Samsung has just taken the wraps of the almighty Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. A couple new smartphones that are quickly being compared with the latest iPhones. If you think that’s a good thing, then perhaps rethink that.
One of the rumors going into the unveiling was the strategic decision to no longer have a removable battery and to no longer have a microSD card expansion slot. Well, guess what? Samsung just went Apple on both those. No user expandability of storage via microSD and no removable battery.
I can tolerate the removable battery, if it was some necessary design change. I’m sure it was, but to me, having that option of a spare battery is a big plus and a good added value. But when you’re talking the removal of a microSD card slot? Now I’m going to get a bit upset about that situation.
The explanation, as we’re hearing now from Samsung is that people are using microSD cards less and using cloud storage more. Do you disagree with their take on how you use your technology? Ah, but the compromise is the switch to 64GB models and 128GB. Dare to guess the price of say, the 128GB model? Lest I not forget to mention that Samsung is offering free, for 2 years (did I just mention free for 2 years), 115GB of Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage. Do the math, but when the 2 years comes up, what will the price be then to maintain that cloud storage? Right, nobody can say what that will cost you in the future to use that cloud storage in the future. What’s your data plan costing and what about accessing your cloud file for streaming for example?
Here’s where I take issue. Apple is Apple. Apple can do things and charge consumers prices that other companies simply cannot do. There is and always will be only one Apple. Yes Apple has done just fine without removable batteries and microSD card slots. Let’s not forget about Google also. The Nexus line of devices have never featured microSD card expandability. The big difference with Apple and Google is that the Nexus brand, up until the Nexus 6, has been about low priced devices. I’m not sure about you, but I’ve always looked at price vs. compromise. Other people may not, but I sure do. If you don’t give me a user friendly feature like microSD, then I don’t think your non Apple device is as valuable to me. Your logic may differ and that’s fine.
Be assured that the Galaxy S6 is going to feel and look beautiful. The screen will be dazzling and the processor will be faster than ever before. The camera will be even better than perhaps the best which is already on a previous Samsung phone. It’s lighter, it’s thinner. What we can’t say is how the battery life is going to stack up to the previous Galaxy S5, the Note 4 or the iPhone 6. Price wise, this is likely going to see an increase also. So at the end of the day, you’re going to have to decide what the most important part of buying a new smartphone. These are very big expenses and much consideration should be had.
I think that when you start becoming more Apple in features and in price, you might actually start losing people to Apple. I say this from the perspective of Android vs. iOS. Android has been about flexibility and affordability. Based on the Galaxy S6 and the recent Nexus 6, perhaps Android is losing sight of the affordability aspect. Are people so enthralled with Android that they will never break out and switch to an Apple phone? I don’t see the same level of dedication to Android as to what you see with iOS. Of course I’m completely overlooking Microsoft and their phone OS, but for now, they are so insignificant it’s not worth bringing them into this discussion.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is coming to Canada sooner than you think. In fact maybe it’s coming sooner than you care. It’s quite likely that if you have a smartphone currently, and I would be that it’s giving you everything you need. I mean it’s still a small screen device and as much as you want to push it or bag its resources, I bet it does everything you need it to do. This may explain, in part, why Samsung’s stellar smartphone revenues have been dipping as of late.
We are just days out from full details of the Galaxy S6. So we can only really report the “leaks” or speculation. However, I think the information I’m about to post is solid and should be pretty darn accurate. Samsung is not Apple when it comes to keeping new products under wraps and a complete secret. Leaks become more and more common and they simply become more accurate these days.
So what do we know? It appears the Galaxy S6 is going to be smaller, coming in at around 5.1-inches which is a bit smaller than the previous few Galaxy flagship smartphones. If you want bigger, and it appears that many many people do, then of course Samsung would gladly steer you to the Galaxy Note, which will get its annual update later in the year.
Companies lately have been experimenting with “edge” smartphones, where there is a curved edge to the screen so it literally becomes like a books spine, but you can utilize the icons and functionality from that “edge”. Personally I don’t like it, but companies will try new things. Samsung did say they would be releasing fewer versions of their smartphones, but it doesn’t appear that they really are holding true on that promise.
A few other rumored specs include a 577ppi AMOLED display, 16-megapixel rear-facing camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera and weight of below 140g, metal frame, Corning’s reinforced glass back cover, Exynos 7 CPU, quick wireless power charging, 32/64/128GB storage options.
One rumor that we don’t like is that it “may” not have expandable storage via microSD expansion. That truly would be a deal breaker for some, and frankly I with you on that one. To tie consumers into the cloud, forcing our hand, is not a user-friendly experience. Let’s just hope that Samsung doesn’t go down that road. Also there is a suggestion or rumor that there will be no removable battery. Yikes, those two lost features would be a deal breaker for many people I’m sure.
The expectation for sales with the new Samsung Galaxy S6 are said to be 50 million. I think they are dreaming. In case people didn’t notice, Apple and their iPhone 6 and 6+ have been massive hits. Those people aren’t shopping for a new smartphone and a lot of people are simply content with their smartphones likely going back as far a the Galaxy S3. Sales of smartphone for companies other than Apple are going to be weak. The S6 might be impressive, we will see. However, it’s not going to create any sort of craze. Those days are pretty much long gone.
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