After weeks and weeks of rumors and leaks, Samsung has finally unveiled their new devices. The company has unveiled the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, and the leaks were more or less spot on as far as the design and specifications go. We’ve already covered the launch of both of these devices at length, and you can access the announcement posts by following the links provided above. That being said, Samsung has re-worked its software skin on top of Android, so, let’s check out what they did, shall we.
Some people have complained about Samsung’s Android skin, TouchWiz, in the past. Samsung has been pre-loading a lot of the company’s very own apps and services on their devices, which tends to affect the performance of the device itself. The company didn’t exactly remove those services and apps this time around, but they have re-worked the software and simplified its look. The new version of Samsung’s Android skin lays on top of Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, and along with that brings a fresh coat of paint, in a manner of speaking. The UI looks significantly cleaner now in certain areas, flatter if you will. Rather than use confusing icons, Samsung has changed many of these to clean-looking text, and apps are color-coded throughout the software for ease of use.
Along with the fresh coat of paint, Samsung has also included some new features here. The company has introduced the “Themes” service, which is essentially an app within the software itself. This app will let you customize parts of TouchWiz, like wallpapers, icons, etc. You can now also use your finger to reply to a missed call, by using the heart rate monitor on the back of the device. Samsung has also included a neat camera Quick Launch feature here, you can access the camera in just 0.7 seconds by quickly double pressing the home button, which might come in hands if you need to capture something quickly.
Samsung brought many spec upgrades here, and this time the device sports a metal unibody design, this is a first for the company. The device also supports wireless charging out of the box this time around, WPC 1.1 (4.6W output) and PMA 1.0 (4.2W) compatible. The company has also brought Samsung Pay to the table in their newest Galaxy S6 devices. This service have been rumored for quite some time now, and it’s now finally here to compare with Apple Pay. Samsung has re-worked their fingerprint scanner and works similarly to Apple’s Touch ID now. The Galaxy S6 devices also offer support for the Galaxy VR headset, so the Galaxy Note 4 is not the only devices that can handle Samsung’s headset now.
