April 10 was the big launch day for the new Samsung duo – Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. It was a worldwide launch and their availability in Canada was no surprise as the Black Sapphire and White Pearl were showing up at most carriers, and on April 30, the Gold Platinum model should also be available. Rodgers, Bell and TELUS were all there selling as many of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edges that they could get their hands on. Although Virgin Mobile jumped in early with pricing, it wasn’t until now that they and Fido began stocking and selling the devices.
As a reminder, the pricing (rounding up) for the Samsung Galaxy S6 for the 32GB model is $250 on a two-year contract and $730 off-contract and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will cost you $350 on a two-year contract and $830 off-contract. Virgin Mobile and Fido will offer only these two models. For other carriers, the Galaxy S6 with 64GB will cost you $360/$840 and $470/$960 for the 128GB model. The Galaxy S6 Edge will cost you $460/$940 for 64GB and $570/$1,050 for the 128GB model.
The new Galaxy S6’s were reworked from the ground up – no more plastic and no more dimpled backs…they have been replaced by a unibody aluminum chassis with Gorilla Glass 4 for the display and the back of the device. Very well built and premium looking from all directions, and the Galaxy S6 Edge adds that extra ‘WOW’ factor with a dual-curved display and sales are expected to be in record numbers. Samsung also did away with the removable battery and the microSD card slot on the new Galaxy S series – this has a few people upset that were used to these two staples on their Samsung smartphone. Samsung instead is selling the three – 32GB, 64GB and 128GB – storage models similar to the iPhone, and so far that has worked out well for Apple.
Samsung has incorporated many power-saving features in the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. The improved Super AMOLED display is designed to draw less power, the Exynos 7420 14nm processor is designed to save power, as well as the new memory chips. Samsung’s new battery can give you up to 4 hours of usage on a charge of only 10 minutes…and they included wireless charging (Qi/PMA) for the first time, so your device can charge while you are at your favorite Starbucks or restaurant that offers charging mats. They are hoping that people will not miss the storage card or the removable battery.