Review of the Samsung Galaxy S6 for Tracfone
This post contains TracfoneReviewer's full review of the Samsung Galaxy S6 which is available to use with Tracfone. We cover lots of Tracfone related topics including news, reviews, deals and promo codes. So take a look around the blog and we hope you find the information useful! |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 Review |
The S6 is a newer phone, only just released to the public in 2015, and now it is also available from Tracfone. When it was released it was one of the best phones money could buy, and it still has the power to outperform the majority of smartphone devices.
The Galaxy S6 comes with a stunning 5.1" touchscreen, a 16 MP camera, and Android 5.0 among other features.
For those who stay current on Tracfone news, you might be aware that Tracfone released the Samsung Galaxy S5 (the previous model of the S6) only a few months before releasing the S6, and they actually share a number of features like screen size and camera. We'll do a comparison of these two phones a little further down, but first let's look at the quick facts for the Samsung Galaxy S6
Samsung Galaxy S6 Quick Facts
The Good:-Android 5.0
-Plenty of Internal Memory - 32 GB
-Plenty of RAM - 3 GB
-Powerful Camera - 16 MP
The Not So Good:
-Expensive - Currently $599 with minutes bundle
As you can see, one of the main drawbacks about the S6 is the price. You could buy an unlocked S6 and bring it to Tracfone's BYOP program to save some money, but the phone is still retailing for $400-500. For more on bringing your phone to Tracfone, visit our Tracfone BYOP page.
Let's get into the full list of features and phone specs for the Galaxy S6 to get a better idea of what it has to offer.
Samsung Galaxy S6 Features and Specifications
Below you can see the phone's features, followed by the technical specs- Android 5.0 Lolipop
- 4G LTE capable using Verizon CDMA Service
- 16 MP Camera, 5 MP Front Camera
- WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC
- 4 Home Screens
- Corning Gorila Glass 4
- Access to over 1 Million apps on Google Play store
- Triple Talk, Text and Data from Tracfone
- Alarm Clock
- MP3 Player
- Voice Dialing and Handsfree Speaker
- Hearing Aid Compatible
- Voicemail, Caller ID, Call Waiting
- Size: 5.65" x 2.78" x 0.27"
- 5.1" Touchscreen at 1440 x 2560 resolution (~576 ppi pixel density)
- 1.5 GHz Quad-core AND 2.1 GHz Quad-core Processor
- 3 GB RAM
- 32 GB Internal Memory (no external memory slot)
- Battery: 2550 mAh (non-removable) with 29hrs Talk Time, 27 days standby
But there are a couple of things about this phone that may make it not such a great choice for some people, and we are going to go over that next.
Tracfone Samsung Galaxy S6 Review
What we Like:We like to start off with the positives about this phone, of which there are a lot, and then we go over a few things that we don't like.
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| Samsung Galaxy S6 front, side and back |
If you're looking for storage, the S6 also has you covered, coming with 32 GB of internal memory to hold apps, photos, videos, downloads and everything else.
The cameras on the Galaxy S6 are also impressive. The rear facing camera is 16 MP and has optical image stabilization (helps keep your images sharper) and LED flash. The front camera is 5 MP and both cameras have autofocus, touch to focus, auto-HDR, face detection and more. The built in camera app comes with a lot of extra features, including manual exposure controls which some photographers might enjoy using.
The rear camera on the S6 is quite good, and will allow you to capture vivid and detailed images of the world around you. Both the front and rear camera can record HD video, with the rear camera also capturing slow motion shots at 120 fps. You can view a gallery of beautiful images taken with the Galaxy S6 to get a better idea of what you can do with this phone.
Lastly, we want to share some additional details about the 5.1" touchscreen on the S6 because it is worth talking about. The size is certainly not the largest (the ZTE Quartz has a 5.5" screen), but it is the prettiest. The resolution is an amazing 1440 x 2560, which gives you a pixel density of over 575 ppi. To put that in real words, you get a screen that looks really good and is very clear. For some perspective, most Tracfone devices have a screen resolution of approximately 400x800, which leads to a pixel density of about 200 ppi. This isn't bad, but the screen on the S6 will blow it away.
There's more good things we could say about the S6, but we want to get to a few issues that may turn a few potential buyers away from it.
What we Don't Like about the S6
There are a few things about the Galaxy S6 that should be considered if you're planning to get this phone, For some, these issues may be enough reason not to get this phone, for others, it won't really matter.
The first thing we don't like is the price, but it's hard to really complain about it too much since this is a high-end device. But Tracfone users tend to be very money-conscious, and few will be as interested in this phone once they learn about the $599 price tag.
Another issue some consumers may not like is that the battery on the S6 is not removable. So if something happens, or you just want to take the battery out, you can't. Additionally, there's no external card slot for a micro SD card. The amount of onboard memory is very good, but if you want to load up a bunch of music you have on an SD card, you won't be able to.
And finally, the Tracfone version of the Samsung Galaxy S6 will probably not get any additional Android updates. So this phone will come with Android 5.0, but you won't be able to update it to Android 6.0 when that becomes available for other S6 devices. (However, if you buy an unlocked Galaxy S6 and bring it to Tracfone BYOP, you will be able to update to the latest Android version.)
As we said, these are small issues with the phone that we thought should be mentioned for those considering purchasing this device.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is a phone packed with modern features and it is hard to compare it to any other Tracfone device except one, the Samsung Galaxy S5. So that's exactly what we are going to do in case some of our readers are considering which of these two devices to purchase.
(The Samsung Galaxy E5 is also an option , but has a lot less to offer, and we compare it to the S5 in our review of the Galaxy E5).
Tracfone Samsung Galaxy S6 vs S5 Comparison
One might assume that the S6 would be the clear winner in a comparison of these two phones since it is the newer model, but it is not as simple as that. The Galaxy S5 (link to our full review) actually has a number of features that somehow were left off the Galaxy S6 and may make it a better choice for some.Hardware-wise, the S6 has the upper hand with 3 GB RAM (vs. 2 GB in the S5) two quad-core processors (vs one quad-core processor in the S5) and 32 GB memory (vs 16 in the S5). The Galaxy S6 also runs Android 5.0 while the S5 will only use Android 4.4. The touchscreen size is the same between these phones, but the S6 has better resolution (more pixels packed into the screen) and has Gorilla glass 4 (vs Gorilla glass 3 in the S5).
Both the S6 and S5 have a 16 MP rear camera with similar features, but the S6 uses a 5 MP front camera while the S5's is only 2 MP.
However, the S5 has several great features that were not passed on to the new generation. The Galaxy S5 is IP67 certified, which means it is dust and water resistant. You can put the S5 up to 1 meter below the surface of the water for up to 30 minutes and there should't be any issues (obviously we don't recommend testing this too much yourself, but there are plenty of videos on YouTube where other people thoroughly test this).
The battery on the S5 is a little larger (2800 mAh vs 2550 mAh on the S6) and it is removable, which is important to some users.
The Galaxy S5 also has a Micro SD card slot, up to 128 GB, which allows you to store a lot more information.
Changes to the interface for the S6 leave users with less customization options (making the S6 a little more like an iPhone) which in some cases might be preferred.
At the end of the day, these phones share a lot of features, but each have certain strengths. One final consideration is that the Galaxy S5 is currently $100 less expensive than the S6.
Which phone is better? Hard to say, the S6 wins in performance and hardware, but the S5 has some important features that could be deal-breakers and we really like that it is dust and water resistant.
Conclusion and Where to Buy the Samsung Galaxy S6
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is the best phone available from Tracfone (at this time) and is a high-end phone that you can use with inexpensive prepaid service. But the cost may be a be roadblock for many users who are interested in this phone.Keep in mind that Tracfone has a number of other devices coming soon, including several mid-level LG smartphones with Android 5.1.1.
You can purchase the Samsung Galaxy S6 from HSN.com where it is offered with a bundle of minutes worth $100, plus extra accessories. We will update if the phone is released elsewhere.
Remember to verify you have CDMA service in your area (check on the Tracfone website) before you buy.
You can view the Tracfone Tutorial for the S6 to learn more about it, and learn how to use it.
If you're new to Android phones on Tracfone, read our guide for How to Check your Airtime balance which shares several different methods for tracking your minutes.
Also take a look at our Android Tracfone List, which is where we list each of the smartphones from Tracfone in one convenient list so you can compare features.
Drop a comment below with your thoughts or questions, and be sure to follow us on Facebook where we have a growing community of Tracfone users.
Thanks for visiting!
10 comments :
Way too expensive for the average tracfoner,and too many "don't likes" in this article...that I happen to agree with.$600 buys an awfully nice laptop which I'd much rather use than a 5 or 6 inch screen!! Thanks for the informative review,though...I always enjoy your input.
Thanks so much for the great review. It was very helpful.
Thanks for pointing out the fact that none of these phones can be updated to include all security updates. People who own smart phones place a huge chunk of private and sensitive information on them. I think it needs to be much more front and center that all of these phones have out of date operating systems and lack all the latest security patches. We don't accept an insecure PC/Laptop why should anyone accept an insecure phone? (A $350 Nexus 5x is a much better option and gets ALL security updates released monthly)
Glad it was helpful, thanks for the coffee!
Yes, this is a serious flaw in the phones released by Tracfone, especially when you can buy the same phone for less elsewhere and bring it to the BYOP program.
Does the Google nexus 5x work with byop on Tracfone service
Yes it does, and it is also the ONLY BYOP phone that WILL receive OS updates and security patches as of July 2016.
I just ordered a Samsung S6 online from NewEgg
it was $130 cheaper than what it is listed at on Tracfone's store
the issue now is since I am new to this service I have a dumb phone with tracfone minutes on it already.
Can I just do call and do a transfer without doing BYOP activation of the smartphone first? Or do I need to buy an activation kit first?
The Smasung Glaxy S6 device is a good camera quality and good processor. It's comes with a Exynos 7420, Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 and Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 processor.
This phone is sold for $399 else where. Way over priced by Tracfone and unlocked else where too. For a locked to Tracfone that is just pathetic. Except I will be getting it free soon I hope. My brother is thinking of getting me on his phone plan through T-mobile and giving me this phone when he gets another phone. So I will be with unlimited talk and text. Use it like a regular phone. Awesome! My first flagship phone. Only hate that it does not have a micro sd card slot. So I will have to use my Samsung Galaxy J3 Luna Pro for mp3 playing.
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