Samsung Galaxy S6 and Edge lack compelling software; not enough to pull company out of tailspin

MacDailyNews ^ | Thursday, April 2, 2015 · 3:58 pm

[Swordmaker]

NY Times: Samsung finally seems to understand the many criticisms that have long been leveled at its phones: the plastic hardware looked cheap, the most promoted features were mostly useless and the software was too complicated,” Farhad Manjoo writes for The New York Times. “Samsung, according to Samsung, has realized the errors of it ways.”

“The realization was born out of necessity. Samsung’s market share and profits in the smartphone business have plummeted over the last year. The company, which is based in South Korea, is in the unenviable position of getting squeezed from the bottom by the affordable phones made by Chinese upstarts like Xiaomi and at the top by Apple’s powerhouse line of iPhones,” Manjoo writes. “Despite improved hardware, the S6 and S6 Edge still lack compelling software. Unlike Apple, Samsung has never managed to create a built-in suite of software and services to keep people hooked to its own phones. And there are few obvious ways for Samsung to address this glaring flaw.”

The S6 and S6 Edge “are still something of a pain to use. The S6 and S6 Edge run Samsung’s modified version of Google’s Android operating system. Despite Samsung’s engineers’ efforts to clean up the software, the phone’s interface is a hodgepodge of odd design decisions and overly complicated functions… They sell for about the same price as Apple’s latest devices, $199 and up with a two-year contract, or more than $650 without a contract,” Manjoo writes. “If you pay the premium price to Apple, you get a phone with a well-designed operating system, no overlapping preloaded apps, and a host of services that often work very well, like iMessage, Apple Pay and expanding compatibilities with Apple’s personal computers and devices like the Apple TV and, soon, the Apple Watch. You can criticize Apple’s sticky ecosystem as a form of consumer lock-in, but Apple sure has built a luxurious prison, and customers are willing to pay extra for it. If you pay that premium to Samsung, you don’t get a whole lot more than you can get on, say, a phone made by Xiaomi, OnePlus or any of a dozen smaller players.”

Read more in the full review here.

[Paladin2]

My tab works Ok. Better than my hand me down smart phones.

[Swordmaker]

Here’s an article linking the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge review in the New York Times where they don’t find either of them too compelling for your nascent Android Ping List.

[RginTN]

Still have an s2. Such a bother to upgrade.

[Swordmaker]

The New York Times has reviewed the new Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge smartphones, and they found them wanting in comparison to the iPhone 6 and 6plus from Apple.

The S6 and S6 Edge “are still something of a pain to use. The S6 and S6 Edge run Samsung’s modified version of Google’s Android operating system. Despite Samsung’s engineers’ efforts to clean up the software, the phone’s interface is a hodgepodge of odd design decisions and overly complicated functions… They sell for about the same price as Apple’s latest devices, $199 and up with a two-year contract, or more than $650 without a contract,” Manjoo writes. “If you pay the premium price to Apple, you get a phone with a well-designed operating system, no overlapping preloaded apps, and a host of services that often work very well, like iMessage, Apple Pay and expanding compatibilities with Apple’s personal computers and devices like the Apple TV and, soon, the Apple Watch. You can criticize Apple’s sticky ecosystem as a form of consumer lock-in, but Apple sure has built a luxurious prison, and customers are willing to pay extra for it. If you pay that premium to Samsung, you don’t get a whole lot more than you can get on, say, a phone made by Xiaomi, OnePlus or any of a dozen smaller players.” — New York Times

PING!

Apple iPhone 6 v. Samsung Galaxy S6 Review Ping!

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[Jonty30]

The edge is a nice concept. I like the idea of having newsfeeds or email notifications running across the edge of the screen.

[9thLife]

I'm an iPhone user. I'm still amazed at the quality of the product -- partly because finding anything of true quality these days is nearly impossible.

Nevertheless, I don't think Samsung is in a "tailspin" and it doesn't surprise me to find the NYT all-in for products made by the company that Tim Cook runs.

[familyop]

I don't see them on the following list, though.

The following companies support the homosexual movement by funding their political terrorism:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3274821/posts

[familyop]

That is, to clarify, Samsung is not on the list.

The following companies support the homosexual movement by funding their political terrorism:
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3274821/posts

[9YearLurker]

Still love my Galaxy Note II with the giant screen that Apple eventually had to copy.

[4rcane]

Its one of the issues I have with other phone manufacturers. They take the cheap/easy way to keep up with Apple, hardware spec upgrades and outershell look. Apple improves everything, from hardware material, hardware spec to software design

[kingu]

Admittedly, Apple’s OS is far nicer than Samsung’s default, but since it takes all of three minutes to load on a new launcher, it is a bit of a minor bump in the road.

Conversely, with Apple, you get Tim Cook who is actively promoting the gay agenda and chiding elected representatives for their actions on social issues which have nothing to do with Apple’s technology.

Do you want to fund that? Since Apple has the highest profit margins on their hardware of any mainline manufacturer, vs the skin tight margins for others, you can think of it as 30% of your purchase price going directly to fund the gay agenda.

Now it takes a special kind of stupid for a CEO to make this type of analogy valid. Tim Cook is that kind of stupid. So buy Apple, get gay marriage as a free add on, or say no to the gay agenda and kiss Apple goodbye. (Or even better, GET APPLE OUT OF THE FRICKIN’ SOCIAL ARENA! Shut up, make great devices, make people happy, and stay out of politics...)

[montag813]

Lack of compelling software? That’s a good thing. Android users want pure Android, not Samsung bloatware.

[GeronL]

Samsung makes good phones, so does GAYpple for that matter.

Pretending its products are bad is silly

[Bogey78O]

I have an s4. Works very well and the UI is as native as any could be. I use it all the time and will get an s6 as I’m just now starting to have problems with the Sim card after it fell down some stairs.

[Swordmaker]

Samsung makes good phones, so does GAYpple for that matter.

Apple is not GAY, Tim Cook is GAY. There is a difference. Devices are neuter.

[House Atreides]

“Samsung makes good phones, so does GAYpple for that matter.

Pretending its products are bad is silly”
*******************************************************************************************************
I don’t get this anti-Apple jihad tactic of declaring it and its customers to be mainly queer and/or liberals. I guess that is a tactic adopted from the progressives...if you can’t attack a product (because of its quality) start to engage in personal attacks and innuendo.

By the way, neither my iPhone nor my family’s iMac has tried to grope me, so I’m pretty sure that those Apple products are not gay.

[GeronL]

Apple obviously supports the radical gay agenda, if people want to buy something else because of that they are free to do so.

But both companies are making good products.

[Swordmaker]

The edge is a nice concept. I like the idea of having newsfeeds or email notifications running across the edge of the screen.

Apparently it doesn't work quite as you think it does. Take a look at this mini-review from Wired:

The Galaxy S6 Edge Is Totally Beautiful—And Pointless"

[Swordmaker]

The following companies support the homosexual movement by funding their political terrorism:

Samsung is NOT an American company, it is traded on the South Korean Stock Exchange, and by law cannot be involved in any American legislation. Nice try. Google Android is.