Samsung Galaxy S6 Release: 9 Things to Expect Now

Samsung Galaxy S6 pre-orders are now live in the United States ahead of a Galaxy S6 release date set for April 10th on most carriers. With that in mind, we want to take a look at a few things early Galaxy S6 buyers and prospective Galaxy S6 buyers can expect from the Samsung Galaxy S6 release in the United States.

On March 1st, Samsung and its US carrier partners confirmed a Galaxy S6 release. They also confirmed a Galaxy S6 Edge release, the Galaxy S6 Edge being the curved version of the company’s new flagship. For three weeks, Samsung and US carriers remained silent about the important Galaxy S6 release details including the release date, colors, storage, and the all important Galaxy S6 price.

Earlier this week, the companies finally announced firm Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge release plans that include release date, storage, colors, and yes, the Galaxy S6 price. Today, ahead of an April 10th release date, some US carriers are taking Galaxy S6 pre-orders. This allows buyers that have already been swayed to Samsung’s new flagship to put in an early order.

With Samsung Galaxy S6 pre-orders now live and some Galaxy S6 release details still missing, we want to take a look at what you should expect now from Samsung and US carriers going forward. Our goal here is to help Galaxy S6 buyers set expectations ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge release date on April 10th.

Verizon Galaxy S6 Release Date

Yesterday, Verizon confirmed a number of new Galaxy S6 release details including its price points, its storage sizes and its initial batch of color options. The carrier also made sure to let its customers know that Galaxy S6 pre-orders will start on April 1st. What the carrier didn’t announce though was a Galaxy S6 release date for the regular model and Galaxy S6 Edge. It’s a strange predicament for buyers but that’s something we always expect from Verizon.

 

We aren’t sure about the Verizon Galaxy S6 release date itself though we’re expecting Verizon to deliver the details in and around the start of its April 1st Galaxy S6 pre-orders. Maybe that comes in the form of another announcement the day before or the day of. If that doesn’t happen, we’d expect the Verizon Galaxy S6 pre-orders to give away the date.

Verizon, like all retailers, offers pre-orderers a ship by date. That ship by date is either a day or two before a release date or the release date itself. So at the very least, we’d expect the Verizon Galaxy S6 release date for all models to emerge on April 1st, at the latest.

More Galaxy S6 Colors

As it stands, the gold Galaxy S6 is only available for pre-order at AT&T and T-Mobile. Samsung did not announce an exclusive and AT&T and T-Mobile aren’t promoting the color as an exclusive. That leaves the door open for a release on other carriers down the road and we’d be surprised if a carrier like Verizon didn’t jump on the gold model once we’re clear of the initial Galaxy S6 release date and any stock issues.

Even more frustrating is the fact that the blue and green versions of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are missing completely from the Galaxy S6 release date in the United States. These colors are arguably more attractive than the standard black and white models and we’ve spoken to several people that want to know when they can get their hands on them.

It’s hard to predict an exact release date but we’d be surprised if neither of these colors landed in the United States. Just like the gold model, we’d expect blue and green options to emerge days, weeks, perhaps months after the initial Galaxy S6 release.

Samsung is well known for launching new colors late and for offering exclusives to certain carriers and retailers. Best Buy is one such example.

Smaller Carriers Late

Boost Mobile, Cricket Wireless and MetroPCS will all carry the regular version of the Galaxy S6. None of them have announced their release plans though we expect to hear more from them in the near future.

We expect their releases to come a little later than the big boys, maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks late. It’s hard to say. Smaller carriers usually aren’t a part of the initial release day festivities and we’d expect at least one of these carriers to lag. If you’re planning to buy on one of these carriers, be prepared to wait.

We do not expect smaller carriers to offer the expensive Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. If someone does pick it up, it probably won’t be until much later in the release.

Galaxy S6 Deals

We’ve already seen some enticing Galaxy S6 deals emerge ahead of the release date but we don’t expect to see widespread early Galaxy S6 deals for either device.

Best Buy is charging virtually the same prices as its carrier partners and we can’t see carriers dropping their Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge price points any time soon. These are popular flagship phones. If you need precedent, take a look at the Galaxy S5. It’s still $199.99 on-contract at some carriers, including Verizon.

We do expect there to be a few deals available on release, Amazon and Walmart are two places where we could see small price cuts, but we wouldn’t expect anything substantial, at least not on April 10th. We should see some price cuts emerge within the first month but again, these phones probably won’t hit the bargain bin anytime soon, particular the Galaxy S6 Edge.

No Lines on Release Day

If you don’t want to pre-order and you instead want to go in and buy the phone in a store, note that we rarely see lines form outside of physical retail locations on Android release dates. We can’t remember the last time that we had to wait in line to buy an Android phone.

There is clearly a ton of demand for these two phones but we still can’t envision running into iPhone-like lines on April 10th and beyond. We expect you to be able to walk into a store, go hands-on and walk out with a brand new phone on release day.

Complete Sell Out

So far, Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge stock is holding. There’s still plenty of time to go between now and April 10th though. We could certainly see some models selling out ahead of April 10th, the Galaxy Note Edge in particular, but we don’t expect to see an Apple-like sell out complete with shipping times pushed months out from the release date.

We encourage Galaxy S6 buyers to be cautious, it’s difficult to predict the output of Samsung’s supply chain, but we do expect most, if not all, variants to be available on the day that they come out and beyond.

Early Deliveries

T-Mobile’s already confirmed that it will ship pre-orders to its loyal customers ahead of the April 10th release date. It probably won’t be the only one doing this either.

While other carriers haven’t confirmed anything, AT&T says that it will start shipping its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge on April 8th, a full two days ahead of the April 10th release date. What this means is that we should see pre-orders show up on April 9th or perhaps even sooner than that depending on how things go behind the scenes.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active Release

Where there is a ton of smoke there is typically a ton of fire and we’ve seen a ton of Galaxy S6 Active rumors pop up in recent days.

According to SamMobile, Samsung is working on a new Galaxy S6 Active that will debut on AT&T in the United States. If the rumors are true, this is a device that is going to intrigue a lot of people.

The Galaxy S6 Active (SM-G890A) will reportedly have a 5.1 inch Quad-HD 2560 x 1440 (2K) display, an 8-core Exynos 7420 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of on-board storage and a 16-megapixel rear and 5 megapixel front-facing camera.

Rumors suggest that it will come with a much larger 3,500 mAh battery and an IP67 certification that will make it water and dust resistant like the Galaxy S5. Another rumor also suggests that it will come with a microSD card slot, something that the Galaxy S6 doesn’t have.

It’s still in development so things could certainly change but we’d be surprised if it failed to make it to shelves. Problem is, its release date is rumored for the summer, long after the April 10th release date.

Tons of Accessories Now & Later

Finally, expect to encounter a ton of Galaxy S6 accessories on release day. Verizon’s already touting the accessories that it will have available on the Galaxy S6 release day and we expect other carriers to have a ton of options available right from the get-go.

The Galaxy S 6 will launch with many accessories including the S View Flip Cover in Black Sapphire ($49.99). And the Speck® CandyShell Grip ($34.99) will be available for both the Galaxy S 6 and the Galaxy S 6 edge.  Verizon Wireless also has a variety of wireless charging solutions to take advantage of the built-in wireless charging capability on the Galaxy S 6 and Galaxy S 6 edge. It’s a convenient way to charge your phone by simply placing it on the charging pad, no phone plugging in or extra cables necessary.

We expect the Galaxy S6 accessory ecosystem to grow strong as time goes on, not every accessory will be available on release day, so Galaxy S6 buyers should expect to see details and new accessories emerge in April, May and beyond. Look for Galaxy S6 Edge accessories to be a little more limited. It’s a new form factor.