Q4 this year. Apple needs to make sure their soon-to-be-released iPhone 6S achieve high sales or else they are headed for a massive failure.

The article also mentions that sales of Samsung's new low/mid range smartphones, the Galaxy A, J and E, have been through the roof. I've personally seen the Galaxy A5 and A7 myself and the design was exactly like the iPhone 6 and HTC One M9. Unibody aluminum. Back in 2013 and 2014, Samsung's low/mid range smartphone market share was nosediving. But, after a huge re-designing of their low/mid range smartphones, Samsung has managed to gain the upper hand against the Chinese phone makers again at the low/mid range segment.

The hype of the iPhone 6 has now diminished as sales have slowed significantly as indicated by Apple's shrinking market share. Apple now needs to focus on luring customers with the iPhone 6S. But will it close the technological gap with Samsung's new flagships? Some sources indicate that Apple may be forced to adopt 16nm CPUs instead of the more technologically advanced 14nm CPUs since Samsung may decide to boost Galaxy S6/S6 edge production. This may mean that Apple wont be able to close the technological gap. I also doubt the iPhone 6S will have DDR4 RAM since Samsung is reportedly getting it supplied from their semiconductor division in full capacity.

This was all expected IMO. No way was Apple going to maintain that 0.5% lead over Samsung as it did in Q4 2014 (that news can be found here: http://bgr.com/2015/03/03/iphone-market-share-q4-2014-gartner/). It was a one-off phenomenon due to the change from the 4" to 4.7" form factor.

I seriously hope this will force Apple to innovate. I'm sick of them just sitting in their laurels and just using the same old design iPhone after iPhone. Already, 15 million bought the Galaxy S6 edge just because it is technological advancement. Technological advancement makes more attractive displays. More attractive = more sales = more customers will remember that company as being high tech and attractive.

I have no doubt that the iPhone 6S will sell well. But it needs to sell better than the iPhone 6.

 

[Demo24]

Achtung,...seriously who cares? The iphone6 set sales records for apple, and continues to sell well considering it came out months ago. S6 is the new thing, no surprise it sells well. For some reason you seem to feel the need to justify these sales like you're trying to sell stock on wall street. Sa!sung has always sold a lot of phones , so it's no surprise that with the misstep of the s5, the s6 sells a lot better for them. Yet, you seem so worried about the 6s, a phone not due out for 6+ months, to already be bashing it?

We care a lot less about sales here so much as is it a good prpdouct?, etc

 

[dawheat]

Achtung,...seriously who cares? The iphone6 set sales records for apple, and continues to sell well considering it came out months ago. S6 is the new thing, no surprise it sells well. For some reason you seem to feel the need to justify these sales like you're trying to sell stock on wall street. Sa!sung has always sold a lot of phones , so it's no surprise that with the misstep of the s5, the s6 sells a lot better for them. Yet, you seem so worried about the 6s, a phone not due out for 6+ months, to already be bashing it?

We care a lot less about sales here so much as is it a good prpdouct?, etc

Thread is a lot more readable when you use forum features like ignore. It's unfortunate that they rarely realize no one takes them seriously and turn people off from a brand, not help.

 

[Achtung!]

Achtung,...seriously who cares? The iphone6 set sales records for apple, and continues to sell well considering it came out months ago. S6 is the new thing, no surprise it sells well. For some reason you seem to feel the need to justify these sales like you're trying to sell stock on wall street. Sa!sung has always sold a lot of phones , so it's no surprise that with the misstep of the s5, the s6 sells a lot better for them. Yet, you seem so worried about the 6s, a phone not due out for 6+ months, to already be bashing it?

We care a lot less about sales here so much as is it a good prpdouct?, etc

I'm not bashing it. I want Apple to do well. I own a Macbook Air, iPhone 5S and 6.

The iPhone 6S will be a good phone, but I hope Apple does something to make it look different.

Samsung took a risk with the Galaxy S6 edge and it paid off very well for them. Now consumers will look at Samsung and say "it's the company that makes those high tech attractive curved smartphones".

Apple is differentiated enough already as it's the favorite company in the US, however it's not differentiated enough technologically.

Thread is a lot more readable when you use forum features like ignore. It's unfortunate that they rarely realize no one takes them seriously and turn people off from a brand, not help.

I honestly don't care whether Apple or Samsung sells more phones than who. What I do care about is when one company is ahead so much technologically over the other company, such that it becomes a war of brands rather than a war of technology.

If it becomes a war of brands, then technological advancement will suffer because the other less tech heavy company (Apple) wont bother with getting the highest tech on their devices which slows down technological advancement.

I only care about technological advancement.

 

[WelshBloke]

...

Just stick to talking about the S6 (although maybe talk a little less about it eh? ). Everything else is off topic.

 

[dawheat]

So Anandtech's full review is up and while generally positive, I honestly had a sense that if any other Android OEM had delivered the phone, the review would be more effusive. The praise just felt a bit...begrudging.

Question about GPU performance - I do get why on-screen benchmarks are run, but does that have any practical value? I don't game on my phone so for those that do, do 3D games actually render at native resolution? I always assumed that games probably ran at 720p or maybe 1080p and upscaled on 1440p screens.

If that's the case, I feel like true game tests like are done on desktop CPU/GPU reviews would be more useful. If every game available today simply runs at 1080p at a very high frame rate, then is there really a disadvantage for higher res screens?

But if they do run at native res, then on-screen benches make sense.

 

[nageov3t]

FML

Customer not Available or Business Closed

hopefully the "hold at FedEx location" will work tonight or tomorrow (now, clicking the button just generates a non-descriptive error, but Google tells me that it usually isn't available until after the driver is done with his route and the package is back at base). don't have any sick/vacation days to use up at the new job to stay home waiting for FedEx.

 

[ThisIsChrisKim]

So Anandtech's full review is up and while generally positive, I honestly had a sense that if any other Android OEM had delivered the phone, the review would be more effusive. The praise just felt a bit...begrudging.

Question about GPU performance - I do get why on-screen benchmarks are run, but does that have any practical value? I don't game on my phone so for those that do, do 3D games actually render at native resolution? I always assumed that games probably ran at 720p or maybe 1080p and upscaled on 1440p screens.

If that's the case, I feel like true game tests like are done on desktop CPU/GPU reviews would be more useful. If every game available today simply runs at 1080p at a very high frame rate, then is there really a disadvantage for higher res screens?

But if they do run at native res, then on-screen benches make sense.

I got the same sense that for some reason, he wanted to go into a tirade against Samsung. But overall, his review was extremely positive and the negatives he points out were for the most part, pretty minimal.

 

[Applesexual]

So Anandtech's full review is up and while generally positive, I honestly had a sense that if any other Android OEM had delivered the phone, the review would be more effusive. The praise just felt a bit...begrudging.

Question about GPU performance - I do get why on-screen benchmarks are run, but does that have any practical value? I don't game on my phone so for those that do, do 3D games actually render at native resolution? I always assumed that games probably ran at 720p or maybe 1080p and upscaled on 1440p screens.

If that's the case, I feel like true game tests like are done on desktop CPU/GPU reviews would be more useful. If every game available today simply runs at 1080p at a very high frame rate, then is there really a disadvantage for higher res screens?

But if they do run at native res, then on-screen benches make sense.

Games render at 720p and/or 1080p.

 

[Imported]

So far, my biggest gripe is the placement of the power button. I keep hitting it when I'm trying to change the volume..

 

[WelshBloke]

Games render at 720p and/or 1080p.

Is that definite in all cases?

So far, my biggest gripe is the placement of the power button. I keep hitting it when I'm trying to change the volume..

You'll soon learn some new muscle memory and that will stop being a problem.

 

[waggy]

I got the S6 yesterday. Verizon Gave me $150 for my beat up S4. It came with a "free" bundle. A car charger, screen protector, my choice of case, and free accessory (my choice).

i got the Motoralla Roadster pro. I didn't need anything else they offered.


So far i love it. just took a while to set it up

 

[deputc26]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9146/the-samsung-galaxy-s6-and-s6-edge-review

AT review is up, much better than the very weak AT Note 4 review. Still not nearly as good as Anand/Klug reviews. I came away impressed with the combination of thinner/faster/higher resolution even given the missing removable battery and SD card. Exynos 7420 is really an impressive chip. There was Lots of good objective data but also lots of dumb personal opinion. The reviewer claims that Sammy should have gone with larger pixels "because that's what Apple did" ...OK he doesn't actually say that explicitly... But he implies it. And has no good reasons for implying it, we've all seen sample photos, the S6 is clearly better than iP6 in good light and comparable in bad light, increasing pixel size generally means trading bright light performance for low light performance and the S6 clearly strikes a good balance.

Whenever the reviewer got subjective he also became passive-aggressive with "buts" "althoughs" and "howevers" multiplying without necessity. This is what happens when those with an emotional attachment to other manufacturers write Samsung reviews.

Also, testing max brightness at 100% APL is completely unrealistic and smells of anti-AMOLED bias. This measurement is irrelevant, no one walks around with a pure white screen. They made up for it with a graph for peak auto-brightness but conspicuously left out such a graph for manual brightness. Max brightness should be shown for a 50-80% APL, anything else is not realistic.

 

[CLARiiON]

Pixel size in not the *only* parameter deciding image quality. It should have been clear in 2015. There are many papers, discussions available for this.

Source: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/info/Semiconductor/2011_2.pdf

A wonderful discussion here: http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/pixel.size.and.iso/

"the good news is that more MPixels donotincrease image noise – despite a widespread belief to the contrary."

Source: https://luminous-landscape.com/dxomark-camera-sensor/

"This is a can of worms that we’ll quickly put the lid back on – debates about pixel density will surely go on forever. It’s the overall physical size of the sensor and lens which play the biggest role in determining the amount of noise for a given print or screen size."

Source: http://connect.dpreview.com/post/1313669123/how-many-megapixels

Before I forget, comparison between sensor quality for A7R vs A7S (large vs small comparison).

http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-A7S-versus-Sony-A7R___949_917

 

[lopri]

Roommates stab each other over Galaxy v. iPhone.

D_O

 

[Artdeco]

I'm not bashing it. I want Apple to do well. I own a Macbook Air, iPhone 5S and 6.

Seriously, the iPhone 6 lags too. My brother has it and I've seen it lag and freeze before.

Care to clarify this for us Achtung! ?

This is just one of about half a dozen inconsistent things you've posted.

 

[Red Storm]

Care to clarify this for us Achtung! ?

This is just one of about half a dozen inconsistent things you've posted.

For what it's worth, my 6 Plus lags every now and then too. No phone is perfectly smooth, never has been never will be.

 

[swilli89]

Yeah definitely picked up the "begrudging compliments" vibe from the review.

 

[Artdeco]

For what it's worth, my 6 Plus lags every now and then too. No phone is perfectly smooth, never has been never will be.

You focused on the wrong parts of the quotes...

 

[elitejp]

does it really matter Art?:whiste:

 

[Artdeco]

does it really matter Art?:whiste:

I guess not :sneaky:

 

[lopri]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9146/the-samsung-galaxy-s6-and-s6-edge-review

AT review is up, much better than the very weak AT Note 4 review. Still not nearly as good as Anand/Klug reviews. I came away impressed with the combination of thinner/faster/higher resolution even given the missing removable battery and SD card. Exynos 7420 is really an impressive chip. There was Lots of good objective data but also lots of dumb personal opinion. The reviewer claims that Sammy should have gone with larger pixels "because that's what Apple did" ...OK he doesn't actually say that explicitly... But he implies it. And has no good reasons for implying it, we've all seen sample photos, the S6 is clearly better than iP6 in good light and comparable in bad light, increasing pixel size generally means trading bright light performance for low light performance and the S6 clearly strikes a good balance.

Whenever the reviewer got subjective he also became passive-aggressive with "buts" "althoughs" and "howevers" multiplying without necessity. This is what happens when those with an emotional attachment to iDevices write Samsung reviews.

Also, testing max brightness at 100% APL is completely unrealistic and smells of anti-AMOLED bias. This measurement is irrelevant, no one walks around with a pure white screen. They made up for it with a graph for peak auto-brightness but conspicuously left out such a graph for manual brightness. Max brightness should be shown for a 50-80% APL, anything else is not realistic.

The reviewer seems like a very opinionated person and does at times state strange things, but I do not think he is necessarily biased against AMOLED/Samsung/Android/etc.

There is no chance in hell Anand/Klug would have left Samsung's stock browser benchmark results in a review like this. I am also glad to see iPhone 5C gone from the charts.

 

[deputc26]

Roommates stab each other over Galaxy v. iPhone.

D_O

AT readers will get there eventually

 

[s44]

So Anandtech's full review is up and while generally positive, I honestly had a sense that if any other Android OEM had delivered the phone, the review would be more effusive. The praise just felt a bit...begrudging.

Remember that Ho started as a big HTC defender on reddit.

 

[yh125d]

Took a ton of pictures with my brothers S6 at his daughters first bday party today. They came out excellent, in a pretty dark room with poor lighting. Damn near perfect recreation of what we were seeing IRL. Compared briefly to someones iP6 and we definitely preferred the S6 in that lighting. The OIS worked very well too. Didn't get any outdoor pictures, but we're going to hibachi tonight so we might take some more