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Verizon Galaxy S6 Release: 11 Things to Expect

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In the buildup to the Samsung Galaxy S6 launch date, we’ve been taking a look at some of the finer details including the specs, price and Galaxy S6 release date. Today, we want to dig a little deeper and take a look at what we expect from the highly anticipated Verizon Galaxy S6 release and release date.

As we march closer to the Samsung Galaxy S6 launch date on March 1st, we’re beginning to see Galaxy S6 rumors start to firm up. Galaxy S6 specs have been rumored left and right and many of them are all but confirmed ahead of Samsung’s announcement. We’ve seen the Galaxy S6 design and Galaxy S6 price rumored ahead of its announcement. We’ve also seen Galaxy S6 release date rumors start to hone in on specific timing for the device’s arrival.

In the U.S., we’ve even seen the Samsung Galaxy S6 release confirmed. AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile have all been confirmed ahead of the device’s March 1st arrival at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Two other carriers are rumored to have the Galaxy S6 on tap though U.S. Cellular and Verizon remain silent about their plans.

Expect a curved Galaxy S6 Edge and a regular GalaxY S6 display.

Expect a curved Galaxy S6 Edge and a regular GalaxY S6 display.

The Verizon Galaxy S6 release is rumored but it remains unconfirmed days ahead of Samsung’s announcement. In the buildup to the Samsung Galaxy S6 launch date, we’ve been taking a look at its most important details and making some predictions of our own.

Today, we want to take a look at what we expect from the Verizon Galaxy S6 and the Verizon Galaxy S6 release date. Our goal is to set the tone ahead of Unpacked 2015 and ahead of Verizon’s announcement. Here’s what we expect.

Verizon Galaxy S6 Release Date Anomaly

Verizon still hasn’t confirmed a Galaxy S6 release though we wouldn’t read too much into that at this point. Yes, the carrier’s had some problems with slow releases in the past (the HTC One M7, the Galaxy Note 4, and several others) but we don’t expect its rivals to come out with a Galaxy S6 months ahead of Big Red.

Do we expect the arrival of the HTC One M9 to complicate Verizon’s plans? Perhaps. We have a feeling that HTC’s new phone might be one of the reasons why Verizon hasn’t confirmed the Galaxy S6’s arrival. The carrier likes to separate major release dates by a couple of weeks at least. So if the HTC One M9 is close, that could play into Verizon’s timing.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Release Best Buy -2

Still, we wouldn’t expect Verizon to pull an HTC One M7 here. Samsung’s new flagship has the potential to be one of the biggest smartphone releases of the year and we’d expect its Galaxy S6 release to fall in and around the others. Verizon somehow managed to the Galaxy S5 out on time last year and we expect it to have its act together this time around as well.

Verizon Galaxy S6 Release by May

Galaxy S6 release date rumors center around a release in March or April. The U.S. is typically among the first to get major Android devices so we expect U.S. carriers to get the Galaxy S6 within a reasonable amount of time.

We expect Verizon to release the Galaxy S6 by the start of May. We’d be a bit surprised if it arrived in March. We wouldn’t be shocked at all if it landed sometime in April. Samsung’s done an excellent job closing the gap between launch and release and with Galaxy S6 release date rumors all hinting at a fast release, we don’t expect less from the Galaxy S6.

Galaxy S6 Edge Release

AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile all released teasers for the Galaxy S6. Those teasers, if you haven’t seen them, showcase a Galaxy S6 Edge with a curved display. It’s a device that’s been rumored several times over and one that showed up in a recent photo-op ahead of its announcement.

We expect a glass back and metal frame on the Galaxy S6.

We expect a glass back and metal frame on the Galaxy S6.

We expect Verizon to carry the Galaxy S6 Edge. We’ve seen the supposed model number for the device leak out and if its bitter rivals are carrying it, you’d better believe that the nation’s largest carrier is going to buy-in.

And yes, we expect it to be more expensive than the regular old model. Galaxy S6 Edge price rumors suggest that it will be $100 more than the Galaxy S6. This makes sense given the $100 price difference between the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge.

Focus on Galaxy S6 Edge

Verizon hasn’t released a teaser of its own but we expect it to follow its rivals.

A recent report from ArsTechnica outlines Samsung’s marketing plans, plans that apparently will extend to U.S. carriers. Samsung will reportedly focus its marketing efforts on the Galaxy S6 Edge and not the regular Galaxy S6. That explains why the U.S. release teasers were all for the curved variant and not the regular model.

The AT&T Galaxy S6 release is confirmed.

The AT&T Galaxy S6 release is confirmed.

One-third of Samsung’s Galaxy S6 stock is supposedly made up of Galaxy S6 Edge models so we expect it, and its carrier partners, to really push this device to consumers. We expect Verizon, like other carriers, to have a difficult time doing so.

One, yield is supposedly going to be extremely low which means that we could see stock shortages. Two, its price is expected to be pretty steep, something that might turn people away. And three, the Galaxy S6 Edge display may not be as useful as the Galaxy Note Edge’s display.

Multiple Color Options

The Galaxy S6 is supposedly coming in four colors: black, gold, green, and white and gold. A recent leak showing off colors and storage seems to confirm those details ahead of time and we’re fairly certain that Verizon is going to carry multiple variants of both the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.

Galaxy-S6-colors

We’d expect Verizon to have at least two Galaxy S6 color options available on release day. Black will undoubtedly be one of the starter colors and we’d be surprised if customers were limited to just that. Samsung and its U.S. carrier partners rarely have more than two available on release day but that could certainly change here with the Galaxy S6.

Multiple Storage Options

Samsung Galaxy S6 photos point to the lack of a microSD card slot for expanded storage. If that’s true, and it might be, we’d expect Samsung to offer multiple Galaxy S6 storage options.

In years past, carriers have been able to get away with selling the base 16GB model and the 16GB model alone. Without a microSD card slot, there’s more incentive to offer more than just the base model. Not everyone wants to pay monthly fees for cloud storage.

Closer look at a metal side of the Galaxy S6.

Closer look at a metal side of the Galaxy S6.

Galaxy S6 rumors point to 32GB, 64GB and 128GB variants and we’d expect Verizon to offer at least two of these if Samsung opts not to include a microSD card slot on the design. If it does, and the door is still open until its announced on stage, we’d expect Verizon to offer just one storage variant, probably the base 32GB model.

Deals

When the Galaxy Note 4 arrived, Samsung made sure to highlight a trade-in offer to those thinking about buying the Galaxy Note 4. Those buying the Verizon Galaxy Note 4 model were able to take advantage of trade-in deals to knock the device’s steep $299.99 price down a bit. We are expecting something similar from Samsung and Verizon this time around as well.

We’d also expect Verizon Galaxy S6 deals to emerge a few days or weeks after the device’s initial release date. We saw a Verizon Galaxy Note 4 deal emerge at Walmart just a few days after its release and we’d be shocked if we didn’t see some type of Verizon Galaxy S6 price cut shortly after its arrival. Either at Walmart or Amazon or another retailer trying to make a sale.

Plenty of Places to Buy

Best Buy’s already confirmed plans to release the Samsung Galaxy S6 and we expect it to stock the Verizon Galaxy S6 model. It always carries high-end AT&T, Sprint and Verizon smartphones and the Galaxy S6 will be one of the biggest releases of the year.

Best Buy teases the Galaxy S6 release date as "coming soon", in stores.

Best Buy teases the Galaxy S6 release date as “coming soon”, in stores.

We’d also expect the Galaxy S6 to arrive at other retailers like Amazon, Walmart and other carrier-affiliated locations giving consumers a wide variety of options in and around the Galaxy S6 release date.

Look for places like Best Buy to take Verizon Galaxy S6 pre-orders ahead of its release date too.

Some Accessories on Release Day

We’ve already seen a number of Galaxy S6 accessories emerge in the days leading up to the Verizon Galaxy S6 release. We expect there to be a number of Verizon Galaxy S6 accessories to be available online and in physical retail locations though we would not expect every single popular accessory to arrive on release day.

Retailers, carriers and Samsung is ready for a fast Galaxy S6 release date that no one is shy about teasing.

Retailers, carriers and Samsung is ready for a fast Galaxy S6 release date that no one is shy about teasing.

We expect many top Galaxy S6 accessories to arrive weeks and perhaps even months after its release. Samsung’s always slow to get its official accessories to market and we’d expect companies like Mophie to take their time. Mophie’s Juice Pack for the Galaxy S5 didn’t start shipping out until September 8th, months after the device’s release in April.

Verizon Galaxy S5 Price Cut

Verizon’s Galaxy S5 is $199.99 on-contract but don’t expect it to be $199.99 on-contract for much longer. We expect Verizon to cut the price of the Galaxy S5 soon after the Galaxy S6 arrives on stage.

If we had to guess, we’d say that we’ll probably see a $100 price cut or so. The Galaxy S5 is already sold at sub-$100 prices at some retailers though we can’t see Verizon dipping much lower than $99 on-contract. Maybe we’ll see a deal or two arrive in the weeks after the Galaxy S6 release but we’d expect the standard price to dip no more than $99 on-contract.

Frustration

Finally, we expect there to be some frustrating aspect of the Verizon Galaxy S6 release. The carrier’s already failed to confirm its arrival but we expect there to be more where that came from. It’s difficult to predict but here are a few things that have happened in the past:

  • Slow to confirm devices
  • Slow to confirm release dates
  • Slow to confirm pre-orders
  • Slow to confirm pricing
  • Slow to confirm storage
  • Mail-in rebates

Verizon smartphone launches are rarely straightforward and if you’re thinking about buying the Verizon Galaxy S6, brace yourself ahead of the Verizon Galaxy S6 release.

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