SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 REVIEW : FULL DETAIL REVIEW ( UNBOXING , CAMERA, GAMING, SOFTWARE, SPEED TEST)

Choose one word to describe the Samsung Galaxy S6. Gorgeous. Powerful. Special. Different. Thank you. That will do. Galaxy S5 has only one of these under its belt and hint... it starts with a P.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 is not the next big thing. It's "project zero". The reboot. But was there really anything wrong with the S-line - the standard-setter, the home of the super droids? OK, design needed looking at for sure. But hey, other brands do facelifts - Samsung goes for a complete overhaul.

This must've been the message they wanted to send.

And if it means giving up the memory card slot, the removable battery and the waterproofing, so be it. That's part of the message too.

Anyway, the Galaxy S6 was redone from scratch and bids farewell to plastic. Glass and metal is a critically acclaimed combination. Another way of saying it is - depending on how upset you are with the missing card slot and sealed battery - they're copying Apple and Sony. Alright, memory, battery and waterproofing are easy things to get upset about, so let's see what the Samsung Galaxy S6 offers in exchange.

The new look is impressive and exciting and Samsung's trademark AMOLED is the perfect match. It's an immersive 5.1 incher of QHD resolution, for the amazing 577ppi - though "amazing" doesn't work for Samsung. They'll call it "the best ever" - and will be right. And that's just the beginning.

   
Samsung Galaxy S6 official pictures: black sapphire, blue topaz, gold platinum, white pearl

For the first time in a couple of generations, Samsung is relying solely on its own Exynos platform. This seemed like of nick-of-time decision amid rumors of cooling issues and thermal throttling plaguing the Snapdragon 810 chipset but the fact is the Exynos 7420 (7 Octa) is simply better. The only reason Qualcomm were in the story at all was the uncertainty whether Samsung would be ready for mass production with its own chipset.

Built on a 14nm process, Samsung's chipset allows similar or higher clockspeeds (hence performance) with less power consumption, which by the way means it's easier to cool as well. In the end, the Galaxy S6 is powered by a beastly octa-core processor with four Cortex-A57 cores ticking at 2.1GHz and four Cortex-A53 "efficiency" cores at 1.5GHz. An octa-core Mali-T760 GPU and 3GB of RAM complete the tally.

Samsung worked on the camera department too, equipping the Galaxy S6 with a 16MP rear camera with optical image stabilization and a wide f/1.9 aperture. The 5MP selfie cam also got a f/1.9 aperture for superior low-light capabilities.

The connectivity package is better than ever with dual-standard wireless charging support out of the box, Samsung Pay, a better and faster fingerprint scanner and LTE Cat.6 connectivity. Let's get into the details, shall we?

Key features

• Thin (6.8mm) profile, premium dual-glass design reinforced by a metal frame
• 5.1" Super AMOLED of QHD (1440 x 2560) resolution, class-leading ~577ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 4
• Exynos 7420 64-bit chipset, octa core processor with four 2.1GHz Cortex-A57's and four 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 cores, Mali-T760 MP8 GPU, 3GB of RAM
• Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with TouchWiz and Samsung Pay
• 16MP camera, f/1.9 aperture, 4K video recording, LED flash, optical image stabilization
• 5MP front-facing camera, f/1.9 aperture, 1080p video, HDR
• 32/64/128 GB of built-in storage
• Active noise cancellation via dedicated mic
• Fingerprint scanner
• LTE Cat.6, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, NFC, IR port, Bluetooth 4.1, ANT+
• Heart-rate sensor, barometer, SpO2
• Wireless charging (Qi/PMA)
• 2,550mAh battery

Main disadvantages

• No water or dust protection
• Rather pricey at launch, including really steep memory upgrade premiums
• No user-replaceable battery
• No microSD slot
• No FM radio
• No stereo speakers

Last season, the water and dust protection was a direct response to Sony's Xperia Z line. The Galaxy S6 gives it up, defying a natural Samsung instinct to match and beat every feature a potential rival may have. A Galaxy S6 Active will likely quell some of the disappointment.

   
Samsung Galaxy S6 live pictures

But will there be an S6 version with a removable battery and one with a microSD card slot? Of course, Samsung will tell you the Galaxy S6 has the new UFS 2.0 storage, with the "Command Queue" tech used in SSDs. The end-result is 2.7x faster response than that memory found in the previous crop of flagships. A microSD card, regardless of specs, would have compromised the user experience. Plus, the base model starts at 32GB, the other options being 64GB and 128GB.

So, Samsung gave up features that used to give them a competitive edge and decided not to necessarily compete for every spec. Over-confidence or lack thereof? New deal or a knee jerk reaction? There are so many things to discover about the new Galaxy S6 and we are done teasing.

Update, March 16: You've probably already checked out our Samsung Galaxy S6 review over the weekend. By popular request, we've updated a number of section in the review today. Most notably, we've added more daylight camera samples and numerous low-light samples; we've tested how the new UFS 2.0 storage performs; we've revised our Galaxy S6 screen brightness measurement and ourloudspeaker loudness measurement. There is more where all that came from, stay tuned for a detailed camera comparison against the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 later this week.

The Samsung SM-G920F Galaxy S6 used for this review is a pre-release unit, using firmware version G920FXXU1A0BN, which was the latest available as of March 10. You can rest assured we will retest all of our proprietary tests once we get a production unit - hopefully within a week or so

Unboxing the Galaxy S6

The Samsung Galaxy S6's retail package only contains the essential accessories. The solid, white box packs a microUSB cable, a fast-charging-capable A/C adapter and the company's latest set of headphones. All these are white to match the color of the handset itself.

  
Unboxing the Galaxy S6

There is no wireless charging plate - these are a rare catch in phone bundles (the Lumia 930 is the only one that comes to mind). Fast chargers are a bit more common but by no means widespread. The Galaxy S6 has one in the box so you don't have to spend extra.

Samsung Galaxy S6 360-degree view

The Samsung Galaxy S6 has a brand new design but the same screen size as its predecessor. Keeping the same level of comfort of handling and portability aside, the 5.1" diagonal allowed them to get the highest ppi on the market. The lack of enhanced protection and the new materials employed helped a much thinner profile than the predecessor. The Galaxy S6 is just 6.8mm thin against the 8.1mm of the Galaxy S5. It's hardly a coincidence either that it's a fraction of a millimeter slimmer than the iPhone 6.

   
Size comparison: Samsung Galaxy S6 next to the iPhone 6

The overall size of the Galaxy S6 is very close to the previous generation: 143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8mm, and 8g lighter at 138g. Not much bigger than the iPhone either considering the difference in screen size.

Design and build quality

Samsung went way beyond its comfort zone to design an entirely new Galaxy species from scratch. And this time around, saving some money wasn't on the agenda. We don't know if that's the change everyone was hoping for but the S6 is the sexiest flagship yet.

   
Samsung Galaxy S6

The Samsung Galaxy S6 body consists of a brushed metal frame holding together a pair of glass panels. This doesn't even begin to tell the story. You can read anyone's impressions but you will only know what it's all about if you get to unbox one.

Plastic is durable while glass cracks and metal dents. There's more value in a removable battery than premium design. A memory card slot... All that. The Galaxy S6 will not try and deny the facts. We call them facts - to the Galaxy S6 they're the predecessors' excuses for not quite looking their best.

 
The sides of the Galaxy S6

Samsung introduces glass to the Galaxy S series for the first time - two sheets of Corning Gorilla Glass 4, front and rear. It's not a combination Samsung invented but we are glad they ditched the plastic and kept the trademark shape and look.

Arguably it's the easiest way to achieve the upmarket feel while keeping weight down. Adding to the high-quality appeal, the body is a mere 6.8mm for a proper balance between handling, appearance and battery capacity.

   
Samsung Galaxy S6 flanked by the iPhone 6 Plus and the Galaxy S5

Such a sea-change came at a cost and indeed the Galaxy S6 is losing the removable battery for good. What's odd is the lack of water and dust protection, which was a key selling feature for the previous generation Galaxy S5.

There is the camera hump too, which was just inevitable - Samsung added so much tech and yet trimmed the body down. The new sensor, lens and optical image stabilization more than make up for it.

The camera hump

Handling the Galaxy S6 is nothing short of pleasure and it isn't compromised by the dual-glass design. The metal frame and its flattened sides improve the grip and the glass is not terribly slippery either - it gets smudged though. Sure, the Galaxy S6 doesn't offer the most secure grip, but it does get the best out of the combination of materials.

 
Handling the Galaxy S6

Controls

Above the gorgeous 5.1" Super AMOLED display we find the earpiece, a couple of sensors and the 5MP F/1.9 selfie cam.

 
A peek above and below the screen

The ever-present home key remains a key point in the interaction with the smartphone and doubles as a fingerprint scanner. At its sides are the capacitive Task Switcher and Back buttons.

The left side of the Galaxy S6 has the two metal volume keys, while on the right there are the power/lock key and the pop-out SIM tray.

   
The sides of the Galaxy S6

The bottom on the Galaxy S6 is pretty crowded featuring the USB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone and speaker. The top is cleaner, with only an IR blaster and a pinhole for a secondary microphone.

   
Samsung Galaxy S6 bottom and top

The back of the phone is where the slightly protruding 16MP f/1.9 main camera/4K camcorder resides. It features optical image stabilization, so the expectations for its low light performance are high. Next to the lens you'll notice the LED flash and the heartrate sensor.

   
The 16MP camera lens at the back

The rear panel is not removable and doesn't allow access to the 2,550 mAh battery. There is no microSD slot either.

Quad HD display

The display of the Samsung Galaxy S6 is the highlight feature alongside the new design and chipset. The diagonal remains unchanged at 5.1", but the resolution got a massive boost to QHD - 2560 x 1440 pixels. This means that despite its ample surface, the Super AMOLED panel offers a mind-blowing 577ppi.

Samsung has again went for the diamond-shaped PenTile matrix, although given the sheer number of pixels the sub-pixel arrangement will hardly affect the perceivable sharpness of the screen.

Here's how the layout looks under a microscope. The diamond-shaped PenTile uses OLED sub-pixels of different sizes as each color has different levels of power efficiency and longevity. Sub-pixel rendering is employed to properly distribute each of the primary colors.

The default screen mode comes to underline the Super AMOLED panel's key strength, high contrast, by producing overly saturated colors that make every image look like it's about to pop out of the frame. Yet if you are a professional that requires the color accuracy or simply dislike the unrealistic images, the professional photo mode gets colors as true to life as possible.

The Samsung AMOLED panels have been improving with each new generation and this latest effort is further proof of that. Giving you a choice between saturation and accuracy, and comfortably beating its rivals at either end is an impressive achievement, but with the inherent AMOLED strengths in the equation, you get arguably the most impressive screen in the market.

Yep, the practically infinite native contrast and the low reflectivity that makes sure you enjoy most of it in brighter environments are still here, alongside the impeccable viewing angles. There isn't much else one can wish for.

But enough words, let's look at the numbers. The Samsung Galaxy S6 has a practically unlimited contrast ratio, as it's capable of displaying black by simply turning off individual pixels - AMOLEDs light up only the parts of the screen that display a color different than black.

The Super AMOLED panel on the Galaxy S6 isn't particularly bright, especially compared to some LCDs, but it can go higher than the Galaxy Note 4.

Update, March 16: As it turns out the Auto Brightness mode can push the brightness higher than manually adjusting the brightness slider would allow you to. It's not something limited to the Galaxy S6 but it's customary for Galaxy smartphones with AMOLED screens. We confirmed that under bright light the Galaxy S6 display can light up to 60% brighter than the maximum allowed by the slider.

We also did the same experiment with the Galaxy S5 and its display went 17% above its pre-defined maximum on the brightness slider.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Samsung Galaxy S6 (Manual brightness)	0	208	∞	0	473	∞
Samsung Galaxy S6 (Auto brightness)	0	208	∞	0	753	∞
Samsung Galaxy S5 (Manual brightness)	0	274	∞	0	529	∞
Samsung Galaxy S5 (Auto brightness)	0	274	∞	0	617	∞
HTC One (M8)	0.2	245	1219	0.46	577	1256
Apple iPhone 6	0.17	207	1230	0.61	740	1213
Samsung Galaxy Note 4	0	291	∞	0	399	∞
LG G Flex2	0	152	∞	0	398	∞
Meizu MX4 Pro	-	-	-	0.69	775	1127
Xiaomi Mi Note	0.09	130	1450	0.43	626	1453
LG G3	0.14	109	763	0.72	570	789

Under direct sunlight, the Galaxy S6 retains excellent contrast and stays legible even in the most brightly lit environments.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Sort by Label
• Sort by Value
• Expand

• Nokia 808 PureView4.698
• Samsung Galaxy A34.241
• Samsung Galaxy S64.124
• Samsung Galaxy Note 44.033
• Apple iPhone 53.997
• Samsung Galaxy Note 33.997
• Samsung Galaxy A53.895
• Apple iPhone 63.838
• Samsung Galaxy mini 21.114

You can find all about our display testing routines here.

Battery life

The battery life was a bit of a question mark hanging over the Samsung Galaxy S6, considering the screen resolution has nearly doubled and the battery capacity was downgraded to 2,550 mAh. It still sounds like a pretty ample battery, but we were curious how it compares to the stellar Lollipop endurance of its predecessor.

As it turns out, we were right to be worried as the Galaxy S6 posted lesser performance on all of our test compared to the Galaxy S5.

The battery scores aren't that bad and are in fact higher than average. The S6's battery had enough juice to last 17 and a half hours on 3G calls, almost 9 hours on non-stop web browsing (using stock web browser) and 10 and a half hours on looped video playback. The measured stand-by endurance is excellent too and at 360h it's 10% better than the Galaxy S5. Have in mind that it's probably the higher res screen that's to blame for the poor battery life more than anything else. That's certainly not a surprise as the same thing happened when LG went for QHD screen with the G3.

In the end the new flagship managed to achieve of respectable rating of 64h, which might not be as impressive as the 83h mark of Galaxy S5, but it still means your Galaxy S6 will last at least two and a half days if you are using it for an hour of calls, web and video playback each day.

Our testing procedure includes a standby battery endurance test, which is not shown in the scorecard above, but is a part of the overall rating. You can learn more about our standardized routine here.

The Samsung SM-G920F Galaxy S6 used for this review is a pre-release unit, using firmware version G920FXXU1A0BN, which was the latest available as of March 10. You can rest assured we will retest all of our proprietary tests once we get a production unit - hopefully within a week or so.

Connectivity

The Samsung Galaxy S6 is armed to the teeth in connectivity terms. The mandatory 2G/3G/4G LTE is present with Cat. 6 downlinks thanks to Samsung's latest Exynos 7420 chipset. This gives you download speeds of up to 300Mbps, with 50Mbps worth of uploads. If you missed it in the specs section, the Galaxy S6 uses nano-SIM cards.

In terms of local connectivity, there's dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, so you can make the best of your home's Internet connection. DLNA is supported in multimedia apps for sharing content across compatible devices.

Speaking of, the Galaxy S6 makes it easy to share the Wi-Fi hotspot info with nearby devices (detected via Bluetooth) using the Quick Connect feature. This saves you the trouble of typing in the Wi-Fi password.

Bluetooth has been bumped up to version 4.1. There aren't any easily noticeable changes since 4.0 but, among the more important ones, Low Energy mode is now supported for connecting to smart watches and some sport sensors. ANT+ is available for such sensors too, so the Galaxy S6 will happily talk to whatever sports sensor you have.

NFC is on board for quick pairing and sharing and there's an IR blaster for controlling home appliances. Samsung's default app mostly handles your AV setup, but third party apps can be used for a wider range of devices.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 features a microUSB 2.0 port. It's slower at transferring data than the USB 3.0 port used in a few Samsung devices, but it has a standard size plug and it offers Quick Charge 2.0 and MHL 3.0. With the right adapter, you get 2160p@30fps output so you can watch videos you shot with the phone in their full resolution. There's 7.1 surround sound output, if the video player supports it (sadly, the pre-installed one does not).

Finally, there's a GPS/GLONASS/Beidou SatNav receiver on board. GPS alone is enough on its own but GLONASS provides extra precision, especially in dense urban settings as it also uses Russian satellites. Beidou is currently available only in China and neighboring regions, but China is an important market for Samsung so it's a nice thing to have on board.

Samsung Pay is available by default on the Galaxy S6. The new service works with NFC and a newly developed technology called MST - Magnetic Secure Transmission. The MST will allow the Galaxy S6 owners to use their phones on most of the existing terminals and merchants won't need to upgrade their payment solution.

Samsung has acknowledged the mobile wallet adoption is going very slowly and the company has built-in a new solution to this problem inside the Galaxy S6 with the MST tech that requires little to no upgrade from current card readers already installed at retailers.

Samsung Pay has already been certified by Visa and MasterCard. Samsung is teaming up with key financial institutions around the world such as American Express, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and U.S. Bank, in order to provide more flexible services and coverage.

Samsung Pay is KNOX-secured, which means the Galaxy S6 users should be getting government-grade protection of their personal data.

User interface

Samsung Galaxy S6 comes with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop and the latest incarnation of TouchWiz.

Samsung has been on a mission to simplify its software recently, but there are brand new features too. Most of the new stuff is now available to the Galaxy S5 as well via the recent update to Android Lollipop, but there are still features available only on the Galaxy S6.

We've highlighted the exclusive features in orange throughout the text, so it's easier for you to spot them.

One thing's for sure, the lockscreen is quite busy. It shows two notifications, any more get collapsed and you only see their icons. You can tap the down arrow to see the full list. If an app gets too pushy, you can hide its notifications from the lockscreen. There is also a weather information for your location and pedometer stats.

   
The lockscreen shows notifications, but can hide them from prying eyes too

Both a dialer and camera shortcuts are available, but we prefer the other camera shortcut - double-tap the Home key from anywhere in the UI and the camera launches within a second.

Private mode returns and this time the fingerprint reader is much better. After you've trained it, you only need to place your finger for half a second to activate. It's quite lax when it comes to finger positions too, no more struggling to swipe just the right way.

 
Private mode is best protected with a fingerprint

Private mode creates a secure folder that disappears when the mode is disabled. You can have Private mode automatically disabled every time you lock the phone.

The lockscreen can also use the fingerprint reader as a locking mechanism. It's quicker and more convenient than swiping and more secure than simple patterns and PINs too.

A nice feature allows you to hide the content of the lockscreen notifications or disable them altogether so people can't snoop on your received messages and emails.

Smart Lock disables the secure locking options when a trusted device is connected (Bluetooth smartwatch or car stereo or an NFC sticker) or when the phone is in a trusted location. Unfortunately, that's determined by geo-positioning only, you can' add a trusted Wi-Fi network.

  
Smart lock disables the secure locking features if a trusted device is nearby or you're home

We're finally past the lockscreen and we arrive to see much improved theming support, which the Galaxy S5 lacks altogether. We only got three preinstalled on the Galaxy S6, but for the first time, you can download more in the Galaxy Apps store, including an Avengers theme (Samsung is the supplier of lots of Avengers movie props). Themes can change the wallpaper and icons, but also some Samsung apps (dialer, contacts, messages) and the notification area.

   
Extensive theme support

Themes are not just graphical either, a theme can add new ringtones, notification tones, alarm sounds and more.

  
  
The Avengers theme modifies TouchWiz complete

The homescreen itself is quite normal. You get the optional Briefing pane on the left, which pulls info from a selection of news sources on topics you find interesting. There's an option to change the screen grid between 4x4, 4x5 and 5x5, the smallest one is the default.

The wallpaper now has a subtle parallax effect that we didn't notice at first. Then we did and just felt too similar to the iPhone wallpaper.

The notification area hasn't changed much, but it has lost the view that shows all quick toggles - neither a second pull nor a two-finger pull works. You just get one scrollable row of quick toggles, but now some have text underneath, like the name of the Wi-Fi network you are connected to.

  
The notification area looks the same but doesn't work the same • changing the brightness

The brightness slider is below that and then the S Finder and Quick connect buttons. One cool feature is that while adjusting the slider, the notification area fades away so you can see the app you were using before.

None of these elements can be disabled, but you can rearrange the quick toggles by tapping the Edit button. This screen shows all quick toggles and you can tap them to enable/disable, but the old way felt more intuitive.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 comes with a page and a half of icons in its app drawer, but several folders conceal the actual number of pre-installed apps. There's a Social folder with Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp and more interestingly the Microsoft folder.

 
Pre-installed apps

Samsung has partnered with Microsoft so you get OneDrive (instead of Dropbox), OneNote and Skype out of the box. These apps cannot be uninstalled, but merely disabled. We'll cover the app package in more detail later.

Multi Window is now part of the app switcher. TouchWiz uses the Lollipop-style 3D rolodex of apps, but next to the X button is a button that opens the app across half the screen. The other half is filled in with a similar rolodex with only apps that support Multi Window.

Not all work with it, but the three social networking apps, the two browsers and several other key apps work just fine.

  
App switcher • Multi Window • launching apps into Multi Window

Another way to launch Multi Window is to long press the App switcher key. If the current app supports Multi Window it will shrink to half the screen, the other half will be taken up by the icons of supported apps. If not, you just get the list of apps.

The Setting menu features Quick settings - a selection of the most used options you can use. Below that is the full list, though we prefer using the search function as the extensive features that Samsung has provided can be hard to track down among menus and submenus.

 
The Setting menu makes it easy to navigate the many options it offers

The TouchWiz software on the new Samsung Galaxy S6 is silky smooth with no slowdowns. TouchWiz gets a lot of hate over perceived lag, but there is none on the Galaxy S6 and it features smooth Lollipop-like animated transitions, which makes the experience even better