GALAXY S6 EDGE REVIEW
PART TWO
Goodhour, Synapse Circuit Readers! It’s great to see you as always! I hope that you are well and enjoying the wonderful spring weather! How are your tech projects coming along? Let me know! I am knocking around on G+ and you can let me know what you are doing!
I am going to continue with the Synapse Circuit penultimate definitive Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge review! Synapse Circuit tells it like it is! Get comfortable... Get a hot or cold beverage and a healthy snack... Okay, get an unhealthy one if you like! Lol!
#Samsung #GalaxyS6Edge #TheNextGalaxy #UnpackedEpisodeOne2015 #GalaxyS6 #GalaxySEdge #GalaxyS6Accessories #GalaxyS6EdgeAccessories #GalaxyS6BatteryPack #GalaxyS6EdgeBatteryPack
PART ONE: AFTERTHOUGHT
I have decided to uninstall the Nova launcher and give TouchWiz on the Galaxy S6 Edge a chance... I feel that I may be too dismissive even though the source of frustration is the immovable Flipboard homepage, not being able to add apps to a folder from within the folder and that there is no infinite scrolling of the homepages. I want to test S Voice as a way of interfacing with the handset. I still don’t like the TouchWiz keyboard! I forgot to mention that the folders can be assigned five different colours: green, orange, lime green and grey; it would have been even better if we could add our own through tapping the palette icon which hides the colour choices.
My wish for TouchWiz on the Galaxy S6 Edge / S6 is that it gets updated to be the same as what is currently on the Galaxy Note 4!
GALAXY APP STORE
Above: The mobile DAW with great potential, Soundcamp. It's available on the Galaxy S6 Edge / S6.
As well as being able to download applications that you may have missed from previous TouchWiz versions such as S Translate, S Note and camera modes you will find apps for the edge screen that can let you know who’s calling, RSS feeds and a specific news feed for a German newspaper / magazine. You will be pleased to know – if you are musically inclined – that you can download the Soundcamp digital audio workstation to compose music! You can also download the Samsung Video Editor application along with some themes for Party, Action, Family and others. Although the Galaxy App store has specific Galaxy based apps the store is populated with general apps that can be had in the Google Play Store. Again, I would prefer the Galaxy App store to just feature apps developed by Samsung or in conjunction with to avoid unnecessary app duplication. I’d rather have 100 new apps from the Galaxy App Store than all these duplicates. It makes me wonder what is happening with Tizen as I would have thought that Samsung would be busy with the Tizen operating system and building up the applications that can either be compatible with Galaxy handsets or made available on the Google Play Store. Hmmmm...
SNAPPY
Personally I would never associate the world “slow” with a Samsung flagship and the 64-bit Exynos system on a chip is extremely fast! It didn’t come as a surprise that Samsung used its own processor over the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip; if anything I wondered why it took them so long considering Samsung makes chips for a number of manufacturers including Apple. It is said that Samsung will manufacture the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip!
For those who aren't into tech, the advantage of the Samsung 64-bit Exynos chip over the Snapdragon 810 is that it is 6 nanometers (nm); the Snapdragon 810 manufactured in 20nm to the Exynos 7420 14nm. The smaller the nanometer number the more battery efficient and faster the chip is. Apparently! This is what I have understood as the reason why Samsung has bypassed the Snapdragon 810 chip. I have been reading that handsets using the Snapdragon 810 tend to overheat. I want to get my hands on one of those handsets asap! Also Samsung has obviously perfected the art of the SoC (system on a chip) for mobile device beyond its competitors. This is why I pick Samsung above anything else for myself but I would happily tell you about other handsets – good, bad and in-between!
I did find that the Galaxy S6 Edge got quite warm when downloading Google app updates and YouTube videos. But I will have to write up the test with everyday usage and then some! I prefer to take my time and do the review in what I feel is the right way to go about it.
ON EDGE
To be honest the dual edge screen does seem more cosmetic than useful – at least in my reckoning. Sure, I can assign 5 contacts to 5 different colours on either side of the edges so that when the handset is faced down I can see who’s calling me as the screen lights up in the colour associated with a contact. There’s also a simple 7 hour clock that can be activated by rubbing the edge of the screen, plus you can get weather information too. And as mentioned earlier you can download specific edge screen apps to see who is calling and to receive new feeds. Yet the protective case defeats the purpose – unless you purposely leave the flip open! Well, what are the chances of an object dropping on the Gorilla Glass 4 screen on the bedside cabinet? If you are like me you’d get the Galaxy S6 Edge because it looks different – futuristic. I am sure that developers will make more use of the edges. I am actually quite happy with what the edge part of the display can do. It would have been a boon if the Samsung cases had cut outs for the edges. Hmmmm... That’s a bit of a design headache... But that’s what 3D printers are for!
I do feel that the dual edge screen is an innovation; it fulfils the purpose of quick information when you need it without having to unlock the handset.
BATTERY OBSERVATIONS
I have yet to give the battery a good testing but while I have been testing the user interface / functionality the battery goes a long, long way before showing signs of depletion. In fact at the end of test period I would have over 50% battery left after a couple of days so I am really looking forward to taking the Galaxy S6 Edge out on the road and push usage beyond how I would typically use a main driver.
STANDBY FOR PART THREE – THE FINAL PART OF THE DEFINITIVE PENULTIMATE SYNAPSE CIRCUIT SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 EDGE REVIEW
In the third and final instalment I will be looking at media consumption and the camera. I figure it would make more sense to break up the review in parts than to give you the whole review at once! I would like to think that I am thorough (as I can be)!
SAMSUNG HAS THE EDGE
My observations thus so far with regards to the smartphone marketplace is that the Galaxy S6 Edge / S6 have really captured the market in an unprecedented fashion. I can see that many former iPhone users have traded in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models and continue to do so at a never before seen rapid rate. Earlier on today a friend from Denmark informs me that she has the upgraded to the Galaxy S6 instead of going for her usual “premium” iPhone. I was taken aback as she was a staunch iPhone user! Wow!
Above: The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus trade-ins continues to rise. Former iPhone users are trading in their iPhones for the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge and other flagship Android handsets. The pictures were taken at various computer exchange shops around Central London over the weekend.
As I stated in part one of this review: Samsung have created a new standard of “premium” that makes these new Galaxy S models very, very desirable.
Previous Galaxy S handsets had everything but this “premium” look and feel. Unlike HTC, Samsung have always managed to combine a decent build, design, powerful components inside and a decent camera! While HTC got all heavy metal with the One M7 – 9 there are still issues with the camera. Can Samsung keep its crown for the best camera on a premium handset with the Galaxy S6 Edge? You will find out in the next and final instalment...
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