After more than two years without producing anything of notice on the mobile phone market, Samsung finally managed to draw some attention with their new Galaxy S6. The device has greatly improved software, a brand new design and unique hardware construction, when compared with their previous products. Everything adds up for this to be the best Samsung smartphone ever released.

Samsung announced, during the 2015 MWC, that they will be releasing their new flagship device on April 10, 2015. The Samsung Galaxy S6 will be available in a few different colors, including gold, blue, white and black.

To be frank, I didn’t expect this phone to be so incredibly good, but, as it stands, it is a masterpiece. This is my review of the Samsung Galaxy S6.

Pricing

In the US, depending on which carrier you chose the price will slightly vary but, of course, you can pick the offer that suites you the best.

T-Mobile

They will sell the 35 GB Galaxy S6 for $0 upfront but with a 24 month contract that costs $28,33/month, while the full retail version will cost $679,92.

The 64 GB model is priced at $99,99 initial fee and another $32,49 each month for 24 months, or $759,99 full retail.

You can also purchase the 128 GB version for $199,99 upfront and $27,50 per month with a 24 months contract, while the full retail version will cost you $859,99.

At T-Mobile the device will be available for purchase in three colors: gold, white and black.

In order to attract more customers, they are also offering a free, one year subscription to Netflix to anyone that preordered the phone before April 12.

AT&T

They will sell the 32 GB Galaxy S6 for $199,99 with at two year contract, while the 64 GB model will cost $299,99, and the 128 GB version will sell for $399,99.

Under AT&T’s “Next 24” payment plan, the 32 GB Galaxy S6 sells for $22,84/month, while the 64 GB model will cost $26,17/month and the 128 GB version will be available for 29,50/month, for 30 months.

Under the “Next 18” payment plan, the 32 GB Galaxy S6 will cost $28.55, the 64 GB model will cost $32.7 and the 128 GB version will cost $36.88, for 24 months.

Unlocked, the 32 GB Samsung Galaxy S6 will set you back $684.99, while the 64 GB model will cost you $784.99 and the 128 GB version will sell for $884.99.

Sprint

Here, the Samsung Galaxy S6 will  cost you $199,99 for the 32 GB version, 299,99 for the 64 GB one and 399,99 for the 128 GB model, with a two-year contract.

You can get all of the S6 models for free if you chose the “Sprint Unlimited Plus” plan. The 34 GB model will cost you $80/month, the 64 GB version will cost you $85/month, while the 128 GB model will cost you $90/month. Customers will also get a $20/month credit, that they can use to upgrade their phone, which they will be able to use after a period of 12 months.

If you want to get the unlocked version from Sprint, then you will have to pay 684,00 for the 34 GB model, $786,00 for the 64 GB one and $864,00 for the 128 GB version.

Verizon

At Verizon, you can purchase the 32 GB Samsung Galaxy S6 for $199,00, the 64 GB Galaxy S6 for $299,99 and the 128 GB Galaxy S6 for $399,99, with a two year contract. Here, you will get a $50 discount.

If you are interested in the “Edge” program, then you will pay $24,99/month for the 34 GB model, $29,60 for the 64 GB one and $33,33 for the 128 GB version, with a 24 months contract.

The full priced version at Verizon will cost you $599,00 for the 34 GB model, $699,99 for the 64 GB one and $799,00 for the 128 GB version.

U.S Cellular

At US Cellular you can get the 34 GB phone for $199,99 and the 64 GB one for 299,99, with a two year contract.

Under their installment pricing plan, you will have to pay $34/month for the 32 GB model, or $38,59/month for the 64 GB version, and the contract will last for 20 months.

They also offer the unlocked version of the phone. The 32 GB Galaxy S6 will sell for $680,00, while the 64 GB Galaxy S6 will cost $770,00.

You can also buy the Samsung Galaxy S6 at the following retailers: Best Buy, Cricket Wireless, Amazon, Boost Mobile, Metro PCS, Sam’s Club, Costco, Walmart and Target.

Design

Finally, Samsung threw away that plastic cover that they used on their previous models and replaced it with a metal one, following Apple’s example. The case is made out of strong glass with an all-metal band that give the smartphone an extremely robots feel.

As far as looks go, Samsung kept their design heritage, after all they are a company that love to cling on to their tradition. The front of the phone reminds me of the Samsung Galaxy S4, with round corners combined with a oval shaped home button.

The most curious fact about the design of the S6 is that they left out the microSD card slot. I believe that this was nothing more than a marketing scheme, again, taken from Apple’s business playbook. Nowadays, a 64 GB microSD card is roughly $30, so everybody would have purchased the less expensive 32 GB model and added a card to it afterwards. Apple has been doing this for some time now and marketing research shows that there are a lot of customers that are willing to buy the 128 GB phones. I think that Samsung wants a piece of that action as well. Some of their fans will surely be annoyed by this, but the majority of people will simply be happy with the 34 GB model.

When you are holding the Samsung Galaxy S6 in your hand, you will feel like you are holding premium quality device. It is elegant, yet compact and the 5,1 inch screen, that takes up most of front of the device, look really good.

As far as build quality goes, we can finally acknowledge that Samsung has indeed created a device worthy to stand next to the iPhone 6 and the HTC One M9.

The metal bands that go around the sides of the phone are split by small plastic strips in order to allow the antenna and other devices to make their connections. If this seems familiar to you, it’s because the exact same design was applied to the iPhone 6. The strips are necessary for the phone’s signal to get trough. However, because of the glass back and front I was a bit surprised to see them put in.

Just like before they placed the power button on the left side of the device and the volume buttons on the right side. This alignment worked very well in the past, so why change something that is good? Finally, they’ve upgraded the home button, so now, when you press it, it will give a very sturdy click.

A less attractive element is the placing of the back camera. If you were to hold the phone sideways, then you will see that the camera sticks out a bit. It’s not very aesthetically pleasing and, at the same time it is very much exposed to scratching. They have done this in order to allow a more powerful optical system and by the end of this review you will see that it was totally worth it.

As I’ve mentioned above, the Samsung Galaxy S6 is available in four different colors: blue topaz, gold platinum, white pearl and finally, my personal favorite, black sapphire.

Hardware

If you were to look under the hood, then you will see that it packs an octa-core processor, made out of two quad-core processors, the Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 plus the Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57. It also has a Mali-T760 graphics processor unit (GPU) and 3 GB of RAM. This is by far, the most powerful phone ever made.

The Screen

Samsung has always had good screen technology and the Samsung Galaxy S6 makes no exception.  The Super AMOLED display provides a clear image, with pure blacks against crisp whites, that makes even the darkest of scenes to be shown perfectly.

It is quite a big screen, 5,1 inch to be more precise, with more pixels than before and a 1440 x 2560 resolution, which matches the Galaxy Note 4 but the Galaxy S6 has a higher PPI (577).  This indicates that you are looking at the sharpest display on the market.

LG has started the QHD level of screen in 2014, when they released the G3, but that phone’s screen was based on LCD technology that left the display a bit dark and made it power hungry, as every pixel added extra pressure on the battery.

After that, Google Nexus 6 came along and impressed everybody with its bigger screen, that despite its wide display, it still looked awesome. The Note 4 was released next, with the same resolution and the bar was set for future smartphones.

You would think that by combining the number of pixels from the Note 4 with a more compact screen should result in a superb display, but sadly it doesn’t. I do not mean to say that the screen of the Galaxy S6 looks bad, because it really does not, I just want to point out that the QHD resolution is rather pointless, without adding much to the mix, especially with its high power requirements. I must admit, that optimized videos do look better on this screen and when you hold both devices side by side, it is very noticeable that the display of Galaxy S6 is superior to a normal, run of the mill full HD display.

I think that brightness, contrast and accuracy are a lot more important than pixel count, and here, the S6 really delivers. When you set the brightness mode to manual, the screen will do exactly what we would expect from an AMOLED display and ramp up to 347 cd/m2, but if you set it to auto-brightness then it will go up to 560 cd/m2 in order to compensate for sun glare during those warm, sunny days. If you turn down the brightness slider to its minimum, then the screen will dim to 1,92 cd/m2.

The contrast is perfect and it will help a lot when watching TV programs and movies, and the photos will give you the illusion that they are popping out of the screen.

The most impressive aspect of this screen is its incredible color reproduction.

We are used to see these kind of results from professional monitors and not a smartphone’s display. It is truly a remarkable feat of engineering.

The Special Features

Among the basic features of the Galaxy S6 there are two functions that are worth mentioning. The wireless charging and the fingerprint sensor.

The fingerprint scanner is not really a new feature, for it was also present within the Samsung Galaxy S5, but this time it is a lot better. The swipe of the screen gesture was completely replaced with a touch-based, flawless and fast sensor.

The second special feature I’ve mentioned, was the in-built wireless charging feature. The wireless charging plate does not come with the Galaxy S6, but it will work with any standard QI charger.

Software

The Samsung Galaxy S6 comes with the 5.0.2 version of the Android OS, also known as Lollipop. Just like the previous models, it uses the TouchWiz UI, but greatly improved. They have removed a lot of unnecessary buttons and made its structure a little bit more logical. The design team has made the TouchWiz more intuitive and a lot simpler to use. Just after a few hours of “playing” with the device, I can safely say that the new “skin” is more fluid, lean and light.

Samsung has invested a lot in colors and animations for their new TouchWiz. It is more bright and colorful than ever. Now, for the first time ever you have the ability to remove pre-loaded apps. You cannot uninstall the manufacturer’s applications, but, for the most part, you have to option to disable them. For example, all pre-loaded Google apps can be disabled, except for the Google Settings. The same situation applies for other apps too. You can’t uninstall Skype, OneNote, OneDrive, WhatsApp, Messenger of Facebook, but you sure can disable them.

Audio

The first thing that you will notice when you see a Samsung Galaxy S6 for the first time, is that the speaker is located at the bottom front of the device, but it is still better than having it on the back of the device. If you are looking for a superior audio experience, with front-facing stereo speakers, then I recommend that you get the Xperia Z3, or the HTC One M9.

For unknown reasons, Samsung dropped the ball when it comes to audio quality. The only way you can get a stereo sound is by using headphones.

It is rather unfortunate that you will be able to play mobile games with top-quality graphics and get frustrated by the audio. The placement of the speaker is also a downside. Imagine playing a game and holding your phone in a landscape position. I can guarantee you that most of the time you will be holding your hand over the speaker, blocking the sound.

The S6 speaker is 50% louder than its predecessor, the Galaxy S5, but it doesn’t sound any better.

The Camera

The Samsung Galaxy S6 has a 16 MP camera on its back and a 5 MP one on its front. Both of them have real-time HDR and wide-angle lenses, that are very useful when taking pictures in low-lighting condition areas. The primary camera comes with “Optical Image Stabilization” and an amazing “Pro Mode” for those of you that want to use manual settings.

The back camera is yet again equipped with selective focus, it features an infrared sensor for creating better white balance and for color correcting images. It also features rapid activation and also delivers a wide number of interesting modes, including 4K, fast motion, panoramas  slow motion and many, many more. You can quick access the camera by double-tapping the home button, even if the phone is locked.

The Battery

They have taken a huge risk by adding a small, non-removable, Li-Ion, 2,550 mAh battery. It would have been better if they kept the 2,800 mAh removable battery found in the Galaxy S5. Most state of the art smartphones on the market have a 3,000+ mAh battery.

The lifespan of this battery for an average user is anywhere in between 16 and 18 h.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 supports PMA and WPC protocols for wireless recharging. This makes the phone compatible with almost all wireless chargers available on the market today, and at the same time this standard, universal wireless support is 1,5 times faster than on the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Like the Moto Maxx and Nexus 6 before it, it has successfully implemented the fast recharge feature. You must plug it in for only 10 minutes and it will have enough juice for 4 hours of usage.

Technical Specifications

Type: Phone

MANUFACTURER: Samsung

Model: SM-G920

Dimensions: 143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm

Weight: 138 g

Screen Size: 5.1 inch

Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 2550 mAh

Display Technology: AMOLED

Screen and Resolution: 2560 x 1440 pixels (576 PPI)

Back Camera: 16 megapixels

Front Camera: 5 megapixels

Flashlight: LED

U.I.: TouchWiz

O.S.: Android v5.0.2 (Lollipop)

RAM: 3 GB

Storage Space: 32 GB/ 64 GB/ 128 GB

Removable Storage: not available

Chipset: Exynos: 7420

CPU: Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 + Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 (octa-core)

Maximum Clock Speed: 2.1 GHz

Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, LTE and HSPA

Conclusion

For the first time ever, I can say that I love using TouchWiz. It underwent trough significant changes and all of them are for the better.

The Galaxy S6 is breath of fresh air in the Galaxy S line and it is by far the best Samsung phone ever made.

Its two defining characteristic are: no removable battery and no microSD slot. They made up for those changes with fast recharging battery, software and processor optimizations and superior memory technology.

Even if you get the 128 GB model, storage will still be a problem while filming in 4K and you will have to save your videos to Google’s cloud.

Perhaps the most important thing, is that they improved the features that really matter the most and stopped adding new, useless ones.

This may be an expensive smartphone, but in my honest opinion, it is the best available on today’s market.

Pros

Great new design, made out of metal and glass

Fast charging feature

Incredible screen

Very good UI

Good camera performance in low-light situations

Excellent processor

Cons

It is not waterproof

The camera lens sticks out

The speaker is mounted at the bottom

There is no microSD card

It is rather expensive

Image source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6