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Every now and then, you come across something that makes you look twice, makes you wonder and stare. it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it grounds you.
my last venture into the realm of Samsung phones ended with the Galaxy S3. since then i have had every Z class Xperia and long forgotten the Samsung way of running android.....
....So have Samsung by the looks of things.
to call this phone a breath of fresh life is the biggest understatement anyone could make, this phone is Samsung redefined to its very core, this is Samsungs finest creation and its rebirth into the grown up android market, and oh boy is it packing some serious guns.
powered by Samsungs 64bit octa-core Exynos powerhouse, partnered with Samsungs new über fast ram standard, and then slapped in a Sony IMX240 Image sensor, all pressed firmly behind a piece of 800 degree heated gorilla glass which is then pressed into a curved mold and then attached onto a super amoled 2k display which is then pressed on a single carved piece of top grade aluminum. it is mind blowingly unreal just how thin Samsung have managed to make this phone, and its so, so light.
but on with the show.......
That's ya box
and whats inside it (yes that's the xperia z4 wallpaper but it goes soooo well). you also
get a super quick charger (like stupidly quick) and a funky pair of headphones that sound OK (more on that later)
Unboxed and ready for play..
and as you can see, none of this pre scratched nonsense.
powering on the phone gives the usual android setup of around 5 minutes but also gives you the opportunity to select the exact Google backup to load, which apps to recover, and which password list to import, brilliant. you also have to add on another 5 minutes to setup your s voice commands, security and fingerprint recognition, all things considered, id rather do this on setup than muck around later on without a clue.
so, we've got it out the box, we've got it set up and now to get rid of touchwiz as soon as possible, but wait, this isn't touchwiz as I know it, this is nothing like the touchwiz I have on my tablet or how I remember it from days past. It's more refined, more in touch with Android stock than I ever expected. It's almost like samsung have taken EVERYTHING from Galaxy and rewrote the rules. The touchwiz ui on the Galaxy S6 is actually quite good, I knew where everything was and what to do right off the mark, and even if I didn't like the look of it all, Samsung have a skinning app to offer different themes to the OS.
I also love the smart manager app, using software by clean master, you can use this to give the phone a good clean out if needed.
Power
this thing is fast, no forget that my old phone was fast, this thing is a new kind of crazy fast, on install i did notice it lagging, i honestly did, of course at the time is was installing 120 apps from google and restoring my accounts and building caches. since then, not a single frame has dropped and not a single flicker of strain has shown. apps load in stupidly fast times and every single thing is reponsive in a way that is unseen by myself before. for the lolz lets benchmark it...
and thats before everything has settled...
battery life
no two days of battery life here, you want an honest review and youre gonna get one. the battery is good, im going to get a full day and thats what matters, even with Xperia Z3 i was at 30% at days end with my usage but with this i suspect itll be nearer empty. but.... i know and understand that to drive that cpu and to power that gpu to 2k will take a LOT of juice, so the fact i even get a day is amazing, kudos to sammy for that imo.
Screen
Oh my, (btw for those who believe you cant see a difference between 1080p and 2k on a 5" screen, please continue to the next section as you're about to lose the argument) the screen on this phone is un-frikkin-real its just so crisp, so vivid, so so nice. the difference between the ips panel of xperia and the amoled 2k display is like night and day, text is almost like its printed by laser onto the screen, there is no pixellation at all and when viewing media on the device its a real mind **bleep** at how realistic 2k videos look.
Screen (part 2)
The edges. I read a lot before purchase on how the edges weren't as drastic as the note edge, or how they weren't as functional. This is not exactly true, there is a menu setting to adjust and activate various edge features, night clock, news feeds, weather, edge alerts and priority notifications can all be turned on and adjusted from within the menu.
Sound
Sound quality is good, Samsung have really excelled when you consider it's a single speaker setup. Coming from front facing stereo I was worried on how bad the difference would be, it isn't, it's loud, crisp and very good with its range. Basses are deep and miss and highs are well defined too. I was disappointed at the lack of audio options and control but, hey, it's Android baby, we have apps for that. I haven't really tried the odd freaky looking earphones that came with it yet but I'll update when i do.
Camera
Where to begin, it's hard for me, I take lots of pictures, I know a bit about sensors, and I find it hard to come from the 20.7 mpix Xperia Z3 knowing full well that same camera is in the Z3+/Z4 ..... how did Sony get the software for their own cameras so badly written? The camera inside the S6 is so good it's freaky, it (imo) outperforms the z1/2/3/3+/4 in every field and way possible only excluding very low light, and that kinda hurts to admit that. Anyway the S6 edge is fitted with a Sony IMX240 sensor with 16mpix images available in all modes including quick auto. There are loads of different modes and a dedicated app store to download new optimised modes for the camera.
Video records at the following resolutions: 4k, 2k, 1080p 60, 1080p 30, 720 720 60, 720p 120 and vga 640. Image stabilisation is provided by using an ois system for images and ois+ extra stabilisation for video.
Conclusion
Samsung said they went back to the drawing board with S6, and oh boy did they. Gone are the bloated forced samsung apps, gone is the marmite flavoured version of touchwiz, and in their place is a rock solid, powerhouse of luxury. It's been a long time since I felt this awestruck over a new phone, I had got comfortable with the norm, I had just let my complacency decide my way....... just as samsung did. But just like samsung , sometimes you've got to go back to the drawing board to get something great again.
next is now.
@viridis wrote:
I've got some curve formed screen protectors coming so that should deal with that. As for car holders, the aluminum is what the holder will grab as the screen is within it by about a mm, possibly done on purpose for this reason.
Ok I guess I will have to get one and try for myself 
What sim does it use?
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First class review @viridis very thorough and could swing people trying to make the decision on a new phone.
Very well done. 
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@Anonymous wrote:
@viridis wrote:
I've got some curve formed screen protectors coming so that should deal with that. As for car holders, the aluminum is what the holder will grab as the screen is within it by about a mm, possibly done on purpose for this reason.Ok I guess I will have to get one and try for myself
What sim does it use?
Hi, It uses a nano sim.
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I'm in awe, of the phone.. But more so the review.!
Blinding piece of literature, thank you!
I know who I'm nominating this month
Blinding piece of literature, thank you!
I know who I'm nominating this month
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If the mood ever takes you @Anonymous, feel free to post any video-game reviews in the Off-topic section 
Its great to see that this review is so useful @viridis. Superstar.
@Toby wrote:If the mood ever takes you @Anonymous, feel free to post any video-game reviews in the Off-topic section
I will.
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You really don't.
