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Why You Shouldn’t Buy the Samsung Galaxy S6 Right Now

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Tomorrow, US carriers will start taking Samsung Galaxy S6 pre-orders ahead of a release date on April 10th. While a Galaxy S6 pre-order for the regular model or the Galaxy S6 Edge will obviously be tempting, there are some reasons why you shouldn’t buy the Galaxy S6 or the Galaxy S6 Edge on the first day of availability.

Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are both impressive smartphones. They come loaded with high-powered specs including a 5.1-inch-inch Quad HD display, an upgraded rear camera with Optical Image Stabilization, a new design language that includes metal and glass, Android 5.0 Lollipop software that’s backed by a new version of TouchWiz, built-in wireless charging, and more.

The new Galaxy S6 variants are set to replace the Galaxy S5 in several regions next month including the United States. In the U.S., carriers will start taking Galaxy S6 pre-orders ahead of a Galaxy S6 release date set for April 10th on most carriers including Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular. The precise AT&T and Verizon Galaxy S6 release dates remain out of reach for the moment.

While these pre-orders might be tempting to some of you, there some reasons why many of you should consider skipping the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge pre-orders, at least for the time being. Here’s why some of you shouldn’t buy the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge the second they go on sale tomorrow morning.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Price

Today, US carriers finally announced the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge price points. As expected, both of these devices are expensive. The Galaxy S6 will start at $199.99 for the 32GB model while the Galaxy S6 Edge will start at $299.99 on-contract. Some carriers haven’t released their pricing but we expect AT&T and Verizon to fall in line with what we’ve seen from their rivals. For many of you, that’s a huge investment.

While we haven’t seen any Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge price cuts or information about price cuts emerge, retailers have a long history of undercutting US carriers in and around major smartphone release dates. What we’re saying is that we’ll probably see some Galaxy S6 deals emerge in and around the April 10th release date.

Galaxy S6 Color Options - 16

Amazon and Walmart are both going to stock these phones and both are notorious for shaving a few dollars off the standard price points. We’re not talking an immediate $100 price cut but we wouldn’t be shocked if we saw the prices dip $20, $30, $50 shortly after their arrival in early April.

While many of you are alright with paying full price for your next smartphone, there are plenty of other people that won’t want to drop $200+ on a device that’s not going to be out until April 10th. There’s a ton of potential for the Galaxy S6 and perhaps the Galaxy S6 Edge pricing to dip between tomorrow’s pre-order date and the end of April so if you want to save, we suggest holding off on buying either device for the time being.

Potential price drops aren’t the only reason to avoid an extremely early Galaxy S6 pre-order though.

If You Haven’t Gone Hands-on

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will offer a unique set of features. The Galaxy S6 Edge in particular comes with a display that wraps over the sides of the phone. This is why it’s going to cost $100 more than regular model. While these two devices are set to become two of the top Android options on the market, you should not pre-order them blindly, even if you consider yourself a smartphone enthusiast.

To ensure that you like what the regular Galaxy S6 has to offer or if you really need the bent display on the Galaxy S6 Edge, you’re going to need to go hands-on. You cannot play around with the bent screen or the Galaxy S6’s new software behind a computer screen. You absolutely need to go play around with these phones for more than a few minutes before committing hundreds of dollars.

Galaxy S6 Color Options - 15

Tomorrow, some stores will have the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge on display. However, many of you won’t be able to take work or school off to go play around with them for an extended period of time. And until you’re able to do that, we recommend holding off on a Galaxy S6 pre-order ahead of the Galaxy S6 release date.

Loyal Galaxy S users are the exception though we still recommend going hands on. The Galaxy S6 Edge is a new product and there is also increased competition this year. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus both have large screens, the HTC One M9 is set to arrive on April 10th, and devices like the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 were recently upgraded to Android Lollipop. (The Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S5 should be a little cheaper too.)

You can’t just go hands-on with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 and call it a day. You need to go hands-on with the competition and ensure that the Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge is the right choice. It’s going to be very difficult to do all of that on a Friday.

If You Haven’t Done Your Research

These two devices are tempting but you should not make an impulse buy. It’s never smart to buy a new smartphone on a whim and with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge as expensive and unique as they are, you’re going to want to cover all of your bases before you put in a pre-order.

If you haven’t researched the competition (Galaxy Note 4, LG G3, iPhone 6 Plus, etc), haven’t narrowed down your data plan to a final choice, haven’t researched your local cellular networks, haven’t decided on a storage option or a color, or haven’t researched carrier customer service, do not buy either of these phones on their first day of availability.

This research is going to take some time and so be it. There’s no reason to rush into anything. Use the space between the start of pre-orders and the Galaxy S6 release date in April to get your homework done.

Galaxy S6 Color Options - 12

You’ll also want to wait for more Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge reviews from critics to come out. We’ve seen a few Galaxy S6 reviews pop up ahead of the release date, and they’ve been good, but you shouldn’t rely on the opinion of a few.

If you’re on the fence, you’ll want to wait for the rest of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge reviews to emerge so that you can gather more feedback from the experts. We will see more reviews emerge once we get closer to the actual release date.

It’s worth mentioning that we still don’t have a solid Verizon Galaxy S6 release date. We expect it to land in April so you shouldn’t rush out to pre-order another variant, just because the carrier is lagging with its details. Many of you will want to wait for Verizon, the nation’s largest carrier, to announce its pricing, release and storage before putting in a pre-order on another carrier.

USB OTG Galaxy S6

We also mentioned before that the Galaxy S6 comes with a unique set of features. And while most of the hardware is good, there are some limitations that you’ll want to be aware of before pre-orders.

  1. It does not come with a microSD card slot which puts a greater importance on storage. There is a $100 jump in price for extra storage space and that means that you’re going to need to be absolutely sure about what you need.
  2. The Galaxy S6 comes with a non-removable battery. Early Galaxy S6 reviews about battery life have been ho-hum, something to keep in mind if you’re a power user. You’ll be able to buy battery enhancers like Mophie cases but those are going to cost you.
  3. The device isn’t dust or water resistant, something that the Samsung Galaxy S5 design offers to users. Those of you who take your phone into rugged environments need to keep that in mind.

We bring these pain points up for a reason. Rumor has it, Samsung will announce a Galaxy S6 Active that comes with a microSD card slot for expanded storage, a larger battery, and an IP67 certification that provides basic water and dust resistance. It’s expected to retain many of the Galaxy S6’s other key specifications as well. A release is rumored for the summer.

If that sounds at all enticing to you, a Galaxy S6 Active with some additional perks, you might want to hold off on pre-orders for these models until Galaxy S6 Active rumors start to firm up.

We’re not telling you to pass on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Both of these phones look like they have the potential to put a dent into iPhone sales and compete with the biggest Android phones of 2015.

What we are saying though is that for many of you, there’s incentive to skip an early Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge pre-order and wait a few days or a week weeks before making your decision.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. cjgxjgcjgxvc

    05/17/2015 at 7:12 pm

    I would love to know the official price in Walmart☺

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