PHONE SUMMARY
Samsung’s Galaxy S6 is fast, well built, has a gorgeous screen and the software isn’t overly intrusive. The fingerprint scanner is vastly improved, the heart-rate scanner a potential draw for some users, and the wireless- and fast charging are welcome inclusions. It’s a shame we’ve lost the removable battery, waterproofing and microSD support, but these are all things we can live with. Full review at tinyurl.com/h42Lc9k
Internal sound quality
The Galaxy S6 has a fantastic internal audio output. The Wolfson WM1840 provides it with its unique meaty sound signature, while remaining accurate and not overly V-shaped in its sound reproduction. The Samsung combines a little bit of every frequency, which works very well. It definitely wasn’t the best mid or high-tone frequency reproduction we tested, but the way it combines them all led us to give the Galaxy S6 a Recommended award.
Wolfson Microelectronics WM1840 DAC.
When used alongside an amplifier, we were able to hear very minimal interference, which occurred when on idle.
The Galaxy S6 was able to drive everything we threw at it. It was the most powerful of all the phones in this group test. Score: 55- to 60 percent
The Samsung has a fantastic sub-bass extension and a great mid-bass slam. We feel the mid-bass slam is slightly uncontrolled, but its overall reproduction of the lows is fantastic.
Its mids are a little pushed back, but by not such a great degree. We feel the mids are a little recessed and create a V-shaped sound to the phone’s internal output. The Galaxy S6 has a warm and slightly more fun sound to it in comparison to the iPhone 6s or the Nexus 6P, which were both excellent in their mid-range reproduction.
We found the highs to extend well, and provide a fantastic sparkle to the music we were listening to. Furthermore, unlike other phones that had a good high-tone response, but sounded a little sibilant; we found the Galaxy S6 extends well, without being sibilant, which was a pleasant surprise.
As stated above, we feel the sound signature is a little V-shaped. We found the instrument separation and tonality to be good, but what really stands out is its accurate reproduction of the music, which was extremely well received.