Ditching My iPhone For The Samsung Galaxy S6


Getting Basic With It

Relationships. Some go the distance. Others are of a more mercurial nature, such as the one between me and my iPhone.

As much as I loved my iPhone, I've always found iOS to be somewhat immature and not quite serious (a problem that plagues most Apple-produced software), which probably explains why my eye has wandered towards Android phones from time to time. I resisted the urge to explore Android's potentially greener pastures for years, though, opting to stay in my comfort zone rather than navigating the travails of adopting a new OS and workflows, the exasperation of manufacturer-included "bloatware" (Samsung's TouchWiz, for example, was said to be particularly headache-inducing), and the frustrations inherent in getting a non-Apple device to play nice with my beloved MacBook Pro. That is until just recently, when my fidelity was finally broken with the release of Samsung's Galaxy S6.

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At first blush, the Galaxy S6 lives up to its pricey promise, presenting a gorgeous Super AMOLED screen, solid metal-and-glass construction, sleek lines, and a shape and weight that feel assuringly correct. It's a knockout in my opinion. And the attraction only grows deeper with interaction, the device offering a cool touch, sure handling, and a responsiveness that had me throwing screens back-and-forth and repeatedly touching buttons and icons (and touching them again), soaking up the clean rapid-fire transitions. Up until my new GS6 arrived, my contact with Android had been that of a light acquaintance, mostly relegated to relieving my son of his Galaxy S4 whenever he failed to place enough focus on homework/eating/interaction/bathing/sleeping, and going no further than that. Now, though, I am getting to know Android extremely well, as I can hardly keep my hands off of the Galaxy S6.

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I started out-of-the-box with a 52% charge, somewhat trepidatious, but game to start putting the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Android Lollipop through their paces. As ready as I was to see what my new pocket paramour could do, though, I know from long experience with new technology that methodical and patient is the best approach. Start sure and slow, grow into it. So with that in mind, I decided that before letting the outside world in, I would first explore the world inside my new Android charmer. Email, social media, and this-and-that app and cloudy Internet service could wait.

After quickly reassuring myself that I knew how to push all of my Galaxy S6's buttons — Power.. √  Volume Up/Down.. √  Home.. √ — I swiped right on the GS6's impressive 5.1-inch, 1440x2560 resolution, Corning Gorilla Glass 4 covered screen to unlock the device and dug straight into its Settings, always a good place to start with new gizmos. I futzed with the usual suspects — Wallpaper, Ringtones, Wi-Fi, Date and Time — confirmed that some old friends were in place (Airplane Mode, Tethering), and slid easily into others. Themes! A favorite from my Windows Mobile days, long missed in iOS. I even ventured into Fingerprint Recognition — a feature new to me, and one my iPhone 4 could only aspire to — and managed to configure both of my thumbs to it without a hitch.

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At no point was I left shaking my head as to what something meant or what it did, and I played easily with the various functions as they applied to the GS6 and Android Lollipop. Before too much time had passed, I had the Galaxy S6 purring quite nicely. 

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