Top Samsung Galaxy S6 accessories
The Samsung Galaxy S6 is one of our favourite phone of the moment. It's pure class throughout thanks to a QHD screen, glass and metal design and oodles and oodles of power to play with.
However, there's always more fun to be had with phones, and you can squeeze a bit more out of it if you're willing to spend a little extra on a few choice accessories.
From docks to camera upgrades and ways to ensure you never run out of charge, accessories are little insurance policies to make sure your Samsung Galaxy S6 never lets you down. Here are some of our favourite clever little upgrades for the phone.
Samsung Wireless charger
You might not know it but the Samsung Galaxy S6 supports wireless charging. No bulky case needed, and only a fairly inexpensive charge pad to get the thing working.
Samsung makes its own one, selling for around £20 / $30. It's a pretty simple disc you could keep on your desk at work, or perhaps on a bedside table. Charging woes squished.
If you fancy looking for something even cheaper, just make sure you get something that complies to either the Qi or PMA standards. The Samsung Galaxy S6 supports them both, the clever little thing.
You could even go for the FurniQi table, which lets you charge just by plopping it on the surface.
12x zoom Lens tripod
Gadget fans out there may have bumped into Olloclip's iPhone camera lens attachments already, but unfortunately the company doesn't make them for the Samsung Galaxy S6 at the moment.
There is an alternative, though. And it's pretty mad.
There's a mini tripod that holds your Galaxy S6 and puts a giant 12x optical zoom lens in front of its camera. That's much greater zoom range than the vast majority of dedicated compacts offer, and a 12x DSLR lens would be much, much bigger than this.
We're softening you up a bit here, because you still have to live with the truth that, for a phone accessory, it's pretty large at almost 10cm long.
It's going to radically expand the sorts of shots you can get with your phone, though, especially as the phone has optical image stabilisation to help out too.
OnePlus Power Bank
Want an external battery? Forget any Samsung official accessories here, or anything you might find down at the local electronics shop.
The OnePlus Power Bank is a hard-to-beat pick. It's well-made, has giant 10000mAh capacity and only costs, wait for it, £13.99/$14.99. When some much smaller names might charge you up to £70 for something functionally identical, you can tell OnePlus has really rocked the boat with this one.
This is the same OnePlus that makes the Android nerd favourite OnePlus 2 and OnePlus X phones, and you can order the power bank directly from the company's online store. It's not just for OnePlus phone owners, and can even charge two phones at once.
Samsung Gear S2
Really pushing the envelope of what could go into this list, we have the Samsung Gear S2. At £300 / $300 it seems silly to call it an accessory, but the thing is pretty useless without a phone.
This is one of the most interesting smartwatches we've seen all year, with a rotating bezel that acts as the Gear S2's main control wheel. It's not just there for decoration.
It doesn't run boring old Android Wear either, but Samsung's own Tizen OS. This has let Samsung totally tailor the software for the S2's hardware, although it's not exactly rich in apps right now.
Still, with 2-3 day battery life and great notification implementation it's one of the most easy to live with smartwatches.
AKG Y50 headphones
In the past few years, the number of people willing to spend a hefty amount on headphones has rocketed. But that doesn't mean you have to. The £50/$90 AKG Y50 are bright and colourful, but have the sound refinement to go toe-to-toe with many pairs costing twice the price.
They have, we think, just the right mix between fun and accuracy, getting you a bit of bassy bounce without that turning into juddering booms in your ears.
The AKG Y50 also come in a bunch of loud-looking shades, if you don't want wallflower headphones. There's nothing too techy going on underneath the hood — no wireless or active noise cancellation — but if you battered your bank account in buying a Galaxy S6, these headphones won't strain it too much further.
Olixar FlexiShield Ultra
It seems a shame to ruin the looks of your Samsung Galaxy S6 with a bulky case. However, its mix of metal and glass construction isn't the best for soaking up damage either.
The solution to this conundrum is the Olixar FlexiShield Ultra. It's a transparent gel case that aims to keep your phone looking much as it always has, while offering a protective layer that'll stop the glass from shattering and metal from denting should you drop the phone.
Yes, your phone will still be a bit prettier if you leave the case off, but most people will thrust theirs floorwards at some point during its life.
The FlexiShield is transparent, not invisible, but in the long run it'll keep your phone looking much nicer.
Samsung Official Desk Charge Dock
Some of the best phone accessories are dead simple. Samsung makes a very neat-looking desk charge dock for your Samsung Galaxy S6 that keeps it upright, perfect for use as a desk clock with notifications.
Keep it on your desk at work and you'll never have to worry too much about your phone having enough charge again.
Well, not until the battery starts going a bit dodgy two years down the line, anyway.
It's not just a charge dock either. It also doubles as an audio dock, with a 3.5mm output you can plug into a hifi or some headphones. Phone desk buddies don't get much better.
Spigen Neo Hybrid case
Willing to embrace the case? One of our top case picks is the Spigen Neo Hybrid. It totally pastes over the usual look of the Samsung Galaxy S6, but looks pretty good in its own right and gets you not just solid protection but also way more grip than the glassy S6 offers by itself.
On the edges it's hard polycarbonate plastic, but on the back and underneath the plastic bumper is rubbery TPU. This absorbs the force from any drops or shocks, ensuring the glassy bits of the Galaxy S6 don't end up shattering.
If you want to keep your Samsung Galaxy S6 looking nice for years to come, this is one of the best options around.
Samsung S-View Window Flip case
Just like the larger Note 5 phones, there's a special window case for the Samsung Galaxy S6. This is a flip case with a window that sits over just part of the screen.
When it's closed, the case communicates with the phone using its Hall sensor, which can detect the magnet within the case's front. Then the display switches to fill just the visible part of the screen, showing the time and a few other elements.
It's a special skill you won't otherwise see, and the case itself isn't too bad either. It's imitation leather, so while not quite as nice as the real stuff it's pretty affordable as a result and circumvents having to drape dead animal skin around your phone. Which is nice.
Bose SoundLink Mini II
Samsung has started its own audio range, including headphones and wireless speakers. But if you want a portable speaker with a good bit of grunt, you still can't really do much better than the Bose SoundLink Mini II.
You may know of Bose as a company that relies on ads and high prices to convince people its goodies are worthwhile. However, its noise cancelling headphones and small wireless speakers are hard to beat.
The Bose SoundLink Mini II will fit into a coat pocket at a stretch, but doesn't sound tiny even next to speakers four or five times the size. How? It's down to very clever use of passive radiators, which scale up the output of regular drivers to exponentially increase bass power.
In this second-generation model, Bose has switched to using a micoUSB charge socket so you can even use your Galaxy S6 charger on the little guy.
