Thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge
[Update 26/3/15: Added NZ pricing in last paragraph]
Thanks to Samsung, I was invited to their launch event of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Because we were piggy-backing off Samsung Barcelona’s live feed at Mobile World Congress 2015, it meant we had to get up very early for the event which started at our time of 6:30am. Find out if it was worth it!
Only two devices were announced today: the S6 and S6 Edge, and one partially announced device: Gear VR. The Gear VR which works with the S6 and S6 Edge. It is not a consumer-ready device yet, but it is a step towards its final product. Mind you, HTC revealed something similar too: HTC Vive.
Anyway, back to the S6 and S6 Edge, there isn’t really much difference between the two devices. In fact, I don’t think there is any difference at all apart from the Edge having an edge, and it having 1ppi less than the S6.
So I will post only the specs of the S6 here:
I think the S6 has downgraded from the S5. The S5 had all the neat features that most people wanted: removable battery, external microSD card slot and IP67 water and dust resistant. None of those features are on the new S6/S6 Edge. Disappointing.
One core feature that has changed hardware-wise is the fingerprint scanner. You now no longer have to swipe down the home button to use the fingerprint scanner; it is now more like the Apple iPhone’s fingerprint scanner: just touch and hold.
Speaking of Apple, the new S6 and S6 Edge edges (excuse the pun) very much resembles the iPhone 6/6+ edges, down to the silver colour and dotted speakers!
Moreover, Samsung introduced Samsung Pay. Yes, they didn’t even bother try naming it differently to ‘Apple Pay’. Samsung will be equipping the S6/S6 Edge with two mobile payment options: NFC and MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission). This apparently works with the old card readers, in the sense that it creates a small magnetic field which the phone acts as the card. Not sure how secure this will be as it’s generating a magnetic field as opposed to the card’s magnetic stripes actually swiping against the reader. It will be interesting to see how this technology develops.
However, as with most tech things, NZ will probably not see Samsung Pay for a long time. Don’t fret, as Semble will be coming to the rescue! Direct from Samsung:
However, New Zealanders will shortly be able to enjoy the convenience of mobile payments. Samsung has a partnership with Semble – a ground breaking New Zealand industry collaboration, bringing together Paymark and mobile network operators (2degrees, Spark and Vodafone) with banking partners (ASB and BNZ) to offer an integrated mobile wallet experience to Kiwis. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge and more than 700,000 Samsung devices will be able to make smartphone payments using Semble. This is set to launch early 2015.
The S6/S6 Edge will also come with 115GB of OndDrive cloud storage space for two years!
The Samsung Galaxy S6 will come in four colours: White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum and Blue Topaz.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will also come in four colours: White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum and Green Emerald.
Samsung said that NZ should be getting the new devices roughly around the same time as the worldwide release date of April 10th 2015, and pricing is still yet to be announced!
Recommended Retail Price of the S6 and S6 Edge are $1099 for the 32GB S6 and $1349 for the 32GB S6 Edge.
What are your most favourite/ non-favourite features of the new Galaxy Devices?
