Samsung Galaxy S6 - Is this really something Samsung customers would love?

The Samsung Galaxy S6 will be available around April 10th as Samsung revealed, and I feel like I was under a rock with this. Did I miss something? Wasn't another one of those phones out just a short while ago and then the Note Edge shortly after that? Regardless, it is a wonderful new addition from the moment one looks at the phone, as one can easily spot the new Samsung look as a completely new upgrade and redesign to the Galaxy S family. The problem I am thinking might be, that it does so much in creating a Samsung version of an iPhone, that it might actually push those that grew to love the Galaxy family away. Time will tell.

Looks

It is clear that Samsung finally took heed to the biggest complaint about the Galaxy phones that the market kept making, and sought to respond to this with a new look. The old plastic look was for many a cheap design that did not inspire top quality. I on the other hand was ever fond of that design, especially the smooth plastic, which felt kind of soft in your hand as well as comfortable. In terms of looks, half the time we all have cases on our phones anyway.

But that does not mean that the tradition the iPhones followed of an aluminium body was a less design. It was something that was both stylish and classy. And in all honesty, the new Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge look simply as brilliant and more.

The problem for me is that it is far too noticeable with this design that they are taking pointers from Apple on their look and even button layouts and so much more about it seem like a copy. Admittedly it looks better than an iPhone 6, or at least with regards to my personal subjective opinion. I never liked the iPhone 6 design and found the older to be more appealing. What differences the Galaxy S6 has are all in the right direction.

It has a full metal body, and a plastic/glass coating over it, and it simply looks brilliant. However, this design does have its disadvantages.

Under the Hood

The battery now cannot be, as in the iPhone, swapped out. This was a feature that made the Samsung users of old content as battery swapping was and is always a great practice for occasions when you need that extra power (trips, or whatever else have you).

To compensate for this, the Galaxy S6 charges much faster now and also features the ability to recharge through a wireless connection. How much this feature balances it out in the end is something we will have to wait and see in practice.

The next problem that comes from such a design, which was shared by all iPhones thus far, was the inability to have a memory card added to those phones. And sure enough, the Galaxy S6 now too suffers from the same problem.

Beyond anything else, like no battery swapping, this I find to be the biggest problem with this design and a complete let down. While the versions available are at 32GB memory space, 64GB and 128GB models so as to give enough room for options, the inability to be able to purchase extra memory or swap it out in the future once buying the smaller version is simply a blow from which I personally cannot come back from.

The rest of the phone is simply a beast. With a whopping 8-core 14 nm Exynos 7420 processor with 64bit architecture and improved 3GB ram, 16mp back camera and 5mp front, all with new camera technology and improved features into the phone such as fingerprint scanning etc, the S6 is a beast. But this was to be expected of course, Samsung seldom packs a weak punch in its flagship smartphones and it was no surprise that the new Galaxy would be as much of a beast as it always has been and more.

Conclusion

It is however also a much more expensive phone. And although an iPhone is expensive too, this was never the reason I would not buy an iPhone. This new design and new power to the Galaxy S6 puts it in my books even farther above an iPhone 6. But in all honesty, is it something I would really purchase? Hard to say. That price is extremely steep for my liking and I do not agree that it is worth those digits, the same way most top end smartphones (and especially the iPhone) aren't.

To me it really feels like it is Samsungs' Android version of an iPhone now. It is more or less a phone for a target market that would prefer the characteristics of an iPhone over a traditional Samsung Galaxy, and this means that ultimately they are not taking to account their own customer and simply trying to reach out to a different group out there. Perhaps they are hoping they can achieve in having both target markets on their side now, but that whole "sealed" body is a little bit of a problem for some users.

I can see the benefits to both designs of course and the seamless new design has its own advantages as well, but at such a cost I don't think any "metal phone" will be ever worth the price-tag that comes with it. Maybe that's just me.

In the long run, there are several different android smartphone designs out there that follow the old style for people to chose from, and Samsung with this move now does have the only Android phone with such a quality design in its hands placing it at a pretty good spot. For all those to whom the older features are crucial there are still options out there to take a pick from, whilst a new market altogether might have spawned with this move. Who knows, perhaps at last a range of iPhone users will finally migrate over to Samsung with this move (as Samsung so evidently and clearly aims for that target market). Then again, its hard to believe such users will ever buy a phone without the apple logo on it. Again, time will tell. We will simply have to sit and rest on it to see where it goes.

I personally feel that it is an equally or more expensive substitute to an iPhone, and wouldn't be too keen on buying either one of them. (Given that the Galaxy S6 is Android and a powerful phone at that, which is very much to my liking as an Android user, but with the options out there I feel as though I am simply paying for a metal case in the end with that extra cost).

Would any of you purchase the new Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge? Did Samsung make the right decision with this move or was it simply a gimmick that will in the end cost them more than make them profit?

It sure does look sexier than any iPhone I've seen though. And that is always a nice touch.