AeolianReflex
Android Enthusiast
It's been 3 days since upgrading from an S4 to the S6 and I have to say that I am very impressed with the hardware, speed and build of the new flagship. Moving from Kit Kat to Lolipop has taken a little getting used to but that would be the same regardless of the model phone.
For the most part Samsung has really upped their game with this latest build. The camera is beyond any other that I've tried and gives my point and shoot a run for the money. The screen is the best I've seen on any smartphone and the processor / ram has made this a very fast and smooth running device. I have not experienced any lag at all in 3 days of intense usage. The battery life is about what I expected from a high end phone with such power demanding hardware. It's not great but it's not bad. The home key seems a bit flimsy to me but it is tactile and so far has not had a problem.
I wish that I could be as complimentary about the software implementation and what was chosen to be left out. This list has grown each day and makes many of the speed improvements moot because of the time and hassle involved with working around them.
- Swiping can only be done once screen at a time and the choice of screen transition is boring to say the least.
- Scrubbing the screen dots to move quickly across screens no longer works. A real problem for those of us who use multiple screens.
-Pressing the screen dots only increments the display to the next screen and no longer takes the user to the desired screen. If you want to go to the 4th screen to the left you have to tap the dots 4 times.
- The app drawer does not remain organized. New apps are placed at the end of the list every time. The user has to choose to sort by A-Z and confirm the sorting every time in order to keep apps sorted.
- There is no choice of list view in the app drawer so the user is forced to swipe through multiple screens due to the scrolling issue mentioned above.
- Two fingered swiping to access all of the toggles has been removed forcing the user to swipe, tap and then choose if the needed toggle is not in the list of 10 that are allowed in the pull down.
- The direct dial widget has been removed forcing the user to choose an action rather than directly connecting a call.
- Turning off mobile data results in a pop up that must be acknowledged even when the user has wifi enabled and is connected to a trusted source.
- New emails can no longer be deleted from the notification on the lock screen except for 3rd party apps. Maybe this is a lollipop issue but either way it's a step backwards.
- Widgets & apps can no longer be added to the lock screen (other than phone & camera).
This is the list so far. If there are workarounds or settings for these issues I've yet to find them in the pared down settings menus. These are basic functions that should be at least options within the OS or interface. It just seems a waste to step back in functionality when the hardware is so capable of making the experience and usability so much better. Sure, I could install a third party launcher to restore some of the lost basic functions that were present on previous models right out of the box, but having to do that on a $800 phone is ludicrous.
For the most part Samsung has really upped their game with this latest build. The camera is beyond any other that I've tried and gives my point and shoot a run for the money. The screen is the best I've seen on any smartphone and the processor / ram has made this a very fast and smooth running device. I have not experienced any lag at all in 3 days of intense usage. The battery life is about what I expected from a high end phone with such power demanding hardware. It's not great but it's not bad. The home key seems a bit flimsy to me but it is tactile and so far has not had a problem.
I wish that I could be as complimentary about the software implementation and what was chosen to be left out. This list has grown each day and makes many of the speed improvements moot because of the time and hassle involved with working around them.
- Swiping can only be done once screen at a time and the choice of screen transition is boring to say the least.
- Scrubbing the screen dots to move quickly across screens no longer works. A real problem for those of us who use multiple screens.
-Pressing the screen dots only increments the display to the next screen and no longer takes the user to the desired screen. If you want to go to the 4th screen to the left you have to tap the dots 4 times.
- The app drawer does not remain organized. New apps are placed at the end of the list every time. The user has to choose to sort by A-Z and confirm the sorting every time in order to keep apps sorted.
- There is no choice of list view in the app drawer so the user is forced to swipe through multiple screens due to the scrolling issue mentioned above.
- Two fingered swiping to access all of the toggles has been removed forcing the user to swipe, tap and then choose if the needed toggle is not in the list of 10 that are allowed in the pull down.
- The direct dial widget has been removed forcing the user to choose an action rather than directly connecting a call.
- Turning off mobile data results in a pop up that must be acknowledged even when the user has wifi enabled and is connected to a trusted source.
- New emails can no longer be deleted from the notification on the lock screen except for 3rd party apps. Maybe this is a lollipop issue but either way it's a step backwards.
- Widgets & apps can no longer be added to the lock screen (other than phone & camera).
This is the list so far. If there are workarounds or settings for these issues I've yet to find them in the pared down settings menus. These are basic functions that should be at least options within the OS or interface. It just seems a waste to step back in functionality when the hardware is so capable of making the experience and usability so much better. Sure, I could install a third party launcher to restore some of the lost basic functions that were present on previous models right out of the box, but having to do that on a $800 phone is ludicrous.