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Google Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Sascha Segan
 & Sascha Segan Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
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65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS
Android 6.0 Marshmallow adds long-desired features to Google's mobile operating system, making it better than ever, but fragmentation remains a major issue. - Google Android 5.0 Lollipop
4.5 Outstanding

The Bottom Line

Android 6.0 Marshmallow adds long-desired features to Google's mobile operating system, making it better than ever, but fragmentation remains a major issue.

Pros & Cons

    • Ability to search the Web from anywhere in the UI.
    • Battery life improvements.
    • Better microSD card and permissions handling than previous versions.
    • You might never get it.

The latest version of Google's Android operating system, 6.0 Marshmallow, feels like it was written to address some things that annoyed users, and some things that irked Google. For users, it's a sensible update that banishes many of the real groan points about Android, such as its flawed way of handling microSD memory and overactive apps that devour battery life. For Google, meanwhile, it offers ways to encourage more people to search the Web more often, which is the company's ultimate goal. It's a worthy update, for sure, if not quite the sea change that Android 5.0 Lollipop was. That said, one big problem still remains: A persistent fragmentation problem makes it likely that you will never see Marshmallow on your current device. For that reason, Apple's iOS 9 remains our Editors' Choice for mobile operating systems.

All Android Everything

Here's a mind-blower: Android is, by far, the world's best-selling PC operating system. That's because, for more and more people, their handheld devices are their primary computers, and Linux-based Android powers everything from $50 burner phones to enterprise tablets that cost more than most desktop PCs. There are Android desktop PCs, ATMs, and set-top boxes. Android has fulfilled the promise of its free, open-source Linux forebears, becoming as close to a universal operating system as we have right now.

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Final Thoughts

Android 6.0 Marshmallow adds long-desired features to Google's mobile operating system, making it better than ever, but fragmentation remains a major issue. - Google Android 5.0 Lollipop

Google Android 6.0 Marshmallow

4.5 Outstanding

Android 6.0 Marshmallow adds long-desired features to Google's mobile operating system, making it better than ever, but fragmentation remains a major issue.

About Our Expert

Sascha Segan

Sascha Segan

Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

My Experience

I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also wrote a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsessed about phones and networks.

My Areas of Expertise

  • US and Canadian mobile networks
  • Mobile phones released in the US
  • iPads, Android tablets, and ebook readers
  • Mobile hotspots
  • Big data features such as Fastest Mobile Networks and Best Work-From-Home Cities

The Technology I Use

Being cross-platform is critical for someone in my position. In the US, the mobile world is split pretty cleanly between iOS and Android. So I think it's really important to have Apple, Android and Windows devices all in my daily orbit.

I use a Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 for work and a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro for personal use. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although I'm probably going to move to an Android foldable. Most of my writing is either in Microsoft OneNote or a free notepad app called Notepad++. Number crunching, which I do often for those big data stories, is via Microsoft Excel, DataGrip for MySQL, and Tableau.

In terms of apps and cloud services, I use both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive heavily, although I also have iCloud because of the three Macs and three iPads in our house. I subscribe to way too many streaming services. 

My primary tablet is a 12.9-inch, 2020-model Apple iPad Pro. When I want to read a book, I've got a 2018-model flat-front Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. My home smart speakers run Google Home, and I watch a TCL Roku TV. And Verizon Fios keeps me connected at home.

My first computer was an Atari 800 and my first cell phone was a Qualcomm Thin Phone. I still have very fond feelings about both of them.

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