Are you looking to upgrade your Android phone? Looking to make the logical switch from Apple to Android? The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is one of the newest phones on the Big Red. Should you switch to this phone? Lets have a look and see how our testing went.
Samsung has always made a nice Smart Phone. Their Galaxy line has always been a big hit with Android fans. The S6 continues with that.
The Galaxy S6 Edge is running Google’s latest Android version (5.0) and has Touchwiz running on top of that. This gives you the latest OS with the familiar feel of previous Samsung Phones. The screen on the Edge is 5.1 inches and covers most of the front of the phone. The screen is made from Corning Gorilla Glass 4 and has a Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 X 2560 and a pixel density of 557. This gives you one of the clearest and best pictures you can get in a Smart Phone. It makes the phone great for all your movies you may watch and HD YouTube video’s. The screen is also curved on both ends. Hence the EDGE designation. The curved screen gives you a look of depth to your applications and has a look you can’t get from a flat screen phone. Also, the S6 Edge has the “EDGE SCREEN”. This allows you to have the curved part of the screen show various items such as RSS Feeds, Time, Sports Scores, Text Messages, Phone calls all on the edge of your phone. This works when the display is turned off. Also with the Edge Screen you can have quick contacts that are color coded so you can quickly swipe from the edge to give you options for each contact you have preset to email, text, or call. You can do all this without having to get into your phone, messaging, or email app. Also, if the phone is facing down, the edge of the screen will illuminate the color of the contact that has texted you. Now you can know who your text is from without picking up your phone.
To further customise your phone, you can download themes that will embed itself into your entire Android experience. As you can see in ours, we have chosen the Avengers 2 Theme.
The S6 Edge is powered by and 8 core Enos 7 Processor. This makes your phone run quickly, even with data intensive apps and graphics laden games. You don’t notice any lag, even with multiple apps running in the background. Also, the Enos 7 helps give you longer battery life. The estimated battery life for the S6 Edge is 18 hours of talk time and 13 hours of video playback time. During testing with multiple texts and emails, and heavy gaming with graphic intensive games, I managed roughly 6 hours battery life. Remember, my usage is not normal and play possibly too many games for mine, or my batteries good.
Memory options for the S6 Edge are 32GB (as tested), 64GB, and 128GB. Unfortunately, Samsung has done away with a microSD slot to expand your memory on your own. There is also 3GB of build in Memory to help keep your phone running smoothly
To keep you up and running, the Edge has a 2600 mAh battery. This battery is not serviceable, which is another change from previous Galaxy Phones. We covered the battery life above, so no need to bore you with the same details over again. With a proper rapid charger, you can have your phone fully charged and ready to go in an hour. Another great feature is the ability to wirelessly charge the S6 Edge. If you have a compatible wireless charger, you just set your phone onto it and it automatically starts charging. No having to carry a cable around anymore.
The home button on the Edge and S6 also doubles as a fingerprint lock. The S6 fingerprint lock is vastly improved over the S5 version. To set it up, you need approx 30 point markers to get a successful lock. To unlock, all you need to do is touch your finger to the home button and the phone unlocks. Previous versions made you slide your finger across the home button. The touch method on the S6 is much easier and seems more refined.
Other options included in the S6 Edge are Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, MMS, Wi-Fi A/B/G/N/N 5GHz and AC, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall, Fingerprint (touch), Barometer, NFC, Pulse Oximitry, Pulse, Pedometer, and Fitness Tracking.
Now for the negatives I have found with the phone. The lack of microSD card slot is almost a deal breaker for me. I understand that Samsung makes no money if you buy the base phone and put your own memory in it. There is a lot more money to be made from a 120GB phone as opposed to the 32GB version. I get it, I just don’t like it.
Now to the biggest selling point of the S6 Edge, the curved screen. I love is as much as I hate it. They way I hold my phone, I am continually hitting buttons on the screen without ever-moving my hand. One time opening the Facebook app, I checked into a location and tagged 2 friends with me and I never moved my hand. Depending on how you hold your phone this might not be an issue for you, but for me it was.
It’s a shame that the Edge has a downfall like that from its most prominent feature. I love it for the fact of the edge screen options as well as the depth it gives to the display, but holding it unnaturally for me is kind of hard.
Overall, I’d still have to give the S6 Edge a passing grade, even with its shortcomings with battery, lack of microSD slot, and Edge Screen issues.
The Smasung Galaxy S6 Edge is available now at Verizon Wireless starting at $299.99 with a 2 year agreement or 29.16 per month on an EDGE Contract. Price to buy it off contract is 699.99. This is for the 32GB version. 64 and 128GB models are higher. Head over to Verizon now and check out the S6 Edge and all the other great phones and devices they offer.
