Samsung Galaxy S6

The Galaxy S6 Edge is similar in concept to the Galaxy Note Edge, although the curvature of the screen is toned down in comparison.

The Galaxy S6 Edge+

The Galaxy S6 line retains similarities in design to previous models, but now uses a unibody frame made of aluminium alloy 6013[15] with a glass backing, a curved bezel with chamfered sides to improve grip, and the speaker grille was moved to the bottom.[11][13] The devices are available in "White Pearl", "Black Sapphire", and "Gold Platinum" color finishes; additional "Blue Topaz" and "Emerald Green" finishes are exclusive to the S6 and S6 Edge respectively.[11][12][13][16] The S6 carries some regressions in its design over the S5; it does not contain a MicroSD card slot, and reverts to a micro-USB 2.0 port from USB 3.0.[7][13] Both also use non-removable batteries; Galaxy S6 includes a 2550 mAh battery, while the S6 Edge includes a 2600 mAh battery. The Galaxy S6 line supports both the Qi and Power Matters Alliance wireless charging standards.[11]

The Galaxy S6 line is powered by a 64-bit Exynos 7 Octa 7420 system-on-chip, consisting of four 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 cores, and four 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 cores, and 3 GB of LPDDR4 RAM for the S6 and S6 Edge while 4 GB of LPDDR4 for the S6 Edge+. The processor is Samsung's first to use a 14 nm FinFET manufacturing process, which the company stated would improve its energy efficiency.[11][17] It is available with 32, 64, or 128 GB of non-expandable storage, implementing Universal Flash Storage 2.0 standards.[11][17] The S6 and S6 Edge features a 5.1-inch 1440p Super AMOLED display; similarly to the Galaxy Note Edge while the S6 Edge+ features a 5.7-inch 1440p Super AMOLED display, the S6 Edge and S6 Edge+'s display is slightly curved around the two lengthwise edges of the device, although not as aggressively as the Note Edge.[7][13]

For its rear-facing camera, Galaxy S6 uses the same image sensor with optical image stabilization as the Galaxy Note 4, albeit with a f/1.9 aperture, object tracking autofocus, real-time HDR, and using the infrared of the heart rate sensor for calibrating white balance. Samsung claimed that the camera upgrades would allow it to have better low-light performance.

For the first time in a Samsung Mobile flagship device, the Galaxy S6's camera software recorded slow-motion videos (720p@120fps) using the real-time method with audio.
A bundled slow-motion video editor allowed viewing custom parts of the recorded footage at adjustable speeds and exporting it for sharing.

The front-facing camera was also upgraded to 5 megapixels with a similar aperture.[18] The fingerprint scanner in the home button now uses a touch-based scanning mechanism rather than swipe-based; double-tapping the Home button activates the camera app.[13]

The S6 and S6 Edge were initially released running Android 5.0.2 "Lollipop" while the S6 Edge+ was initially released running Android 5.1.1 "Lollipop" with Samsung's TouchWiz software suite. TouchWiz has been streamlined on the S6 with a refreshed, minimal design and fewer bundled applications.[11][13][19] Several Microsoft apps are bundled, including OneDrive, OneNote and Skype.[11][13] On the S6 Edge and S6 Edge+, users can designate up to five contacts for quick access by swiping from one of the edges of the screen. The five contacts are also color-coded; when the device is face down, the curved sides will also glow in the contact's color to signify phone calls. The Night Clock feature from the Galaxy Note Edge was carried over to the Edge models.[20][21] The heart rate sensor can also be used as a button for dismissing calls and sending the caller a canned text message reply.[20] The Sprint, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile versions remove some features available on the unbranded and unlocked version, like Smart Manager, Simple Sharing (only AT&T) and Download Booster (only Sprint and AT&T).[22]

The S6 was the first Samsung device to include Samsung Pay, a mobile payments service developed from the intellectual property of LoopPay, a crowdfunded startup company that Samsung acquired in February 2015. Samsung Pay incorporates technology by LoopPay known as "Magnetic Secure Transmission" (MST); it transmits card data to the pay terminal's swipe slot using an electromagnetic field, causing the terminal to register it as if it were a normally swiped card. LoopPay's developers noted that its system would not share the limitations of other mobile payment platforms, and would work with "nearly 90%" of all point-of-sale units in the United States. The service will also support NFC-based mobile payments alongside MST. Credit card information is stored in a secure token and payments must be authenticated using a fingerprint scan. Samsung Pay was not immediately available upon the release of the S6, but enabled in the middle of 2015.[19][23]

Samsung began to release Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow" for the S6 in February 2016. It enables new features such as "Google Now on Tap", which allows users to perform searches within the context of information currently being displayed on-screen, and "Doze", which optimizes battery usage when the device is not being physically handled.[24] On S6 Edge models, the Edge Display feature supports wider panels with a larger amount of functionality similar to those found on the S7 Edge.[25][26][27]

On March 2017 Samsung began to release Android 7.0. "Nougat" to the European, American, Canadian and Indian Variants After the update the UI (User Interface) was redesigned and it is similar to Galaxy S7 except Video Enhancer, Screen Resolution Adjuster, Performance Mode and the ability to take photos while recording video.

The latest update for the S6 family is based on Android 7.0. "Nougat" with the November 2018 security build.

There have been various reports that the S6 family will receive Android 8.0 "Oreo" but it didn't as of January 2019.

On September 3 2018, the S6 has received the final security patch as Samsung discontinued the S6 family.

The Galaxy S6 received a generally positive reaction from early reviewers, noting its higher quality design over previous Samsung devices, along with refinements to its camera, the high quality of its display, and the significantly smaller amount of "bloat" in the device's software. Anandtech believed that the S6's new fingerprint reader was comparable in quality to Apple's Touch ID system.[11][19][20] The Verge concluded that the S6 and S6 Edge were "the first time I’ve felt like Samsung might finally be grappling with the idea of what a smartphone ought to be on an ontological level."[28] Some critics raised concerns over the S6's regressions in functionality over the Galaxy S5, particularly the lack of removable battery or SD card, arguing that it could alienate power users who were attracted to the Galaxy series due to their inclusion.[29][30]

Wired felt while its dual-sided curved screen was better-designed than that of the Galaxy Note Edge, the S6 Edge's use of the curved display was a "dramatic step backwards" due to the limited number of edge-specific features available in comparison to the Galaxy Note Edge. As such, Samsung was criticized for providing no true justification for purchasing the S6 Edge over the non-curved S6, explaining that "it doesn’t do anything beyond the base model, but it'll be worth the money to some people because of how it looks and the air of exclusivity it communicates."[31] The Verge was similarly critical, arguing that the additional features were "very forgettable".[28] In regards to performance, The Verge felt that the S6 was the "fastest Android phone I've ever used", and that the company "solved any slowdowns you might experience in Android with brute force."[28]

Some users reported issues with the flash on some S6 devices, remaining dimly lit even if the camera is not in use or the device is turned off. Samsung was made aware of the problem, which affects the S6 and S6 Edge, but has not specified when it will be fixed.[32]

iFixit upon review of the phone noted it is difficult to repair, as it is using strong adhesive in its rear glass and the battery.[33][34]

In November 2015, Google's Project Zero unit publicized eleven "high-impact" security vulnerabilities that it had discovered in Samsung's distribution of Android on the S6. Some of these had already been patched as of their publication.[35][36]

In its first month of sales, 6 million Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge units were sold to consumers, exceeding the number of Galaxy S5 units sold within a similar timeframe, but failing to break the record of 10 million set by the Galaxy S4. Still, facing competition by other vendors that have led to declining market share, a lower net profit, and foreseeing a "difficult business environment" for the second half of the year, Samsung announced during its second quarter earnings report in July 2015 that it would be "adjusting" the price of the S6 and S6 Edge. The company stated that sales of the two devices had a "marginal" effect on its profits.[37][38][39] The S6 Edge+ shared almost a similar fate albeit lagging behind the Note 5.