• TV
  • MOVIES
  • MUSIC
  • SHOWBIZ
  • SOAPS
  • GAMING
  • TECH
  • FORUMS
  • Follow
    • Follow
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • google+
    • instagram
    • youtube
Hearst Corporation
  • TV
  • MOVIES
  • MUSIC
  • SHOWBIZ
  • SOAPS
  • GAMING
  • TECH
  • FORUMS
Forums
  • Register
  • Login
  • Forums
  • Gadgets
  • Mobile Phones
Samsung Galaxy S6 a radical redesign
<<
<
26 of 26
>>
>
ACU
05-06-2015
Originally Posted by mupet0000:
“I've got it back and I have to say, probably the worst repair experience I've ever had.

I booked the device for repair over the phone and explained the issue to the advisor, when I received the packaging to send it off there was some paperwork with a box for notes, so I wrote a detailed description of the signal issues and how to reproduce them.

The phone still has the exact same problem i sent it in with. Poor signal, worse than S3/S4/Moto G on the same network in the same place. The repair notes say:
Replacement Faulty Lens/Display Assembly
Calibration Passed
Software Update Software Upgrade

First of all, as far as I'm aware, the lens/display assembly was not faulty. And the software upgrade is just messed up. I sent the phone in with unbranded UK BTU fw (AOE3 from May 6th) and they've sent it back with EE branded fw from March 29th (AOCW). They've downgraded the software and made it EE instead of unbranded, what !? (The serial number and imei is identical, but my manufacturing date has changed from the 6th of March to the 30th of May, Samsung Phone Info app detects a mismatch between the manufacturing date and serial number and says its a refurb - I wonder why the manufacturing date has changed if they only changed the display assembly and downgraded the software).

There's literally no mention of my original fault and there's no engineer notes or anything at all. I called Samsung who told me to ask the repair centre about it so I called the repair centre and they told me the display may have been replaced because it could have been cracked when they were taking apart the device to inspect it. He also told me that the engineers do not read the notes and they are actually not allowed to read the notes, they are supposed to follow a strict procedure when repairing devices.

So the engineers had no idea that the signal was poor, all they could see was that the device worked because I still get signal even though it may be bad. So now it's booked in to be repaired yet again at the same service centre, fantastic.

If they send it back unrepaired again I'm going to complain and ask for a new device.”

That is pretty poor from Samsung.

I would defiantly send the phone back, and ask for a new device.
Synthetic42
05-06-2015
Originally Posted by ACU:
“If a phone is that important to you, surely you have a spare?”

Well usually use my work one if needed, I'd just rather not be without my personal phone for extended periods.
mupet0000
05-06-2015
I am awaiting the packaging material to send it back in, then it's going back again. Using a HTC One M8 as a spare.

I paid £500 for this S6 so I expect it to be fully working, if they send it back unrepaired again I'm going to have to complain. We will see what happens, I'll post back when the repair is completed and I have the phone in hand.
MrSuper
08-06-2015
Samsung officially announces Samsung Galaxy S6 Active in the US. Specs revealed:

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_gala...news-12570.php

Amongst other things a larger 3500mAh battery but no microSD card slot.
Denco1
08-06-2015
This is an interesting article regarding the S6s signal issues which I hadn't seen before.
http://www.androidauthority.com/best...-lg-g4-612827/
Everything Goes
09-06-2015
Originally Posted by Denco1:
“This is an interesting article regarding the S6s signal issues which I hadn't seen before.
http://www.androidauthority.com/best...-lg-g4-612827/”

The signal issue is an interesting one. All iPhones up until the 6 and 6 Plus were crap. The iPhone 4 perhaps being the worst of the lot. It took Apple a very long time to sort the design flaws out. Its possible the Samsung may take a long time too.
alanwarwic
09-06-2015
I'm not sure how much of it has to do with the limitations of wide-band antennas.
I bet all phones will still perform a bit crap on certain wavelengths.
jonmorris
09-06-2015
The Huawei P8, also metal, makes a big deal of how good the signal is and must have an antenna set up to mitigate the problems - but it comes at a cost of losing 5GHz Wi-Fi.

It claims to work better at the edge of signal, or when travelling at high speed, and in my experience over the last month or so, it does work better than other phones - and gets higher speed test results (not necessarily a huge amount, but consistently higher every time).
lightspeed2398
09-06-2015
Originally Posted by jonmorris:
“The Huawei P8, also metal, makes a big deal of how good the signal is and must have an antenna set up to mitigate the problems - but it comes at a cost of losing 5GHz Wi-Fi.

It claims to work better at the edge of signal, or when travelling at high speed, and in my experience over the last month or so, it does work better than other phones - and gets higher speed test results (not necessarily a huge amount, but consistently higher every time).”

It's an impressive phone in many ways. Is it the software holding me back from considering it or is it the fear of lack of updates and support? It's hard to put a finger on why I wouldn't buy it but there's something there that's stopping me.
jonmorris
09-06-2015
I've had three updates so far, but nothing to update from Android 5.0 to 5.1 or 5.1.1 - and that is a concern of mine too. There are some updates in China that a site recommended NOT installing (not sure why) on the European model, but I don't think they take the phone to 5.1 either.
mupet0000
13-06-2015
So I have my Galaxy S6 back from repair for the 2nd time. A breakdown of the repair sheet:

Replacement Boards Not Repaired Main Board - I assume this means that the mainboard was replaced rather than repaired. The Samsung Phone info app thinks my device isn't a refurb (it did after the 1st repair) but does say the serial doesn't match the manufacture date which is now April 2nd (the serial number hasn't changed).

Replacement Damaged Sticker - I really don't know what this means or why it would make it on the repair list.

Screening Faulty - I guess this means the device was screened to check if it was faulty.

Not that any of it matters, the problem hasn't changed, it's not worse or better, it's exactly the same.

My theory of what's going wrong here is that it's something to do with this chip:
http://www.skyworksinc.com/Product/1029/SKY13415-485LF

I might be wrong here but this is the way I see it. The S6 has multiple antennas and this chip switches between them in order to get the best signal. When the antennas switch must be when I see the fluctuation in signal (for example I move the phone slightly and it goes from -111dBm to -116dBm and then slowly back to -111dBm). When it does this, the signal can drop from 4G to 3G because the phone sees that it's losing signal as it's dropped below a certain threshold. It fluctuates just like this all the time, but when in a better signal area it won't fallback to 3G as the 4G is still good enough.

On my S4, the signal never fluctuates like this, it only seems to fluctuate when you hold your hand in certain places on the phone, blocking the antenna, maybe there's only the one antenna in the S4.

I'll be giving them a call on Monday yet again. I don't think there's anything I'm going to be able to do, I've wasted £500 on a phone that across the board has bad signal issues.
mupet0000
13-06-2015
I don't seem to be able to edit my post above.

After some more testing and observing between the S4, S6 and HTC M8 (on EE) I have found different results. First of all, it seems as if the S4 and S6 are now getting the same signal in the same spot. Exactly the same signal, this was never the case before the 2nd repair where the S6 would consistently hold a worse signal in the same spot.

When moving the phones about, I notice that the S6 changes signal quicker and sharper, so they might both be at -100dBm and I move them both, the S6 might jump up to -106dBm almost right away but the S4 will slowly creep up to -106dBm. I noticed the same thing before but the S6 always had a worse signal anyway I assumed it was part of the fault but maybe not.

Maybe the S6 is reporting the correct signal, quicker and more accurate. I notice when I go from upstairs to downstairs, the signal drops immediately on the S6 but it takes a while for the S4 to notice and gradually lose dBm. This could be why I drop 4G easier on the S6 as it notices any bad signal and reacts a lot quicker compared to the S4.

The M8 on the other hand, it's 10dBm worse than both the S4 and S6, quite poor.

I might still call Samsung and speak to them about this, I'm sure the phone could hang onto 4G a little better with some software work. Overall, the repair is better than I thought.
Everything Goes
09-07-2015
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus

Here are some pictures of the S6 Edge Plus with a 5.7" display. Make of it what you will. Samsung do like their variants!

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_gala...news-12958.php
Chrysalis
09-07-2015
So the active is now out, and looks a much better phone, thicker with straight edges so easy to handle, way bigger battery, and more rugged.
jonmorris
09-07-2015
Yeah, the Active looks quite nice. Not sure if it's coming to the UK though.
Alex_1
09-07-2015
On the subject of faulty S6 phones, mine was going great for the first three months then it developed a fault. After googling i could see that others were having the same fault. The fault has not really appeared on the main stream forums yet though.
Here is what i sent Samsung

Subject: Faulty Camera Focus

Hello! I've had my Samsung Galaxy S6 since launch and everything has been
fine up until the past few days or so. Now nearly everytime I open up the
camera, the phone makes a weird buzzing sound near the camera lens and
struggles to focus. It makes the noise nearly everytime I re-open the app.
Just wanted to know if there was anything to fix this or whether it was a
hardware issue? If so is it a repair job and where can I send it. I bought
from Carphone Warehouse
Thanks Alex

Their suggestion was predictably a factory restore aaaagh. On that very day the 5.1.1 update became available so i installed it & factory restored afterwards.
Did it fix the fault did it heck.
I've told Samsung i'm pretty sure it's a hardware fault & await their response.
Anyone else experiencing this fault?

If your thinking why not take it back to the CPW. I really want Samsung to deal with an issue that i feel is theirs & i'd be more comfortable with them fixing it rather than send it back with 'no fault found' we've all frustratingly experienced.

Looks like i'm going to fall back on my trusty S4 for while if i can get them to take it in.

Thanks for listening
Alex
Alex_1
18-07-2015
My experience continued:

Well...online chat had me do the *#0*# to bring up the diagnostic menu
Tried the camera on basic drivers & fault still there.
Suggested i take it to Samsung Experience in Bradford.

The sales staff were quite friendly but the service guys were quite the opposite.
Handed in Sunday, was ready Tuesday but couldn't get back to Bradford until Friday.

They said the camera had been replaced & would i like to test it. He got it out of a bag and my Zagg screen protector was covered in crap grease & was badly marked.
When i question this the reply was we have to heat the phone to get the back & front off.
Fair enough but I f they had said sorry about the screen protector or even wiped it as clean as possible that would have been better but the couldn't care less attitude was quite appalling.
The phone was fixed yey hey. I had my Zagg protecter replaced at for free at CPW so nothing lost but the face to face experience was poor from Samsung.

So what camera have i got fitted now the Sony or the Samsung isocell. I used to have the Sony camera & could check it out by typing *#34971539# then tap on ISP VER CHECK tab.
I'm now running Lollipop 5.1.1 and that TAB is no longer there.
So anyone know how to check which camera i have
Cheers
Alex
Everything Goes
26-07-2015
Galaxy S6 Mini

Leaked Galaxy S6 Mini picture apparently:


http://www.sammobile.com/2015/07/26/...pictures-leak/
<<
<
26 of 26
>>
>
VIEW DESKTOP SITE TOP

JOIN US HERE

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Hearst Corporation

Hearst Corporation

DIGITAL SPY, PART OF THE HEARST UK ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK

© 2015 Hearst Magazines UK is the trading name of the National Magazine Company Ltd, 72 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 9EP. Registered in England 112955. All rights reserved.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Complaints
  • Site Map