Galaxy S6 release date, specs and price
By Carly Page
SPECULATION SURROUNDING the so-called Galaxy S6 are already coming through thick and fast, suggesting that Samsung could be planning an imminent launch.
This wouldn't be all that surprising. Samsung's fortunes have taken a turn for the worse this year, after the firm posted a 60 percent fall in profit in the third quarter owing to slowing sales of its smartphone line-up.
Samsung is no doubt looking to turn this around, and will be hoping that the Galaxy S6 will help.
We've rounded up everything we know about the Galaxy S6 so far, including release date, price and specifications. Be sure to keep this page bookmarked as we'll be updating it as soon as we hear more.
If last year's Galaxy S5 launch is anything to go by, the S6 will go on sale a month or two later. The Galaxy S5 launched in February before arriving on shelves on 11 April.
Taking a leaf out of Apple's book, the Galaxy S6 will reportedly be crafted from metal as Samsung edges away from plastic smartphones which could be to blame for slowing sales. Samsung all-but-confirmed this in its Q4 earnings call.
Weight has been further added to this rumour courtesy of Nowhereelse.fr, which has posted an image of a metal frame allegedly belonging to the Galaxy S6 (below). Since, however, others have claimed this is in fact an early Galaxy A5 prototype.
According to a report at Business Insider, Samsung will be launching a second version of the Galaxy S6 alongside the metal version. This model reportedly will feature a curved display, similar to that seen on the Galaxy Note Edge, and CNET Korea has managed to get its mitts on a picture of the so-called handset (below).
VoucherCodes.co.uk, for example, suggests that the Galaxy S6 will feature a 5.5in curved display, and has provided a mock up of what it could like like (below).
Conflicting with previous rumours, the website also speculates that the handset will feature a rubberised-plastic rear.
The display is expected to have a higher resolution than the Galaxy S5, which featured a 1,920x1,080 Full HD display. It's likely that Samsung will look to challenge the likes of the Nexus 6 and LG G3 with a QHD 2,560x1,440 screen resolution.
Much like the Galaxy S5, this display will be paired with a fingerprint scanner. However, rather than the swipe-based offering on the Galaxy S5, Sammobile claims that Samsung will opt for a touch-based sensor, similar to that found on the iPhone 6.
With a February launch on the cards, it's also likely that the Samsung Galaxy S6 will arrive running Google's Android 5.0 operating system.
If a recent video leak of Lollipop running on the Galaxy Note 3 is anything to go by, Samsung will skin the Material Design interface with its custom TouchWiz offering while retaining Google's redesigned fonts and logos.
Further rumours have suggested that the Galaxy S6 will offer a 'near-Nexus' software experience, with Samsung planning to strip back its custom user inteface.
With Android 5.0 onboard, it has also been suggested that the Galaxy S6 will launch with a 64-bit processor. This is likely to be Samsung's own Exynos 7420 or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 - although a recent report out of Bloomberg claims Samsung will opt for its own-brand processor, having suffered 'overheating' issues with Qualcomm's offering.
However, Qualcomm has since issued a statement debunking these rumours, while LG said it has experienced no issues with the chip inside the G Flex 2 smartphone.
According to speculation, the handset will feature Samsung's Exynos LTE modem and Broadcom’s new BCM4773 processor, which combines GPS and other sensors on a single chip.
There's also talk that the handset will feature even faster 4G speeds than its predecessor, with a report via GforGames claiming that the Exynos chip will feature Cat 10 LTE support, allowing for download speeds up to 450Mbps.
The Galaxy S6 is expected to feature a 16MP camera with "better Optical Image Stabilisation than the Galaxy Note 4", a 5MP front-facing camera, and 32GB, 64GB or 128GB internal storage. Samsung has apparently canned the 16GB model.
According to a report at SamMobile, Samsung will also debut the 'Galaxy S6 Edge' alongside its next flagship smartphone, which will feature a quirky curved screen similar to that seen on the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge.
No further details about the mooted handset have yet been spilled.
SPECULATION SURROUNDING the so-called Galaxy S6 are already coming through thick and fast, suggesting that Samsung could be planning an imminent launch.
This wouldn't be all that surprising. Samsung's fortunes have taken a turn for the worse this year, after the firm posted a 60 percent fall in profit in the third quarter owing to slowing sales of its smartphone line-up.
Samsung is no doubt looking to turn this around, and will be hoping that the Galaxy S6 will help.
We've rounded up everything we know about the Galaxy S6 so far, including release date, price and specifications. Be sure to keep this page bookmarked as we'll be updating it as soon as we hear more.
Release date
Samsung has sent out invites (below) to a Galaxy Unpacked event ahead of this year's MWC on 1 March, which is likely when the Galaxy S6 will debut.
If last year's Galaxy S5 launch is anything to go by, the S6 will go on sale a month or two later. The Galaxy S5 launched in February before arriving on shelves on 11 April.
Price
There's no word yet regarding how much the Galaxy S6 will cost at launch. However, we'll assume that it will be priced similarly to last year's model, which Samsung offered from £579 SIM-free.Specs
If online speculation is to be believed, Samsung will 'go back to the drawing board' with the Galaxy S6 in a bid to boost the firm's faltering smartphone business.Taking a leaf out of Apple's book, the Galaxy S6 will reportedly be crafted from metal as Samsung edges away from plastic smartphones which could be to blame for slowing sales. Samsung all-but-confirmed this in its Q4 earnings call.
Weight has been further added to this rumour courtesy of Nowhereelse.fr, which has posted an image of a metal frame allegedly belonging to the Galaxy S6 (below). Since, however, others have claimed this is in fact an early Galaxy A5 prototype.
According to a report at Business Insider, Samsung will be launching a second version of the Galaxy S6 alongside the metal version. This model reportedly will feature a curved display, similar to that seen on the Galaxy Note Edge, and CNET Korea has managed to get its mitts on a picture of the so-called handset (below).
VoucherCodes.co.uk, for example, suggests that the Galaxy S6 will feature a 5.5in curved display, and has provided a mock up of what it could like like (below).
Conflicting with previous rumours, the website also speculates that the handset will feature a rubberised-plastic rear.
The display is expected to have a higher resolution than the Galaxy S5, which featured a 1,920x1,080 Full HD display. It's likely that Samsung will look to challenge the likes of the Nexus 6 and LG G3 with a QHD 2,560x1,440 screen resolution.
Much like the Galaxy S5, this display will be paired with a fingerprint scanner. However, rather than the swipe-based offering on the Galaxy S5, Sammobile claims that Samsung will opt for a touch-based sensor, similar to that found on the iPhone 6.
With a February launch on the cards, it's also likely that the Samsung Galaxy S6 will arrive running Google's Android 5.0 operating system.
If a recent video leak of Lollipop running on the Galaxy Note 3 is anything to go by, Samsung will skin the Material Design interface with its custom TouchWiz offering while retaining Google's redesigned fonts and logos.
Further rumours have suggested that the Galaxy S6 will offer a 'near-Nexus' software experience, with Samsung planning to strip back its custom user inteface.
With Android 5.0 onboard, it has also been suggested that the Galaxy S6 will launch with a 64-bit processor. This is likely to be Samsung's own Exynos 7420 or Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 - although a recent report out of Bloomberg claims Samsung will opt for its own-brand processor, having suffered 'overheating' issues with Qualcomm's offering.
However, Qualcomm has since issued a statement debunking these rumours, while LG said it has experienced no issues with the chip inside the G Flex 2 smartphone.
According to speculation, the handset will feature Samsung's Exynos LTE modem and Broadcom’s new BCM4773 processor, which combines GPS and other sensors on a single chip.
There's also talk that the handset will feature even faster 4G speeds than its predecessor, with a report via GforGames claiming that the Exynos chip will feature Cat 10 LTE support, allowing for download speeds up to 450Mbps.
The Galaxy S6 is expected to feature a 16MP camera with "better Optical Image Stabilisation than the Galaxy Note 4", a 5MP front-facing camera, and 32GB, 64GB or 128GB internal storage. Samsung has apparently canned the 16GB model.
According to a report at SamMobile, Samsung will also debut the 'Galaxy S6 Edge' alongside its next flagship smartphone, which will feature a quirky curved screen similar to that seen on the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge.
No further details about the mooted handset have yet been spilled.