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6 Galaxy S6 Edge problems, and how to deal with them

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge home
Giuliano Correia/Digital Trends
When you live on the edge, sometimes you’re going to run into trouble. Samsung’s latest flagship is drop-dead gorgeous. It combines innovation with a solid set of features, but, just like any other smartphone, it has the potential to leave you tearing your hair out in frustration. After some forum lurking, and a thorough investigation of comments and reviews from users, we’ve compiled a list of the most commonly reported Galaxy S6 Edge problems. You might find the answer you seek in our workarounds and potential solutions.

Problem: Overheating

A lot of Galaxy S6 Edge owners have been complaining about overheating. Any phone is going to get hot if you’re playing a graphically intensive game, but people are finding the S6 Edge is getting uncomfortably hot when browsing, listening to music, or charging up. In short, it’s getting hot when it really shouldn’t be.

Workarounds:

  • If you’re finding that the S6 Edge is overheating when charging, then it could be down to the fast charging capability. There’s no longer an option to actually turn this off, but if you use a charger with a lower amp rating, a wireless charger, or plug it into your laptop or computer to charge, then it will charge more slowly and generate less heat.

Potential solutions:

  • It could be a rogue app that’s causing your S6 Edge to overheat. Try safe mode to find out. Turn your S6 Edge off, then press and hold the Power button. When the screen comes to life, let go of Power, and press and hold Volume down until you see the home screen. It should say safe mode at the bottom left if it worked. Reboot as normal to exit safe mode.
  • If the problem is gone in safe mode, then you know a third-party app is the cause. You can look for likely candidates in Settings > Battery > Battery usage. You could try removing apps one by one, or just go for a factory reset, and then install apps selectively.
  • Before you factory reset, try wiping the cache partition. Turn your S6 Edge off, then hold down Power, Volume up, and Home together. You’ll see the recovery menu. Use the Volume buttons to highlight wipe cache partition, and select it with the Power button. When it’s finished highlight reboot system now with the Volume buttons, and then press Power to select.
  • If the problem persists after a factory reset, then it’s time to call your carrier, retailer, or Samsung and arrange a replacement.

Bug: Auto-rotate not working

Quite a few people have reported that auto-rotate is not working properly. The S6 Edge is getting stuck in portrait or landscape view and it won’t budge. For most people, it seems to work fine for a while and then stop working. It looks as though the accelerometer is not working properly. There’s no doubt this is an issue for a lot of people, but there’s no confirmed cause. You can test whether you have an issue by dialing #*0*# and tapping Sensor. Take a look at the Accelerometer Sensor data as you move the phone around.

Potential solutions:

  • The first thing to do is pull down the notification shade and check the Screen rotation option in Quick settings.
  • Some people found that the problem was caused by previous settings they had saved in Nova Launcher. If you use Nova, then try uninstalling it and switching to another launcher to see if that helps. If it works, you can reinstall Nova, just don’t import previous settings.
  • You could try restarting your S6 Edge, testing in safe mode, and a factory reset. A lot of people are reporting that none of this helped, but if you phone Samsung support they’re probably going to ask you to try this before offering a replacement.
  • There’s another school of thought that says this is a hardware fault, and it may have been caused by the fast charging feature overheating the S6 Edge and damaging the accelerometer. This might explain why it would work for a while and then stop, but it’s pure speculation at this stage. In any case, the only course of action here is to get a replacement handset, though, you might want to avoid using fast charging with the new one.

Glitch: Auto-brightness on when turned off

A number of S6 Edge owners are upset because auto-brightness appears to be working, even when it has been turned off. Take a look in Settings > Display and make sure that the Auto box next to brightness is not ticked. Turn the brightness up to maximum, and then take the S6 Edge into a dark and then a light environment, or shine a flashlight on the sensor.

Potential solution:

  • This seems to be a problem that’s specific to the S6 Edge and there’s no known fix for it as yet, though, some people claim they’ve never had the problem, and others say it has been fixed by a software update. If it’s bothering you, then complain to Samsung, and keep an eye out for an update via Settings > About device > Software update > Update now.

Problem: Scratched display

Quite a few people have found that the S6 Edge is arriving with scratches on the display out of the box. It may not be possible to see them indoors, but if you take a look in direct sunlight, or under a spotlight, you may see hairline scratches in a circular pattern. For a phone this expensive, you should expect perfection.

Solution:

  • There’s only one solution here. You need to go to your carrier, retailer, or Samsung and get a replacement handset. There are plenty of people reporting perfect, scratch-free displays.

Bug: Night clock lighting up screen

There have been some reports that the Night clock feature on the S6 Edge is actually lighting up the entire screen, so that it appears as dark gray, instead of being black. It should be completely black apart from the information displayed on the edge.

Potential solutions:

  • Some people found that wiping the cache solved the issue. To try it, turn your S6 Edge off, then hold down Power, Volume up, and Home together. When you see the recovery menu highlight wipe cache partition with the Volume buttons, and select it with the Power button. When it’s finished, use the Volume buttons to highlight reboot system now, and then press Power to select.
  • Others report that a factory reset solved it, but this hasn’t worked for everyone. If you want to try it, then backup all your precious files first. Go to Settings > Backup and reset > Factory data reset > Reset device > Erase everything.
  • It seems likely that this is a software issue, though it’s odd that it’s working fine for some people and not for others, despite them being ostensibly on the same software version. Samsung may issue a fix in an update, check via Settings > About device > Software update > Update now.

Problem: Wireless charging is flaky

The S6 Edge supports wireless charging, but it doesn’t seem to be working perfectly for everyone. Some people report that it starts charging okay, but pauses after a while. For other people it isn’t working at all. There are lots of different wireless chargers out there, but the S6 Edge should be compatible with the majority of them.

Potential solutions:

  • Cases are usually the cause of problems with wireless charging. Try charging with the case off. Some people have actually found that the S6 Edge charges up more reliably with a thin case on.
  • Try experimenting with different positions until you find the best spot for reliable charging. Make sure that your S6 Edge isn’t sliding around on the charger.
  • Turn your S6 Edge off and on again, and unplug the charging mat and then plug it back in. This might work, but it’s not likely to be a permanent fix.
  • If you find that you’re leaving the S6 Edge charging, and it’s not fully charged in the morning, then the problem might actually be that it’s hitting a full charge early on and then draining again. The charger should kick in again when it drops, but this doesn’t seem to be the case for everyone. There isn’t a great deal you can do, though it shouldn’t really be draining by that much when not in use, so you might want to take a look at your setup, and consider turning Airplane mode on at night.
  • If problems persist, it’s possible there’s a fault with the charger. Try to get a replacement or try a different charger.

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Simon Hill
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Simon Hill is an experienced technology journalist and editor who loves all things tech. He is currently the Associate Mobile…
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