the latest version of the galaxy s6
finally does active well but it's a
great phone for plenty more than just
the active types spoiler alert I got one
for myself this is Joshua Vergara from
Android authority what's going on
everybody and this is the samsung galaxy
s6 active the original s6 edge brought
glass and metal to a gradually
underwhelming design language but the
active version goes back to full plastic
builds with rugged lines and obvious
signs toward the phone's durability it
is beefier all-around with hard lines
showing not only how thick the device is
but how much more rugged it is rear
camera flash print and a thick full
bolted lining on the back try to show
some real strength of course the plastic
will suffer from the typical problems
from drops and bumps scuffs will detract
from the actives looks little by little
not to mention the thickness of the
device makes it really stand out in the
galaxy s6 line though it could be argued
that this actually helps handling the
buttons on the s6 active are now all
tactile and substantial including the
recent apps and back buttons up front
and the addition of the active key on
the top left obvious issues can arise
from this though when in the pocket
presses of the power home and active
keys can wake the phone which has been a
nuisance sometimes the phone does have
an IP 68 certification so it can take a
tumble and a plunge and there are no
covers on the microUSB charging port or
the headphone jack up top which is great
but also a military-grade seal of
approval when it comes to shocks makes
this a phone that you can really throw
anything at or you can throw it at
anything and you would still have a
working phone and in our testing that
has certainly been the case despite
Falls and plunges in water the Essex
active never missed a beat sure the
right drop of the screen on a jagged
rock will make a crack but no user
should be looking to do that
deliberately anyway accident spills and
light tossing around in daily life are
what this phone protects itself from
scuffs and scratches will gradually chip
away from the s6 actives looks which
isn't the most positively received
aesthetic anyway plenty of you have
already sounded off on how much worse
this phone looks in the s6 but obviously
those are all matters of opinion we do
tend to agree though that the camera on
the lighter versions of the phone are
odd to say the least but we
would be remiss if we didn't focus at
least a bit on the very sleek black
looking addition which is the one that I
personally have now with no camera on
the back the black coloring helps mask
some of the more drastic lines of the
active and we simply think that black on
black is the way to go here even if
scuffs in the future will show much
easier on it sure the galaxy s6 active
makes it kind of painfully obvious why
it looks the way that it does but these
choices do make it provide what other
phones typically don't added peace of
mind for the person who wants a powerful
galaxy s6 in a body that won't put it
out of commission after a small drop
well this is a prime choice and if
you're looking for a phone that does all
of that already
then you're probably not going to be
surprised why the phone looks the way
that it does what makes the active line
so intriguing is that Samsung doesn't
skimp on the high quality essentials
just for resistance ratings the screen
is a great starting point to see this as
the great quad HD Super AMOLED display
returns and is encased in the strong
body we just got done talking about and
at 5.1 inches the typical saturated
colors pump out 576 pixels per inch the
display really does punch out colors but
they are easy to see outdoors especially
when the light sensor notices the bright
conditions and pumps of the display for
even better viewing all text looks good
as well and at 5.1 inches in the screen
there should be few issues reading words
here though water will still register
touches on the screen it's important to
note that it doesn't spaz out when
submerged that being said the screen can
be made inoperable for underwater camera
usage by using the aqua mode in the
camera app another great display by
Samsung returns and an active version of
its newest smartphone so there's no
sacrificing viewing enjoyment just for
the ruggedness this phone gives
performances also as good as ever with
the exceed no 7420 also returning and it
could be argued that for active types it
is just as important to be snappy three
gigabytes of RAM helps with multitasking
and then there is the mali t760 for
gaming now speaking of gaming few issues
have been observed on playing my typical
games and perhaps more importantly the
active never got as warm as its original
brethren when under heavy gaming load
multitasking is easy as well with the
recent apps button getting a lot of play
from my particular active lifestyle
music apps activity trackers and
evernote for logging workouts are among
the most used combinations ultimately
the same great performance from the
original s6
comes from not only the powerful
in-house processor but the optimizations
made to the UI again done in-house and
in our opinion done right even my
personal unit customized with a Google
now launcher and a custom lockscreen
works fine and seldom slows down to the
point where I need to close all
applications it's probably obvious where
the hardware gets changes here with the
water shock and dust resistance that
makes this phone one of the most
resilient devices we've used this year
the storage is nothing to boast about
however as there is no micro SD card
slot once again like in the originals
and the active only comes with 32
gigabytes of on-board storage which can
get used up pretty easily some
compromises also had to be made in the
active like the rear-facing speaker that
is already a step back because of where
it is and then becomes almost an
operable until any water that gets into
it dries out there's also the lack of
the fingerprint reader in the home
button which fans of the good iteration
on the s6 and edge will likely miss but
the heart rate monitor returns which
probably makes a little more sense for
this active edition of the phone than it
does on the rest of Samsung's lineup as
an exclusive on AT&T 4G LTE connectivity
is as good as the carrier can dish out
but there have been no issues thus far
with connectivity and phone calls have
come in loud and clear without any drops
a main part of the hardware department
is the active key a new button that can
be used to launch to applications either
by tapping or holding the button it
makes sense as a quick way to open an
activity center which it does by default
and a finished application when you're
on the move but it makes just as much
sense putting calendar apps and Evernote
on it for quick access and logging of
important information if there's one
thing to take away from the s6 active
it's that this active key a customizable
launching button is pretty much useful
for anyone and it's probably a feature
that they should make available across
all Samsung phones after this one a
high-capacity thirty five hundred
million power unit is in this thicker
phone with wireless charging
capabilities baked in and improves one
undeniable truth about battery life
bigger is definitely better full days of
work have been met with relative but
consistent ease by the active with some
days leaving me at least thirty five
percent left in the tank and moderately
heavy days getting me down to about
twenty recently fast charging has felt
like a consolation price to what was
supposed to be better battery life in
our phones
but the active is proving that if you
have a big battery and fast charging
well that's probably the combination
that works best for all of us right now
the camera of the active is the same as
the galaxy s6 16 megapixels at F 1.9 for
the rear and a wide F 1.95 megapixel
shooter for the front of course the
experience is the same across the board
with the s6 line with a pretty intuitive
camera app capable of all typical modes
and a pro mode that allows for changes
in certain key elements like the white
balance ISO and manual focus
the only real addition in the camera of
the active is the aqua mode which makes
the screen inoperable for underwater
usage pictures and videos are triggered
by the active key and volume rocker
respectively so image quality remains
quite high with details captured very
well and largely left alone due to a
minimal amount of post processing Oh
light shots do suffer from the typical
noise but it manages to do a better job
than the majority of Android smartphone
cameras in the market in situations from
selfies to foodie pictures photos and
video look great on the active as they
did on the s6 and edge which means good
news for the outdoorsy type who might
want to record a scenic memory but for
everyone else this is still one of the
best camera experiences available in
Android today and finally in software
the same streamlined TouchWiz experience
keeps the s6 active snappy smooth and
about as fast as we've ever seen a
Samsung device go the only real addition
in the active is the activity zone which
basically lumps together s-health
media app milk and some extra tools like
a barometer and stopwatch together for
easy access by default it is the app
that opens when hitting the active key
but it is just as easy to put your own
personal fitness application in place of
it speaking of personal customization
the theme engine has provided an option
for users to change the general colors
mostly of core areas of TouchWiz with
replacement launchers and applications
available for further changes my
personal Essex active is a prime example
of this but even then the core of
TouchWiz isn't bogged down by any of the
tweaks that I've made the activity zone
is not a huge improvement for the active
but perhaps it's better to look at this
rugged phone as a powerful yet durable
shell around whatever fitness ecosystem
you might already use in hand ROI on top
of any other tweaks you might make for
your version of Android a total price of
695 dollars puts the s6 active just a
tad more expensive than the original
six and plenty of cheaper than the sxej
the catch however is that the active is
available only on AT&T which will
hopefully change but it's somewhat
unlikely we've seen rugged phones before
but this just might be the best one of
the bunch that's because what made the
original s6 so powerful and so great
returns and is now enhanced by what only
a ruggedized phone can offer Samsung
would do well to provide this phone on
more than just the ATT network but would
also do all to remember certain aspects
of this phone that might make future
ones better we're talking about big
battery and also that active key the s6
active might be setting a benchmark in
what an active lifestyle phone should be
mainly because the phrase active
lifestyle can mean so many things and
this phone men just to satisfy pretty
much all those demographics an outdoorsy
person can knock this phone around and
still have a perfectly working device a
gym rat can check heart rate and then
quickly change songs or fitness routines
using the active key and even the heavy
phone user couch potato will benefit
from one of the best battery life
experiences we've seen this year it may
not be the prettiest phone but the s6
active succeeds wonderfully in all of
the places where it counts and something
has to be said for a phone that you
actually don't have to worry about
inside and out as always thank you guys
very much for watching and I hope you
enjoyed this review of the Samsung
Galaxy s6 active I stopped short of
saying that this is the phone the Essex
should have been in the first place
mostly because it's looks don't appeal
to everybody but certain aspects of this
phone really make it compelling and
perhaps the Essex could have benefited
from things like the active key and a
much larger battery which is what you
get in the active it is available for
everybody thankfully but you have to go
on 18t in order to have it so if you are
not on ATT well the barrier of entry is
a little bit high for you guys but to me
it's a little bit worth it and I was
already on AT&T so I just went ahead and
got one for myself so keep it tuned to
Android authority for even more about
the Galaxy s6 active you can see my vs.
video against the original s6 and the s6
edge to hear my thoughts on how it
stacks up against the original brethren
and from there you can watch all of the
rest of the content from my brothers and
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