The past fortnight has been a busy time in the world of mobile phones – we’ve seen the launch of Samsung’s latest Galaxy products, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and of course the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition. In the next few blog posts we’ll offer our take on the various gadgets being released this year, and what they will offer to the business world.
A galaxy not so far away
The first major launch event of the season was for the Samsung Galaxy S6, and the S6 Edge. There have been rumours, leaks, and suspicions for months about these latest additions to the Galaxy line. After the disappointing sales of the S5, most industry commentators felt that Samsung needed to do something different. And they most certainly did.
The first thing that you’ll notice about the S6 and the S6 Edge is the design. Samsung have eschewed their slightly plasticky go-to look, and modernised the S6 with a glass and metal handset. This was a necessary move, as the high-end product no longer matched its less-than-premium feel. It is still light, weighing in at around 138g – the equivalent of about 14 or 15 pound coins, and just five grams heavier than the S5. The iPhone 6 weighs 129g, and the 6 Plus, 172g. Of these four handsets, the S6 Edge – weighing 32g – offers the best size to weight ratio, due to the curved edges.
Plus ça change
Obviously, when you are making such changes to an already established line, there will be some dissent. The more new features, and the greater the risk.
Some of the new features in the S6 and the Edge were definite crowd-pleasers at the launch event. Both handsets offer fast WPC and PMA wireless charging; the S6 will give four hours of use after just ten minutes of charging, and can charge from 0-100% in around half the time of the iPhone 6.
The potential downside to this is that Samsung have done away with the removable battery. It remains to be seen whether this is a feature that users will miss.
As well as the lack of removable battery, the new design does not allow for the addition of extra memory via an SD card, however different capacity handsets are available. There have also been a few comments regarding the lack of stylus for the S6, but with the modern curved sides of the Edge, the consensus in the Fivebars office is that a stylus would look outdated and old-fashioned next to such a clean, metal and glass design.
The question on everybody’s lips is “how much will it cost?” As is common with tech launches, Samsung did not indicate a price – it is likely that they want to gauge reception first. Nonetheless, at least one company are taking pre-orders for the S6 for £579. As with any mobile phone, the price will depend very much on the deal, and the dealer. For the best in business mobile contracts, contact us.
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