[Galaxy S6 General] FluxionFluff:
I've had my S6 for a lil over 2 weeks now and thus far, I'm absolutely loving it. Here are my thoughts on what I think about the S6. My last phone was the S3, so I will be mentioning differences between the two devices sprinkled throughout.

Beware that this is a pretty long post, so keep that in mind... To make it a lil easier, I sectioned off each part and put it into spoiler tags so if you only want to read certain sections, you can.

Design:

Say goodbye to plastic and hello to the all metal and glass construction of the S6. The S6 consists of a metal frame sandwiched in between two pieces of Corning Gorilla glass 4. The downside to moving away from plastic is that while aesthetically, it looks better, it's just not as durable. The phone itself is quite thin and while the device as a whole is beautiful, it's definitely a slick device.

The fact that there's a glass back screams to be cracked. There's no way in hell I'd consider carrying this phone naked as a result. At the very least, I'd put a skin on it. More than likely, however, I will put a case on it. I know some people despise cases as it does cover up the aesthetics of the device, but I would at least recommend a skin or even a bumper, just so you have a better grip on the device.

You probably don't have to put a screen protector on the front panel, but, if you want to, I'd use a tempered glass screen protector since it'll provide much more protection than the usual thin plastic ones. Mine came with one installed when I bought my device off Swappa, but if something happens to it, I'll definitely buy another tempered glass one.

The back consists of the camera, heart rate sensor, and flash. I don't like the fact that the camera bump is so huge on this phone, as I would have preferred a slightly thicker phone, with a larger battery. Because the bump is so pronounced, there's definitely a higher chance of it getting damaged if you drop your phone.

In this year's iteration, both speaker and headphone jack got moved from the back and top of the device respectively. I'll comment on the sound later on. I still dunno how I feel about the headphone jack now on the bottom, since I'm used to plugging it on the top with my S3.

The top features an IR blaster, which is useful for controlling media devices, such as TVs and cable boxes. This is definitely something I take full advantage of since it's super convenient to never have to look for the remote as I nearly always have my phone on me.

The front features the usual capacitive buttons and home button in the center, which includes the newly improved fingerprint scanner. Unlike in the S5 and Note 4, where it was a swipe scanner, the S6's fingerprint scanner is similar to Apple's Touch ID, and as such is a LOT more accurate this time around.

Size:

Coming from the S3, the S6 is larger for sure. Going from a 4.7" display to a 5.1" display was a lil bit of an adjustment, but I definitely can't go back to having anything smaller than a 5" screen again, now that I'm used to the larger screen. Size is relative, since some prefer larger phones and some prefer smaller phones.

For me, I honestly don't think I can go bigger than a 5.2" display (maybe 5.5" if the screen/body ratio isn't THAT bad, but it's really pushing it), as I have small hands. To be honest, it's the biggest reason why I ended up getting this phone over the LG G4. I couldn't get over the size. It's sad since I did love the camera on that phone too.

It's getting harder to find phones that have screens that are smaller than 5" these days as OEMs are making their phones larger (both screen and body). While there are still phones with screens under 5", it's getting increasingly rare. I really hope that the S line stays around this size. Think it's the sweet spot. I don't see them making this into phablet territory, as it'd be competing with their Note line.

Security:

As the fingerprint scanner has been much improved, compared to the S5 and Note 4, it's definitely a lot more useful. I use it as my primary lock as it's easier and faster than having to deal with pin codes. While it does work most of the time, sometimes I run into issues with getting it to read my fingerprint. I've had to redo the registration for the print at least twice, but I think I've gotten the hang of it now, so it actually reads the first time... usually.

Performance:

With 3GB of RAM and running on Samsung's own Exynos 7420 Octa-core 64-bit processor, it runs pretty smoothly and I haven't really noticed any major lag. I might run into it, a lil bit over time, but at least for now, it's running quite snappy and smooth. I am curious if Samsung will continue on using the Exynos chips on all their devices in the future and not go back to the Snapdragon processors for the US and EU (I think, correct me if I'm mistaken) markets.

TouchWiz:

I personally never had an issue with TouchWiz on my S3, but TouchWiz is even better on the S6. It runs a lot smoother and sleeker than its predecessors. It's nowhere near as cluttered on the S4 and S5 (from what I can tell from my limited use of those devices when I tried them out in store and from what I've seen in reviews).

It's not a huge deal if you hate TouchWiz since there are so many custom launchers in the Google Play store you can use instead. I still may use Buzz Launcher later on, like I currently have on my S3 (or try out some other launchers), but I wouldn't mind keeping TouchWiz around.

Themes:

Something that I don't like about the custom launchers is that while you can change the look of your home screens, there's no way to change the appearance of the menus. This time around with the S6, Samsung decided to add themes. This is a great thing as the themes will change the look of the menus, as well as the icons, not just the home screens.

At this time, there aren't a whole ton of themes in the Theme store, but it will be awesome to see the new ones that come out over time. Not sure if Samsung will allow for user created themes like I've seen in Buzz Launcher and with HTC's theme store.

From what I can tell, you can change the wallpaper from what the theme originally uses, but there isn't a way to save your own custom themes for future use. That will be a nice feature, if Samsung decides to do that.

Storage:

When Samsung announced this phone at MWC, I was initially disappointed that they decided to take out the microSD card slot. However, when I honestly thought about it, I have the 16GB S3 and a microSD card... BUT, I haven't used the card at all, so while it's a nice feature to have, considering I don't use it on my S3, it's not a huge deal that it's no longer there on the S6.

It is nice the Samsung bumped up the base model from 16GB to 32GB though. For the average user, I think the 32GB model is fine. But, if you know you have a TON of music and videos (since those add up really quick, pictures can as well), you might want to consider one of the larger models. I personally have the 64GB model as I found an awesome deal for it on Swappa that I couldn't pass up. However, I honestly think I would have been fine with the 32GB model as well.

It does suck that Samsung decided to take of their notable aspects out of this device, especially for those that rely on mircoSD cards and how the pricing for the different models is pretty expensive, versus buying cards of a similar size. On the flip side, it's one less moving part and it's better on a security aspect as you aren't constantly moving the card around, where there's the chance you could lose it.

Camera

On the back, the camera is a 16MP sensor with a f1.9 aperture and is probably my favorite part of the device. The biggest thing I wanted in a phone was a good camera since it is my replacement for my point and shoot camera. I love the fact that you can quickly access the camera simply by double tapping the home button, even when the screen off. This is very ideal when you want to take images fast.

While there is a Pro mode, I honestly will primarily use the Auto mode since unless I have time to fine tune shots, I end up taking quick shots. Samsung definitely improved the experience here since while it's not THAT cluttered on the S3, it was pretty bad with the S4 and S5.

It's nice that they slimmed it down and made a lot of the extra mode downloadable from their app store, so if you want those other modes, you can get them there.

On the front, it's a 5MP sensor, which like for the back, is an improvement on what I had on the S3. If you like taking selfies, it's a pretty good camera for it. With wide selfie mode, you can fit more people in your shots.

From what I can tell, both lens are wide angle so you can fit more in the shot. I haven't noticed any distortion as a result of the wideness of the lens, but then again, I'm not a hardcore photographer of any sort.

In daylight or pretty much any setting with decent lighting, it's hard to get a bad shot. It focuses fast and you can double tap the screen to focus on a certain point. Having OIS is also a bonus as well. I can't comment on video since I have really no interest in taking video. I just know that if you film in 4K, you lose OIS, so something to keep in mind if you do film.

As for night time shots, I have yet to be somewhere that has that, so I'll have to edit this post when I get around to it. It really can't be as bad as my S3 was since that thing was utter **** in low light.

Battery:

Like with the lack of microSD card slot, the 2550mAh battery is also not removable, which is pretty disappointing as it's a nice feature to be able to swap batteries or to quickly turn off your phone if needed. This fact saved my S3 after I dropped it in water since I could easily dismantle it to allow it to dry.

As for the swapping batteries part, I've never actually had a spare battery, so that aspect is useless for me. However, I do understand for people who go long periods without access to an outlet, that's very helpful.

Like I mentioned in the design section, like many people, I would have wanted a slightly thicker phone to get a larger battery in there. It's a bit strange that the battery in the S6 is actually smaller than in the S5, but that's probably because Samsung is following the thread of thinner phones.

Until the S6, the battery was getting larger with each iteration. I do hope the battery will be larger in future iterations or find ways to improve it. Battery life is something that needs to be improved as I feel like that despite advancements in essentially every other part a device, there really hasn't been much improvement with batteries.

To offset the lack of removable battery, wireless and fast charging are built in. Wireless charging isn't fast as it's more of a convenience thing, but it's great if you're not in a rush or want to top off.

I personally put my phone on a wireless charger before I go to sleep at night. This method is also helpful since you're plugging in less, you can extend the life of your charging port.

Fast charging is nice if you only have a limited amount of time to plug in since within 30 minutes, you can add several hours of additional use.

You can also buy a battery pack to charge your phone on the go. This method, like the other charging options, is not as fast as simply swapping batteries, but it's nice to have the options. It is also something to keep in mind since I honestly wonder if all flagships devices will eventually go on this non-removable route, so having features like wireless charging and fast charging will be important.

I honestly usually don't have a problem getting through the day with light-moderate use, but if I need to top off, I can do so, so it's not a huge deal for me. But, if you're a power user, battery life will be a problem, so you will definitely have to top off, which can be a pain if you don't want to do so.

I did have some battery life issues when I first got the device, but after updating everything, it usually helps. I know that Lollipop has issues with devices across the board which I really do hope that 5.1.1 update comes in the near future.

Display:

Samsung is known for their Super AMOLED screens and the S6 certainly doesn't disappoint in that department. With a Quad-HD display at 577ppi, pictures and videos look absolutely gorgeous on the display. Colors pop and has deep blacks and whites, which is what AMOLED displays are known for doing.

This does cause the display to not be the most color-accurate display out there. With such a high resolution, images looks sharp and crisp. Granted, it might be overkill to have such a high resolution on a small screen, let alone that it can eat up battery life for sure to power up all those pixels.

There are several modes to combat the color accuracy, though I personally just leave it on auto and it seems to do a good job. As for brightness, it's probably one of the best phones out there to have out in direct sunlight because it can get so bright. It also can get super dim as well, which is great if you like to read at night.

If you don't want to constantly manually adjust the brightness, auto brightness does a good job, generally speaking, but you are free to adjust it as needed.

Sound:

Considering up until now, the speakers have all been on the back, which isn't an ideal place at all since you can easily muffle it if you set it down on the table. While front facing speakers would be ideal, the bottom (or top) would be the next best place. Compared to the S3, the speaker is a lot louder in the S6.

I've noticed when it's at max volume, music can sound slightly distorted, but not a huge deal since I'm generally on headphones or using a bluetooth speaker. The only real downside to the speaker is that if you're not careful when you hold the device while watching video or playing games, you can easily cover up the speaker grills.

Call Quality:

I don't make that many calls these days since I primarily text, but from the calls I have made, the sound quality is pretty clear and I haven't gotten any complaints about people not being able to hear me properly. Of course, a part of this is dependent on how well your service is in your area.

Bloatware:

While Samsung took bunch of the unless stuff out, there's still a lot in there and since I have AT&T, there's carrier bloat as well. There are a few useful apps pre-installed (well, to me anyway, since to some, it's ALL bloatware), so that's one less thing I have to transfer to my new device.

I really hate the fact that we can't actually uninstall these apps if we don't want them. All we can do is disable them. This is definitely something OEMs and carriers need to work on. Disabling those apps is better than nothing, but it's still eating up storage space.

Other comments:

There are lil things that irk me personally about the S6, but may not bother you, so take it with a grain of salt. There are things that changed between the S3 and S6. It'll be an adjustment since I still use my S3 as my music player when I'm at home. Long pressing the home button on the S6 opens up the internet browser (whatever you have the default set to), which is different from the S3 as it opens up the recent apps drawer. The left button opens up a options window on the S3 and on the S6 is the recent apps drawer.

With the app drawer, I don't like the fact it doesn't automatically alphabetize apps anymore, so you have to manually select the option to alphabetize it every so often as you download apps.

The fact that there's glass on both front and back, it's an utter fingerprint magnet. It's not as bad on my white one, but it's sooo noticeable on every other color. I know I don't carry my device naked, it's still worth mentioning. This is pretty much why I prefer matte finishes over glossy any day.

I don't really understand why Samsung went backwards with the lack of IP certification in the S6. With the S5, they introduced water/dust resistance and I was hoping that would remain since it would be awesome to be able to take pics underwater.

I was pretty sad when the S6 no longer had the IP certification, since I feel like phones in general should have some sort of water/dust resistance since water damage seems to be a common problem in general.

If Sony's Xperia line can have the IP certification with a similar construction to the S6 and without being a rugged device, Samsung should be able to do the same thing. Watch it come back in the S7... XD Or at least I can hope right?

I'm not sure if it's just me, but is there an easier way to adjust the sound settings? (Like from Sound > Vibrate > Mute) In the S3, if you press the power button, you can see a quick menu for the sound setting, but it's sadly absent in the S6. It's a lil annoying, but I'm dealing with that.

If someone knows a fast way to do it (that isn't pressing the volume keys or going into the Sound settings menu), please let me know. The only thing I can think of, would be to install widgets for it, but I'd rather not do that, if I can help it.

This time around, multi-window is back, but instead of manually activating it, like in the S3, you can access it by long pressing the left button. Unlike in the S3, there are so many more apps that are compatible with multi-window, so it's a bonus.

I like using it, though since I never actually figured out which button is what, I've accidentally made one of the windows into a pop up window or even as a floating icon. It's a lil frustrating, but I think over time, I'll get used to it.

Final Thoughts:

As someone who has the S3, it's definitely a solid upgrade to the S6. To be honest, I think even if you had last year's S5, it'd be worth upgrading. It's definitely a phone I can recommend to someone looking for a new device or if they're planning on switching from iOS to Android.

However, despite me saying that, you need to take into consideration of how important the fact of the lack of removable battery and microSD slot is to you. Fewer OEMs have microSD slots for their flagships and even fewer have removable backs (LG being the only one with the removable back on the G4, thus far this year). While it's not a big deal for me, that definitely isn't the case for everyone.