Samsung Galaxy S6 [review]

picture taken with Tab S2 - not great I know

When I buy a new phone it's usually after months of teases then pre-ordering and waiting for it to be released. This time I hadn't planned to upgrade. When I did my device of choice had many, many reviews (Ryan even reviewed the S6 edge) so I could see how the negatives being reported would fit into my lifestyle. Since there are so many reviews and spec lists, this is going to be more like an op-ed than a review. Beware I like Samsung products.

When I had my S4 I decided that wireless charging and a good camera were "must have" along with an international unlocked device. At the time I wasn't interested in being an importer so my choices were restricted. This time I was more open so I looked at the Expansys.ca site. Since I know about how much storage I use I chose a white Galaxy S6 (920F) with 64 GB storage. If you are on Wind you will have to get the 920I. With shipping it was less than buying a locked device (920W8) outright from Bell. Expansys.ca service was excellent; I got the device in 3 business days. FYI - The first time you purchase they ask for additional ID before processing the order.

My S6 had been slated for the UAE so instead of English and French on the box it was English and Arabic - cool. Inside the box was a device, pin tool for opening the SIM tray, a charge/sync cable, headphones and fast charger. An adapter for NA was in the envelope. With a bit of fiddling I inserted the SIM card and started up the phone. After logging in and connecting to the WiFi network an update (build U3COJ1) downloaded. The SIM card didn't register until after the update was installed.

It was faster last night

What do I like? The display and camera launch time. It's quick and the pictures are reliable. Fingerprint unlocking works well, just don't press hard. I'm surprised the S6 doesn't feel a lot larger than the S4. Rapid Charge = awesome. Funky stuff includes no alternate user profiles, LTE reads as 4G although the speeds seem ok and the signal is on one bar until the phone is called.

Criticisms I read about. Battery life is just fine for me but I am not a high phone use person (which is why I held onto a device I didn't like for so long). I can set it on a wireless charger while at work plus rapidcharge. The glass back is slippery but no more so than the Xperia. I put a Speigen Crystal Hybrid case on to improve grip and provide some protection against a fall. There is no SD card slot but I did get 64GB onboard and I have a 32GB Sandisk that is readable via  the microUSB. TouchWiz is the skin people love to hate. Every iteration of TouchWiz is smoother than the one before because more features are being included with Android. This time around the launcher is themeable.

Overall I am happy with my purchase - this is not a guaranteed thing although I try to live and learn. I see the teases have started for the S7! This time I'm not upgrading until there is one device that expands from phone size to small tablet size...not upgrading - when have I said that before :)