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Geek in making
It’s easy to see where Samsung took its inspiration for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge: the design is strikingly similar to the iPhone 6 in many places, and the features that Samsung did focus its efforts on are all things the iPhone has had for years. Look at the S6 from certain angles and you’d immediately think it’s an iPhone. Put your thumb on the home key and the phone unlocks almost instantly, just like an iPhone. Even the camera mount protrudes out from the rear of the phone, preventing the S6 from lying flat on a table, just like an iPhone 6. (The flat S6 looks like the lovechild of an iPhone 4 and an iPhone 6, while the S6 Edge is a little more distinctive.) Samsung has be known to copy Apple’s design before, which led to record sales and record-breaking lawsuits. It’s hard to say if the Galaxy S6 will bring about any lawsuits, but the similarities between it and the iPhone 6 are undeniable.
SIMILARITIES TO THE IPHONE 6 ARE UNDENIABLE
Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge photos Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge photos Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge photos
Of the two, I’m particularly drawn to the S6 Edge. While the standard S6 has a very generic design that could have come from any number of phone makers out of China, the Edge’s curved sides look cool and make it easier to swipe across the screen. The curves aren’t overly dramatic and the symmetrical design is far better than the Note Edge’s side panel. Also unlike the Note Edge, Samsung isn’t really using the curved sides to display specific information. It still has the bedside clock feature (activated by swiping back and forth on the curved part of the screen), but the news tickers, app launcher, and notifications panel are gone.
Design considerations and copycat accusations aside, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are sure to be great phones in their own rights. Samsung made them 2mm narrower than the S5, which doesn’t sound like much but does wonders for one-handed maneuverability. In my brief time with the two phones, performance was quick and snappy and it was easy to access all of the phone’s features with just my thumb, something I haven‘t been able to say for Samsung’s earlier devices.
Perhaps most impressive is the new camera. Samsung says it has listened to criticisms levied against its past cameras and has improved the S6’s camera to address them. It’s exceptionally quick, can be launched from anywhere with an easy double-tap on the home key (Samsung says it starts up in 0.7 seconds, and I have no reason to dispute that claim), and takes sharp, well-exposed photos. It also has automating focus tracking for moving subjects, a first for a mobile device. And Samsung claims that the infrared sensor on the back of the phone used to measure your heart rate can also pulls double duty to improve white balance quality when taking photos. I have a feeling it will see far more usage assisting the camera than it will measuring heart rates when the S6 hits stores. Most of those claims will need further scrutiny once we have a review unit of the Galaxy S6 to test, but my first impressions with the camera are really good.
Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge photos
The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge both support Samsung’s new mobile payments program, called Samsung Pay. It uses technology Samsung acquired through its LoopPay purchase to let you make purchases at any retailer that has a standard credit card swiper. It also works with NFC tap-to-pay systems and is authenticated with the fingerprint sensor in the phone’s home button. Between the two systems, Samsung says it will be accepted at 90 percent of retailers. Samsung Pay will work with both MasterCard and Visa, as well as American Express, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and U.S. Bank. It’s very obviously Samsung’s answer to Apple Pay, but it won’t be available until later this summer, a few months after the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge hit store shelves.
Samsung is also announcing a version of the Gear VR that will work with both the S6 and S6 Edge. It’s 15-percent smaller than the Gear VR for the Note 4, and it has improvements such as USB charging. Samsung is still calling it an "Innovator Edition", which means it’s not really designed to be used by everyday consumers. (Presumably, consumers will still be able to buy it pretty easily, however, just like the Gear VR for the Note 4.) I wasn’t able to test the S6’s Gear VR, so we’ll have to wait and see if it’s an improvement over the older model.
THE S6 AND S6 EDGE ARE DRASTIC IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE S5, BUT TIME WILL TELL IF THEY ARE ENOUGH
With sales falling and profits going down along with them, Samsung needed to do something much bigger and better this year than it did with the S5 last year. For most intents and purposes, the S6 and S6 Edge are just that: they are dramatically nicer and better phones than Samsung has ever produced. But it’s hard not to say that this is the phone the S5 should have been a year ago, and Samsung is still going to be playing catch up with Apple. The S6 and S6 Edge are certainly great phones, with solid performance and finally a design that Samsung can be proud of. Whether or not that’s enough to put Samsung back on top remains to be seen.
Source: Samsung's new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge put design first | The Verge
