Samsung’s Galaxy S6 is the flagship that most people are going to buy, it seems. While the Galaxy S6 edge may be the handset that Samsung should have been bold enough to launch on its own (without a Galaxy S6 to compete against), that simply didn’t happen. So, the Galaxy S6 stands out as the cheaper handset that’s not defined by software gimmicks, and the variant that most people are probably opting for.
That’s the only reason I didn’t include the Galaxy S6 edge in this article. And, simply put, most of the features of both handsets are exactly the same, so I imagine we could still be talking about both devices anyway.
Samsung’s newest flagship went on sale not too long ago, which means that quite a few people have already gotten their hands on it. Been using it for a bit of time, and have probably come up with their own opinions on the new smartphone. It’s been long enough now, for most, to determine whether or not this is the next big thing, or if this is just another smartphone that will ultimately fade out before too long.
It’s been long enough to figure out if you want to keep the thing, or return it and go with something else.
On both sides of that fence, the chances that there is something you might want to change about the Galaxy S6 are probably pretty high. Yes, Samsung finally jumped into the “make the high-end flagship actually feel like a premium device” camp finally, but that doesn’t mean the handset is perfect, or that it will offer the perfect experience for every owner.
The company made quite a few changes, both in hardware and software, when it comes to the Galaxy S6 and many of them will pay off positively for Samsung. I have no doubt the smartphone will sell millions of units over the next several months, and probably the majority of those owners will be plenty happy with their purchase. I imagine there are still things about the phone those people would want to change, though.
For me? It’s little things, still. I still don’t like TouchWiz much at all, even if I can admit that it’s getting better — very gradually. Tweaking it so that TouchWiz isn’t so heavy did make a very obvious change in the performance of the handset, and Samsung deserves props for that. (It never should have been an issue in the first place, but it is what it is.) I think one of the biggest things that annoys me about the phone is the Wi-Fi notification that’s present in the notification shade. I already have a Wi-Fi emblem in the notification bar, and that’s good enough for me. But to also have a persistent notification in the shade, too? It just takes up room, and I don’t see the point of it.
Oh, and one more thing, and this has to be said, even if it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the Galaxy S6 directly: Stop installing so much bloatware on these Android phones. Just with a cursory glance on AT&T’s Galaxy S6 variant I found more than 17 of the Big Blue’s carrier apps. That’s ridiculous. I don’t care that I can disable them, or whatever else. I shouldn’t have to do it in the first place.
The camera bulge on the back of the Galaxy S6 is something I would change, too. I think it’s pretty entertaining that after the iPhone 6 (and iPhone 6 Plus) launched with a small camera bump that everyone got upset about, even newer phones launched with even bigger camera sections. It’s not as bad as the Lumia 1020, of course, but it’s still pretty annoying, especially when it generally throws off the otherwise well-designed handset.
But, what about you? What would you change about the Galaxy S6? And while that’s meant towards people who actually bought (and may have even returned) the phone, I’d also like to hear from the folks that skipped the smartphone, too. What made you decide not to pick it up? Let me know!