The Samsung Galaxy S6 is officially official now and I managed to get my hands on a couple of prototype cases for the new device before it’s officially released. So let’s take a first look at them here on PhoneDog.
Verus hooked me up with some Galaxy S6 prototype cases for me to share with you. They actually sent me these before the S6 was officially announced, but I wasn’t able to get the video out earlier. But I want to give you a first look at them since these are some of the first cases for the new flagship Samsung smartphone.
As you know, our own Cam Bunton is at MWC, so he’ll be giving you some hands on footage of everything that’s to be announced there.
But I want to take a look specifically at the red case here as it’s more plain and simple. The first thing I noticed when I picked up this case is that it’s very thin for a case, meaning the Galaxy S6 is a very thin device. It feels like a Verus case I’ve used with an iPhone 6, which makes a lot of sense because they measure in at about the same thickness: The Galaxy S6 is 6.8mm thick and the iPhone 6 is about 6.9mm thick. So it’s actually a smidge thinner than the iPhone 6, which is insane.
If we take a look at the various cutouts on the bottom, we have holes for the 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom, and I love that. I hate when devices have the 3.5mm headphone jack on the top; it just doesn’t work when your phone is in your pocket. So good job, Samsung. There’s also a port for the standard microUSB charging cable and a speaker grille. So Samsung decided to move the speakers to the bottom, similar to the iPhone 6. Is this better than on the back? Yes and no. I think we can both agree that it’s nowhere near as nice having them on the front of the device, but it is what it is.
On the left hand side of the case we have slots for the volume controls, which are at a very good spot so that I can access them with my thumb. RIghties might have more difficulty, though. Then there's a power/sleep button on the right side that's easy to access no matter which hand you use to hold the S6. It’s on the side where it should be.
Now there’s really not a lot going on top of the case. There’s a hole for an IR Blaster so you can control your TV, and there also looks to be a cutout for what I’m guessing is a microphone.
The back is interesting in that at first glance it looks off center; one would think this would be the camera cutout. And they'd be right, but we also have to remember that it’s a Samsung device that includes not only a large camera sensor but a heart rate monitor and flash as well, and this time around there's an IR blaster on the back that detects white balance. It’ll detect the light around the subject and adjust the camera to capture more true colors and more detailed images. I thought that was pretty handy, and it definitely reminded me of the LG G3's Laser Autofocus. I’m sure it’ll help speed up the shutter as well.
As I mentioned earlier, these cases are from Verus, one of my favorite case manufacturers. This red one is a hard shell protection case, and the other one is the damda slide case, which allows you to store some cards in here as well. They are prototypes, but it doesn’t look like they have to change much at all, save for maybe some minor adjustments here and there. I wish I had a GS6 to really test these out, but I’ll most likely have to wait until the April 10 release to get my hands on one of those.
Let me know what you think of the Galaxy S6. Since it's going to feature Gorilla Glass 4 on its front and back, and it’s going to be so dang thin, I can imagine a lot of you will want to buy a case for your GS6. So let me know what you’re thinking.
