5 Things You’ll Hate About the Samsung Galaxy S6

The Samsung Galaxy S6 in one of the year’s best phones but it’s not perfect. While there are plenty of things to love about the Galaxy S6, there are also a few things that you might hate. Today we want to tell you about a few things we don’t like about Samsung’s current flagship.

In late February, Samsung confirmed two successors for the Galaxy S5. A Samsung Galaxy S6 and a curved version called the Galaxy S6 Edge. The two devices arrived with tons of upgrades including 5.1-inch high-resolution displays, powerful Exynos 7 processors, excellent rear and front-facing cameras, updated TouchWiz and Android software, premium designs, tons of storage, and more.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 (and Galaxy S6 Edge) are two of the best phones on the market and phones that we’ve been using since their release in April. We love the Galaxy S6. It’s one of the best phones on the market, Android or otherwise, and it’s a device that you must consider before buying your next device.

While we, and many others, think the Galaxy S6 is one of the best phones you can buy, it’s not a perfect smartphone. It’s pretty close to perfection but there are still some things that we think you might hate about the Samsung Galaxy S6, its features, and its support.

Today, ahead of the Galaxy Note 5 launch, we want to take a look at a few things that we, and others, dislike about the Galaxy S6. These might be deal breakers for some of you and they’re important to keep in mind as you do research ahead of your next smartphone purchase.

Slow Updates

Slow updates aren't the only thing we hate about Samsung and the Galaxy S6. We also hate the fact that Samsung's notorious for passing along bad information or no information at all about its Android software updates. 

The company's plans are never laid out for you ahead of time. It typically confirms an update for a few devices and then leaves the rest up to carriers. Most carriers don't like to communicate with their customers ahead of time so more often than not, you're left in the dark wondering when or even if an update will roll out. It's frustrating.

Even worse is that Samsung has failed to set a standard when it comes to the duration of a device's software support. Sometimes its two years, sometimes not. It's not consistent and there's no official policy, at least a public policy, in place to guide potential buyers. 

When you buy an iPhone, you know that you'll get at least three years of software support. Apple doesn't say this on the box or in the manual but we know it will get three years or more because it's set a standard over the years. It's why the iPhone is such a solid investment. You know that you can hold onto it for a long, long time. Not the case with the Galaxy S6.

If you buy the Galaxy S6 today, you have absolutely no idea how long support will last. Maybe it'll get two years, maybe one and a half, maybe three. Only Samsung knows. Or does it? 

With the iPhone 6 you get 3+ years of support. With the Galaxy S6, you'll be lucky if you get two. With an iPhone, you typically get most of what an iOS update has to offer. With Samsung's updates, you sometimes get scraps. 

Remember, these two phones cost the same. 

Mysterious Software Support

App Ecosystem

3 / 5

Another thing that we don't like about the Samsung Galaxy S6 is the app ecosystem that Android provides. There are two parts to this. One, the Android versions of applications are often uglier than their iOS counterparts. In our experience, we've also found them to be buggier. They also tend to be slower to new features and occasionally they won't get a feature at all.  And two, many developers still release iOS applications before they release on Android. A recent example is Fallout Shelter. Bethesda's popular game arrived for iOS in June. It's still not available on Android and at best, it will arrive in August. That's two months after the iOS release. This is just one example.  Since we use both iPhone and Android, this isn't a problem. But most of you won't be using two phones. You'll be using a Galaxy S6 or something else. Something to think about if you're coming from iPhone or you want quick access to the best applications. Learning Curve 4 / 5 If you're coming from a phone like the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S5, you'll probably be able to acclimate to the Galaxy S6 and its software fairly quickly. TouchWiz has changed (for the better) and you'll be familiar with many of its features and their names.  If you aren't coming from a Galaxy phone, you're probably going to hate the Samsung Galaxy S6's steep learning curve. And yes we know there is an Easy Mode but the fact that there is an Easy Mode helps to prove our point.  Samsung's Galaxy S6 comes loaded with features but many of these features are hard to find. Samsung simply doesn't do a good enough job explaining them to new and novice users and it could be months, perhaps even years before you're able to unlock the phone's full potential. The Galaxy S6 is easier to use than previous Galaxy S models and the Galaxy Note but it's still not as intuiative as the iPhone and iOS. iOS is much easier to pick up and master.  Non-Removable Battery This is something that we also hate about the iPhone. The iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 don't come with removable batteries. What this means is that you're unable to install an extended battery for more juice and you're forced to take the phone in or send it away if you need a replacement.  In our time with the two devices, they've exhibited solid battery life though that's not the case for everyone. Many Galaxy S6 users hate the device's battery life. It was also a feature that critics complained about in their reviews.  We don't hate the battery life on our Galaxy S6 but we hate the fact that we have to buy an expensive bulky case to add extra charge. Mileage is going to vary but this could certainly be a problem for those of you used to getting excellent battery life out of your current device.