India is finally ready to welcome Samsung's two latest flagships – Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Both the handsets are now set for an India launch this Monday, with both the phones expected to take major leaps for the company in terms of designing and user experience.
As of now, great sales figures have already been charted for both the phones and, as expected, these are said to take the market by storm. While a Citibank analyst recently pushed the forecasts up to 46 million from an earlier 38 million, DRAMeXchange, according to Yonhap News, is predicting another 20% bump for a total of 55 million Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge sold in 2015.
All these numbers look good and can only mean good things for the handsets in a market that's quite unforgiving with so many new names joining the mix. We take a look at the things you should expect heading into the handsets' launch in India this Monday.
Upgraded Display
Samsung hardly faces criticism owing to the kind of mobile displays it offers, or has offered, with the smartphone in the Galaxy series. And it keeps its head high with the displays that are arriving with the Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge. The new Galaxy S6 models come with a 5.1-inch 2K display, offering a monstrous 2560 x 1440 pixels. The pixel density has been pushed up to 572ppi, whereas, for comparison's sake, the iPhone 6 offers 326ppi. AMOLED display has been retained.
Better, Faster RAM
For starters, there's the new Exynos chip that's powering both the handsets this time around. Plus, there's the super-fast LPDDR4 RAM, and a larger 3GB RAM is expected to rid the device of any lags or hang times.
Design Overhaul
We have lost count of the times Samsung has been criticized for using cheap material to build the smartphones in its premium S series, and truly enough, most of its was basic plastic. However, with newer smartphone makers offering more in terms of favourable smartphone build and design, and falling sales, has finally made Samsung realize the obvious and the company has even gone ahead of the previous not-so-attractive leather back and has successfully replaced it with glass. Even the sides have been constructed using metal, just like the Note 4.
Missing Expandable Storage
This is somewhat newer territory for Samsung – offering handsets without a microSD slot for memory expansion. While we have no idea as to how consumer-friendly a move this might be from Samsung, but fans will be happy to know that the minimum storage capacity model version for both have been upgraded from 16GB to 32GB. Removal of a microSD slot almost puts the handset in the same ground as that of an iPhone.
The Power of Exynos
Samsung, as stated earlier, has fitted both the handsets with its quite the talked-about Exynos chips. The new Exynos comes with the previously promised 14 nanometre (nm) architecture for resourceful performance. For both the handsets, expect Samsung's Exynos 7 Octa-core processor, containing two quad-core processors (clocked at 2.1 GHz and 1.5GHz respectively).
Wireless Charging via WPC, PMA
While few indeed will complain about Samsung's decision to adopt non-removable batteries for the new handsets, know that the company now allows you to charge the handsets wirelessly. With the help of the supported WPC and PMA wireless charging components and Samsung's proprietary charging pad, the company promises at least 50% battery in half an hour.
Improved Camera
Taking cue from the Galaxy Note 4 before it, Samsung maintains the same 16MP sensor for the new handsets. However, there are few upgrades in the mix that could easily escape common eyes. For instance, Samsung is now using a faster lens. The S6 comes with an f/1.9 lens, meaning bigger aperture. Samsung has also employed the same f/1.9 lens for the 5MP front-facing snapper, as well.
Pricing
While Samsung is anyway expected to commence shipping of the handsets this April, we still aren't sure about the pricing that will be involved for the handsets in India. The closest we can go in that respect is by comparing the prices in Samsung's Netherlands site that listed the 32GB variant of Galaxy S6 for €699 (around Rs 48,400), the 64 GB version for €799 (around Rs 55,300) and the Galaxy S6 Edge for 32 GB version at €849 (around Rs 58,800). On the other hand, the 64 GB version of the S6 Edge has been listed at €949 (around Rs 65,700).
