Samsung Galaxy S6

[T4rd]

What I do find interesting about this phone cycle, specifically as it relates to the S6, is the fact that with the previous S5, S4, and S3, all the other flagship phone manufactureres were using the same qualcomm chip. Sure sometimes one might have been clocked slightly higher, but essentially the Samsungs, LGs and HTC's of the world were using the same processor (here in the states at least). So taking out that variable, it was easier to compare manufacturer skins and software optimizations.

That won't be the case this time around. As far as I understand, Samsung won't be putting it's processor in other competing flagships. Which should make for some interesting comparisons.

Samsung put their Exynos 4412 in all Note 2 variants (including the US, although it didn't quite compete with the S4 Pro out at that time) and used Exynos in most of their GS variants outside of the US though. I think the only reason they did that is because they were having some issues with LTE chips/radios for the US being integrated into the SoC like Qualcomm's is. So I guess they finally got that figured out now.

Yeah, it's cool to see some competition for Qualcomm though, that's always a good thing despite them providing adequate upgrades every year. I wish OMAP was still around to give them some competition too, because back in the OMAP 4 days, they were spanking the S3 SoCs of that era, as was Samsung with their Hummingbird SoC in the original GS phones vs the original Snapdragon of that time. Still waiting for that OMAP 5, TI!

 

[Skripka]

Samsung put their Exynos 4412 in all Note 2 variants (including the US, although it didn't quite compete with the S4 Pro out at that time) and used Exynos in most of their GS variants outside of the US though. I think the only reason they did that is because they were having some issues with LTE chips/radios for the US being integrated into the SoC like Qualcomm's is. So I guess they finally got that figured out now.

Yeah, it's cool to see some competition for Qualcomm though, that's always a good thing despite them providing adequate upgrades every year. I wish OMAP was still around to give them some competition too, because back in the OMAP 4 days, they were spanking the S3 SoCs of that era, as was Samsung with their Hummingbird SoC in the original GS phones vs the original Snapdragon of that time. Still waiting for that OMAP 5, TI!

In the years since release...no one ever figured out what the hell the mdm_hsic_pm0 wakelock was on the Exynos S3 and Note 2 that was eating batteries alive AFAIK. Yay for inhouse closed source chipsets.

 

[WarpDrive]

My brother has the Galaxy Note 4 and I've never seen it lag, not even once.

The SGS6 wont lag either, I'm sure of it.

I'm going to buy the SGS6 because even though I do like the look of the HTC One M9, I want Samsung, still the 2nd most profitable smartphone manufacturing company to make Apple not sit on its laurels. It's really frustrating to see how one company (namely Apple) is not innovating and making huge margins off iPhones. It's embarrassing to me as an American really.

 

[T4rd]

My brother has the Galaxy Note 4 and I've never seen it lag, not even once.

The SGS6 wont lag either, I'm sure of it.

You didn't use it much then, here's a 3 min vid of it lagging across several 1st and 3rd party apps. My friend, who came from a Nexus 5, got the Note 4 and was pretty disappointed in its performance and had it replaced due to performance and battery issues he was having. Unfortunately it didn't help any. He maintains that his N5 was significantly faster and smoother, but he's willing to stick with the Note 4 just for its camera.

I'm going to buy the SGS6 because even though I do like the look of the HTC One M9, I want Samsung

That's quite some logic.

Samsung has stagnated pretty much on hardware and software design since the S3. Other than waterproofing, the S5 actually seemed like a regression in hardware design from the S4 (considerably larger phone with larger bezels all around). The Note 4 is really the first premium feeling and looking flagship (Alpha isn't a flagship) they've had so far, so they will probably finally fix that with the S6.

But why not support an OEM that you like better and could use your business much more than the #1 OEM on the market that isn't doing much in the way of innovation or design? Because as I see it, the Xperia Z, Moto X, and One series do much better in design, (practical/useful) features, and innovation, than anything Samsung has done recently, IMO.

 

[felt]

You didn't use it much then, here's a 3 min vid of it lagging

No offense, but that video is retarded, the phone is not lagging in that video. I can almost guarantee you that the dude in that video installed so much crapware on that phone and dicked around with the system settings.

"jerky"

 

[T4rd]

No offense, but that video is retarded, the phone is not lagging in that video. I can almost guarantee you that the dude in that video installed so much crapware on that phone and dicked around with the system settings.

"jerky"

We all have different definitions and tolerances for it. But it was definitely chugging while scrolling in a lot of those demos. The most consistent complaint I've seen (including from several professional reviews and from my friend) about it is the multitasking lag; taking a couple secs to open the notification menu and inconsistent scrolling through it. There were several other vids showing it too.

And any amount of "crapware" on a phone still shouldn't affect its performance in normal usage like that, so I wouldn't take that as an excuse.

 

[CHANG3D]

To be fair, the TouchWiz performance in the Note 4 is a significant improvement from the GS5. Maybe its RAM and size is good enough for TouchWiz, I don't know. But Samsung is suggesting that, for the GS6, they want TouchWiz to be as smooth as an experience on the Nexus. Obviously, we should take what Samsung says about itselves with a grain of salt, but one can hope...

Right now, I got a feeling that the HTC One M9 will wind up significantly prettier than the GS6, but beauty also isn't everything. If TouchWiz isn't shitty this time around, there's just no big reason for me to say no to Samsung. Samsung practically made my decision for me in the last two years by having that kind of laggy crap on the phone that I can't remove. I could go without rooting the phone if the phone performs well out of the box, and this is true with the HTC Ones. If Samsung takes themselves out of the field again, it would certainly make my decision easier.

I'm also waiting to see the Apple watch. I'm thinking about health kit a lot lately, due to the fact my health isn't doing well as of late, so the more information for my doctors the better. So if the Apple watch does great health tracking, I may wind up with an iPhone. So this year to me is a big decision year on whether I'm going Apple.

 

[Skripka]

I could go without rooting the phone if the phone performs well out of the box,

You may well not have any choice at all in that department.

Has root been attained on the stock OTA Lollipop for current Sammy devices? Sammy is going full Apple in killing the modding scene.

 

[T4rd]

You may well not have any choice at all in that department.

Has root been attained on the stock OTA Lollipop for current Sammy devices? Sammy is going full Apple in killing the modding scene.

I know that's true on Verizon/AT&T variants, but is it the same on Sprint, T-Mo and the international/unlocked variants? I thought all of this was pretty much at the carriers's request.

 

[CHANG3D]

See, if you had also included the sentence right behind what you quoted...

 

[Skripka]

See, if you had also included the sentence right behind what you quoted...

Thing is...the eye bleach nature of the Team Astana colored notification tray is enough for me to automatically want to put AOSP on it.

 

[CHANG3D]

Thing is...the eye bleach nature of the Team Astana colored notification tray is enough for me to automatically want to put AOSP on it.

you do realize that's just the default theme colors, right? Currently, you can go to settings, personalize, theme, and select the theme colors.

 

[TDSlam720]

Last time I checked I didn't put my car in a case. Does Spigen make those too???

Actually...

https://www.dipyourcar.com/

 

[TDSlam720]

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/02/11/exclusive-samsung-galaxy-s6-camera-details/

Looks like the 20MP OIS In-House camera sensor out of Korea might be true. Hopefully it's in all variants, and not just edge. Would most likely need to be a 1/2.3 sensor to keep the same pixel size and 16:9 format. This would easily make S6 have the best camera available on the Android market.

S6 is going to be the best phone of the year by far if all these rumors pan out. I really can't see HTC/LG/Sony/Moto offering anything better than the S6 outside of visual appeal.

 

[Skripka]

you do realize that's just the default theme colors, right? Currently, you can go to settings, personalize, theme, and select the theme colors.

Depends on if your carrier de-activates RRO. Carriers killing theme engines built in have happened before.

 

[CHANG3D]

http://www.sammobile.com/2015/02/11/exclusive-samsung-galaxy-s6-camera-details/S6 is going to be the best phone of the year by far if all these rumors pan out. I really can't see HTC/LG/Sony/Moto offering anything better than the S6 outside of visual appeal.

As for the camera, no one is expecting this to replace a professional camera, right? If not, then a just good enough camera for uploading to social networks will be fine.

Second, the phone is basically our portable media player. So audio is pretty important. I don't believe that Samsung could outdo the audio performance of the HTC One. Sure, video, Samsung would have a better contrast ratio, but unless you only have oled TV's at home, I would consider this point to carry a lot less weight than audio due to that HTC typically uses a really good LCD display from Samsung on their phones.

Obviously, if the Samsung sensor is great, that's great. What I'm saying here is camera sensor isn't as important as you think, and there are more to other phones than the visual appeal that could sway opinions over physical hardware superiority.

 

[TDSlam720]

As for the camera, no one is expecting this to replace a professional camera, right? If not, then a just good enough camera for uploading to social networks will be fine.

Second, the phone is basically our portable media player. So audio is pretty important. I don't believe that Samsung could outdo the audio performance of the HTC One. Sure, video, Samsung would have a better contrast ratio, but unless you only have oled TV's at home, I would consider this point to carry a lot less weight than audio due to that HTC typically uses a really good LCD display from Samsung on their phones.

Obviously, if the Samsung sensor is great, that's great. What I'm saying here is camera sensor isn't as important as you think, and there are more to other phones than the visual appeal that could sway opinions over physical hardware superiority.

Eh, I hate the "It's good enough" angle when talking about smartphone cameras. Especially on Android it's been one of the most overlooked underdeveloped aspect of the phone. I want something that rivals iPhone consistency and so far no Android phone fits that bill. Like you said phone is an All in One device, so why wouldn't you want a great shooter. No ones pulling a DSLR out of the pocket to snap pictures on impluse, they pull out their phone.

As far as audio goes, a lot of HTCs sound quality is coming from its large stereo speaker setup. I doubt Samsung will match this, but Exynos does use Wolfson DAC for auto encoding/decoding, and its far superior to anything Qualcomm uses.


That's absolutely crazy talk on the display. The display is one of the most important things on the phone. You only use the external audio on your phone sometimes. You ALWAYS have to look at your display, and Samsung has the best display no contest. Note 4 was exceptional in every benchmark of a good display except maybe brightness.

If HTCs boomspeakers was your only counter-point I think it proves that other manufacturers have are going to be left in the dust this year

 

[Aurelius]

Sensors are important, and it's somewhat heartening if Samsung thinks it has an improvement over last year's ISOCELL, but software matters a lot, too.

One of the big reasons why the iPhone consistently ranks up there in camera quality is because of Apple's image processing software. It has a rare knack for producing consistently good shots. Even if they aren't always the best, they're trustworthy. A lot of Android OEMs (including Samsung) have a sort of idiot-savant approach to image processing: it's spectacular in some situations, but completely falls apart in others.

 

[CHANG3D]

I would say the Note 4's camera already better than the iPhone 6 Plus. But does that mean people shouldn't buy the iPhone? To pull one spec out to base your entire judgement on is kind of ridiculous.

 

[Johnny78]

What I'm saying here is camera sensor isn't as important as you think, and there are more to other phones than the visual appeal that could sway opinions over physical hardware superiority.

Camera quality is a subjective thing. To some, it's hugely important, to others not as much, *cough*cough* HTC one users. Although it's a generalization, it seems like your average girl ranks camera quality far higher on their list of must haves as opposed to your average guy.

 

[TDSlam720]

I would say the Note 4's camera already better than the iPhone 6 Plus. But does that mean people shouldn't buy the iPhone? To pull one spec out to base your entire judgement on its kind of ridiculous.

What?

 

[TDSlam720]

Camera quality is a subjective thing. To some, it's hugely important, to others not as much, *cough*cough* HTC one users. Although it's a generalization, it seems like your average girl ranks camera quality far higher on their list of must haves as opposed to your average guy.

I think my viewpoint on cameras right now is it's one of the few remaining reasons to buy a new phone. After Snapdragon 800s came out we hit pretty hard diminishing returns for phone "performance" increases, so if you don't care about things that aren't great ( camera ) why would you bother spending 600-800 dollar on a 2015 phone?

 

[Skripka]

I think my viewpoint on cameras right now is it's one of the few remaining reasons to buy a new phone. After Snapdragon 800s came out we hit pretty hard diminishing returns for phone "performance" increases, so if you don't care about things that aren't great ( camera ) why would you bother spending 600-800 dollar on a 2015 phone?

Well...according to Samsung, because it ceases getting remotely timely updates after about a year.

 

[T4rd]

Eh, I hate the "It's good enough" angle when talking about smartphone cameras. Especially on Android it's been one of the most overlooked underdeveloped aspect of the phone. I want something that rivals iPhone consistency and so far no Android phone fits that bill. Like you said phone is an All in One device, so why wouldn't you want a great shooter. No ones pulling a DSLR out of the pocket to snap pictures on impluse, they pull out their phone.

As far as audio goes, a lot of HTCs sound quality is coming from its large stereo speaker setup. I doubt Samsung will match this, but Exynos does use Wolfson DAC for auto encoding/decoding, and its far superior to anything Qualcomm uses.


That's absolutely crazy talk on the display. The display is one of the most important things on the phone. You only use the external audio on your phone sometimes. You ALWAYS have to look at your display, and Samsung has the best display no contest. Note 4 was exceptional in every benchmark of a good display except maybe brightness.

If HTCs boomspeakers was your only counter-point I think it proves that other manufacturers have are going to be left in the dust this year

No, the M8 doesn't use Qualcomm for it's DAC, which is obvious since it slaughtered the GS5 in headphone audio tests even though they use the same SoC. So there's a lot more to it than the Boomsound speakers and I somehow doubt the Wolfson DAC is going to leapfrog it by any significant margin, if at all, considering it's pretty much the best phone on the market right now for audio no matter how you listen to it. But I guess that would be easy to find since there are Exynos-based GS5s and Note 4s out now to compare it to if you want to see for yourself.

I agree that the display is one of the most important things on a phone. But it's not like the 450+ PPI displays in all the current flagships are significantly different in terms of quality already. The infinite contrast on the SAMOLED is definitely nice and I'd prefer it over SLCD3, but it's not a deal breaker by any means and I think the front facing speakers more than make up for after having them. In fact, I think it will be a deal breaker if my next phone doesn't have at least one front facing speaker because I hated having to cup my hand over my old Note 2's speaker (even though it was pretty loud itself) in order to hear everything adequately, esp if I was already in a somewhat noisy environment. Samsung seems to be one of the few OEMs not adopting this now, with Moto, Sony, and HTC doing it. I think if you disregard that Samsung's significant loss of sales last year and HTC just having its 3rd consecutive quarterly profit and think Samsung is going to sell phones on display alone, they're going to be left in the dust this year.

 

[CHANG3D]

No, the M8 doesn't use Qualcomm for it's DAC, which is obvious since it slaughtered the GS5 in headphone audio tests even though they use the same SoC. So there's a lot more to it than the Boomsound speakers and I somehow doubt the Wolfson DAC is going to leapfrog it by any significant margin, if at all, considering it's pretty much the best phone on the market right now for audio no matter how you listen to it. But I guess that would be easy to find since there are Exynos-based GS5s and Note 4s out now to compare it to if you want to see for yourself.

I agree that the display is one of the most important things on a phone. But it's not like the 450+ PPI displays in all the current flagships are significantly different in terms of quality already. The infinite contrast on the SAMOLED is definitely nice and I'd prefer it over SLCD3, but it's not a deal breaker by any means and I think the front facing speakers more than make up for after having them. In fact, I think it will be a deal breaker if my next phone doesn't have at least one front facing speaker because I hated having to cup my hand over my old Note 2's speaker (even though it was pretty loud itself) in order to hear everything adequately, esp if I was already in a somewhat noisy environment. Samsung seems to be one of the few OEMs not adopting this now, with Moto, Sony, and HTC doing it. I think if you disregard that Samsung's significant loss of sales last year and HTC just having its 3rd consecutive quarterly profit and think Samsung is going to sell phones on display alone, they're going to be left in the dust this year.

I couldn't have written this better myself. Thanks.

The degree of difference in the display on S6 vs M9 most likely wouldn't be anywhere near the degree of the difference in audio performance. The SLCD from Samsung is one of the best frigging LCD screens out there, it's just not an AMOLED with infinite contrast. It's likely to use less power thanks to amoled still not being more efficient in general and also by simply having less resolution. Audio performance alone will also not seal the deal for me.

There's only one category in smartphone that is make or die for me, and it's the user experience out of the box. So I'm very much looking forward to the new TouchWiz. If it still sucks, S6 will not be considered. Otherwise, the camera? Who cares about the 20MP? HTC is also rumored to be using a 20MP sensor too. And Apple's 8MP images still come out very well. The SoC? It's not like the S810 will be horrible compared to the Exynos. It'll simply not be as good. I also don't see too many people complaining how the Moto G or even the Moto E, so as long as Sense, TouchWiz, or AOSP don't lag or suck (looking at TouchWiz specifically), I wouldn't really care about the SoC as long as it's either an S810 or an Exynos. Obviously, I would prefer the Exynos. And obviously, I would prefer my camera to be as good if not better than the one in the Note 4. But those are not BIG.

 

[Johnny78]

But it's not like the 450+ PPI displays in all the current flagships are significantly different in terms of quality already. The infinite contrast on the SAMOLED is definitely nice and I'd prefer it over SLCD3, but it's not a deal breaker by any means and I think the front facing speakers more than make up for after having them. In fact, I think it will be a deal breaker if my next phone doesn't have at least one front facing speaker because I hated having to cup my hand over my old Note 2's speaker (even though it was pretty loud itself) in order to hear everything adequately, esp if I was already in a somewhat noisy environment. Samsung seems to be one of the few OEMs not adopting this now, with Moto, Sony, and HTC doing it. I think if you disregard that Samsung's significant loss of sales last year and HTC just having its 3rd consecutive quarterly profit and think Samsung is going to sell phones on display alone, they're going to be left in the dust this year.

I disagree with almost everything you say here but I also readily concede that it doesn't make me right or you wrong. We're discussing things of subjectivity and preference and that varies greatly from person to person. I obviously have no authority on speaking with regards to what's important to you. To you there's not much difference between the different screen technologies in the top flagship phones. I disagree. Every night I lay next to my GF while she uses her S5 and I use my G3. The PPI is higher on my phone but I alwasy think it looks pale, washed out and lifeless next to her phone. I just bought a tablet (Dell Venue 8 7000) specifically because it uses an oled display. In the past, there were definite trade offs in the two screen techs but this latest generation of oled screens are kicking the crap out of the SLCD3 displays.

Would I like having front facing speakers? Sure. Is it a deal breaker? Not even close. I use a $170 pair of Jaybird Bluebud Xs with my phone 90% of the time. The sound quality with those buds is world's better than the live aural experience of any phone speaker. To me it's rude to blast your device in a crowded area with tons of people around you. That's what headphones are made for. Sure there are occastions at home when I don't want to put on headphones but for those occasions even back speakers are sufficient.

And your whole argument of Samsung being left in the dust is a bit specious and disingenuous at best. Yes, profits are down considerably but Samsung is only comparing to itself. On an empirical basis, it's still making well over 10 times the profit HTC makes. If Samsumg was operating on HTC level profit margins you would see execs throwing themselves out of windows. So it's going to be a while before we see them being "left in the dust".

My honest prediction? Hardcore phone enthusists like ourselves will bitch and moan at the removal of the SD card and removable battery (and probably the smaller battery) while the average Tom Dick and Jane walking into a phone store will say, "wow, it's now metal!! Wow, look how thin it is! Wow, look at the pretty screen" and I suspect Samsung will have a big hit on their hands and profits will be back to 2013 levels.

 

[TDSlam720]

I couldn't have written this better myself. Thanks.

The degree of difference in the display on S6 vs M9 most likely wouldn't be anywhere near the degree of the difference in audio performance. The SLCD from Samsung is one of the best frigging LCD screens out there, it's just not an AMOLED with infinite contrast. It's likely to use less power thanks to amoled still not being more efficient in general and also by simply having less resolution. Audio performance alone will also not seal the deal for me.

There's only one category in smartphone that is make or die for me, and it's the user experience out of the box. So I'm very much looking forward to the new TouchWiz. If it still sucks, S6 will not be considered. Otherwise, the camera? Who cares about the 20MP? HTC is also rumored to be using a 20MP sensor too. And Apple's 8MP images still come out very well. The SoC? It's not like the S810 will be horrible compared to the Exynos. It'll simply not be as good. I also don't see too many people complaining how the Moto G or even the Moto E, so as long as Sense, TouchWiz, or AOSP don't lag or suck (looking at TouchWiz specifically), I wouldn't really care about the SoC as long as it's either an S810 or an Exynos. Obviously, I would prefer the Exynos. And obviously, I would prefer my camera to be as good if not better than the one in the Note 4. But those are not BIG.

Good point to the guy before on the DAC that the One is using, didn't know that.

HTCs displays are good but they're not to the level of Note 4. They're colder, grayscale is worse, color accuracy is worse, and as you've mentioned contrast is worse. Contrast keep in mind is one of the biggest equations in perceived picture quality, so I don't see how you can easily dismiss it.

I agree user experience is important, but we've seen evidence that TouchWiz will be improved and if not the 7240 should be able to power through even an older version of TouchWiz without issue. HTC is using some old Toshiba sensor. Now I do like HTC and think they have some smart guys working for them, so I feel like they can pull off a good camera, they just cant compete with Samsung right now who's using an in house sensor that was just freshly developed, paired with an in house processor.

Could you clarify for me why you even want a new phone. If Moto G doesn't lag and you don't care about camera, and love your boom sound, why not just get or stick with an M8?

 

[T4rd]

I disagree with almost everything you say here but I also readily concede that it doesn't make me right or you wrong. We're discussing things of subjectivity and preference and that varies greatly from person to person. I obviously have no authority on speaking with regards to what's important to you. To you there's not much difference between the different screen technologies in the top flagship phones. I disagree. Every night I lay next to my GF while she uses her S5 and I use my G3. The PPI is higher on my phone but I alwasy think it looks pale, washed out and lifeless next to her phone. I just bought a tablet (Dell Venue 8 7000) specifically because it uses an oled display. In the past, there were definite trade offs in the two screen techs but this latest generation of oled screens are kicking the crap out of the SLCD3 displays.

Would I like having front facing speakers? Sure. Is it a deal breaker? Not even close. I use a $170 pair of Jaybird Bluebud Xs with my phone 90% of the time. The sound quality with those buds is world's better than the live aural experience of any phone speaker. To me it's rude to blast your device in a crowded area with tons of people around you. That's what headphones are made for. Sure there are occastions at home when I don't want to put on headphones but for those occasions even back speakers are sufficient.

And your whole argument of Samsung being left in the dust is a bit specious and disingenuous at best. Yes, profits are down considerably but Samsung is only comparing to itself. On an empirical basis, it's still making well over 10 times the profit HTC makes. If Samsumg was operating on HTC level profit margins you would see execs throwing themselves out of windows. So it's going to be a while before we see them being "left in the dust".

My honest prediction? Hardcore phone enthusists like ourselves will bitch and moan at the removal of the SD card and removable battery (and probably the smaller battery) while the average Tom Dick and Jane walking into a phone store will say, "wow, it's now metal!! Wow, look how thin it is! Wow, look at the pretty screen" and I suspect Samsung will have a big hit on their hands and profits will be back to 2013 levels.

Nice reply and I'll address some of your points.

I do think there's a considerable difference between the displays, but to me it's still not enough to make me get a Samsung phone just because the contrast and colors are that much nicer, because I think they're still above average on the M8. It's almost the same scenario between my wife's GS4 (although it isn't quite as nice and the newer panel in the GS5) and my M8, but I don't think the screen on my M8 looks washed out at all, just not as vibrant as SAMOLED. The G3's panel is actually pretty mediocre to begin with in every aspect outside of pixel density. I think it was actually a downgrade from the G2 just because it wasn't nearly as bright, vivid, and it's a waste of power for the nearly imperceptible PPI bump, IMO. From what I've gathered from reviews, even the M8's display is considerably better than it outside of resolution. All this to say that of course you're going to be envious of your wife's GS5 display, because the G3 is average to begin with, even compared to the 1080p SLCDs in other flagship phones of last year.

I have Jaybirds as well and although they're really nice and work well, I can't use them practically 90% of the time because 90% of the time I need to hear something, it's only for a short moment; less than a min or two or maybe just to watch a short Youtube vid someone sent me. It's in no way practical to dig out my headphones every time I want to hear something, esp. if it's something I want to show to other people around me, which is pretty common. If there's one thing that people comment on (although just a handful of times) about my phone, it's the speakers and how nice/loud they are. I've actually had a couple of my coworkers send me a link to something to play aloud in the office because they know how much louder my phone is. I realize this may not be a common thing with you or many other people, but I have been in the situation enough that these speakers were such a benefit, that I'm pretty much determined for my next phone to have the same feature.

About the leaving Samsung in the dust comment, I guess the sarcasm was lost on you, as I was just making fun of TDSlam's comment about Samsung leaving the other manufacturers in the dust. Because I think it's pretty absurd to make this proclamation about any major OEM at this point in time.

I can see your prediction being accurate about Samsung's next S phone as well. But I don't think they're going to reach 2013 levels again with how far HTC and LG have came since then and having their own unified brand/model across all carriers, which are picking up more steam with every release. It's going to be another interesting year for tech again though, that's for sure. I might buy into the smartwatch thing this year as well, which I think are going to be a bigger deal than anything else this year with the release of the Apple Watch. But I'm more interested in the Moto 360 successor if the improve the display and battery life in it enough.

 

[TDSlam720]

Lol this isn't going of be an interesting year in phones. There is going to be Samsung and Apple. Everyone else has peaked, can't compete. I'm not even trying to be a dick or anything. I've never had a Samsung phone I think they look awful and hate plastic. I own a M7. S6 gonna have it all. Maybe if someone could give me some other reason outside of audio for why they would chose anything but Samsung this year I would be all ears. Instead it sounds like you all want to burn 700 dollars on a phone that's barley any better than last year's iteration.

I like Sony and HTC the best but they're the least capable for having anything majorly new that year. Moto might have some cool features, I think they're the best at adding onto stock Android. Hardware wise not seeing anything from them. LG is kind of a wild card. They're always solid and have more options to improve than others but I doubt they'll be as good as Samsung. Sammy will have the best camera, best display, fastest cpu, fastest gpu, probably best or nearly best battery. What's missing? Audio, design, and a ? around Touchwiz. Part of the reason people had different preferences for other manufacturers is because each one did one or two things the best, but if Sammy is doing multiple things the best.. Where's the competition

Maybe I'm being super autistic about this, but no one is helping me to see the light.

 

[Matthew Kane]

Best camera and display don't below in there with Samsung. Too colourful and shades of pink and red is what I'd describe Samsung displays. And no this isn't coming from somebody who just read reviews and regurgitate other peoples words I've owned and used all the Samsung's from the S2 once or twice and to me Samsung phones are flimsy plastic pos. They are the Apple of android, well at least with the iPhone 6 release, Apple is being a bit more creative now.

 

[CHANG3D]

Lol this isn't going of be an interesting year in phones. There is going to be Samsung and Apple. Everyone else has peaked, can't compete. I'm not even trying to be a dick or anything. I've never had a Samsung phone I think they look awful and hate plastic. I own a M7. S6 gonna have it all. Maybe if someone could give me some other reason outside of audio for why they would chose anything but Samsung this year I would be all ears. Instead it sounds like you all want to burn 700 dollars on a phone that's barley any better than last year's iteration.

I like Sony and HTC the best but they're the least capable for having anything majorly new that year. Moto might have some cool features, I think they're the best at adding onto stock Android. Hardware wise not seeing anything from them. LG is kind of a wild card. They're always solid and have more options to improve than others but I doubt they'll be as good as Samsung. Sammy will have the best camera, best display, fastest cpu, fastest gpu, probably best or nearly best battery. What's missing? Audio, design, and a ? around Touchwiz. Part of the reason people had different preferences for other manufacturers is because each one did one or two things the best, but if Sammy is doing multiple things the best.. Where's the competition

Maybe I'm being super autistic about this, but no one is helping me to see the light.

I can give you a couple of reasons easily, which I've
said many times that you obviously ignored.

1) S6 is likely (rumors and leaks only) to be a really ugly clone of the iPhone 6. Even XiaoMi could make a phone that looks like this. Where's the originality Samsung? Now rumors are saying it'll be a glass back like iPhone 4 so it could do wireless charging... *sighs... Glass back = total fail in my book

2) Samsung's TouchWiz has a history of sucking. Right now all we got is the word from Samsung insiders that it will be better, but why would we trust them since they are trying to sell their own products? Motorola, for example, has been selling feature loaded phones without lagging the way Samsung TouchWiz lags, so it can be done. But the question is will it? It'll also be interesting to see if Samsung will put this new version of TouchWiz on S5, S4, or S3. Their record of updating the TouchWiz on older phones are not so good.

Bonus) real world battery life... Samsung typically has a higher battery stat and also benchmarked to run longer, except in the real world. That 1440p display will be using more energy than a 1080p one, not to mention that AMOLED's energy consumption are still generally higher than a LCD of the same resolution while technically still less resolution due to Pentile. Rumors right now are using the battery is smaller than the one HTC had in the M8, so... Let's wait for the full specs.

Once again, Samsung will likely have the best amoled display, but the slcd in the HTC One M9 is also Samsung's best LCD display. Sure, I would like that infinite contrast, but I got tons of displays here without infinite contrast so this will not sway me much. The camera sensors, I don't know why you would say that this sensor is better than Sony's or Toshiba's sensors at the same MP; I really don't know where this belief that Samsung makes superior camera sensors come from, but it's certainly great in the Note 4. Nokia Lumia 808 PureView is still arguably the best camera on a phone today, and it supports a Toshiba sensor. MP are also not everything.

 

[T4rd]

Lol this isn't going of be an interesting year in phones. There is going to be Samsung and Apple. Everyone else has peaked, can't compete. I'm not even trying to be a dick or anything. I've never had a Samsung phone I think they look awful and hate plastic. I own a M7. S6 gonna have it all. Maybe if someone could give me some other reason outside of audio for why they would chose anything but Samsung this year I would be all ears. Instead it sounds like you all want to burn 700 dollars on a phone that's barley any better than last year's iteration.

I like Sony and HTC the best but they're the least capable for having anything majorly new that year. Moto might have some cool features, I think they're the best at adding onto stock Android. Hardware wise not seeing anything from them. LG is kind of a wild card. They're always solid and have more options to improve than others but I doubt they'll be as good as Samsung. Sammy will have the best camera, best display, fastest cpu, fastest gpu, probably best or nearly best battery. What's missing? Audio, design, and a ? around Touchwiz. Part of the reason people had different preferences for other manufacturers is because each one did one or two things the best, but if Sammy is doing multiple things the best.. Where's the competition

Maybe I'm being super autistic about this, but no one is helping me to see the light.

I dunno how anyone can say any of this so definitively without any of it at least being announced and confirmed so you know what they're bringing to the table. But I'm still going to guess that the trend of Samsung sales declining is going to continue regardless of what they do with the GS6. They may have the best display and maybe best camera (I'm holding out on that for now), but the fastest CPU/GPU doesn't mean much when it still performs slower than other phones on considerably older/slower hardware in real world usage. The battery seems small from the leaks, so if they're true, they're going to have to do some serious tweaking to get the most out of it. Last year the M8 pretty much matched the GS5 in every test with a 200 mAh smaller battery, and the M9 is leaked to have a larger battery this year, plus a much less power demanding 1080p display (while the GS6 is going QHD). I'd be amazed if the GS6 matched the M9 or Z3 in battery life for that reason alone. So that leaves audio and design to put the M9 over it.

It's really pointless to speculate at this time though. I think we should just wait until they're out and see how it goes. I still maintain that it will be an interesting year and hope other OEMs rise to force Samsung to innovate (esp in their software) a bit more to keep their lead. Competition is good and it seems to be getting better no matter which side you root for in some aspect.

 

[TDSlam720]

I can give you a couple of reasons easily, which I've
said many times that you obviously ignored.

1) S6 is likely (rumors and leaks only) to be a really ugly clone of the iPhone 6. Even XiaoMi could make a phone that looks like this. Where's the originality Samsung? Now rumors are saying it'll be a glass back like iPhone 4 so it could do wireless charging... *sighs... Glass back = total fail in my book

2) Samsung's TouchWiz has a history of sucking. Right now all we got is the word from Samsung insiders that it will be better, but why would we trust them since they are trying to sell their own products? Motorola, for example, has been selling feature loaded phones without lagging the way Samsung TouchWiz lags, so it can be done. But the question is will it? It'll also be interesting to see if Samsung will put this new version of TouchWiz on S5, S4, or S3. Their record of updating the TouchWiz on older phones are not so good.

Bonus) real world battery life... Samsung typically has a higher battery stat and also benchmarked to run longer, except in the real world. That 1440p display will be using more energy than a 1080p one, not to mention that AMOLED's energy consumption are still generally higher than a LCD of the same resolution while technically still less resolution due to Pentile. Rumors right now are using the battery is smaller than the one HTC had in the M8, so... Let's wait for the full specs.

Once again, Samsung will likely have the best amoled display, but the slcd in the HTC One M9 is also Samsung's best LCD display. Sure, I would like that infinite contrast, but I got tons of displays here without infinite contrast so this will not sway me much. The camera sensors, I don't know why you would say that this sensor is better than Sony's or Toshiba's sensors at the same MP; I really don't know where this belief that Samsung makes superior camera sensors come from, but it's certainly great in the Note 4. MP are also not everything.

1) Completely agree on Samsungs designs, Chinese makers make way better looking phones, which is sad. Luckily I think the new one will be tolerable, but I'm still not liking it.

2) TW is definitely a ? , but I think they'll pull through this year knowing what's on the line.

3) Not sure where you're getting that OLED consumes more power than LCD, but even if that's the case with 14nm the power loss for 1440p should be a wash. No ones really complaining about battery life on the Note 4. It's def not Z3 level, but it's good.

4. Toshiba sensor is old, Sony sensors are good, but Samsung also has experience making actual cameras. So the thought of them pairing a freshly designed sensor with OIS with their in house Exynos ISP sounds pretty devastating for the competition. The MP is irrelevant except for it tells us that they'll most likely be using a sensor as big as the Xperia line.

 

[TDSlam720]

I dunno how anyone can say any of this so definitively without any of it at least being announced and confirmed so you know what they're bringing to the table. But I'm still going to guess that the trend of Samsung sales declining is going to continue regardless of what they do with the GS6. They may have the best display and maybe best camera (I'm holding out on that for now), but the fastest CPU/GPU doesn't mean much when it still performs slower than other phones on considerably older/slower hardware in real world usage. The battery seems small from the leaks, so if they're true, they're going to have to do some serious tweaking to get the most out of it. Last year the M8 pretty much matched the GS5 in every test with a 200 mAh smaller battery, and the M9 is leaked to have a larger battery this year, plus a much less power demanding 1080p display (while the GS6 is going QHD). I'd be amazed if the GS6 matched the M9 or Z3 in battery life for that reason alone. So that leaves audio and design to put the M9 over it.

It's really pointless to speculate at this time though. I think we should just wait until they're out and see how it goes. I still maintain that it will be an interesting year and hope other OEMs rise to force Samsung to innovate (esp in their software) a bit more to keep their lead. Competition is good and it seems to be getting better no matter which side you root for in some aspect.

You can look at news/rumors/sources and connect the dots. Plus with Samsung coming off loses they need to deliver. Stars are aligned for them to put out an amazing product. Sales won't decline because they'll have the market cornered. All the spec whores will want one because it will be crushing everything else, and all mainstream buyers will want one because it will be thin, take great pictures, and loaded with gimmicks/accessories.


Battery like I said should be a wash since it's on 14nm. Might not top the Z4 or M9, but will be up there.

It's not pointless to speculate, like I said just have to connect dots. I'm willing to take Paypal bets that's how confident I am. M9 will be like an M8 DLC or expansion pack. Another gig of ram, and a higher MP camera. S6 is a brand new next gen game.

And I mean come on Gear VR.. 200 bucks for entry level VR thats not wired.. Thats a hard gimmick to beat.

 

[T4rd]

M9 will be like an M8 DLC or expansion pack. Another gig of ram, and a higher MP camera. S6 is a brand new next gen game.

Meh, I'm thinking the same thing about the S6. The M8 was so much better than the S5 already (other than the camera), that even if it is only an iterative upgrade, it'll still be a really nice phone and easily competitive with the S6. But I don't think it will be. The only thing the M8 needed improvements on was camera and battery (even though they weren't bad, just average) to be the perfect phone. If they nail it this time around, then it will mean big things for them.

We shall see though.

 

[TDSlam720]

So I'm just curious, since you don't care about camera, is a few extra hours of battery life worth spending an extra 700 dollars to get it? I'm assuming you're going to upgrade to the M9, I just cant see that it would be worth it just for some battery, and a camera you don't care about. M7 is my daily fwiw, I love it and love HTC. Best design and build quality by far.

 

[Aurelius]

I would say the Note 4's camera already better than the iPhone 6 Plus. But does that mean people shouldn't buy the iPhone? To pull one spec out to base your entire judgement on its kind of ridiculous.

I should clarify: the Note 4 is the first Samsung phone I've seen in recent memory that can take consistently good shots! It's just that it took Samsung far too long to get to that point, and I'm wondering whether or not that quality will filter down to the Galaxy S.

 

[CHANG3D]

I evidently updated my post right before you posted where I brought up the Lumia 808 PureView.

The 808 still arguably has the best smartphone camera. Guess who made its sensors? Toshiba. If your whole argument against Toshiba sensors is that it is old, then I can just completely ignore it. You got to come up with a better argument than that! (Talk about not caring about cameras... cause if you did care about it, you would know about the 808!)

As for display energy consumption, today OLED's are still not as efficient. Obviously, there are moments where the image is completely black, as in no color and no light whatsoever, where the OLED displays are more efficient. The problem is most images people see are not completely devoid of colors. I expect OLED will eventually catch up, or at least up to a point where people just don't care, or that the industry just stop development of more efficient backlighting technology for LCD's because OLED is "the future."

Anyway, I'm only playing the devil's advocate a little bit here. All I'm saying is that there are plenty of reasons not to get the S6; it's not just the SoC or camera! Honestly, unless TouchWiz sucks, I'm most likely getting a S6. But I'm also waiting till after the Apple Watch to see if I will be going to the Apple ecosystem (Apple Health Kit is something that would be great for monitoring my health).

 

[T4rd]

So I'm just curious, since you don't care about camera, is a few extra hours of battery life worth spending an extra 700 dollars to get it? I'm assuming you're going to upgrade to the M9, I just cant see that it would be worth it just for some battery, and a camera you don't care about. M7 is my daily fwiw, I love it and love HTC. Best design and build quality by far.

Because I have an upgrade available and I want the latest and greatest. Do I need more of a reason?

I'm gonna hand my M8 down to my wife as well, which will be a nice upgrade from her craptastic GS4 that likes to stay awake and murder the battery while you're not using it. Tried a factory reset and keeping it in safe mode too. I bet Samsung gimped the latest update to make you upgrade or something.

That's another thing too though, the M7 just got Lollipop (some variants at least, I'm sure the rest will follow shortly). Who knows when the GS4 or Note 3 will get it. HTC has been 2nd only to Moto in timely updates for there new and old flagships and has a consistent Sense feature set across their phones. For some reason, TouchWiz on all of Samsung's current and previous phones differ considerably even on the same OS version. Makes no sense at all why they do that, esp. when most of it is not hardware dependent.

 

[TDSlam720]

I evidently updated my post right before you posted where I brought up the Lumia 808 PureView.

The 808 still arguably has the best smartphone camera. Guess who made its sensors? Toshiba. If your whole argument against Toshiba sensors is that it is old, then I can just completely ignore it. You got to come up with a better argument than that! (Talk about not caring about cameras... cause if you did care about it, you would know about the 808!)

As for display energy consumption, today OLED's are still not as efficient. Obviously, there are moments where the image is completely black, as in no color and no light whatsoever, where the OLED displays are more efficient. The problem is most images people see are not completely devoid of colors. I expect OLED will eventually catch up, or at least up to a point where people just don't care, or that the industry just stop development of more efficient backlighting technology for LCD's because OLED is "the future."

Anyway, I'm only playing the devil's advocate a little bit here. All I'm saying is that there are plenty of reasons not to get the S6; it's not just the SoC or camera! Honestly, unless TouchWiz sucks, I'm most likely getting a S6. But I'm also waiting till after the Apple Watch to see if I will be going to the Apple ecosystem (Apple Health Kit is something that would be great for monitoring my health).

lol come on man, using the 808 is lazy as hell. We both know how big that sensor is and how thick that phone is. I wasn't knocking Toshiba sensors. I'm just saying the sensor Samsung is using is brand new tech from them, and it's built in-house with their in-house SoC. Hard to compete with that level of integration when they can integrate the software and all around design better than just piecing together sensors , ISPs, and custom algos. Of course Sony makes me look like I have no idea wtf I'm saying since their mobile division apparently cant be bothered to ask their camera division to write their software.


I would totally have an iPhone right now if it had a back button. Think I'm too entrenched in PC/Android ecosystem to get an iPhone, but I am a fan of their hardware. I do think the 6 is ugly as fuck though. Don't know how it got released with those antenna bands, when HTC gave them a perfectly good blueprint on how to do it.