The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge Review
by Joshua Ho on April 17, 2015 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Mobile
- Galaxy S6
- Galaxy S6 Edge
WiFi Performance
As WiFi is still quite important on a smartphone for anyone on a relatively limited data plan, it's also important to test how well a device behaves when using WiFi. In order to do this, we use our standard iperf test to see how fast the device can send UDP packets. In the case of the Galaxy S6, we see that it shares the same BCM4358 WiFi/Bluetooth combo chipset that we first saw in the Galaxy Note 4. As always, in order to ensure maximum possible performance we're using an Asus RT-AC68U router to avoid issues with the router bottlenecking the phone.
As we can see, the Galaxy S6 manages to do better than anything else we've been able to test in recent memory. I'm not sure what's causing the difference in performance when comparing against the Note 4, but it's definitely possible that the antenna configuration has been improved to increase coherence and therefore the performance benefit that comes from MIMO.
GNSS Performance
In most of the Galaxy S6 variants, as there is no Gobi modem that could be used to provide GNSS location services it seems that Samsung has turned to Broadcom to provide satellite location services. In the case of the Galaxy S6, we see a Broadcom BCM4773 location chipset. This includes support for all of the major constellations including GPS, Beidou, and GLONASS in addition to SBAS, which helps to improve accuracy beyond what conventional GPS satellites can provide. To get a good idea for how good this system is I tried testing how long it took for a lock to happen on a clear night with airplane mode on. The Galaxy S6 managed to acquire a lock in 20 seconds which is likely to be a warm lock but a cold lock will likely take a minute without assistance data. After an additional 20 seconds I saw a peak accuracy of 20 feet, so there shouldn't be any notable issues with the GPS system. For the Galaxy S6 CDMA variants it's likely that location will be done using the MDM9x35 Gobi modem rather than the Broadcom solution used in the GSM Galaxy S6.
Misc
For the Galaxy S6, Samsung has fundamentally uprooted how they traditionally design their phones, and in the case of the entire radio architecture this is especially true. Instead of the standard Qualcomm modem, we see that Samsung has moved to the Shannon 333 GSM/LTE modem for the Galaxy S6 GSM variants. Given that this is likely to be the same modem that is in the Note 4 LTE-A it’s likely that this modem will ship as category 6, while we have reason to believe it's ultimately capable of UE category 9. However, whether the RF front-end is capable of handling 3x carrier aggregation of up to 450 Mbps on the downlink is a different question and is likely to be one that we won’t know the answer to unless support is added in an OTA update.
The transceiver, envelope tracker, antenna tuner, and most of the components that would traditionally be Qualcomm parts in a Snapdragon-equipped phone have also been replaced with Samsung Shannon components based upon the Chipworks teardown. In general though, I didn’t notice any issues with this choice of RF components although judging by the use of Qualcomm modems in the CDMA variants it’s likely that such a move was necessary in order to ensure good RF performance on CDMA networks but not GSM networks due to Qualcomm’s experience with CDMA2000. It's likely that anyone that has had previous experience with the CDMA Galaxy Nexus would be able to attest to this.
Unlike some other variants, we’ve noticed that the Galaxy S6 T-Mobile variant uses an Audience eS804 voice processor to enable hot word detection and S-Voice launching and is likely also active in phone calls and in any other scenario where noise cancellation and voice processing would be beneficial. The T-Mobile variant that we received also uses an NXP PN547 NFC module rather than a Samsung NFC module, but we did confirm that there is an ST-M digitizer used for the touchscreen and a Cypress CapSense PSoC for the capacitive keys.
Although I still don’t have the equipment to test speakers properly, subjectively the audio quality of the Galaxy S6’s single downward-firing speaker is good. The volume gets high enough that I never really used it on maximum volume for videos, but it’s still annoying to have to cup my hand to ensure that sound is going towards my face rather than traveling away. Overall the M9 still has much better speakers for a good media experience, but there’s nothing wrong with the speaker on the Galaxy S6 for casual use. I definitely found myself using it less than the front-facing speakers on the M9 though.
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akdj - Sunday, April 26, 2015 - link
I'll re-read, but I could've sworn that was mentioned a couple times. Maybe it was ARS, but I'll check, as you're right. SVoice is the 'front end' to access GVoice and therefore allows Sammy to 'remember' your search information, etc. I've been able to work around, I believe, on my Note 4 now with the 5.0.1 updateUse Google Laincher. Disable Samsung account and sync and mine flies! Much faster than Nova, Go or vanilla TouchWiz and 'possibly' part of Google's Launch code, while using its only syncing data through Google (possibly SVoice or SRememberEverything in the background). I'll have to recheck and time but the update to LP has certainly sped all facets of the UI, updates, app launching and all around perceived 'speed'. I use a dark wallpaper, Nova Launcher 70% of the time and GLauncher the other portion.
Possibly Google's new 5.0.1 code is more specific to usage of its own services overriding those of carrier or the OEM. Again, unsure but damn it flies!
I'm going to spend this week with Google's camera to see if the Note 4 fan shoot the new raw still formats. As a decent camera with Lightroom on board and a CC subscription, I'm excited for the raw output of these hamdsets.
Are you speaking from experience? (Do you own one) or what you've read in reviews? I've certainly seen that mentioned and thought it was here ...pertaining to your suggestion it was forgotten. When I read it, I checked it in the Note 4 and using TW straight, indeed it runs through SVoice first with a significant delay (regardless of bandwidth). It seems quicker in Nova, slower in Go, fastest using Google Launch
pSupaNova - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
Reading this review I can't help thinking Intel is in trouble if Samsung manages to ship lots of this handset.it will show that they are getting their SOC manufacturing into gear.
Schickenipple - Tuesday, April 21, 2015 - link
It's a little comical that a good portion of the 'pluses' of android phones have now gone the way of the iPhone. I fear there will be very little for Samsung lovers to hold over iOS soon.... How will you reboot when the OS freezes every day? Can't add an SD card??!! Blasphemy!Seriously though, they look pretty nice. Almost like an iPhone.
FlushedBubblyJock - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
oh but if feels so industrial designed and so well built in my hand its so ergonomic my money impression is very, very high as my brain has been fried to a crisp from my desire to be somebody important and wealthy...FlushedBubblyJock - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
excuse me but i have too go visit steve jobs grave for my monthly pilgrimage, and check my stock portfolio for my apple daily increase, an apple a day keeps retirement at bay !!!holmberg - Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - link
Could we get a measurement of the audio quality (i.e. the DAC and amplifiers, NOT the speakers), similar to what you did for the S5 here:;http://anandtech.com/show/8078/smartphone-audio-te...
FlushedBubblyJock - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
oHHMMM ah I have recieved a premonition:When the time comes, metal industrial apple clone design won't be the glossy cocktail party rave it is now for all the reviewers... the new "nano carbon" hardshell and totally black design will be the inherently desired feel it up in the hand "win" the reviewers and crybabies all claim we want.
So, soon enough, when it's as cheap as a popcan is now, carbon fiber phone rage will storm the gates.... oh it's so light and so stiff, it feels so strong in my hand (like a fem commenting) ...
YEP - that's coming next - then after the reviewers convince the whole industry to trend toward carbon fiber and leave the metalheads in the dust (their newly created idiots wake) we will have another brain fart of gigantic proportion to deal with...
Warnings about carbon fiber slivers will go unheeded - there may be a whole section on how to reduce scratches and nano crackings and splittings of the fiber along with sales kits and superglue derivatives to rebond the nano cracks...
Next some of the more fervent feeler uppers will wind up in the hospital witth carbon paw poisoning or necessary eye cleansings since they sneezed up the raw carbon tubes into their own faces...
In the mean time they will have alzheimers from feeling up their aluminum metalized wonder industrial builds....
Yep, coming soon to a raw brain fart industry of elite 1% self love.
Forget that plastic if flexible, moldable, much more comfortable in the hand, lighter, and easily snapped apart and together - we must now have metal with apple 5star hex screws - and soon only carbon fiber probably with glass reinforced or ceramic fastener holes... and the elite will rave at the sensational high quality super high $$$$$ feel in their paws...
Yeah man, it's coming - if they charged ten grand for solidified rice paper the elite and feely nerd ego wackos would praise it to the moon and sky...
FlushedBubblyJock - Friday, April 24, 2015 - link
Where the heck is the scree resolution comparison and the pixels per inch chart putting the apple fans to shame ?I just read elsewhere the ppi which was always fanfare here when apple had the lead is 557 ppi ...
That's way above the 200-300+ I'm used to seeing...
So it's 4k resoluion and 557 pixels per inch - doesn't that deserve a whole page of glorious praise comparing to the other losers, which is everyone is it not ?
ubcjack - Tuesday, April 28, 2015 - link
Can Anandtech write an article to explain how Samsung implement PDAF over Sony's IM240 sensor? I'm really interested in the implementation.DIYEyal - Thursday, April 30, 2015 - link
If this phone was thicker with a bigger battery, dual sim, micro SD and waterproof it would have been the perfect phone for me.Rumors suggest that samsung is about to release a dualsim version, so I'll probably buy that.