Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge

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So, I have been a Samsung fan for a while now. I bought the Galaxy Note 2, S4, S5 and the Tab Pro 8.4. I even had a Samsung Gear 2 for a while before the camera started malfunctioning. I went through 2 of those before I decided to give up on them. Even still, I prefer Tizen over Android Wear. With that said, I was excited when I heard Samsung would announce their latest installment for the Galaxy S series.

Samsung unveiled 2 new S series smartphones on Sunday at Mobile World Congress – The Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge. While the design language might seem familiar from days past, the materials have taken a step towards a more premium approach. The  exterior of the phone is now constructed of glass and metal. The rear panel is no longer removable and it is made of Gorilla Glass 4. The front display remains the same size as last year with a 5.1 inch display, but the resolution is now a Quad HD Super AMOLED display instead of the 1080p displays of previous generations. The phones also feature a metal band that brings both sides together.

Both phones are nearly identical with the exception of the curved display on the S6 Edge. This curved display flows over each side of the phone extending the display just a bit along the edges of the phone. These edges won’t function in the same way as the way Samsung’s Galaxy Note Edge does in that they will not be as interactive. The left side serves as an information ticker. The right side will give you quick access to contacts. If I were to choose, I’d go with the Galaxy S6 Edge. The design is sharp.

Wireless charging is now a built-in feature, which is nice to see. Samsung also unveiled their new mobile payment solution, Samsung Pay. It promises to be a most frictionless solution than Google Wallet, similar to Apple Pay. The rear camera is a 16MP camera, which is the exact same as the Galaxy s5, but Samsung widened the aperture to F1.9. This will help with low light shots. The front camera is a 5MP wide angle lens and sports the same F1.9 aperture. The fingerprint sensor has been updated from a swipe gesture to one similar to TouchID where you just place your finger on the sensor for scanning.

But not all is well with the next Galaxy(ies?). I was a fan of the two major missing features – swappable batteries and expandable storage. These features were sacrificed in order to achieve a thin unibody design. Losing the ability to change the battery is not a deal breaker for me, but losing the ability to expand storage via use of a micro SD card is. But losing the swappable battery could pose a problem in that Samsung decided to pack a smaller mAh batteries in the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge.

The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge will be available on every major carrier. The Edge variant will probably be released later than the S6. The Galaxy S6 will initially be available in white, black and blue. The Galaxy S6 Edge will launch in white, black, green and gold. Samsung has stated they expect global rollout of the new devices around April 10th.