Gadgetory


All Cool Mind-blowing Gadgets You Love in One Place

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active Review!

2015-07-11
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 Android and you can keep it here for even more Jabba some likes in our videos and subscribe to our channel if you haven't already once you're done with all of that listen to the Android or a podcast head on over to our forums at to discuss Android at length and then keep it tuned to Android Authority calm because we are your source for all things Android
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.