Confirmed: the Galaxy S6 is impressively louder than the Galaxy S5 [VIDEO]

At Samsung’s Galaxy S6 press event, we saw the company claim that the Galaxy S6 is 1.5X louder than the Galaxy S5. You may remember that the Galaxy S5 already had some pretty impressive audio. We cornered the two devices in a room and blared identical audio clips through them, hoping to make a determination once and for all.

Blown away. The Galaxy S6 wasn’t just louder… it was MUCH louder. Was it 1.5X louder? Although we had no mathematical way of measuring the audio levels and comparing decibels in this environment, you’ll have to trust us: even the video above doesn’t do the results justice.

These improvements are likely due in large part to engineering, hardware, and software improvements, but it’s hard to discount the location of the speaker and size of the speaker grill. The S5 featured a tiny speaker on the rear of the device, only propped up millimeters above the resting surface with a tiny dimple on the battery cover. This allowed the sound to vibrate and escape, but clearly not as well as the Galaxy S6 where the sound proudly trumpets from the bottom of the device without hesitation.

Samsung has done an amazing job at improving the audio on the Galaxy S6- it’s head and shoulders louder without compromising any audio quality. The pitch level seems a tad higher at first listen, but we need more time with the device to make a more complete determination of the overall audio quality. From what we hear so far? We’re loving it.

If audio is one of your primary purchase points when selecting a phone, you probably know that HTC has dominated this area with the HTC One M8 (and now the HTC One M9) and the Boom Sound feature. The Galaxy S6 definitely reduces the huge advantage HTC had in this area and we’re eager to eventually get a direct comparison between the two so we can issue a more final verdict.

For now, the Galaxy S6 audio improvements get two loud finger whistles up.

Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge owners get more than $500 worth of digital gifts

Samsung had already told us that they’d be serving up a bag of digital gifts for anyone who buys the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, and now we have all the details. There’s an insane amount of value here as Samsung has valued the package at more than 0. Here’s a long list of everything you’re entitled to:

• Audible: Three months of Audible membership


• Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs of the Dragon: “Samsung Resource Pack” valued at 5,000 gold


• The Economist: Six months of digital subscription


• Endomondo: Six months of Endomondo Premium


• Evernote: Three months of Evernote Premium


• Fleksy Keyboard: Fleksy Keyboard and Modern premium themes


• Hancom Office 2014: Office editor download for an unlimited period from Galaxy Apps


• The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle Earth: “Samsung Resource Pack” valued at 100 Mithril


• Keepy: Six month Keepy Unlimited to save your kids art, school work and mementos


• Kindle for Samsung: One eBook every month


• LastPass: Three months of Premium for U.S. customers and six months Premium for international


• Life360: Six months premium service subscription


• Magisto: Three months of Magisto Pro HD


• NY Times Breaking News: Three months with a subscription


• OneDrive: An extra 100 GB of OneDrive storage for two years *Offer valid only on devices where OneDrive is preloaded


• PAC-MAN Friends: Samsung customers receive 30 cherries (plays)


• Parallels Access: Six month subscription


• Pocket: Six month subscription to Pocket Premium


• Shazam Encore: Special ad-free version


• VSCO Cam: Download The Minimalist Collection, which includes 10 VSCO Cam® presets


• Workout Trainer: Six months of Workout Trainer Pro+

Not all of it will be of interest to everyone who buys a Samsung Galaxy S6, but there’s enough variety here that you should find something worth taking advantage of. All of it can be had through Samsung’s Galaxy Gifts application that can be downloaded from the Samsung Apps Store. Be sure to check it out as soon as you can.

[via Samsung]

It costs more to build a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge than an iPhone 6

In your years as an Android user, have you ever heard the notion that Android phones are the poor man’s iPhone? That may be true for those on the low-mid range of the spectrum, though anyone with a brain would wretch at the statement as it pertains to top-shelf offerings. Android phones in today’s age are built with components just as high of a quality as those found inside the iPhone, and in some cases even more so.

It comes as no surprise the same holds true for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. According to a yet-to-be-released IHS report seen by Re/Code, the 64GB Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge on Verizon Wireless comes with a bill of materials clocking in at roughly 0. To compare, the 128GB iPhone 6 comes with a cost of 3. It may seem an insignificant difference, but when it comes to maximizing profit margins it adds up (even mere cents on the dollar can affect your bottom line in a big way).

It’s even more interesting to think about the fact that even with increased cost in materials, Samsung sells the Galaxy S6 Edge a bit cheaper than Apple does the iPhone 6. Of course, cost of materials doesn’t factor in the money that goes into paying for labor, research and development and marketing, but it’d be hard for anyone to maintain a straight face and make the argument that Samsung’s phones don’t use quality materials.

Much of Samsung’s increased costs come from the curved display, a component said to add to the total. Samsung’s use of 3GB of DDR4 RAM and a UFS 2.0 storage unit (this is near-bleeding edge stuff for mobile phones) also add a pretty significant amount.

Couple that with a metal frame, reinforced glass on the front and rear, a quality camera and a pretty nice kit of silicon in the Exynos 7 chipset, and you have your recipe for a phone that’s filled to the brim with expensive components and the lofty bill of materials to show for it. If nothing else, you can put your mind at ease knowing Samsung didn’t cut a single corner with their latest smartphones, and that you can trump those iPhone-owning friends of yours the next time they try to dismiss your phone as a cheap ripoff.

Samsung is much bigger than you thought [VIDEO]

It’s no secret that Samsung is a large company. Just take a look around your house and you’ll probably find at least one Samsung product. It could be your phone, TV, Blu-ray player, headphones, computer, dishwasher, dryer, refrigerator, vacuum, or light bulbs. Even if you don’t see the Samsung logo on something you still might have a product with some Samsung internals.

Samsung is everywhere.

It’s easy to think we can understand just how large a company like Samsung is, but in reality we have no idea. Did you know Samsung built the tallest building in the world? Did you know Samsung has more employees than Apple, Google, and Microsoft combined? Did you know they have their own military department? That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The video below goes in-depth at how massive Samsung has become. The company that first started out making noodles is now in nearly every household. If you’ve got 11 minutes to spare it’s well worth a watch. You’ll never look at the Samsung Galaxy S6 in your pocket the same way.

OnePlus DR-1 drone is actually real, but it’s little more than a toy [VIDEO]

Looks like our cause for caution regarding OnePlus One’s latest announcement was a bit justified. Just as they confirmed on Reddit, OnePlus has revealed the DR-1, and it definitely is a drone. Only, it’s not the serious spy-right gadgetry you were probably dreaming of when they first mentioned it.

It’s a toy. This thing costs .99, and although it will actually fly for a good few minutes it’s not to be regarded in the same light as something like the IRIS+ Super Drone.

OnePlus is touting this as the world’s smallest remote-controlled drone, though, and they’ll only be available as a limited one time run. Unfortunately the product is already being listed as sold out on their website, and if what they say there is true then there won’t be any other opportunities to snag one in the future outside of something like eBay.

So for all you folks mad that OnePlus was making a new product before shoring up the OnePlus One? Chill out, it’s just a quick little toy that likely took them no time at all to produce and did nothing to take away from the work that still needs to be done on their first ever smartphone.

New survey says Samsung has more customer loyalty than Apple

Customer loyalty is an under-appreciated statistic. The way a company treats its existing customers can make a big difference when it’s time for those customers to buy new devices. Treat them well and they will stick with you, treat them poorly and they’ll ditch you. Apple is always considered to have very high customer loyalty, but a new survey may have proved differently.

SurveyMonkey is a company that tries to define where a brand stands with users. They conducted a survey to gauge customer loyalty from industry leaders. Samsung scored a 35 while Apple scored a 28. Both scores are well above the industry average. Microsoft scored -8 (yeesh). Customer loyalty doesn’t tell the whole story, though.

Customer service satisfaction showed different results. Apple scored 41% satisfaction whereas Samsung was just 25%. These numbers don’t look good for either company. Less than half of your customers being satisfied is not a good thing, especially when the industry benchmark is 75%. Are you satisfied by your Samsung or Apple product? Would you say you’re loyal to either brand?

[via CNET]

LG planning to launch a device on a tier higher than the LG G4

We expected the LG G4 to be the cream of LG’s crop whenever they decide to reveal it later this year, but new reports suggest that won’t be the case this time around. Korean Press has heard directly from LG executives that the company is planning to launch a smartphone in the second half of this year that’s to be regarded more high-end than their forthcoming flagship.

“We are planning to release a product that stands above the G series,” said Cho Jun-ho, who heads LG’s mobile business in a surprise move at the Mobile World Congress that runs in Barcelona, Spain, through Thursday. “It will be launched during the second half of this year.”

That’s all the info we get for now, but it’s not unusual for a company to release a specialized device with more bells and whistles than what is considered their high-end offering.

Samsung has done the same with the Samsung Galaxy Note line up to this point, with that particular phone usually being a driving force for new features, ideas and better performance that will eventually find their way into the next year’s iteration of the Samsung Galaxy S. We saw this most recently with the Note line getting an Edge variant before Samsung introduced the display innovation inside the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

We’re not sure what sort of cool stuff LG will look to try with this supposed smartphone, but considering we already expect the LG G4 to blow us away then there’s reason to get excited for its eventual reveal. In the meantime, we’re just hoping LG won’t take long to announce their next major smartphone.

Android M battery lasts 2X longer than Lollipop thanks to new “doze” feature [VIDEO]

If you were watching the Google IO 2015 keynote, you’ve gotten an early look at some of the things Google’s doing for Android M. One of the biggest things they announced was a feature called “doze,” and it has everything to do with saving precious juice on those petite batteries.

The simplified explanation is that “doze” is a system state that will idle your device and background apps to a near-off state when you haven’t used it for a while, a tactic that can make your phone last twice as long as it would if your Lollipop phone were on standby.

This comes with one sacrifice: apps don’t stay as “fresh,” meaning they won’t be fully up to date with the latest information while your phone is dozing. That’s a small price to pay for double the battery life, though.

And the reason it’s called “doze” is because that doesn’t mean your device has to be completely off the grid to get these battery gains. You’ll still get alerted about phone calls, alarms, and high priority messages (such as text or Hangouts messages) to make sure you don’t miss a thing.

Battery life has been something of concern for Android users since the beginning, and with devices coming with more demanding hardware we’re glad Google is taking drastic measures to improve it.

Samsung’s official Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge Clear View cases scratch your screen more than they protect it

Doesn’t matter if your smartphone’s screen is made of Gorilla Glass 1 or 4 — they’re still prone to scratches. Now, we’re not going to attach a “gate” at the end of this one (we know how much you guys hate it), but it seems Samsung’s own official Clear View case could actually do more damage to your Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge than if you left your display completely bare.

Some users on XDA are reporting tiny little scratches or pits on their glass screens caused by tiny dirt or dust particles that fall in between the display and the plastic clear case. This isn’t exactly an uncommon issue. Ask anyone that’s used a hard plastic case — the ones that only cover the back — on any previous phone and they’ll give you all kinds of horror stories about how the metal or plastic ended up with the exact same blemishes. How Samsung thought this would be a good idea on a flip case that covers the phone’s display with hard plastic is anyone’s guess. It’s just ironic how the very thing someone bought to protect their device, was its own undoing.

Might wanna think twice before buying one of these, or just double up with a screen protector as well.

Google just made it easier than ever to get food delivered straight to your door

We’ve watched as Google has consistently updated their app in recent weeks, adding features like 3rd party voice actions, and even Star Wars trivia. Today, Google announced yet another feature making its way to the search/do everything engine: the ability to order food directly from their search results.

Getting food delivered to your door is easy for the most part. Simply open the app (or go on Google.com from your web browser) and search for nearby restaurant. If they perform deliveries, you’ll see an option under the restaurants listing to “Place an order.” From there, you’ll be able to pick from one of 6 different delivery services: Seamless, Grubhub, Eat24, Delivery.com, BeyondMenu or MyPizza.com.

Once selected, you simply complete your order on their website and you’re on your way to a hot meal. Although the list may sound a bit skimpy at the moment, Google says they’re looking to add more service providers in the future, so keep a look out. And yes, this is US-only for now (sorry, rest of the world).

It’s not quite Chipotle delivery, but it’s the next best thing if peeling yourself off the couch to grab a meal sounds like too much work.

Google Play’s upcoming Family section makes finding kid-friendly content easier than ever

We’ve had more than a few clues that Google was fixin’ to announce a new kid-friendly section of the Google Play Store. They’ve definitely been focusing on family oriented apps with the recent launch of YouTube kids and their acquisition of Launchpad Toys, a studio responsible for popular apps for kids on iOS.

The biggest clue came last week when we discovered Google’s “Designed for Families” program, a special program for developers that allows them to submit their apps for additional review so that they’ll be labeled as family-friendly in the Play Store.

According to Google, more than 1/3 of Android users in the US are parents with a kids under the age of 12. It’s because of this, Google finally took the wraps off their latest project aimed at families, a new family home section coming soon to the Google Play Store.

The new page offers a handful of tools parents can use to help discover family-friendly content for their kids. First up is the “Family star,” Google’s little green star icon that highlights family-friendly apps, games, movies, and books in the Play Store. The family home section also allows parents to search for content based on their age group, showing only filtered family-friendly results.

Because generally kids like looking for content based on their favorite characters or shows, they can now browser for content based on characters like Dora the Explorer, or My Little Pony. Apps and games features in family home (which undergo a manual review process) all feature objective 3rd party content ratings (like ESRB ratings) and are labeled when they’re ad-supported.

Google says that with a new set of parental controls stronger password protection for in-app purchases, Android is more fantastic than ever for families looking to keep a watchful eye over their kids digital playtime.

Official: OnePlus 2 will come feature a fingerprint sensor that’s faster than Apple’s TouchID

Okay, so this mornings OnePlus 2 leak was more than likely a fake, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t get one thing right: the phone’s upcoming fingerprint scanner. We’re sure it was just a lucky guess, what with all the OEMs finally jumping on the fingerprint bandwagon (and native support coming in Android M).

It’s not too surprising but confirmed today by OnePlus themselves, it seems the upcoming OnePlus 2 will, in fact, come equipped with some sort of fingerprint reader. Because there’s so many different types of fingerprint reading hardware out there (some that suck more than others), OnePlus assures us that theirs is one of the latest and most advanced fingerprint sensors around. According to them, it’s even faster at unlocking devices than Apple’s TouchID and can store up to 5 fingerprint profiles.

This latest OnePlus 2 announcement is just one of many more to come. The smartphone startup has a history of slowly revealing key aspects of their flagship’s hardware as they get closer to the full reveal at their press event on July 27th. The event will be one of the first ever to not only be streamed online, but offers a virtual reality experience for those of you lucky enough to have a VR headset at your disposal. If you don’t, don’t worry. OnePlus is supplying those too.

[OnePlus]

OnePlus 2 price confirmed to be more than $322, company pissed off because people are skeptical

Yesterday it was revealed that the OnePlus 2 would use a new version of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 chipset. It’s “v2.1″ and they’ve gone through some revisions to make sure the chipset has no overheating issues.

And everyone proceeded to call them liars. And now they’re mad. No, really, they are actually mad. They maintain that the Snapdragon 810 is a great chipset, and that there won’t be any performance sacrifices made in order to keep the heat down.

Their claims don’t seem unfounded, with AnandTech’s analysis showing that this version of the Snapdragon 810 actually has a 33% advantage in memory bandwidth and a slight increase in clock speed for its GPU.

The biggest reason they’re pissed off is because they feel they really didn’t push the limit in going with the Snapdragon 810, but that would be a very narrow way to look at it. For starters, the Snapdragon 810 is still a top-line chipset despite some of its early issues.

They also revealed that it costs more than the Snapdragon 801 ever did, noting that their phone will most certainly cost more than 2 as a result. How much higher? They weren’t at liberty to say just yet, but we’re hoping they’ll look to keep their trend of accepting razor-thin profits up, so we won’t be expecting it at much more than 0.

All of that is to say that it’s too early to pass a judgment on a phone we haven’t even seen yet (well, that’s not entirely true — the phone in the image above is an actual OnePlus 2 prototype, but it’s kind of hard to tell) so hold your horses and wait for all the details to come to light.

Lollipop for the Motorola DROID Turbo is almost ready, and coming sooner than ever

If Motorola Mobility’s recent tweet is any indication, you can expect Android 5.1 Lollipop to be hitting your Motorola DROID Turbo any minute/day/week now. What’s throwing us off is the strange wording of their tweet, which says “coming” — not that it’s actually here.

Yeah, it’s always been coming soon. Ever since they initially announced the device would be skipping 5.0 and jumping straight to 5.1. And the re-announcement several weeks later. And now this. In any case, you should probably check for the update on your phone and let us know if you find anything. This is such a tease.

Thanks for your patience. We hope you’re as excited as we are about #Lollipop – coming to a #DROIDTurbo near you. pic.twitter.com/67FHl8WCRc

— Motorola Mobility (@Motorola) June 29, 2015

OnePlus 2 rumored for a July unveiling at a price higher than last year’s model

OnePlus 2 is gearing up for a summer launch. We know this because OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei told us last year during a Reddit AMA that they were aiming for a Q2/Q3 launch for the followup to last year’s OnePlus One. But we still don’t have a specific date, despite the phone recently hitting its 1-year anniversary.

That hasn’t stopped OnePlus from getting the hype train rolling, teasing the OP 2 and early access for participants willing to jump through a few hoops (contests). Today, we’re could be getting a clearer picture of exactly when OnePlus will at least formally announce the phone, with sources out of MyDrivers pinning an official unveiling for July.

What’s more is sources claim to know the expected pricing: 1,999 Chinese Yuan, or somewhere around 2 US dollars for the base model. In other words, expect the phone to launch for a little more than last year’s OnePlus One, probably closer to 0 base. Remember, the original OnePlus One launched at 0 for the 16GB model, but also had a 64GB version for only 0. At that time, that was absolutely unheard of, especially for a device offering that much storage.

In either case, we’re certainly excited to see what OnePlus will unveil and yes, you’ll initially need an invite to pick one up. Rumors currently point to the phone coming equipped with a 5.5-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 810 CPU, 3GB of RAM, 13MP camera, and a 3,300mAh battery.