Time to get back in the game
Time to get back in the game for the Korean giant. More than one person concluded that the Galaxy S5 did little in terms of innovation, and this was seriously reflected in its sales. Samsung’s next offering is bound to be strong in several aspects, and that’s how we find the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. Metal and glass body, integrated battery, cleaner interface and massive resolutions make it clear that Samsung has taken up the gauntlet, and seeks to regain the pace.
The 2015 edition of the Mobile World Congress officially opens its doors today, and as expected, some companies made announcements a day earlier, trying to impose their dynamic and capture the attention of the specialized press. At the top of the list is none other than Samsung, with its brand new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones. There was much to fix regarding the Galaxy S5, and at the same time it became imperative to respond effectively to the success of the iPhone 6. As part of its equation, both Galaxy S6 feature a design based on glass, more specifically Corning Gorilla Glass 4, and an aluminum frame. To be honest, this change was inevitable: if the idea is to offer a premium smartphone, it can no longer be made of plastic.
Screen and performance
Both models of the S6 series have a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2,560 by 1,440 pixels, and in the case of the S6 Edge, it is curved on the sides. This equates to a staggering 577 pixels per inch, probably the highest density in the world of mobile devices. Why did Samsung decide to install a screen with the potential to devour the battery? The answer to this is virtual reality support. As with the Galaxy Note 4, the two Galaxy S6 will have a dedicated version of the Galaxy Gear VR, which will allow battery recharging while the smartphones are installed in the headset. The hardware speaks of an Exynos 7420 octa-core SoC, with four cores at 2.1 GHz and four at 1.5 GHz, 3 GB of DDR4 RAM, cameras of 16 MP (rear) and 5 MP (front), a fingerprint scanner (the horrible swipe system is gone), NFC and MST support (which can “emulate” a credit card) for electronic payments, a heart rate monitor, GPS/GLONASS, and wireless charging compatible with Qi and PMA bases. Samsung has said that with just ten minutes of charging, the smartphones will run for four hours.
The trade-offs
Granted, the new Galaxy S6 are true hardware monsters. But what did they leave behind? The two most important points are the removable battery and microSD card support. Yes, finally aesthetics has won over function in Samsung smartphones, integrating the battery (2,550 mAh in the S6, 2,600 mAh in the Edge) permanently and limiting internal storage options to 32, 64, and 128 GB. According to Samsung’s data, its smartphone users use an average of 20 GB, but as compensation, the company gives two years free of Microsoft OneDrive. And then we must highlight the “cleaning” of TouchWiz. Some users expected its complete disappearance, in favor of a pure Android Lollipop, but Samsung’s counteroffer is a notable reduction in the number of options, close to 40 percent. Both Galaxy S6 smartphones will hit shelves on April 10, in 20 different countries. The price? A mystery. Rumors talk of four digits, but it is much more reasonable to think of 700 or 800 dollars without a contract, depending on capacity.
